Choosing My First MagFed Marker by Tucker Danielson
Krol Jeff asked me to write a review on my first magfed marker to share with the group, I finally had a chance to get out and play today, so here goes.
I researched my first mag fed marker for about 4 months trying to decide which one to go with. While researching I came across the chat on the mcsus.com website. It didn’t matter what day or time it was, someone was always there answering every question. I hadn’t even purchased anything and the customer service I received was amazing. They also had a ton of options and they were all mag fed. So I decided MCS was the brand I wanted to go with.
I wanted something that was above entry level but easy to use and maintain. After comparing the options the Hurricane was the best fit me. It’s basically a Tippmann X7 Phenom core in a mag fed body. It comes standard with a tapered bolt so it can shoot First Strike Rounds (FSR) or Round ball. It also comes with the Lok Bolt which is an anti-chop device that prevents the bolt from hitting a round that is not properly chambered. It makes a small “hiss” when it is engaged. My first day using the Hurricane I never heard it go off while shooting, meaning all the rounds were feeding from the Helix mag into the breech perfectly. The only time I did hear that “hiss” was when my mag was empty. I found this to be a nice audio queue to signal me its time to reload.
I was also surprised at how fast I could empty a mag. The trigger is very responsive, mind you this is semi auto and purely mechanical, which was a selling point for me as well. I did not want anything with electronics that needed batteries or could crap out. The marker is also very quite, I noticed a huge difference between my old A5 and the Hurricane.
With any Hurricane package you get at minimum 1 Helix mag which is 20 rounds continuous feed with a round ball spring and 1 DMAG which is 14 rounds (7 on one side then pull it out, flip and shoot the other 7) with First Strike springs. You can swap out any of the springs at a later date if you want on any of the mags for your needs. I decided to get the Carbine Package with 5 mags. They let you customize this if you want. Normally it comes with 1 DMAG for FSR and 4 Helix for round ball. I decided to get 2 DMAG and 3 Helix, then I bought another 5 pack of Helix. This gave me 8 Helix for round ball and 2 DMAG for FSR when I want to try them out. As of this review I have only had a chance to try the Helix. They preformed beautifully, easy to load, no broken paint inside. You use a loading rod so there is no winder to break.
When looking at optional accessories I highly recommend getting the Flex Air tube and Drop down ASA. With the drop down ASA I can get in behind my iron sights and actually use them with a mask on. With the rear air option you can get a tank in stock kit or a mil spec buffer tube and run any real steel mil spec stock. I put a magpul CTR on mine. There is a little trick with the buffer tube though. You screw it into the ASA, but if the nipple isn’t pointing down just back it off till you get it where you want. Then use the retaining nut to lock it down. If like me you get an air leak, just take a tank O ring and drop it in the ASA hole before you screw in the buffer tube, problem solved.
Some other optional accessories I put on mine were Key Mod rubber covers and a Rufus Dawg Grip Skin that is made specifically for the X7. I picked those up at Rockstartactical.com. I also got the Hammer Head Battlestixx 14” barrel with 3 fins (think freak inserts). This is a rifled barrel so I can eventually shoot FSR, but Ive also read it works well with round ball. My first experience with the HH barrel today was kinda “meh” but I attribute that to the paint I was forced to buy at the field I went to, which was closer to home but not my normal field. The paint was very small like .683 or less. Optimally you want in the range of .686-.688 for the lands and grooves of the rifling to work. So I will have to report back on this once I head to my normal field that lets me bring my own paint.
I think that’s all I have to share for now. Hope this was informative for someone also looking into their first mag fed marker.
