Tiberius T8.1

Upon opening the case for the Tiberius T8.1, you will be greeted with a sleekly designed marker that you would like to immediately use out on the field. The marker’s design is awesome. From the edges of the upper receiver to the roundness of the handgrip, there was no detail ignored. I honestly felt like I was an action hero once I started wielding this marker.

The first thing I noticed when I first held the marker is the weight. I did not like how heavy it was once the mag was inserted. The mags are made of metal so it adds to the weight. If you plan on buying more mags, be sure the extra weight won’t bog you down. I made the mistake of buying 8 mags, and I could not run as fast because they were bouncing up and down in the holsters while I was running, severely affecting my speed and agility when I wielded this gun. One way to solve this is by Only carrying 2-4mags and using paintball tubes to reload the mags with.
The marker is back heavy, since the weight of the mag adds to it. This helps with stability, I guess. One other problem I had with this is the fact that the handle is rounded to fit the magazine into it. My hands are not that big. It was just enough so that I did not have an awkward grip on the handle. But I did have to turn the marker to press the mag release button.

There’s an optional rail that you can attach at the bottom of the barrel so you can add a laser pointer or a flashlight if you want. It makes it look more intimidating, but I never really used it. Aesthetically speaking, I did not like the fact that the rail was not mounting on straight. It would leave a gap between it and the receiver it was mounting onto, which made it look a little off. And, if you’re utilizing a holster, the gun gets stuck every now and then when you draw it.

The marker’s safety is on the receiver and is easily adjusted by use of your index finger. I have no complaints about the safety.

Now for the barrel. The barrel is easily taken off by pushing it in and twisting it. It’s good for on the go maintenance. The only problem I had with this was the fact that the detents were attached to the barrel. When I put a swab through the barrel front, I broke the rubber detents. I had to buy new ones to replace the two detents I broke. So when you are running a swab through, make sure to run it from to the back to the front so the detents won’t get broken.

The magazines look well made and very detail oriented. I’m not sure what the indents on the side do, maybe to reduce the weight of it, but whatever. The magazine comes with regular springs when you receive them. It has optional First Strike springs that you can use when you purchase First Strike rounds. Keep in mind that the First Strike springs are painted red and will most likely pop regular paintballs are they are fed into the gun’s chamber since the springs are a little stronger. You can replace the springs by opening the bottom of the mag and switching them out.
The backside of the mag has the chamber to put in the CO2 cartridges in. You can puncture the cartridge by twisting the half-moon shaped knob at the bottom. The mag will be a little harder to seat into the magazine well when it’s aired up since the air pressure will try to push back against the puncturing needle located in the gun. When you press the mag release button, you will hear a small amount of air come out and it will help push the magazine out. That feature is pretty cool because you do not need to worry about it getting stuck in there. The only time that this small air push will not happen is if you run out of air.

As far as using the gun out in the field, it was a great experience. Sure there were problems when I used the rail once (it got stuck a couple times when I was drawing it), but all in all, the gun performed well. It’s accurate enough if you have decent paintballs loaded and it never chopped a ball on me. With First Strike rounds, it’s deadly accurate. The iron sights work well enough to place the FS round right where you want it. All you have to do is arc it.

Reloading is a breeze. Once you run out of paint in the mag, you have two options if you have the equipment for both. One is to eject the mag, let it hit the ground and insert a new mag OR eject the mag, get a tube of 8 rounds and dump it in, then replace the mag into the well. The latter will be more efficient when it comes to air since you will be utilizing the same magazine. I’ve never had a problem reloading this gun. The magazines are durable enough to be dropped from 5 feet without breaking.

Dual wielding is also good with this gun since you can puncture the mags before the game starts, unload on your opponents, drop the mags, reload and get back into the fight. The only limitation you have is the amount of magazines you are carrying. With two pistols, your movements are somewhat hindered. I know I would think twice about diving or rolling with the pistols and the mags on me. The metal mags or even the markers are guaranteed to give you some kind of injury when you hit the ground wrong. So just be careful not to apply too much gun-kung-fu.

All in all the T8.1 does not disappoint. It does its job. And you look cool with it. It's a great feeling when you eliminate someone who has been dumping over a hundred rounds on you and you only use 2 shots.

But if you want a marker that is reliable and will do its job as a pistol, this is one of those pistols. It’s sleek, accurate, easy to maintain and it’s First Strike ready. It’s a good package.

I’m done.

-X-