Mokal Titan Marker
Below is a good write up I found on the Mokal titan.
Tony
Mokal Titan -- A paintball gun even Bob and Doug McKenzie can't hose. By Scott D. Wagner.
Ever wonder what our "friends" the Canadians do when they aren't busy training operatives to infiltrate our entertainment industry and massing suspiciously along our common border? If Toronto-based Sgt. Splatters (http://www.sgtsplatters.com) is to be believed, Canadians spend every other waking moment playing paintball. Which got me thinking: Who would win a War for North America if the Canadian government somehow talked ours into a paintball-guns-only rule?
As anyone watching the news lately will agree, modern warfare is as much about technology as biology. You may train a thousand 6' 11", 270 lb., highly-motivated bad guys with Kalashnikovs, but if the good guys show up with a satellite, a Predator, and a pair of FA-18s, you're in for a disappointment.
So how dangerous are the Canadians? Or more importantly, how sophisticated is their (paintball) weaponry? I took it upon myself to find out.
Mokal, Inc., of the Great White North
Based in Ontario, Mokal (www.mokal.com) has been manufacturing paintball guns since 1986. For a time they sold their baseline gun, the Titan, through PMI, but Mokal now markets its guns under its own name. No, you still can't buy one directly from them, but you can buy a Titan or Fokus clearly labeled as a Mokal through Action Village (www.actionvillage.com).
I opted for the Titan T1 ($94.00 plus shipping).
The Mokal Titan T1
Merry Christmas!
The good folks at Action Village sent me a Titan T2 instead of a T1. What's the difference? The T1, T2, and T3 are essentially the same gun but in vertical bottle, bottom-line, and bottom-line-plus-gas-through-foregrip configurations, respectively. When I called Action Village to report the error, their representative said, "Oh, well, then Merry Christmas." (It would have cost them more to replace my gun than the difference in price.) I removed the stainless-wrapped bottom-line to turn the T2 back into a T1 for testing purposes.
What's in the Box?
The Titan, of course, along with a ten-page, photocopied instruction manual. The instructions include the usual fare: an obligatory "this is not a toy" warning, instructions on gassing and degassing the gun, a parts diagram, assembly and disassembly procedures, and a troubleshooting guide; more than I got with my Kingman Spyder, but less than the 30-minute video that ships with an AT-85. Also in the box is a spare parts kit with a complete set of o-rings and an extra "valve cup seal/screw."
Design
The Titan looks very much like a Tippmann Pro/Carbine. In fact, I'd venture to say Mokal set out to copy and improve the Pro/Carbine design. It has a .45-style grip frame married to an inline, open-bolt blowback receiver with the bolt handle protruding out the left side. Unlike a Pro/Carbine, however, it also has a vertical gas port where a CO2 tank connects to the gun in its T1 variant. Of course, you can also connect a bottom-line, gas-through foregrip, or Palmer Vertical Stabilizer there. The Titan receives paintballs through a left-hand powerfeed with a plug that can be turned to prevent balls from entering the gun.
The Titan also features "near-tool-free" disassembly. Unscrew the barrel and the rear endcap, then start removing innards. Hammer spring, linkage arm cover, and linkage arm come loose with your bare hands. You then use the linkage arm to coax the hammer out the back of the gun and the bolt out the front. The last step is to slide the valve assembly out the back. This step requires a rod or pencil to push the valve all the way out (hence my "near-tool-free" caveat).
Titan Innards from Left to Right: Bolt, Linkage Arm, Main Valve Assembly, Hammer, Cocking Handle, Cocking Handle Retention Pin, Hammer Spring, Endcap, Velocity Adjuster Screw.
How does it feel?
Solid. That's the word that comes to mind when you hold the Titan for the first time. It is heavy, compact, and very substantial. Even the milled aluminum trigger seems over-engineered. Given the price, I was expecting a light-weight, almost toyish feeling gun, but instead the Titan feels more like a real firearm. It's no OICW, mind you, but it definitely feels capable in your hands.
What looked like a plastic receiver in the few pictures I found online is actually thick aluminum with a heavy powder coat; only the grip is plastic. Shaking the Titan produces no noise at all - no rattles, no pings, no nothing. Every part on the Titan seems designed to survive abuse.
How does it shoot?
Loud. It also kicks quite a bit. Naturally this hinders accuracy during long bursts, but the Titan's single-finger trigger and relatively stiff trigger pull conspire to make extended volleys difficult. The gun encourages you to make three- or four-round bursts rather than lay down continuous streams of paint.
Cold weather doesn't seem to affect paint velocity. The Titan shot without severe fluctuations at the chronometer even without a regulator or expansion chamber. This may in fact be an additional benefit of the Titan's low rate of fire, which allows the liquid CO2 time to convert even at lower temperatures. Velocity is set using the adjusting knob at the back of the gun, and can be locked by tightening a hex screw on the knob.
How does it play?
My first day out with the Titan was a disappointment. I got shot out nearly every time, and had difficulty going head-to-head with the double-finger-triggered, compressed-air-breathing, DYE-Boomstick-toting punks I usually play with. (Just kidding guys.) Then I realized I was trying to make the Titan be something it is not.
It is not a $400 gun, for one thing, so I modified my playing style accordingly. I got a little sneakier, picked my shots more carefully, and allowed other players to get closer before opening fire. I also used the Titan's loud muzzle to my advantage, firing it in the general direction of advancing players to make them think twice about their next move. I can honestly say I had a great time playing with the Titan once I stopped trying to be a front-line commando.
Accuracy
In my experience, the Titan is neither deadly accurate nor incapable of hitting the broadside of a barn. Paint tends to veer off to one side or the other slightly, then shoot straight a couple of times, then veer again. If you shoot a few balls on-target at medium range, one of them will hit. That's about what you should expect from a gun in this price range. The stock barrel seems smoother than the one that shipped with my Spyder Xtra. In fact, it reminds me a lot of my DYE Xcel.
Reliability
The Titan rarely breaks balls. I shot three kinds of paint through it during my testing: Big Ball, RPS El Tigré, and PMI Premium. The paint performed from best to worst in that order; Big Ball never broke, but PMI Premium broke a few times. I suspect this has to do with the relative thickness and consistency of each brand's shell. Even after a ball break, however, the Titan keeps shooting (albeit with decreased accuracy) until you have time to squeegee the barrel. No ball break ever required disassembly of the gun.
Final Thoughts
The Titan seems like a good value for the money. I bought mine for $94 on-line (because no local stores carry them to my knowledge). New players will outgrow the Titan as soon as they shoot a more expensive gun, but would be wise to hang on to it as a back-up or as a loaner for friends rather than sell it for what it's worth used.
As a rental marker, the Titan is probably ideal for the same reasons Tippmann Pro-Carbines are so popular. After all, the last thing a new player needs is to be worrying about his gun all day. Field owners demand reliability over flash. They want customers shooting paint (that they bought at the field, of course) not staring at their guns wondering why they won't cock.
If you buy a Titan knowing full well what it is (and isn't) you won't be disappointed.
But what about the Canadian menace? Does the Titan give them an edge?
The answer is: No way, eh. Tell those hosers to take off. We have beauty Automags and Palmers. We'll steam roller 'em for sure.
Ratings
Quality/Workmanship: 8/10
Style: 6/10
Accuracy: 7/10
Value: 8/10
posted by Tony @ 12:28 PM
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