Craig Palmer, Glenn's son, has now taken over building of the custom Typhoon markers. He too, has a personal marker. It's known as the Toker, a hybrid of a Stroker and a Classic Typhoon. The Toker was not an easy 'gun to build. It was almost as if Craig was pushing his own skills as an airsmith to the limit when he built the Toker. In many ways, it would've been far easier to build a Classic Typhoon from scratch. Even Craig admits standard and Classic Typhoons are more consistent and efficient compared to his Toker. The following is a description by Craig of where the Toker came from;

"The Toker is a stroker barrel on a typhoon lower tube and guts. This is not easy to do. In doing this I had to stretch the sear an exra 1\4 inch.( more leverage less travel). It also allows for more hammer fall. This does not mean it's better. Standard phoons are more consistent and efficient.

"The only reason I did it was it was it was from my first gun I built. After five years the feeder broke off. My fault, bad solder job. So I took the barrel off polished it and started from there. NO, this is not an available option."

This marker is a display of how a talented airsmith can start with difficult conditions and create a paintball marker that not only looks stunning but performs remarkably well. It's almost as if by pushing himself with a difficult project such as the Toker, Craig knows that he can create even finer 'guns when he creates Typhoons and Classics, which are built without compromise from the start.

APPEARANCE
The cosmetics are stunning. Craig's Toker really has to be seen to be fully appreciated. The chassis has something that Palmer's calls Tiger nickel plating. Areas on barrel and receiver alternate between polished and matte nickel plating.

Besides the beautiful Tiger nickel plating on the chassis, the ENTIRE 'gun is nickel plated. And I mean the whole thing; the trigger shoe, the bolt, the Stabilizer, velocity adj. cap, etc. The only non-nickel plated parts on the outside are the the ring mount (for Stab.), and obviously the shoulder strap, foregrip and grips.

As with all Palmer barrels, the bore is always left as bare brass. Despite the current trend for stainless steel, hard chrome plating on brass, hard anodizing on aluminum or carbon fibre as barrel material, plain brass still seems to yield the finest performance when it comes to accuracy. Plain brass does need more care when it comes to cleaning, as it's a bit softer than other barrel materials.

Craig has installed a plated vertical grip. It's beautifully made and polished. This one is not tapped for gas-through; the input hose goes directly from the Stab. to the side port of the 'gun, just above the vertical ASA.

There's also a two-finger trigger guard threaded into the front of the grip frame. Polished and plated of course. It's also a little thing of beauty, although a bit redundant with the vertical grip there (oh well, it looks nice!).

Unlike the Classic Typhoon Ravi Chopra reviewed, the finish on the grip frame is first class. The frame was polished FIRST and then plated, so the look is top quality and mirror smooth. Yes, the UMB is also plated.

The bolt, retention pin and its handle are all plated.

There are concentric rings machined in both the barrel and the regulator housing, forward of the feed tube. It extends all the way to the front of the 'gun. There are corresponding grooves on the trigger shoe to echo these rings visually.

PERFORMANCE AND FUNCTION
OK, so I've gone on about how pretty the Toker is to look at. It's certainly beautifully made and very photogenic. But the real test of any marker is in the field. From my brief experience with it (only about half a case through it) this is what I found.

ERGONOMICS & HANDLING
It's a very solid 'gun, esp. with the Stabilizer with ring mount on it. But the Toker is hefty, without being cumbersome. It balanced well with a gas through stock as the bottom-line Stabilizer centred the weight, rather than putting too much up front if you were using a Vertical Stabilizer.

Craig has stated that the ring mount is heavier than the block mount (true), but he says it doesn't hold the Stabilizer as steadily as the block mount. I'm not sure about that; that ring mount is pretty rigid. The steel construction probably has something to do with it. The other cool thing I liked about the ring mount is the aesthetics of seeing most of the Stabilizer. It's a minor point, but it's neat to see most of the Stabilizer, rather than being covered up by the block mount. It especially looks cool with a gas-through stock on it. By the way, the ring mount is a modified Weaver scope ring.

The PMI rubber grips are fantastic. For all those who thought the plastic battle grips on the standard Typhoon are cheesy looking, I'd order these PMI's instead. They've got a softer, nicer feel without being too mushy. The other cool thing is they wrap around the front, rather than being two separate pieces. That means no gap in front when you're using a UMB. The width is still the same as the plastic grips though; after all, it still has to sandwich both the frame and the UMB.

The bolt uses a larger retention pin handle and a softer spring compared to the stock bolt. This makes it easier to pull the pin up and keep it there. This isn't a minor feature, because the slot for the bolt/hammer lug is along the right side rather than the left side. If you don't keep the retention pin up, it will drag and mar your velocity adjuster cap and the rear area of the chassis. At first I thought this was a pain, but after a while, I realized it was easier to guide the bolt in, as the lug doesn't have to be positioned under the ram arm.

Since the ram itself is shifted towards the back, the ram arm is shorter and neater looking.

The bolt on this marker has a lot less friction than on my own Typhoon. I don't know whether it's because the inside of the receiver has been polished, or the o-rings are smaller. Whatever it is, the end result is a smoother sliding bolt.

I've been a big fan of the sight hood for over half a year now. When I first heard of it, I thought it was aesthetically pleasing but useless. "Why not forget about using a sight altogether?" I said. But I've found for snap shooting, this simple device really helps you to quickly acquire your target. It only adds about $20 to the cost of the gun, so why not?

The foregrip has been cut out or louvered. I like the aesthetics of it, though it doesn't add any function to the 'gun.

THE TRIGGER
The Toker basically has Craig's full trigger job plus dual trigger shoe. This thing is even smoother than my own Phoon which also has both mods. You can let off rapid strings of paint without feeling fatigue.

There's a big difference between a regular Typhoon and a Typhoon with a Pro Touch trigger job. There's less of a of difference between a Pro Touch Typhoon and a Classic, if the the Toker is of any indication. But yes, the Toker is smoother still, compared even to a Pro Touch Phoon.

THE STABILIZER
For those of you who already use one, I'm sure you know that the Stabilizer is the finest in-line regulator available. Period.

It's externally adjustable without requiring a tourney lock. It's inverse ratio (about 70 to 1) is the finest in the industry. And it's higher volume and high rate of flow makes it the ideal final regulator for low pressure 'guns which the Toker is most decidedly not.

A note about the input pressure; Craig is currently not a fan of low pressure 'guns. He optimizes all his Typhoons at a pressure range of between 600 to 800psi. He feels that the higher pressure means a shorter valve duration and that it takes a longer time for the paintball to decelerate.

ACCURACY
It's slightly better than my current Phoon. That's saying a lot, as I'm comparing my own Typhoon to two high end Autocockers, both of which had a reputation for long range accuracy.

Sorry; I didn't spend time on the range so I can't present hard data. I used all my time with the Toker on the playing field. But my general impression is that it doesn't dispel the idea of Palmer guns being accurate.

I really liked the 12" barrel with venting. It uses a different spiral pattern, from the venting you'd get on a standard Typhoon with porting. Apparently, Craig often gets into trouble on the field with his high degree of accuracy. Recipients of his accurate shooting are convinced that his 'gun is shooting hot, as he's shooting further and harder than other 'guns. When the judges chrono him, he's always about ten fps under the limit. Craig attributes the long range of this 'gun to it's efficient use of high pressure (the slower rate of deceleration) and partly because of this barrel. As with all Typhoons, the barrel on the Toker is match-honed to the valve. The valve is optimized and installed first and then the 'gun is test fired. Craig will then shape the barrel interior until he can get the best accuracy from the actual valve in the 'gun. Palmer's feels that this match is far more important than matching the barrel to paint. They claim that the paintball swedges to match the bore, once it's been launched. If you extend this logic further, then the whole idea of interchangeable barrels in order to match paint is unnecessary.

What about ball roll-out with small diameter paint, BEFORE the ball is launched? Well, that's what the Wedgit is there for. It's basically a controlled dent that's swedged into the barrel right in front of the bolt. This holds the ball in place, which prevents roll-out and improves consistency.

As I said, the accuracy was better with my own Phoon, even though Craig warned me that there would be some velocity drop off with rapid fire. As I wrote about earlier, there were a lot of challenges to be overcome. It wasn't an ideal set of circumstances, like it would be if Craig had built it from the ground up as a Classic Typhoon. Apparently, one of the compromises was velocity consistency.

Still, I didn't really find any velocity drop off; it seemed to work well, shot after shot. Mind you, I was using compressed air, whereas Craig usually uses CO2 (except for tournaments). Perhaps that had some effect.

I was surprised that the 12" vented barrel didn't make the Toker much quieter than my Typhoon with a non-ported 11" barrel. Don't expect a whisper quiet barrel; the holes are too small to make that much of a difference. Am I going to bother with the vents when I get my own Classic? Yes, because even though it only got slightly quieter, there's still some difference. Since I use air, even a marginal improvement will help (Craig has found that Phoons are generally louder when they're shooting with air as compared to CO2).

I can't really talk about efficiency since I didn't go through a full tank of air. Craig claims that the Toker isn't as efficient gas wise as a Typhoon or a Classic Typhoon. This was again due to the compromises imposed by the chassis he had to start with.

ANY DISLIKES?
Only two features bugged me about the Toker. One is the shoulder strap. Yes, it looks cool and it does relieve your arms in between games. But I've never found weight that to be a problem with Typhoons (we're not talking VM's here). I found it always got in the way during play. Maybe I'd get used to it after a while, but I like my Typhoons without them.

I'd be worried about getting dirt and paint into the hammer on the Toker. The slot for the bolt/hammer lug on the Toker is much larger than usual plus it's on the exposed (non-ram arm) side. You can see right into the hammer and valve which looks neat, but leaves it prone to dirt and paint. I should know, as I got a bit of splatter on the hammer (Don't worry Craig; it's all clean now, honest!).

If you look at the Palmer catalogue, there's a pump gun there with a right-hand lug slot with a more normal sized opening. I'd make sure and order that when specing out a Classic to keep dirt out.

SUMMARY OF THE GOOD STUFF
The handling and ergonomics are excellent, despite the solid heft. The smoothness of the trigger is superb, the best I've ever seen on any Phoon. The accuracy is slightly better than my own Phoon. The vented barrel makes it slightly quieter. And the looks are incredible.

So the question is, couldn't you get this performance by just ordering a regular Typhoon with a Stab., a vented barrel, the Pro Touch etc? Isn't the Classic just the same as that but with cosmetics?

No. If the Toker is indicative of other Classics, there IS a difference performance wise, esp. in the trigger. In fact, a Typhoon Classic should be superior in many ways to Craig's own 'gun, as Typhoon Classics are built without any of the challenging circumstances the Toker was constructed under.

Finally, is it worth the price? This is a harder one to justify. Looking at performance only, you're well into that area of diminishing returns. In order to vastly improve a standard Typhoon's performance, you need only a few options. Let's say you go with a Pro Touch trigger job, a dual trigger shoe and a UMB. All those options will only increase the price by about $160 over the price of a standard Typhoon.

To get that extra little bit of performance with a Classic Typhoon, you'll have to pay well over $500 extra. If you want the finest in performance no matter what the cost, then price is irrelevant.

Don't forget that there's also the gorgeous cosmetics and the cachet of owning a very rare beast. There have been less than ten Typhoon Classics built at the time of this writing. And each one of them have been custom tailored by Craig for their user. A Typhoon Classic will often come in at about $1200 (with a Stabilizer). Considering the price of other high end custom paintguns and the fact that you're getting a truly custom marker with drop dead looks, reliability and high performance, that price is easily justified.

Marco Sobrevinas
msobrevinas@passagepre.com

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