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pbReview.com / PMI Piranha STS 2K3 / PMI Piranha STS 2K3 / PMI Piranha STS 2K3 / PMI Piranha STS 2K3
PMI Piranha STS 2K3 Reviews
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Number of Reviews: |
53 |
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Average Rating: |
6.5 / 10 |
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Manufacturer Website: |
Click here |
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Suggested Retail Price: |
$150 |
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Once again, Piranha tops their own act; the new STS 2K3 is one of the most gracefully designed guns we've ever seen. From the custom milling to the ergonomic grip to the stylish sight rail, this gun could bring a smile to a three-day dead man's face.
Features include: 2K3 body style
Flush cocking bolt system
Optimized pressure chamber
PMI locking velocity adjust knob
PMI raised sight rail
PMI stainless steel valve
PMI venturi bolt
PMI high performance ported barrel
PMI gas-thru foregrip
PMI 10 degree bottomline adapter
Double trigger frame
Tool-less field stripping
One-year manufacturer's warranty
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| Product Availability | |
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| The PMI Piranha STS 2K3 is older, so while it may be available used and in a few cases new, it is not commonly available anymore. |
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| Places to Buy | |
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Period of
Product Use: |
| 3 months | 8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Paintball
Experience: |
3 years |
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Similar
Products Used: |
Tippmann 98, ICD Thundercat, GT commando 2, Spyder compact. All the guns I've listed worked good for me but the Piranha Has the EDGE. LOOKS< PRICE<and works Great for woods and ****Speedball****. THis joker is fine!!! |
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| Marker Setup: |
shocker turbo Primary gun, 2k3 Piranha STS with Freak Junior, Ricochet AK, STO Drop, Pro Grip Frame, Bob Long Torpedo Regulator, 32 Degrees turbo valve with max flow valve pin and shock tech low pressure air chamber. |
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Recommended
Upgrades: |
All I stated above, But stock gun works Very Very well right out of the box. I like to Tinker. |
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| Strengths: |
Beautiful, Light, very accurate. Great Trigger very light and fast. DEPENDABLE easy to fieldstrip. |
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| Weaknesses: |
I really don't like the looks and feel of the Stock Grip Frame. (Plastic) |
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| Review: |
Very sweet shooter, with Regulator and Modifications it's up there with my shocker and it cost MUCH more. With the Added turbo valve and regulator it operates at 300 Psi to get 285 Fps excellent for a 130.00 gun I also think the stock barrel is nice. This gun shoots really fast, Looks are above Par and Quality are out standing. The action is quiet and super smooth during rapid fire (Internal parts are Teflon Coated) and kick back is very light this will allow you more of a stable platform for accuracy and much higher eliminations. The vertical feed is really nice Kinda hard to out shoot and it's removable. I've owned several Blowbacks but this has to be my favorite paintball gun for the price by far. It uses Spyder barrel threads. Fit and finish are fantastic I could rave all night about the gun but I think you get my point. Oh yea you will need a Electric hopper when you get the feel of the trigger cause this gun will scream. TO prevent shootdown during rapid fire using C02 I HIGHLY RECOMEND A ANTISIPHON TANK!!!!! If you have a tank buy a Antisiphon Kit for 6.00. Perfect for SpeedBall/Hyperball. A super contender in woods too. NOTE: The 32 Degrees Magnaport Turbo Valve is not a drop in part. I had to drill the valve set screw hole (on the valve) to get the set screw to fit in order to put the grip frame back on. The Valve itself was a Very Very tight fit if you install the turbo valve make sure you don't nick up the O-rings. PMI sells a nice Drop in Turbo Valve that you will not have to modify. |
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| Conclusion: |
Price wise you won't find a better value than the Piranha 2k3 STS right out of the box. It's a cool gun all around. I would give it a ten if it came with Auminum grip frame But, again the stock one rocks too. buy it !! you will be very Pleased at the way it Performs, Accurate, balanced, value and great looks all in one Purchase. Sweet deal!!!!! |
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| Rating: |
| 9 out of 10 | Last edited on Saturday, May 31st, 2003 at 5:49 pm PST |
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The accuracy of this review is disputed. Please see discussion on the comments page.
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Period of
Product Use: |
| 1 year | 6 of 13 people found this review helpful.
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Paintball
Experience: |
2 years |
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Similar
Products Used: |
Tippmanns, autocockers, spyders, impy < all better. heck i would rather use a brass eagle. |
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| Marker Setup: |
Tippmann A-5, N2, more upgrades to come |
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Recommended
Upgrades: |
NOTHING. Do not waste any money on this marker. You cannot do anything to improve it. |
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| Strengths: |
Cheap, looks, quiet, easy to strip (you will have to do it alot). |
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| Weaknesses: |
In one word....UNRELIABLE! Ohhhh the headaches... |
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| Review: |
I got it for 150 online which I dont not suggest. The place I got it from sold me a factory rebuilt gun with old parts WHICH THEY DID NOT INFORM ME OF PRIOR TO PURCHASE. Neither the webisite's or PMI's customer service was very helpful. When I first got it, I had the recocking and low velocity problem ,which many owners have encountered,and no one could fix it (store owners, airsmiths, PMI). PMI did rebuild all of the internals (which didnt really help at all) and gave me a special O ring for the hammer which helped some but I needed a new high velocity spring and a flush cocking bolt to remedy the problem bc the stock one was horrid (along with the barrell but what stock isn't horrid) and came with the wrong O rings on it. But the fun isn't over yet. I got this gun in June of 2003, it is now March of 2004. I used it twice every week over the summer and regularly while I am at school. This gun worked flawlessly for 2 days in June. Though it now cocks properly, the gun breaks any kind of paint I use (i dont spend less than 60 bucks on a case). I take immaculate care of this gun and it repays me by breaking paint while I am at the chrono at an amazing 130fps!!! Also the low pressure chamber leaked every so often. I would replace the o ring and it would happen again. It did this till i upgraded to nitro. Ok could go on and on but you get the idea...If you buy this gun after my review you deserve the punishment you are in for. |
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| Conclusion: |
DO NOT BUY UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! If you bought it like I did then get rid of it (sell it, shoot it with a rifle, smelt it and make a better gun). If you are looking at "cheap" guns there are some solid choices like custom 98's. Browse this site for ideas. You are basically paying PMI 150+ dollars of your money so that they can torture you, but I dont know you might be into that sort of thing. |
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| Rating: |
| 1 out of 10 | Last edited on Sunday, March 28th, 2004 at 6:10 pm PST |
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Period of
Product Use: |
| 1 year | 4 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Paintball
Experience: |
2 years |
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Similar
Products Used: |
98 custom- about even except 98 has worse barrel
Dragun TES- 10000000 times better |
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| Marker Setup: |
Black/Blue Dragun TES
12 inch Smart Parts Progressive Barrel
Empire Reloader
Pure Energy 48/3000 Nitro Tank |
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Recommended
Upgrades: |
an electronic hopper, new barrel if you want one( not all that necessary) |
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| Strengths: |
See review body |
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| Weaknesses: |
See review body |
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| Review: |
Good
Fast for a blow back, 10bps
Light like a feather
Titanium color is sick
Internal Bolt action, no beavertail needed
Great customer service, replaced my bad main spring for free, no questions asked
Bad
Most of the 2k3 modles had bad springs, i got myne replaced for free from PMI
Velocity is horribly inconsistant
Gun had trouble recocking
Chops balls when low on co2 |
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| Conclusion: |
Recocking can be a pain but other than that the gun is really great for the price |
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| Rating: |
| 8 out of 10 | Last edited on Sunday, March 13th, 2005 at 6:51 am PST |
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jfg25 |
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Tuesday, December 23rd, 2003 |
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Period of
Product Use: |
| Less than a month | 3 of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Paintball
Experience: |
More than 5 years |
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Similar
Products Used: |
F4 Illustrator
Electra DX |
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| Marker Setup: |
ACI 6 Chamber X-pand
14" Dye Barrel
Spring Kit |
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Recommended
Upgrades: |
Spring Kit
Barrel |
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| Strengths: |
Looks |
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| Weaknesses: |
Springs
Chopps Balls
Doesnt recock as shipped
Vertical feed -- > feeds poorly
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| Review: |
I purchased this gun because I had a friend with an older piranha and he was very satisfied, and I liked the looks. When I first got the gun I fired some rounds through it indoors at about 40 feet and it did ok. Sometimes it wouldn’t recock. I increased the velocity, which still appeared to be slow (I didn’t have a crono, I'm just judging by eye), and it would recock most of the time. I replaced the spring with a stock spyder spring and it recocked every time.
The first day I went to play with the gun it did horrible off the bat. It chopped balls fired blanks and had recocking issues. The gun would not stop chopping. I was using PMI premium balls which are the best for the price. stripped the gun, cleaned it and oiled it. I fired again and again it chopped balls. I tried everything. I figured it had to do with the fact that the balls weren't feeding correctly. Later I noticed how the balls will tend to swirl around the vertical feed instead of dropping straight down. I think this is due possibly to the type of finish the gun has. The balls seem to have more friction in contact with the paint used on this gun then if it was anodized. I did an unscientific test by dragging balls across the paint of my gun and that of my anodized F4, and the balls progress was restricted by the paint on my STS more than that of my F4. It really made me angry that the gun performed so well inside and then so poorly outside. I didnt understand why. The temperature was above 60 degrees and out of 14 people I was the only one with this issue. We all were shooting CO2 and the guns included my backup (the F4), Electra DX, Elextra, Spyder TL, Tippman 98, and some others that I didn’t recognize
I called PMI and got a serious attitude from the customer service rep. He had all the anwsers before I asked the questions. After I established that I was not a brainless human being we had a serious talk about the gun. He blamed the spring and seal combination on the hammer and the feeder I was using. He also told me the gun was made to run at low pressure. SHOW ME AN ADVERTISEMENT THAT SAYS THIS GUN IS LOW PRESSURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I would fire everyone of the marketing "specialists" at PMI if I were them. I was told because it was low pressure the gun had less kick and it would have problems with a gravity feeder. AGAIN, SHOW ME WERE PMI SUGGESTS THE USE OF A BATTERY OPERATED FEEDER FOR THIS GUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think the gun feeds poorly down the vertical feed. I purchased another gun after this experience and it has about the same amount of kick with the same feeder and no missed shots! So after all this I agreed to have an o-ring and springs shipped to me and give the gun another shot.
I tested the gun by firing it constantly for about 400 shots without the balls, to the point the barrel was frosted, and it still fired and recocked.
The second attempt at play was just as bad as the first. I chopped balls as if the gun had been an abused child and it was getting back at the world. Ah ha! I said, as I found the broken o-ring on the bolt. I thought this was the solution to all my problems. I quickly replaced the o-ring in anticipation that the gun would finally work.... but you guessed it......choppidy chop chop chop.
So I got rid of the gun but not before I tested it again in doors and it fired perfectly. #@$*#&#%*#%^*^$*!!!!!!
I bought a ELECTRA DX, because it performed the best out of the guns I've seen fired under all sorts of conditions. The electronics didn’t hold up for more than 30 shots but when I called kingman they said to send it too them and they'll replace it. They didn’t give me excuses or treat me poorly. When I play a few games with it I'll write a review.....
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| Conclusion: |
PMI Paintballs --- A+
PMI Piranha sts 2k3 ---- D-
PMI Customer Service ---- D+
PMI Marketing ---- F
Piranha looks ---- A+
Enless you wish to subject yourself to frustration or take a gamble that the reviews are wrong, don't buy this gun. It's a good attempt to make a great gun, but as with the support and marketing at PMI I give this gun a total rating of 2. I would have given it 1, but it does work well indoors, to bad I tend to play outdoors.
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| Rating: |
| 2 out of 10 | Last edited on Thursday, July 15th, 2004 at 9:46 pm PST |
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Period of
Product Use: |
| Less than a month | 3 of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Paintball
Experience: |
More than 5 years |
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Similar
Products Used: |
Piranha G3 Bottom Line. I've also used Tippman 98Cs and Tippman A5s. |
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| Marker Setup: |
This marker was always stock |
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Recommended
Upgrades: |
None, it never worked well enough for me to want to upgrade it. |
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| Strengths: |
It's cool looking and inexpensive |
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| Weaknesses: |
Mine never worked right. Piranha wouldn't give me the time of day. |
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| Review: |
I bought this marker for my daughter. She loved the looks and titanium color. It is a slick looking marker. Too bad it didn't work right.
We fired a couple of hoppers of paint through the marker on a couple of different days. All seemed well. After playing for less than an hour on the field, It started to burp CO2 and fail to recock, even with a full bottle on it.
Being brand new, I called Piranha to see what I should do. I e-mailed Piranha. No reply whatsoever. I took it back to the store. They replaced everything they could inside the marker, but it would not shoot right for more than a couple of minutes. They declared it a lemon and let me trade it in for a new marker. I got my daughter a Tippmann 98C.
While the PB store was working on this STS, they loaned us one, new, right out of the box. That one chopped and jammed paint like crazy. It wouldn't go through more than 10 minutes of shooting before it would jam the bolt on a ball or chop it. Needless to say there will be no more Piranhas at our house. |
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| Conclusion: |
I won't buy another Piranha after having this one. My son has a G3 Bottom Line that works great, but I'm starting to think that one's a fluke. The STS is a great looking marker, but after reading the negative reviews here and having my own experience, I'd definetly pass on it. Having a cool looking marker is great, but when it won't work right, what's the point? |
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| Rating: |
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Lobot |
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Monday, October 20th, 2003 |
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Period of
Product Use: |
| 3 months | 3 of 8 people found this review helpful.
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Paintball
Experience: |
More than 5 years |
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Similar
Products Used: |
Spyder XTRA is cheaper, worked great out of the box and has never had a problem |
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| Marker Setup: |
AutoCocker99, OTP barrel system |
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Recommended
Upgrades: |
the best upgrade for a STS 2K3 is an eBay account so you can get rid of the thing |
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| Strengths: |
If you get a working one, it's fine, light and fairly accurate. |
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| Weaknesses: |
The one I got never, ever worked. Quality control at PMI blows. |
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| Review: |
I ordered the titanium STS 2K3. It never got me through a day of play. It wouldn't shoot above 220 out of the box and in the same day proceeded to fall below 100 on its own.
I tried jamming in extra spring chunks to get it up to speed but even if I got it to 280, it would quickly drop 100 fps after about 100 shots. The guys at PMI had a different excuse every time I called them. "Buy the red spring." "Change the lube you're using." "Change o-rings." "Get an anti-syphon in your bottle." I did all of these things. Nothing improved the gun's performance. This went on for weeks as I live in the city and could only get out to the field to shoot the thing on weekends. Finally I just sent the thing in. Even in trying to get a return authorization they were still trying to tell me that perhaps I was playing in too hot weather conditions (gimme a break). So I finally got my (hopefully repaired) gun back and what do I get? Some beat up old STS covered in dings and scratches. Not my original gun at all. The thing they sent me even had one of the Piranha symbols torn away from the side with just the cruddy sticker residue left behind. I'd already gotten a Spyder XTRA as my backup gun so I threw this STS on eBay. It's really lame to buy a new gun and send it in for a warranty repair and have them just send you back some crappy shop beater they've all been messing around with. There was absolutely no explanation, but clearly whatever defect my original gun had was not repairable. |
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| Conclusion: |
If you got a working STS 2k3, lucky you, but if you're looking around for a gun to purchase new - there are much safer (and cheaper) bets than dealing with the crap from PMI. |
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| Rating: |
| 1 out of 10 | Last edited on Tuesday, October 21st, 2003 at 1:00 pm PST |
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Period of
Product Use: |
| 1 year | 2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Paintball
Experience: |
1 year |
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Similar
Products Used: |
sabotage |
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| Marker Setup: |
14" all american barrel, 2k3 sts |
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Recommended
Upgrades: |
maybe a new barrel(even though this barrel is already pretty good) |
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| Strengths: |
doesn't break balls,not to loud,GREAT accuracy, doesn't spray or leak co2 |
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| Weaknesses: |
my hammer spring was apparently cut |
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| Review: |
this was an awesome gun it shot really straight, a guy at a field showed me how fast he could shoot my gun( HE shot 14 balls in a second) (out of the box) the gun weighs about 2 pounds and 11 ounces. not very big so you can cover it up easily.
so far i shot about 1000 balls and so far only one broke. unlike the sabotage which broke 1/4 of my balls at the field. i recommend this gun for beginners up to young pros.
it's a beautiful gun, and you'll love it. (my mom and dad even liked how it shot...they shot it at the target range)
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becuase my spring was cut short it only shot to a maximum of 225 |
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| Conclusion: |
i love this gun, and so will you.this gun is so cool. and uhh BUY IT.!
-1 point cause of srping |
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| Rating: |
| 9 out of 10 | Last edited on Thursday, February 12th, 2004 at 11:01 pm PST |
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Period of
Product Use: |
| Only tested | 2 of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Paintball
Experience: |
2 years |
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Similar
Products Used: |
Tippmann Custom 98 and Automag "just base model". |
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| Marker Setup: |
The 2k3 was just stock with a 12oz and 9vlt hoper.. But my marker is a Tippmann Custom 98 w/ 14' Teardrop Barrel. |
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Recommended
Upgrades: |
Dont get this marker period! |
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| Strengths: |
It looks cool, Easy to take apart. |
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| Weaknesses: |
Came with wrong o-ring. Jams, chops, stock barrel. |
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| Review: |
First off, It came with the wrong o-ring, and aparently this was a problom on all the first few shippments of 2k3s. The gun jams all the time and it seems like even if you were to place it in an icolated invirement it would still fill with dirt. The marker chops balls like nother I have ever seen, even at slow ROF a ball would still pop every now and then. And yes, the paint did fit the barrel. I felt sorry for the true owner of this gun, after every game he had to pull out and have the field owner check his gun over because it stopped funtioning. The owner couldnt figure it out either. |
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| Conclusion: |
Just dont buy this. I honestly would recamend you get a older piranha, or something like a spyder shutter or tl plus. Nothing against Piranha they do make some nice markers, but this wasnt one of them. |
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| Rating: |
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Period of
Product Use: |
| 3 months | 1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Paintball
Experience: |
4 years |
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Similar
Products Used: |
Spyder X tra , Indian Creek B2K4 |
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| Marker Setup: |
Piranha STS 2K3
14 inch smart parts teardrop barrel ( chrome )
chrome pmi e force e trigger |
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Recommended
Upgrades: |
Barrel ( not needed stock barrel is great)
Electronic Triggger |
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| Strengths: |
Accuracy, Fast , not loud , cheap |
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| Weaknesses: |
No hoppers fit in the feed neck it is too big |
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| Review: |
Very sharp shooter and the price is great......added upgrades put it up there with the ions and indians creeks,if you want to shoot faster add the e force trigger and a electronic hopper and a turbo regulator valve.GREAT GUN ......if you add that stuff you will be shooting like a pro it is a great gun with a great price..the only problem is the feed neck that is to big and you need to put tape on the bottom of your hopper for it to fit. |
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| Conclusion: |
This is a great gun for begginers and experts its cheap accurate and the stock triger on it is very good. I RECOMMEND THIS GUN!! |
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| Rating: |
| 9 out of 10 | Last edited on Thursday, May 25th, 2006 at 12:41 pm PST |
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Period of
Product Use: |
| Less than a month | 1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Paintball
Experience: |
6 months |
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Similar
Products Used: |
Field markers, mostly older Piranhas and I would say they are the same compared to the STS 2k3 except for looks. |
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| Marker Setup: |
Piranha STS 2k3, AA 14' Barrel, Shocktech Long Drop w/ CP on/off ASA, Pure Energy 68/4500 |
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Recommended
Upgrades: |
Barrel although the stock is alright but for close range ... A NEW spring for the hammer because it only chrono'd between 185-190 fps, exactly the same as the field markers chronod at..... Feed tube because mine BROKE...... |
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| Strengths: |
Field Stripping very quick and easy. Body style, and flush cocking. |
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| Weaknesses: |
Stock hammer spring is horrible..THE FEED TUBE IS TERRIBLE... |
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| Review: |
As for being my first marker, when I first got it, I was happy. I took it out to my brother's back yard and started shooting, and it was very good. I felt comfortable with the gun and it had very little kick and was fairly quiet. I tried out the stock barrel, and it wasn't bad, but at long distance I could tell the difference compared to my All American. But I didn't realize that the velocity was low because I couldn't chrono it. Once I took it out for a day at my local field, all went well at first, but then at noon, I chrono'd it along side with my friends Piranha field marker and my velocity was 150 compared to his 180. I was shocked, then I removed the screw on the velocity adjuster and turned the thing all the way in. It chrono'd at a low of 185 to a high of 190. WHAT???? I thought there was something wrong with the gun. Then a little while later, I set the gun down. To my surprise the feed tube completely broke off, leaving the thread in the body with no way of getting it out. The feed tube was also stock on my hopper and needed some serious work to just get it off. So it was a horrible experience of the day. I couldn't even keep up with the velocity of some ZAP guns that a couple of people used. I called PMI and they said that they would get to me a new body as well as one of their Blue springs. So hopefully this will fix it. |
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| Conclusion: |
I would recommend this product to a beginner, but just be aware that the stock feed tube might rip off, so get a better feed tube. And remember that you have a 1 year warranty from PMI. USE IT IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG. They will take care of you. This was comforting to know. And also, check the velocity of the gun and if you don't like it call PMI, they will send you a new spring for free. People have had the same problems as me also. I like the gun, and the new style. And I've heard that it can be setup to be a very efficient gun which leads to low pressure. I give it a 6 because of the problems that I experienced and because of PMI support. Without the support, I would have just given it a 3. I've now turned to my new love AUTOCOCKERS..... |
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| Rating: |
| 6 out of 10 | Last edited on Saturday, August 23rd, 2003 at 7:17 pm PST |
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