Paintball

[Long Beard]

This might be a silly question....

I have a Kingman Hammer II. I like it a lot.

I saw a Phantom pretty reasonably priced and thought I might pick it up....but what's the big deal really? Like what's the difference? Why get one or not?

[Azzy]

For you, less barrel options.

Really, thats the main difference. For me, Im very happy with my maverics, adn couldnt figure why I would not use one over a 300 dollar gun with teh same system.

I couldnt ever figure out why they kept such a high re-sale value either.

All a matter of choice.

[LK-13]

every last one is built by the same person.
Quality, fit, finish and does what it's supposed to do time and time again.
light, slender, only Nelson Valved marker that i have used that didn't need hours of fussing.

(note I'm sure other Nelson's have preformed well;
just that i personally have never shot one other than a Phantom)

[RainDog]

I recently sold my Phantom. I have to give them credit, they are great markers. Like LK said, they are built very well and perform the same.

But all that being said, I still prefer a Tippmann SL-68 II. Much cheaper, work flawlessly (I've owned 4 or 5 in my time) and built like a tank.

The next pump I get will be a SL. I'll save my money for something else.

[russc]

IIRC, Hammers don't have anti-kink bolts. I've never held one, though, so I can only speculate that the Phantom would be somewhat smoother on the forward pump stroke.

[Titus]

With Phantoms, I see it as the fact that they're well known on the field. As LK said, built by the same person over and over again.

They are simply to take apart with almost if not any tools required and wicked easy to put back together.

I love the fact that they hold a strong resale value as well. I believe that also fuels sales. It's unlike a tippmann that once you buy that 98 Custom, you've already lost 30% value when you walk out the door due to everyone having one.

At my shop Phantoms sell very well, it's the only pump that I'll stock on the shelves too. I've owned/own SLs, Hammers, Mavericks, Nelsons, and KPs, all of which get good use, but my phantom, due to the fact that I never have to worry about anything going wrong with her is always the work horse of the group.

If you'd like to know more, feel free to PM me.

Best of luck with your decision.

[Murph]

All I can say are my experiences with mine.

It's the go to gun. It always comes to the field with me and sparingly does it not come out of it's case. It's the gun I have that always works, and always works well at that. It requires a bit of knowhow to get maximum performance out of it, as well as patience, but they payoff big time if you have them.

[Quacker]

My personal phantom is the one gun that works no matter what. Out of the many phantoms I've owned, I've never had one so much as spring a leak. The same cannot be said for the 15+ year old Bushmasters and Mavericks and Hornets that I've futzed with. The fact that you can convert between so many different configurations is also a major selling point to me, and the customer service CANNOT be beat. Mike is the king.

[Do Little]

It's the standard gun of pump play. If you want to know how good a pump is, you compare it to a Phantom. There's also the fact that it's the only gun that has a good stock class feed available(besides PPS) and it runs well off 12 grams. And they're still produced and are readily available.

Honestly, I think thier a little better then the cheap nelson clones(Maverick, Hornet, etc), and are priced fairly decent. I mean hell, CCM took a cocker and threw a pump kit on it and are selling them for $400 + each, when you can get a tricked out Phantom with all the extras for less then that.

I havn't messed around with a Hammer, but there's no harm in having more then one gun

[Jaan]

OKay, I have a Hammer A with bottomline, reg and nice barrel, Nelspot 007 with pump and rear dropout, PGP with Nasty pump, EZ bolt, and some valve work by Palmer's, a Sniper with too many ups to list...and a unmodified stock class Phantom that I just started using.

Of all those guns so far I've been most impressed with the Phantom. I never had any desire for a Phantom until my friend won this particular one in a game recently and is letting me use it.

The first thing I noticed is how nicely made it is. It's as well made as you can make it. It's that extra 2% that makes all the difference. I then noticed how light and agile it is. It all just clicks together.

Once I became used to aiming the gun, I've gotten more elimination per game (all pump to be fair) than anything else I've shot. I'm seriously thinking about getting another open class one, that's how much I like it.

Phantoms are nice. If you're like me you probably think they're overpriced until you play with one.