GTEK M170R - Episode 1 Reviewed by Jim 'Dusty' Montgomery – Planet Eclipse - £599.99
Along with Jim's other skill-sets, he's also one of our industry's top reviewers - he'll highlight all the plus points as well as any negatives, if indeed it has any.
Read On people :-
I have to say, there’s something lovely about getting home to a UPS note which says package in the garage….. wife is looking at me accusingly and I’m standing there, genuinely innocent for probably the first time in my life, trying to find an answer for the long haired general when she asks, “what have you bought this time?”
NOTHING!! I have no idea what it is!!
Internally, I’m excited though, I’ve still no idea until I walk out and see the box.
Planet Eclipse. Yes mate.
Something in the foggy old brain suddenly remembers Robbo emailing to say that there’d be a marker in the post, that was weeks ago though, wasn’t it? Or was it?
Back in to HQ, innocently trying to explain it’s a review item. It’s not going well if I’m honest but I think I seal the deal when I explain it’ll have to go back and when she’s the one who does the post office drops, she’ll get to see it leave. Crisis averted. Like I actually cared…..I’ve got a box from Planet in my hands.
Full disclaimer. I haven’t paid for this gun. Planet have provided it for a review, and they’re (probably) going to get it straight back. I’m not being paid to do this review by anyone, I’m receiving no handouts, nothing. - My views are my own.
Now with that out of the way, it’s been a while since I last played a good old game of paintball and I’ve sold up most of my gear so in order to give this a fair and thorough review it will be done in two parts. I’m going to deal with the technical side of things, first impressions, build quality etc first, then sort myself out with an air system etc….. Payday soon…… then I’m going to shoot people
Initially, it’s quality, quality, quality. Remember if you would please, I cut my teeth in a time when you bought your guns second hand and they came in bubble wrap or you bought them brand new and they came with a single piece barrel and the whole lot was in a cardboard sleeve around a polystyrene box which didn’t last until then end of the first day. It wouldn’t fit in your kit bag either, the boxes were pretty bulky. Markers got wrapped up in jerseys and thrown in the kit bag. Then people started bringing out gun sleeves and gun bags and all sorts of nice things to spend your money on to keep your kit protected and together. But it all cost extra, so keep that in mind.
Thank the lord above times have changed for the better. Everything you need is in the one box now, at least from Planet Eclipse. Cardboard printed outer, neatly housing a hard shell gun case in a gaudy orange graffiti style cover. Easy to personalise with your own stickers or whatever you want. Double zips, I’m quite literally standing there with my mouth open. They’ve got clear film on, and I really want to peel it off but I really don’t want to ruin the newness either!!
Open the case and the first thing that strikes me is the colour combination. Under the fluorescent lights of HQ it’s coming out a rich red and deep grey colour with matching 14.5 inch two piece barrel in .689, fairly standard and will fit most of the balls out there quite nicely.
Then I start to notice the little things, the extras. Full allen key set in housing. Tube of lube. Colour manual? Back in the day it was a printed A4 sheet if you were lucky, or a CD. A comprehensive spares bag which I’ll come back to…….. a place for everything and everything in its place, with room for more options in barrel backs and fronts. My minor sense of OCD is satisfied. I like things organised.
As I lift the gun out, it’s light and most definitely an eclipse marker with the rubberised fore grip sleeve and signature grips.
842g with the barrel fitted by the way, less than a bag of sugar…. One thing I always do is walk out into daylight and have a second look and man, it’s a beauty. The red becomes even richer and the grey takes on a gorgeous light green hue, almost a trick of the light, the grey seems to have this translucent quality to it. Hard to describe and even harder to photograph, you’ve just got to see it to believe it.
Single trigger frame? What? Then I remember, it’s a mechanical marker. Hang on, mechs are for the woods, or rentals are they not? Don’t they all dress up as bushes and trees and have military looking markers which they batter each other with? This is quite clearly built for tournament performance. Specifically mech only tournaments. Sleek, narrow, easily handled, the grip frame has a finger groove to aid with grip, which suits my hands perfectly with and without gloves on.
This single trigger though……it’s not right……is it? Hang on a minute before you decide anything though. What is this gun for? Who is it for? New rules actually, mech and 5.5bps events stipulate no double triggers. With more and more events adopting lower rates of fire, do you need a double trigger? Actually, I reckon with more fingers around the grip frame and being forced to shoot less paint you will actually be more accurate as your platform will be more stable thanks to a firmer grip and you will have to rely on accuracy as volumes of paint in the air have been taken away from you. I will most certainly be looking into this more in the not too distant future. The proof will be in the shooting and at the retail price the Gtek M170R has plenty of competition to be worried about.
So why should you spend £600 on a mechanical marker?
I mean, with a double trigger you can still can single finger shoot an electro marker and let the circuit boards do the hard bit. The downsides are still there though, if the battery runs out well, you’re stuffed. Granted that’s an easy fix. You will run through air more quickly as you’re simply shooting more. It’s conceivable that a mech marker, where you shoot less and focus on accuracy, with the right size bottle you may only need one fill in the day. Not at a tournament game perhaps but scenario based games? Electro markers have been known to suffer mystery problems at times thanks to low batteries, water interference, cold weather and hot weather which can require changes to dwell settings, all manner of gremlins. No such issues with a mech. It will be a mechanical issue which can therefore be fixed in situ.
You’ll have all the spare o-rings in the world to play with when you buy one of these. I mentioned this earlier in the review. I actually wondered how the hell they fitted all that stuff in one tiny zip-lock bag…….
This gun in particular though, the Gtek M170R, hose-less design still has tool less bolt removal, clever ASA design, quality barrel, clamping feedneck,
gorgeous anodising on the T6 6061 aluminium construction, legendary Planet reliability and as importantly, customer service and backup, UK company and good all round handsome folk. There are an awful lot of reasons to buy this gun and to be honest, I think anyone willing to try a mech and adapt their play to suit it would certainly enjoy it. Sure, shooting loads of paint is fun but you’ve still got to get the paint on target and shooting a mech can kind of force your hand into shooting less but shooting better, improving your skills. It’s essentially a spool valve marker so you know it will be smooth shooting.
If you think of this as a LUXURY mechanical marker, a connoisseur’s item if you like and you’ll be on the right lines. This is not a marker for a beginner, although a beginner could happily use it. This is a marker for the player who has reached the pinnacle of electros and has nothing left to try, nowhere left to explore in that world. A new experience based on old ideals brought bang up to date with the latest technology. I mean, realistically most people’s last experience with a mechanical marker would have been as a punter, or maybe an autococker or automag purist. There have been a few attempts since but they’ve all been entry level type efforts. The M170R is doing it and doing it right first time, a Rolls Royce in a world of Vauxhall Astras and Ford Fiestas. Sure, they’ll all get you to where you need to go, but I know where I’d rather be sitting.
The gun operates
at 135psi, very impressive for a mechanical marker and fragile paint should not be an issue for it, especially at lower rates of fire. In my experience most paint gets messed up in the loader before it ever reaches the breech of the gun so it’s already compromised when the bolt pushes forward and ruptures the shell. Because you don’t need a massive rate of fire, you can turn down your loaders rate of feed which means it will feed more gently using less pressure on the stack keeping the balls themselves in good structural condition. Combine that with a deftek feed system and you should be golden.
Overall, I’m very impressed initially.
Obviously field testing is still to come but I’m going to predict it will be shooting 280fpsish out of the box, no issues and that I’ll love it and finally that Ledzy ain’t getting it back anytime soon………
Thanks to Planet for providing the gun for review. You’ll get it back sometime this year…….maybe……
Along with Jim's other skill-sets, he's also one of our industry's top reviewers - he'll highlight all the plus points as well as any negatives, if indeed it has any.
Read On people :-
I have to say, there’s something lovely about getting home to a UPS note which says package in the garage….. wife is looking at me accusingly and I’m standing there, genuinely innocent for probably the first time in my life, trying to find an answer for the long haired general when she asks, “what have you bought this time?”
NOTHING!! I have no idea what it is!!
Internally, I’m excited though, I’ve still no idea until I walk out and see the box.
Planet Eclipse. Yes mate.
Something in the foggy old brain suddenly remembers Robbo emailing to say that there’d be a marker in the post, that was weeks ago though, wasn’t it? Or was it?
Back in to HQ, innocently trying to explain it’s a review item. It’s not going well if I’m honest but I think I seal the deal when I explain it’ll have to go back and when she’s the one who does the post office drops, she’ll get to see it leave. Crisis averted. Like I actually cared…..I’ve got a box from Planet in my hands.
Full disclaimer. I haven’t paid for this gun. Planet have provided it for a review, and they’re (probably) going to get it straight back. I’m not being paid to do this review by anyone, I’m receiving no handouts, nothing. - My views are my own.
Now with that out of the way, it’s been a while since I last played a good old game of paintball and I’ve sold up most of my gear so in order to give this a fair and thorough review it will be done in two parts. I’m going to deal with the technical side of things, first impressions, build quality etc first, then sort myself out with an air system etc….. Payday soon…… then I’m going to shoot people
Initially, it’s quality, quality, quality. Remember if you would please, I cut my teeth in a time when you bought your guns second hand and they came in bubble wrap or you bought them brand new and they came with a single piece barrel and the whole lot was in a cardboard sleeve around a polystyrene box which didn’t last until then end of the first day. It wouldn’t fit in your kit bag either, the boxes were pretty bulky. Markers got wrapped up in jerseys and thrown in the kit bag. Then people started bringing out gun sleeves and gun bags and all sorts of nice things to spend your money on to keep your kit protected and together. But it all cost extra, so keep that in mind.
Thank the lord above times have changed for the better. Everything you need is in the one box now, at least from Planet Eclipse. Cardboard printed outer, neatly housing a hard shell gun case in a gaudy orange graffiti style cover. Easy to personalise with your own stickers or whatever you want. Double zips, I’m quite literally standing there with my mouth open. They’ve got clear film on, and I really want to peel it off but I really don’t want to ruin the newness either!!
Open the case and the first thing that strikes me is the colour combination. Under the fluorescent lights of HQ it’s coming out a rich red and deep grey colour with matching 14.5 inch two piece barrel in .689, fairly standard and will fit most of the balls out there quite nicely.
Then I start to notice the little things, the extras. Full allen key set in housing. Tube of lube. Colour manual? Back in the day it was a printed A4 sheet if you were lucky, or a CD. A comprehensive spares bag which I’ll come back to…….. a place for everything and everything in its place, with room for more options in barrel backs and fronts. My minor sense of OCD is satisfied. I like things organised.
As I lift the gun out, it’s light and most definitely an eclipse marker with the rubberised fore grip sleeve and signature grips.
842g with the barrel fitted by the way, less than a bag of sugar…. One thing I always do is walk out into daylight and have a second look and man, it’s a beauty. The red becomes even richer and the grey takes on a gorgeous light green hue, almost a trick of the light, the grey seems to have this translucent quality to it. Hard to describe and even harder to photograph, you’ve just got to see it to believe it.
Single trigger frame? What? Then I remember, it’s a mechanical marker. Hang on, mechs are for the woods, or rentals are they not? Don’t they all dress up as bushes and trees and have military looking markers which they batter each other with? This is quite clearly built for tournament performance. Specifically mech only tournaments. Sleek, narrow, easily handled, the grip frame has a finger groove to aid with grip, which suits my hands perfectly with and without gloves on.
This single trigger though……it’s not right……is it? Hang on a minute before you decide anything though. What is this gun for? Who is it for? New rules actually, mech and 5.5bps events stipulate no double triggers. With more and more events adopting lower rates of fire, do you need a double trigger? Actually, I reckon with more fingers around the grip frame and being forced to shoot less paint you will actually be more accurate as your platform will be more stable thanks to a firmer grip and you will have to rely on accuracy as volumes of paint in the air have been taken away from you. I will most certainly be looking into this more in the not too distant future. The proof will be in the shooting and at the retail price the Gtek M170R has plenty of competition to be worried about.
So why should you spend £600 on a mechanical marker?
I mean, with a double trigger you can still can single finger shoot an electro marker and let the circuit boards do the hard bit. The downsides are still there though, if the battery runs out well, you’re stuffed. Granted that’s an easy fix. You will run through air more quickly as you’re simply shooting more. It’s conceivable that a mech marker, where you shoot less and focus on accuracy, with the right size bottle you may only need one fill in the day. Not at a tournament game perhaps but scenario based games? Electro markers have been known to suffer mystery problems at times thanks to low batteries, water interference, cold weather and hot weather which can require changes to dwell settings, all manner of gremlins. No such issues with a mech. It will be a mechanical issue which can therefore be fixed in situ.
You’ll have all the spare o-rings in the world to play with when you buy one of these. I mentioned this earlier in the review. I actually wondered how the hell they fitted all that stuff in one tiny zip-lock bag…….
This gun in particular though, the Gtek M170R, hose-less design still has tool less bolt removal, clever ASA design, quality barrel, clamping feedneck,
gorgeous anodising on the T6 6061 aluminium construction, legendary Planet reliability and as importantly, customer service and backup, UK company and good all round handsome folk. There are an awful lot of reasons to buy this gun and to be honest, I think anyone willing to try a mech and adapt their play to suit it would certainly enjoy it. Sure, shooting loads of paint is fun but you’ve still got to get the paint on target and shooting a mech can kind of force your hand into shooting less but shooting better, improving your skills. It’s essentially a spool valve marker so you know it will be smooth shooting.
If you think of this as a LUXURY mechanical marker, a connoisseur’s item if you like and you’ll be on the right lines. This is not a marker for a beginner, although a beginner could happily use it. This is a marker for the player who has reached the pinnacle of electros and has nothing left to try, nowhere left to explore in that world. A new experience based on old ideals brought bang up to date with the latest technology. I mean, realistically most people’s last experience with a mechanical marker would have been as a punter, or maybe an autococker or automag purist. There have been a few attempts since but they’ve all been entry level type efforts. The M170R is doing it and doing it right first time, a Rolls Royce in a world of Vauxhall Astras and Ford Fiestas. Sure, they’ll all get you to where you need to go, but I know where I’d rather be sitting.
The gun operates
at 135psi, very impressive for a mechanical marker and fragile paint should not be an issue for it, especially at lower rates of fire. In my experience most paint gets messed up in the loader before it ever reaches the breech of the gun so it’s already compromised when the bolt pushes forward and ruptures the shell. Because you don’t need a massive rate of fire, you can turn down your loaders rate of feed which means it will feed more gently using less pressure on the stack keeping the balls themselves in good structural condition. Combine that with a deftek feed system and you should be golden.
Overall, I’m very impressed initially.
Obviously field testing is still to come but I’m going to predict it will be shooting 280fpsish out of the box, no issues and that I’ll love it and finally that Ledzy ain’t getting it back anytime soon………
Thanks to Planet for providing the gun for review. You’ll get it back sometime this year…….maybe……
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