ACI F4 Illustrator DX

[Impulse32]

Hows the ACI F4 Illustrator DX...is it any good...and is it worth the money...because im getting rid of my rebel and looking into a A-5,Marslt,and this...

[Calebd2]

No get a spyder, theres more upgrades and such...

[PaintballPimp01]

When people say Spyder, they mean Piranha... trust me. No metric threads, no money wasted on ugly adapters. Perform the same, and share alot of upgrades...

[Calebd2]

lol

Yes piranhas are good guns also

Practically the same as a spyder

But lets remember paintballpimp who is a copy off of who?

Get bourne in here, he'll tell you a thing or two about them

[PaintballPimp01]

I won't debate wether or not Piranhas are just copies of Spyders, or that Spyders are just copies of F1 Illustrators for that matter. I'm just saying that the little differences between the Spyder and Piranha are there for a reason...

I use to own a TL+ too, about 1.5 years ago. Spyders are great guns, but those 2 little things became a real hassle for upgrading. This is why I suggest a Piranha.

Calebd2, most guys would accuse me right away of being a Spyder basher. Thanks for being open-minded enough to leave it to discussion.

[Calebd2]

Yes I believe piranhas are great guns, just as I believe spyders are, whatever suits the user

[Mav]

Well I'll try and steer us back into the topic at hand, while the Spyder and Piranha are both fine markers, (trust me I enjoy them both) the original question was about the ACI F4 Illustrator DX edition... ;)

While I'm not sure if there still is a DX version in production (new models are the XP, BL, and TP) which cary several of the same features (the new TP is probably the closest).

The F4 is the run of the mill Blowback semi just like the Spyder and Piranha, however it's name is much easier to spell (joke) and it comes with a few features I found to be unique to this marker (at least at this price range, stock)

F4 BL-Stock F4, no real goodies just a bottomline that runs from the grip to the Vertical ASA (this is what I started with in '99)

F4 XP- Annoed up version of the Bl, with a two finger trigger standard and a *shiny* foregrip ;)

F4 TP:
Out of the box
- ACI has some of the finest anodizing around so you know it's got the looks to turn heads.
- Trigger pull is not exceptional, however at this level why would you need more than 7 bps? Slightly heavy etc
- Consistency, new seals worn in springs I shot a string of 262, 264, 262 just last week (Poor Paint, Bulldog II tank)
-Features:
-Single Finger Trigger
-*Totally enclosed cocking mechanism
-*Low pressure chamber (twenty dollars you wont be wasting later
-ACI 4x Expansion chamber, an excellent addition to any Co2 slinging gun.
- + All weather valve equal a gun that can take a lot of punishment from weather and co2 and keep ticking.
-Easy dissassembly

Afterwards (Aftermarket etc)
Barrels-
Anything (underline that) threaded for the F4/Griffin, Tippmann ProLite, ProCarbine, or A5
Internals-
Venturi bolt (if you like wasting money)
External-
Trigger Frame can be upped to the new Aluminum or Composite 2 Finger frames which can really lighten the feel of the trigger and give you an extra BPS or two. (P.S. most F4s are now comming with the new frames standard)
Standard duckbill and vertical ASA mean that you'll never have problems with tanks, foregrips, or drop forwards etc.

All in all the F4 may not have the same multitude of upgrades that its competitors do, but in my opinion many of the things folks throw out money for today aren't worthwhile. The F4 is a great gun out of the box that keeps on ticking years afterwards (4 Years with mine and the only maintenance I've done is cleaning, oiling, and annual replacement of o-rings along with my first set of new springs which I'm still working in). So if you want something you can gas up and shoot without having to worry about what Part X or Y you should buy next, go for the F4, I've never had a dissapointed reccomendation and at this "low-end" level, you can't do much better with your money.

Mav

(Hmm I wonder if ACI would pay me for these sale pitches, ah well I hope it helps!)

[imants_h]

Just wanted to add, that I just got into this sport about 3 months ago now, and I bought a used F4 with all sorts of stuff already on it for $150. (J&J ceramic barrel, WGP inline reg, Drop, grips, HVC, Venturi bolt) I have absolutely loved this gun. Given the opportunity to go back, I would still chose the f4. I did a lot of research before I bought my F4, including hangin out at the f4og site (f4og.com) but nothing proved the F4's worthiness more to me than firing 6 or 7 thousand balls through and breaking only 5 or 6 balls total.

Since buying my F4, 3 of my friends bought them as well, (used off of E-Bay). All of them work great without exception. I can't say enough about this marker... except that even in the event that I do move to an automag or cocker as my primary marker, I will never get rid of my F4.

-Imants