I admit it, I've got a "thing" for paintball pistols. I've had paintball handguns for many years ever since I matched up my VM-68 with a PGP pump pistol. There's just something reassuring about having a backup gun just in case things go horribly, horribly wrong. It's also sort of cool to stroll around with a pistol on your hip like John Wayne.

My major complaint with standard paintball pistols is that they're generally designed like a downsized standard marker with a 12 gram adapter and a 10 round magazine mounted parallel to the barrel and above it. This makes the pistols very tall and I find that they don't point properly and they tend to be awkward to carry in a holster. Since the PGP days I've had a few different paintball handguns from the PT Extreme that went with my 98 Autococker to the Delta 68 that matched up to my A5. In the end I always give up carrying pistols as they're just more of a pain then their worth.

And then along came the guys at Tiberius with their T8. The T8 doesn't have the standard over barrel mounted magazine, rather the 12 gram c02 and eight paintballs go into a magazine that fits into the grip of the gun just as in a standard semiautomatic handgun. The gun points much more naturally and is more comfortable to handle with this set up. When shooting any of my previous pistols I've found that I tend to shoot over my target and with the T8 it's generally right on target the first shot. Having the magazine in the grip also allows for faster reloads, as opposed to fishing a 10 round tube out of your harness, pulling the cap off the magazine and dumping them in. If there's air in the 12 gram in the magazine that's currently in the gun, when you punch the magazine eject which is conveniently located at your thumb, it will eject the magazine from the pistol rather forcefully. In fact the first time I ejected the magazine it went flying as I wasn't expecting it to jump out of the grip like it did.

The only problem I've found with this design is that it tends to make for a large grip which some players with smaller hands might have problems with. The magazines are also somewhat expensive and heavy to carry around. On the initial T8 guns there were quite a few complaints about magazine seals failing and leaking, and the magazine release being prone to releasing the magazines while carrying the gun. I've talked to the folks at Tiberius and they've assured me that the has been tweaked and the problems resolved.

The T8 Player's Pack with all the goodies.

12 grams c02s are put into the rear of the magazine and are punctured when you tighten a hex bolt located on the bottom of the magazine with a provided allen wrench. There's a plastic follower inside of the magazine above the spring that is pushed to the bottom of the magazine and locked down. 8 paintballs are then loaded into the top of the magazine, and the follower is left locked down. There's a small spring loaded retainer at the top of the magazine that keeps the paintballs in the magazine until it's loaded into the gun. When the magazine is inserted into the pistol and seated firmly the retainer is pushed aside to allow the paintballs to feed into to the gun, and the follower is unlocked and allows the spring to feed the paintballs into the breach. The pistol has dual steel ball detents that clip into slots cut into the breach end of the barrel and seems to do a good job of not allowing even smaller balls to roll out.

The T8 is remarkably air efficient, with each 12 gram firing approximately 32 rounds. Most semi automatic pistols will get 15-20 shots at the most per charge. When I took a close look at the pistol's design it reminds me of the old automags, with a blow forward design. In a conventional paintball pistol, which is designed more like a Spyder, when you pull the trigger a sear is dropped, which allows the bolt and hammer assembly to move forward, powered by a spring. The hammer rides forward until it hits and opens the valve which releases a set amount of air. This air propels the ball out of the barrel, and drives the bolt and hammer assembly back against the spring, recocking the gun. This sort of design is fine for markers with constant air set ups, but tends to be extremely inefficient for 12 gram use. The T8 is much more efficient. When the trigger is pulled it puts air from the regulator/valve into the blot and blows the bolt forward and releases the air that propels the ball of of the barrel. A spring that is mounted between the breach and the bolt returns the bolt to it's rearward position for the next shot. Since you're only moving a small bolt, rather than a large bolt and a heavy hammer, the end result is less air used to recock the gun with more air available for shooting paint.

Construction and Design

The quality, care and attention to detail that's gone into the design and manufacturing of the T8 pistol is evident from the first time you pick one up. The rear of the pistol resembles a Glock, with the barrel and muzzle looking a great deal like a Beretta M92. The gun is quite heavy, much heavier than other pistols but the T8 balances nicely towards the rear right over the grip. It's the most naturally balanced and pointing paintball pistol I've never handled. The grips and lower frame are made of a lightweight polymer material which is quick sturdy and has no give to it. The upper body is made of a very solid chunk of aluminum, and the magazines are almost solid metal as well, with the exception being the magazine follower and the bumper on the bottom of the mag which appear to be made of the same polymer material as the grip and lower frame. The fit and finish on the gun is outstanding, with nary a bur or blemish to be found internally or externally. Tiberius Arms did a heck of a nice job on the presentation of this sidearm. It's a quality piece of work and it shows.

Hmmmm.. It's the Ferrari of paintball handguns.

The magazine release is located near the spot your thumb would rest if you're shooting right handed but is far enough forward so it's unlikely it would be pushed accidentally, as it's not accessible without using your left hand or shifting your grip on the gun if you're shooting right handed. For lefties the magazine release is easily pushed in with your trigger finger. There's also a little manual counter on the bottom of the magazines to help you keep track of how many rounds you've fired which is a very nice touch.

The ambidextrous safety is located slightly forward and above the trigger guard, on the lower frame and is easily pushed forward by your trigger finger in a safe shooting position. (Ex. Trigger finger alongside the frame above the trigger.) The T8's safety is one of the easiest and quickest to use that I've ever seen on a gun.

Velocity is set via a provided allen wrench at the rear of the marker. There's also a relief valve which is set once you have set up your velocity. When adjusted properly, the relief valve will open if the gun spikes to 20+ FPS from your set velocity, which is a very nice safety feature that I've never seen before on a marker.

Disassembly/Cleaning

The T8's barrel is designed to be quickly removed for cleaning. Rather than screwing into the body of the gun, it's secured by two nubbins. Eject the magazine from the pistol, push in on the barrel with your hand and give it a quick 1/8th counter clockwise and the return spring pushes it out the end of the gun. Further disassembly of the marker requires tools. The T8 does contain a large amount of parts but as long as you follow the instructions in the user manual it's not terribly complicated as the gun breaks down into three major subassemblies which will most likely never need to be disassembled. Routine maintenance on the marker involves putting a few drops of oil into the magazines c02 valve, velocity adjuster, bolt and in the trigger once a month. One thing to watch for is the tiny o-ring between the regulator and the end cap, which is quite easy to loose when disassembling the marker.


Accuracy

A quick accuracy test was done on the pistol standing and shooting two handed at a roughly man sized target roughly fifty feet away. I was able to put three magazines (24 shots) into a chest sized area of the target. The T8 has a light trigger that's quite easy to squeeze without throwing your aim off target. For a pistol it's outstandingly accurate, more than adequate for the ranges you're likely to be using such a marker at.


Holster/Magazine Pouches

The Tiberius holster provided with the player's pack shows the same attention to detail as the gun itself. It rides low on the right thigh making it easier to carry around for long periods of time and facilitating a quick draw when the handgun is needed. While the pistol is ambidextrous, the holster is not. The T8 fits very snuggly into the holster, the retention snap holds quite well, and the handgun doesn't move around much even when you're running at a full tilt. The leg strap on the holster has a rubber backing on it, which also keeps the holster from shifting. The magazine pouch clips onto a belt or harness and retains magazines very well. Even when running, rolling and diving, I've never lost a magazine. There are two pouches available, the belt pouch that comes with the pack holds a single magazine and a leg mounted one that holds three that can be ordered separately.

Tiberius T8 in it's tactical holster.

Conclusion

The Tiberius T8 is an outstanding piece of paintball equipment. It's reliable, outstandingly accurate, very pointable and extremely air efficient. The only real downsizes are the cost of the gun, and the mess when you chop a ball, but when you look at what you're getting I think it's money well spent on a quality piece of equipment that's going to give you many years of solid service. Bravo Tiberius on bringing the paintball pistol to a completely new level, I'd highly recommend this product to anyone looking for a new toy to add to their arsenal.