Just a little while ago, I got into the exciting sport of Paintball. I played once, and decided I really enjoyed this sport, so I decided to get some equipment. I decided that the Spyder would be a good choice, so I bought it. Not long after I got my Spyder, I sold it. I just really didn't care for it.. I decided I needed a marker that would fit my needs, and my personality. So, I looked around for a marker that I would like. Searching around the Internet, I found many people raving over a peculiar marker, which wasn't very common, a Palmer Typhoon. This is my little story of it.

Before I got the Typhoon

The price of the Typhoon is minimum $505 US, which has a vertical ASA. I decided that a Vertical ASA would be fine, but I would like it extra quiet. So, I decided that getting spiral venting for the barrel would be an excellent idea. The total price was $548.25 US. Although my mother called Palmer's Pursuit Shop, she did tell me that they were very nice and helpful.

First Impressions

It had been about four weeks since my mother ordered the Typhoon, and I became very anxious for the marker. It took about a month since this was during the Christmas season, and also it has to be hand-built. I decided I would play that day, and just rent my gear. But, I had a little surprise. Ding-Dong! At the door laid a brown box, from Palmer's Pursuit Shop. I was sure excited that day! I got the scissors, cut off the tape, opened the box, worked my way through the paper shreds, and there it was, the most beautiful marker I've ever seen. But, I still had to wait a couple of hours before I could play. So, I decided to read the manual. The manual thoroughly explained everything. If I did have a question, I knew it could easily be answered by calling Palmer's Pursuit Shop. But, there was no need to.

Arriving at the Field

Two hours later, we all arrive at the indoor field. After many "Oooh's" and "Awe's", I proceeded to the chronograph. There wasn't a need to adjust the regulator since it had already been adjusted at Palmer's Pursuit Shop. I just took out the allen wrench to adjust the velocity, got it about right. I was getting +2/-2 fps with my 20 oz CO2 tank. Not too bad!!

Time to Play!

Before the game starts, I notice that the Typhoon feels just right in my arms, and has the weight evenly spread out. That first game, I was doing VERY well. I marked 2/3 of the opponents before I was hit on my cast (My motto is similar to the mailman's). The second game I also marked 2/3 of the opponents. This was only my second time ever playing Paintball, and my first game I never hit anybody! The Typhoon has dead-on accuracy. The trigger was pretty good, it just takes a little time to get used to it. I never once broke a ball.

After the Game

After the game I did as the manual said. I just poured water on the Typhoon to get paint out of all of the little spaces. I then took out the bolt, put one drop of oil on each O-Ring, and put a few drops into the hammer and main-spring area. And then I'm ready to play some more! The bolt was extremely easy to take out, there aren't any pieces to lose, you just pull on a pin, twist the bolt clockwise, and pull! I've timed myself and it only took twenty-five seconds to yank out the bolt, pull the squeegie through, and put the bolt back in!

Conclusions

The Typhoon is tournament ready right out of the box. Not many upgrades, but why mess with perfection? The field owners owned HIGHLY tricked out 68AutoMags, and they LOVED my Typhoon. So, it's equal or better than alot of markers twice it's cost. I HIGHLY recommend this marker to anybody, newbies or experts alike. It has ease of operation, excellent accuracy, rate of fire increases as you get used the trigger, and ease of maintenance.

More Information

The Typhoon is a close-bolt semi-automatic custom and hand-made by Palmer's Pursuit Shop. Glenn created the first semi-auto, the Camille, in November of 1988; it is still working today! The Camille has only needed one repair which was within the first month of it's existence! The cause of that one failure has been eliminated! This is one very reliable paintball marker. Glenn Palmer will make custom guns to suit your needs. He has made the Grinder, which is a tri-barreled marker, which is shot using a crank! The Typhoon can be ordered with either one, or two barrels. It comes standard with a vertical ASA, but can be ordered bottom-line, back bottle, or dual bottle. Spiral venting is also an option.

(c) 1997, Brett Seright, The author/copyright holder retains all other rights, including re-prints, sales to other publications, etc.

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