davidb
03-15-2001, 06:59 PM
This is a review of the Shutter from http://www.paintballguru.com It should give you a pretty good idea of what a deal the Shutter is.
Spyder Shutter
A year or more has passed since the Spyder Shutter took its place on the open paintball market. It began with just 2 colors to choose between, a nice hearty red, and a royal blue. It was tempting, an attractive Spyder? Couldn't be. I purchased one as the backup for my minimag, which proved to be useful, for my minimag would later break. For now, we delve into the Spyder Shutter.
The Rating
Comfort 3/5
aaaaaThe Shutter comes with a 45 grip frame, and also a vertical "gas thru" grip which supposedly has a small expansion chamber also. This is where I most usually hold the gun with my left hand, and it helps with stability and aim. The Shutter could indeed come with better grips. what comes are these pretty nasty hard plastic grips that look ok, but truly tear up your hand on a wet day. I would suggest considering new grips such as sticky's or hogues.
Ease of Use 4/5
aaaaaThe Shutter is field strippable. With a simple design, someone who can work under pressure with ease, is able to remove the bolt and fix a known problem, Kingman claims. The safety, is a solid feature that come standard on Spyders. Easily learned assembly, cleaning, and maitenence are also a plus.
Customization 3.5/5
aaaaaThe Shutter is a Spyder. Spyders are able to be upgraded quite a bit, but the performance change isn't too great. Paying for a quick trigger job, is definately worth it. In this way, the Shutter is able to get better performance out of simple after market products like a better barrel, and bolt, but that is pretty much the end of the road. Its design doesn't allow for too much other worthwhile modifications.
Kill index 3/5
aaaaaThe Shutter, being an open bolt gun, mainly run on c02, isn't the best for accuracy or for consistency. It has a semi-decent rate of fire, and is on its way to accuracy, but isn't close to the accuracy of a cocker or other guns of similar quality.
Value 3.5/5
aaaaaThe Shutter, has the same performance as any another Spyder. The only difference is the look. Kingman spent the extra time to do a bit of milling and also a bit of anodizing. You are paying for the look, not really the gun. That is where your extra 100 bucks are going. In this way, I don't believe it is the best of values.
Overall 3.4/5
Over View
The Spyder Shutter, stock, comes with a good many "options" that Kingman tries to disguise with fancy names. For example, the "Zerbra bolt", is nothing more than their stock bolt annodized blue with white lines on it. It was supposed to be the most advanced Spyder series marker that Kingman came out with at the time, but in reality, it was the same as the previous legends. Kingman was able to overcome their reputation of producing unattractive yet affordable guns, but their performance stayed the same.
Critique
The "new" options that are standard with the Shutter, and "new" from Kingman, are the Zebra Rear Cocking Bolt, and the new so called regulator that is attached to a small drop forward on the 45 grip frame. Aerospace Aluminum Barrel with Muzzle Brake, etc. The new bolt, it is truly a conspiracy. It doesn't do anything that the other bolts don't do, and it is anodized, but within the first day, the anodizing on the bolt will wear off. The regulator is pretty much a place where your c02 bottle can screw in. I had my reg looked at, and the o-rings inside came to my house messed up, so it did nothing anyways. The drop forward drops the reg and your c02 bottle only an inch or so forward, and brings it down an inch also. These features are unnecessary and overrated. They won't help the performance of the Shutter over the Spyders without these features.
Praise
Kingman has created a relatively inexpensive gun (in relation to the paintball world) that looks decent and performs up to standard with other Spyders. What I mean is, that it is a solid gun for the beginner to intermediate player, but after which, a more experienced player will want something with more consistency and more accuracy.
Kingman's simple design lets someone learn about the gun, in less than a day. Kingman offers the preinstalled beavertail/sight rail that helps protect you and your mask through compact combat. They made sure the gun's velocity can be adjusted externally. They were careful with this feature though, and inserted a screw that you can set, so that the gun doesn't by accident become "hot". These features add nicely to the guns attractiveness.
The barrel is "on its way" to being a decent barrel. It looks nicely with the gun, but in my opinion, the splashed 16 inch all American big daddy, matches the gun much more nicely. The powerfeed allows for paintballs to feed faster, for it acts as a relief valve in the breech. The powerfeed also has the normal feature of being able to stop paintballs from entering the breech.
Conclusion
This gun is a decent gun to play with. If you really are going to get into paintball, and this is your first gun, I would suggest one of the lower end Kingman Spyders, because the extra $100 is just not worth it.
-Walter
Spyder Shutter
A year or more has passed since the Spyder Shutter took its place on the open paintball market. It began with just 2 colors to choose between, a nice hearty red, and a royal blue. It was tempting, an attractive Spyder? Couldn't be. I purchased one as the backup for my minimag, which proved to be useful, for my minimag would later break. For now, we delve into the Spyder Shutter.
The Rating
Comfort 3/5
aaaaaThe Shutter comes with a 45 grip frame, and also a vertical "gas thru" grip which supposedly has a small expansion chamber also. This is where I most usually hold the gun with my left hand, and it helps with stability and aim. The Shutter could indeed come with better grips. what comes are these pretty nasty hard plastic grips that look ok, but truly tear up your hand on a wet day. I would suggest considering new grips such as sticky's or hogues.
Ease of Use 4/5
aaaaaThe Shutter is field strippable. With a simple design, someone who can work under pressure with ease, is able to remove the bolt and fix a known problem, Kingman claims. The safety, is a solid feature that come standard on Spyders. Easily learned assembly, cleaning, and maitenence are also a plus.
Customization 3.5/5
aaaaaThe Shutter is a Spyder. Spyders are able to be upgraded quite a bit, but the performance change isn't too great. Paying for a quick trigger job, is definately worth it. In this way, the Shutter is able to get better performance out of simple after market products like a better barrel, and bolt, but that is pretty much the end of the road. Its design doesn't allow for too much other worthwhile modifications.
Kill index 3/5
aaaaaThe Shutter, being an open bolt gun, mainly run on c02, isn't the best for accuracy or for consistency. It has a semi-decent rate of fire, and is on its way to accuracy, but isn't close to the accuracy of a cocker or other guns of similar quality.
Value 3.5/5
aaaaaThe Shutter, has the same performance as any another Spyder. The only difference is the look. Kingman spent the extra time to do a bit of milling and also a bit of anodizing. You are paying for the look, not really the gun. That is where your extra 100 bucks are going. In this way, I don't believe it is the best of values.
Overall 3.4/5
Over View
The Spyder Shutter, stock, comes with a good many "options" that Kingman tries to disguise with fancy names. For example, the "Zerbra bolt", is nothing more than their stock bolt annodized blue with white lines on it. It was supposed to be the most advanced Spyder series marker that Kingman came out with at the time, but in reality, it was the same as the previous legends. Kingman was able to overcome their reputation of producing unattractive yet affordable guns, but their performance stayed the same.
Critique
The "new" options that are standard with the Shutter, and "new" from Kingman, are the Zebra Rear Cocking Bolt, and the new so called regulator that is attached to a small drop forward on the 45 grip frame. Aerospace Aluminum Barrel with Muzzle Brake, etc. The new bolt, it is truly a conspiracy. It doesn't do anything that the other bolts don't do, and it is anodized, but within the first day, the anodizing on the bolt will wear off. The regulator is pretty much a place where your c02 bottle can screw in. I had my reg looked at, and the o-rings inside came to my house messed up, so it did nothing anyways. The drop forward drops the reg and your c02 bottle only an inch or so forward, and brings it down an inch also. These features are unnecessary and overrated. They won't help the performance of the Shutter over the Spyders without these features.
Praise
Kingman has created a relatively inexpensive gun (in relation to the paintball world) that looks decent and performs up to standard with other Spyders. What I mean is, that it is a solid gun for the beginner to intermediate player, but after which, a more experienced player will want something with more consistency and more accuracy.
Kingman's simple design lets someone learn about the gun, in less than a day. Kingman offers the preinstalled beavertail/sight rail that helps protect you and your mask through compact combat. They made sure the gun's velocity can be adjusted externally. They were careful with this feature though, and inserted a screw that you can set, so that the gun doesn't by accident become "hot". These features add nicely to the guns attractiveness.
The barrel is "on its way" to being a decent barrel. It looks nicely with the gun, but in my opinion, the splashed 16 inch all American big daddy, matches the gun much more nicely. The powerfeed allows for paintballs to feed faster, for it acts as a relief valve in the breech. The powerfeed also has the normal feature of being able to stop paintballs from entering the breech.
Conclusion
This gun is a decent gun to play with. If you really are going to get into paintball, and this is your first gun, I would suggest one of the lower end Kingman Spyders, because the extra $100 is just not worth it.
-Walter