TL-X features:
Semi-automatic
Sleek,custom design receiver
Super light trigger pull
Anit-double feed
Expansion chamber with fore grip
Tournament velocity adjuster
Vertical ball feed
Drop foward
Quick disconnect pin
Bottom line set up with stainless steel hose
New two trigger finger with regulation trigger guard
Operates on co2 or compressed air
12" aluminum barrel
Product Availability
The Kingman Spyder TL-X is older, so while it may be available used and in a few cases new, it is not commonly available anymore.
A recommended upgrade for this gun would be the Kingman Spyder ESP Trigger Frames with CAMD
Strengths:
-Good accuracy
-Light
-Great response time
-Double finger trigger
Weaknesses:
-Trigger frame grip can get uncomfortable
Review:
The Spyder TL-X is one of the best beginner paintball guns I have ever used in the six years I have played paintball. The accuracy on this gun is incredible for a beginner gun. This gun is also amazingly affordable. The paint job on this gun is also nice. In the past year I have been using this paintball gun (almost every other weekend) I have only broken about 3 paintballs if not LESS! If this gun were to break on me which it has never before I would still buy it again.
Conclusion:
If you are just starting paintball do'nt waist your money on a very expensive gun instead by this affordable gun that works great!
Tippman 98's, other low end spyders: compacts, xtras etc.
Marker Setup:
-Spyder TL-X
-Smart Parts 14" Tear Drop
-Shocktech LPC
-Empire Reloader
-20oz CO2
Recommended Upgrades:
-Stock barrel is decent, but an after-market is much much better. (I recommend the tear drop, cheap and accurate)
-Get an electric hopper to reduce chopping
-E-grip? ($$$)
The bright blue color of the gun sticks out like a sore thumb
Review:
I bought the TL-X because I wanted a reliable and cheap gun for woodsball and it had an enclosed bolt so no dirt can get in there (unlike the Victor's, Xtra, Shutter, Rodeo etc.), and this gun by far has exceeded all my requirements and expectations. I purchased the gun in early December so I have not yet played in warm weather, and I am running CO2 so the stock barrel wasn't hitting every mark, but hey it's stock, so I upgraded to a tear drop and it improved accuracy but still in 30 degree weather, you are not going to have 100% accuracy. The first time I have used it for an all day game was on Christmas weekend, in 30 degree weather, and this gun did not chop once!! Went through over 1200 balls, with some warped due to the cold and not a one chop! My friends tippman 98 was chopping occasionally, and my other friends Xtra's and Victor II's were chopping like crazy!!! The empire reloader I believe helped in the no chops, but even when not using the electric hopper in previous games in cold weather I have still yet to have a chopped ball. It performs perfectly and isn't a gas hog, my TL-X lasted noticeably longer on a 20oz than the Xtra's, tippman 98's and others on the field.
-----I have now been through 4000 balls, no chops. I am very happy with it's performance.
Conclusion:
I was highly impressed by this marker, the quality is great and it is a highly reliable gun. I would recommend to anyone who wants a cheap, reliable marker, got mine for $85 and have since seen it online for $79. Don't listen to those people who say to get the Xtra, definitely go with the TL-X, it is hands down a better marker for only 5 dollars more.
Rating:
10 out of 10
Last edited on Monday, January 31st, 2005 at 9:58 pm PST
Spyder Imagine, Piranha EXT PRO G3, Spyder Xtra, Spyder E99
Marker Setup:
Spyder TL-X
Pure Energy 20 Oz tank
14" PMI Razzor barrel
200 round PMI hopper
Smart Parts 2-tone grips
Recommended Upgrades:
I would recommend that you get a longer barrel, the stock 12" is okay, but sucks at long range. ***EDIT***
I'm going to be buying an electro trigger soon, should have bought an e-marker in the first place, but learn from your mistakes, I guess, and I figure that if i have the trigger, i should have the loader. CHACHING!
Strengths:
Stock barrel, gas efficiency, top-cocking bolt. And It's a Spyder!
Weaknesses:
See below for one, tiny, barely worth-while complaint.
Review:
This gun is awesome for the money. It fires fast, smooth trigger pull, and it never chops a ball, unless the guys your playing against shoot right down your barrel. (honest, it happened, I had his paint on my bolt.) But when I shot my friends e-marker, i chopped 2 balls at once, on semi-auto, I'm sure a electric hopper would help that, but I wasn't firing that fast. Also, my local pro shop trusted this gun enough to buy hundreds of them for rentals, so I really think that it is a well-worth-the-money gun.
My only complaint about this gun, this is gonna sound wierd as a complaint; is that I have become so used to this gun, and now I fire faster than a gravity-feed hopper, so I'm going to buy an elctro hopper, this is only a bad thing if your not willing to spend the money on a hopper, but of course, you want a gun that fires fast, and until I can save the dough for an electro loader, I just slow down my shots a little.
***EDIT***
I would, however, recommend buying an electro hopper, that is my next planned purchase. Because somehow (don't ask me how) I am able to shoot faster than the feed rate of a gravity-fed hopper, because I chopped a ball or two. but I am sure a new hopper would reverse that effect. And I'm also going to be buying a kingman electro frame , with the CAMD. The nice thing about this gun, and all other spyders, is that it is so easy to upgrade, anything can be added, clamping feeds, triggers, grips, barrels. I guess thats what you get when you buy a Spyer, quality. (No I was not payed to write this review, but if anyone from kingman reads this, give me an email) =)
Conclusion:
If you want a great all-around gun that won't break the bank,goes easy on CO2, and is easily upgradeable, get the TL-X.
Rating:
9 out of 10
Last edited on Tuesday, December 7th, 2004 at 8:11 pm PST
While I am new to paintball, I have played before and have a relatively good idea of what's what with my marker. The first thing I would like to point out is the weight, my only issue with the gun. It is a bit heavy which can be tiring if you are walking to and from places and even using it in a match. My recommondation is to use a harness to take off some of the weight. Other then that I absolutely love my Spyder. I have had friends play with them and have had nothing but praise for it. I found it affordable, only $160 in a package deal, with everything to just jump in. Playing with it was a real treat, even with the stock barrel it was accurate for up to about 40-50 yards. It was a windy day and the wind was catching alot of paintballs, but I'm confident it can be even more accurate in favorable conditions. It's not too loud either, the stock barrel is nice and light but durable. You can just tell it's durable by holding it and looking it over. And it doesn't chop balls like I've seen with other markers. I had one chop out of five-hundred. Even then, there wasn't globs of paint in the barrel so it didn't clog and kept shooting perfectly. It was also a cold day out so that could have contributed to the chop, I'm not really sure but either way the gun still worked after the chop. And probably one of the best features is the double-trigger that comes with it. I do believe there are two different paint styles for it though since my TL-X actually has that very dark blue-black the TL-R has. So mine doesn't stand out like a beacon of light while playing. I highly recommend this marker since there are only one or two minor issues that people may have. Definately the perfect starter or even for the more advanced players. It doesn't get much more reliable then this.
EDIT: After a few more games I have to address the weight issue again. It still gets tiring holding it for long periods of time but I think the main factor is really the grips. They're hard plastic and kind of large, I feel that if you changed the grips the weight wouldn't seem as bad because the comfort level would have been adjusted. I think that's the best course of action since if you're uncomfortable holding it, it'll feel a bit heavy or just plain tiresome.
But the best thing I just found out about the TL-X is that it can run on either CO2 or Nitrogen. My suggestion though is to either run one or the other, since CO2 has been known to damage a marker. If you want it to run better and hopefully longer, run it on Nitrogen; but you do run into price. If it's a starter marker stick with the CO2, if you plan to use this for a while or you have the cash, run the Nitrogen. Check the website for some more information or even email the company. I have to raise the rating after learning it runs nitrogen.
Conclusion:
This is the perfect gun for anyone starting out or playing for a long while. Durable, accurate, and overall reliable. Especially in colder conditions. It has a nice feel to it, the only issue is the weight which can easily be fixed with a harness. It is also very accurate right off and doesn't chop like I've seen with other guns. The barrel inside is nice and smooth, no grooves or divets around the vent holes so the only breaks that should occur are with using cheap paintballs. I recommend the Draxxus Dusk to use with this marker. Don't use Zap, I saw more Zap paintballs get chopped by my friends in one day then I have ever seen before.
Rating:
10 out of 10
Last edited on Friday, December 9th, 2005 at 8:29 pm PST
Vl200 hopper (the hopper that came with it broke)
pure energy 20oz
spyder tl-x stock
Recommended Upgrades:
Clamping feed neck
Electric hopper
Strengths:
Accuracy
range
looks
durable feel
barrel
Weaknesses:
High hopper profile, but can be fixed
Review:
I wanted to upgrade from my old zap zxs 400, and I wanted a marker that is faster and more reliable, so I was going to get the vl orion, but then I saw this thing, it has a regulater and a bunch of other extras.
This marker has very good range and accuracy, I can shoot 300+ feet with it. The marker looks and feels very durable, and I think it will be able to take a beating. The marker does have a rather large profile with the stock elbow, so I recommend getting a clamping one.
This marker looks very nice, it has a 12 inch barrel, a drop forwad, and is top cocking. The trigger frame is also very nice, and I can get up to 5+ bps with it.
This marker is awsome, and well worth the 130$ CND. So far I have shot 500 paintballs through it, and I have only chopped 1 ball because I went trigger happy, and I do not have an electric hopper. Overall great marker, worth every penny.
I have noticed some scratching on the bolt after 700 rounds, but that might be because I have not oiled it yet.
The paint that I have used with the marker are zap zxs rec series. They are awsome they are very accurate with the marker almost no curved shots; they break on target to. I have never chopped one yet. They are cheap and I recommend them, they are only 40$ CND for a case
***EDIT***
Jan 23, 2006
Yesterday I had a games agianst my brother and my friend and I beat them both. I had zero hits on me and I hit them three times. I put another 300 rounds through it so now I am around 1000 shots through it. It still preforms great, and it has not failed me.
April 18, 2006
I have shot around 2500 rounds through this marker, and i is still working great, i have not had it break down yet, it is great.
Conclusion:
If you have every tried the newer spyder xtra model, it is practically the same thing except it has a beaver tail. I have not found any weaknesses yet for this marker, and for the price its a 10.
Rating:
10 out of 10
Last edited on Thursday, January 18th, 2007 at 9:42 am PST
Great Looking
Affordable
Accurate
Not as loud as some guns
Sturdy
Upgrades
Weaknesses:
Bright (Only one Color)
Feed on top
Hopper sits really high
Review:
I played a lot of paintball 15 years ago. Only play woods/rec ball as it is described now. I bought a .68 Mag then and played with it for two years, was/is a great gun. So in saying that I'm used to sighting down the barrel and hitting what you shoot at, not firing 16rds per second until you hit something. (no offense)
Recently some friends and I went playing and decided to get into it a bit more. We're all married and have kids so cost was a big factor. After renting gun at the fields we really wanted something better then a rental guns so we started looking for the best value for money. After reading lots of review on guns we chose this one. The reviews posted here have been a big help so I thought I would add mine.
Everything worked great right out of the box. A couple of screws were loose but tightend up no problem. First thing I did was take it apart and check the inside. Breeze to take apart and clean.
It really is a beautiful marker. I was impressed with the look and feel. The grip seems a little weird at first but I think as I play with it more I will get used to it. I loaded up a few rounds and went out back with the J&J barrel and the thing was really accurate. The stock barrel seems to be pretty accurate to. The things we we're shooting at we're probably about 50-70 feet away.
Added: I've had this marker for 2 or three months now and I still am Loving it. I added a delrin bolt and switched to compressed air. I also swapped the standard drop for a large psycho ballistics large drop with an on/off. The new drop make the gun a lot tighter. Move the tank up under the gun and makes the gun more ballanced.
We played the week after christmas and I loved the gun, I didn't chop a ball, shot over 1,000 rounds that day. It was awsome! We played in the woods and I dropped this thing and banged it. No problems at all. Great gun. My friend w/ same marker put a 16" stiffi on his and the accuraccy was awesome!
None of the upgrades I made we're required, just wanted to do it for preferance so stock this is a great gun. Adding a few after market items....it plain rocks for the price.
Conclusion:
I will update this after I play with it some more. But from what I'm seeing for the money this is a great marker. Giving it a 9 due to the hopper sitting so high and on top of the gun. Thanks everyone for the reviews I'm very happy with this marker.
Rating:
9 out of 10
Last edited on Sunday, January 9th, 2005 at 9:59 am PST
i suggest getting a new barrel and possible a new hopper
Strengths:
Price
Reliability
Looks
Co2 efficient
Weaknesses:
None that i could find
Review:
I 1st bought this gun with a only a dream and a love for paintball (and not a lot of money) 2 weeks later i received it and every thing i needed to go out and paintball. once i had my Co2 filled i was ready. i took my TL-x out there on the speed ball Field and i did great. my 1st time in months i had played and i picked off 2 people. (they are teams of 20) so i was impressed by the performance. although i had shot all 200 paintballs in my hopper at those people i was still proud. thats when i figured out a more efficient way to nail people was a new barrel.
Conclusion:
I would recommend getting a new barrel and for you fast shooters a electric hopper but other than that it is what i had seen in my dream........
Smart parts SP-8 with sling, eyes, compressed air tank, eletric hopper
Recommended Upgrades:
I would try to look for a new feed neck one that you dont have to use a plastic straight one it would be nice, new grips, the stock grips feel awkward.
Strengths:
Durable easy to maintain, fix, upgrade ect.
Weaknesses:
A little overpriced get a used semi for less then 50 dollars
Review:
I have used this marker for 2.5 years never had any serious problems with it. which you cant, its a mechanical marker wich is easy to take apart so the worst thing that can happen is that a O-ring breaks. thats pretty much the worst thing that will happen... this will happen to all guns eventually only replaced my O-rings once because i thought maybe they should be replaced since I hadnt for a year of heavy use...for a semi automatic this is a very good gun....
Conclusion:
Dont buy it for more then 75$ because after playing with it for a while you'll want to upgrade but you cant upgrade this marker unless its a new compressed air tank or barrel...
Eradicator my old gun, Genesis 2, pirahna g2, spyder imagine, tippmann a-5, 98 custom.
Marker Setup:
Smart Parts ION
Back up:
Tl-x with C.A.M.D ESP E-frame, ACS DELRIN BOLT Custom Product One Piece 14" barrel, Riochet Ak hopper, CCM feed neck, and i run on a 20oz co2 tank
Recommended Upgrades:
barrel ( Stock barrel is not all that great)
Strengths:
Hardly Chops, accurate, shoots fast with e-frame, looks, well balanced, shoots far, gas efficient
Weaknesses:
Little loud
may chop bad(cheap) paint.
Hopper sits kinda high.
lobs after 65 ft.
Review:
Story Time-
I got this gun for like $110 at my local paintball store. Before I made any upgrades, when I went to go paintballing at the fields, this gun worked awsome! I never had to recock it. I just kept on shooting and shooting. Un like my eradicator which I had to recock a severel times and it chopped balls like crazy the Tl-x doesnt. Thats when I figured I should upgrade the tl-x to be an e-marker because since it hardly chops and I never have to recock the gun I put the C.A.M.D ESP FRAME on my tl-x. Now I can shoot like 14 bps and I can get three more modes of firing: auto, 3 burst, 6 burst including semi auto. one time i had only like 25% paintballs in my hopper. Me and some other guy and 3 more people where the last people on the field against 16 other players. most of them were trying to flank us from the trenches. Me and my partner were taking them out. I was taking care of the right trench my partner was taking out people who where hidding behind bunkers in the center 40. i was shooting out alot of people who went in the trench, they couldnt or didnt had a chance to flank us out. and since i only had like 25% paintballs in my hopper i couldnt shoot that fast with my e-frame so i had too shoot like 1 ball a second. I was suprised how accaurate my marker is even with the stock barrel. That game we won!
Performence-
This marker has good accuracy, i can hit a soda can from 40 feet away, and it shoots pretty far. But it lobs after 65 feet or so, to solve this problem it needs a N2 tank, a better barrel. these things should help the tl-x. that s what im going to do this summer hopfully is to get these upgrades. My tl-x shoots like a spyder pilot with the new C.A.M.D. Esp frame. I can pull off like 14bps. However, the Tl-x might chop balls if you use Bad paint or old paint. also if the Tl-x does chop balls, if paint gets on the bolt(s) the bolt wont recock fully, or if dust go's in the bolt, clean the bolts and oil the orings a little bit to solve this problem. But if you use decent paint you shouldnt have a prob, if you use good paint the tl-x wont chop at all. This gun is very well balenced. I have no prob. walking the trigger. Like any other marker if you take care of your marker, your marker will take care of you. Thats why i take care of my marker.
Conclusion:
This is a great gun. If you want a great performing, upgradeble, good looking gun for $110 get this gun!
Rating:
10 out of 10
Last edited on Friday, June 2nd, 2006 at 7:54 pm PST
Affordable, reliable, and it looks pretty good too.
Weaknesses:
Cheap stock barrel.
Review:
I've been occasionally going paintballing for a few years now, but finally got into it more seriously this year and decided to pick up my own marker. A lot of the advice I was seeing was pointing me towards the Tippman 98's, but I was drawn to the lower price of the Spyder TL-X and Icon-Z.
After having tried out the 98 custom, I was more convinced than ever that I would be better suited buying a lower cost marker and putting the price difference into upgrades. I took my TL-X out only once with the stock barrel. Now I know that I shouldn't expect much from a stock barrel, especially on a gun this inexpensive. The stock barrel was a little loud, and naturally, a large bore to be able to use any and all paint. The addition of a 14" .689 bore barrel made a significant difference both in terms of noise and accuracy.
I also found a clamping feedneck from Lapco to be a nice addition, especially if you're wanting a lower profile on your gun. To be fair, the gun comes out of the box with a very functional vertical elbow that, when tightened, held my loader quite well.
As with most mechanical guns, the TL-X has a rather long trigger pull. While the gun is setup with a 2-finger trigger, I found this to be largely impractical as you cannot walk a trigger with this much travel. There was also a big of sideways slop on the trigger, but nothing major, especially on a gun in this price range.
After a few weekends of heavy speedball usage (approx. 8000 rnds through the gun), the stock metal bolt had some significant wear on it. The tutorial videos on Kingman's website which describe removal of the bolt say that it won't affect performance at all, but I still found it rather disconcerting. Replacing the metal bolt with a delrin one (I bought a Shocktech Superfly, but the Kingman ACS bolt is a nice alternative) both reduced my operating pressure (less gas use, less recoil, etc) and eliminated the wear problem. It also reduces the number of o-rings you'll have to maintain and eventually replace.
Conclusion:
Overall I'm quite happy with this gun. It is inexpensive, rugged and easy to maintain. For those just wanting a basic gun for some bush play or the odd round of speedball, its ready to go out of the box. A new barrel and possibly a delrin would are recommended, but certainly not essential. Due to its membership in the prolific Spyder family of markers, there are a large number of upgrades available for those wanting to get more out of it.
Rating:
8 out of 10
Last edited on Friday, October 15th, 2004 at 11:07 pm PST
