Sunday, January 24, 2010

Review: Milsig K series

Previously being a T68 gen 5 owner I was back on the market for a new magazine fed weapon with a bit more lasting appeal. The gen 5 initially was a great marker that met my magazine fed needs, but after less than a season of use it started rapidly deteriorating, eating detents, and chipping paint on almost anything. My Two choices were either the Rap4 Gen 6 or Milsig K Series. I chose the Milsig K series not only because of its familiar design to the Gen 5 (which I preferred to previous generations of rap4 type 68s) but also because it had been boasted that the Milsig line had addressed all of the Issues of the gen 5 and not only fixed, but improved upon them.

Make no mistake though, this is a review of the Milsig, not a comparison between The milsig and Type 68 generation 5, I will point out factors that have been fixed or improved for generation 5 owners and potential Milsig skeptics.


Please view the video segment of my review here:




Pictorial:
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On taking this marker out of the box I was extremely impressed by what it contained. A squeegee, barrel condom, Tool kit (complete tool kit), and the marker itself. The presentation was well delivered. On the marker itself the finish was a much higher quality, so I expect the paint job to last longer than it did on my Gen 5.

+1


Out of the box the marker came with an RIS mountable forward grip with a side MINI RIS rail, flip up sights that were basic iron sights when down and peep sights when flipped up. In addition to this the barrel was ribbed so it could be easier unscrewed when slippery from paint, triple polished, and non ported. This gives the barrel more value than the Stock barrel of similar markers like the Tippmann line, you might even be able to sell your stock barrel as an upgrade to stock barrel Tippmann owners.

+1

2/2

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As per my review of the Gen 5, here is an updated cross compatibility chart of Tippmann a5 to Milsig parts.

Part | Tippmann A5 | Milsig

Barrel: Yes <-> Yes
Thread adapter: No <-> No
Grip Frame: No (Yes with Slight modifications)
Egrip: No (Yes with Slight modifications)
Body Pins/Screws Yes <->Yes
Back Plate Yes <->Yes
Stocks Yes <->Yes (NOTE: Milsig will have stock wobble out of the box with A5 Stocks, Milsig offers their own line of stocks with securing brackets to fix this problem, I have found staking extra owrings onto the back plate can reduce if not fix this problem)
Detent: No <-> No
PowerTube: No <-> No
TombStone: No <-> No
Bolt: No <-> No
Hammer Yes <-> No (A5 Hammer will fit milsig, but not vice versa)
Int/ Springs: Yes <->Yes
Velocity Pin: Yes <->Yes
ASA: Yes <->Yes

As For Cosmetic upgrades, the Milsig will accept a wide range of A5 body kits and bolt on accessories with little to no modification. As stated before the Stock sights it comes with are excellent and the forward grip allows for secure marker control if you don’t have your own barrel shroud.



+1


Internally the Milsig has received a full upgrade over its gen 5 predecessor, and sports features not even the similar tippmann have.
-The Bolt is slotted to Increase Detent life
- The power tube is metal to handle cold weather and co2 better
- The Internals are Polished out of the box to allow for smother function
-the hammer is hardened steel to increase its life
- Velocity adjustment is now done on the side (no more in barrel gen5 velocity tool)
- All plastic parts previously seen on the gen 5 including the Hopper adapter have been upgraded to a higher quality shatterproof plastic.
- The Chamber is deeply slotted forcing the bolt to travel on rails rather than a smooth surface like tippmann, this gives paint and debris a place to go besides down your barrel when shooting through a break allowing the marker to self clean itself in a sense.

Last but not least the key selling feature:

-The Milsig offers duel feed capabilities, being able to swap from magazine to hopper fed in minutes to accommodate your style of play. Very few markers out there can do this. Magazines are half the price of the competitive Tiberius arms markers and hold over twice to volume of ammunition. Each magazine holds 17-19 Paintballs depending on paint size. 18 is the statuesque and it is not recommended that you exceed it.


+1

2/2

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Out of the box my Milsig experienced a problem with the trigger and tripping the sear. I had heard that all markers are hand tested prior to shipping. Either mine was not or it was not noticed. The problem was the trigger was not tripping the sear in its normal trigger pull length; I actually had to force the trigger in past its normal travel just to get a delayed sear trip. Sometimes it would "sputter" more than one shot.

-1

As seen in my Video the milsig was extremely accurate and consistent. Unfortunately on using reballs they were to small for the magazines retention ball bearings to hold in, making them nearly useless for reball play without a hopper, but they worked just fine with real paintballs. The milsig fired both reballs and Normal paintballs with great to excellent accuracy.

+1

1/2


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With my X radar hand chrono it had the following results:

297, 302, 293, 300, 296

I used no regulator and a remote coil. +- 9 for an unregulated blow back is great no matter how you look at it. More specifically for me I was looking for a magazine fed sniper rifle, this proved ideal.

+1

There are a variety “In stock” and “Air thru stock” systems offered by a number of companies. Sharing the Tippmann a5 stock style only broadens the horizon. With an in stock air system the milsig becomes a fully contained marker with no hopper (if you are using a magazine kit) and no buttstock sticking out. This is the ideal weapon for maneuverability.

+1


However, unless you get a Milsig line buttstock you have a great chance of experiencing “stock wobble”. Milsig stocks have a bracket that prevents this. Most a5 stocks will experience wobble which can usually be fixed with an added Oring. Because Milsig Specific stocks do not wobble I cannot punish them by reducing a point, it is not their job to ensure other companies stocks made for a different marker fit with no wobble, but I will keep this here to make buyers aware.



2/2

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This marker is built upon the single tube blow back engine, which is legendary for low maintenance. The noted self cleaning feature and ability to remove the detent for cleaning without opening the clam shell give it a bit of a heads up on similar markers (ie tippman 98,a5)

+1

The only plastic pieces on this marker are the Grips, detent plate, and charging handle. Even the trigger guard has been upgraded to metal (my t68’s trigger guard broke off like nothing). As I previously stated should you chose to use the hopper adapter even that too has been upgraded into a higher quality plastic.

+1


2/2

Conclusion:

The milsig has improvements on its predecessors (t68 for one) and its fellow single tube blow backs (tippmann). It is a step in the next direction of evolution for both scenario and recreational play. The milsig has something to offer to almost any walk of paintballer. While the magazine fed feature is not for everyone, it caters to a select group of players who have been more or less shunned over the years. Having the option to have a self contained paintball marker requiring no hopper and no large tank via a remote line makes this a very unique addition to the scenario world. If the magazine fed paintball Sniper rifle did not exist before, it does now, and its name is Milsig.




Rating:
9 out of 10

2 comments:

  1. Should I get the k-series basic or a tippman gun?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Do you want mag fed or hopper fed? that is where you will find your answer.

    ReplyDelete