Spyder has long been making affordable, entry-level paintball guns that have spanned the classes from pumps like the Hammer to one of the original (if not THE original) affordable semiautomatics and even the occasional tactical marker. The recent explosion of the popularity of tactical, magazine-fed paintball and the continued growth of pump paintball were obviously not trends lost on Spyder, as one of their newest models is the Hammer7, an affordable pump paintball gun able to shoot First Strike rounds or regular paintballs via a magazine, or be converted to feed via a hopper and vertical feed. Simple yet versatile and affordable, the Spyder Hammer7 pump is a great way for serious and recreational players alike to enjoy mag-fed, tactical paintball and pump paintball!
Available in black or green, the Spyder Hammer7 Pump is delivered in a basic box with a handful of spares, a velocity adjustment tool, a barrel plug, nine round First Strike-ready magazine and a clamping vertical feed hopper adapter. These aren’t all that’s in the box, however, as the Hammer7 offers an impressive list of standard features for a basic pump paintball gun with a retail price of $160. A lightweight marker built from a mix of metal and high-impact polymers, the Hammer7 offers a comfortable .45-style trigger frame with a wrap-around grip and inline holes at the bottom for a bottle adapter. A Picatinny sight rail runs the length of the marker’s receiver when the marker is set up for magazine feed, allowing the shooter to sight down the top of the marker for an uninterrupted sight picture (the vertical feed will require the shooter to slightly tilt their marker) and the polymer pump handle rides, shotgun-style, underneath the barrel.
Able to be powered by CO2 or compressed air, the Spyder Hammer7 pump receives air via a very classic setup, namely a bottle adapter at the back of the marker’s receiver. While this may, with a small CO2 or compressed air bottle, help the marker more accurately resemble a tactical shotgun or rifle, it’s of little help in the ergonomics department as it makes sighting down the top of the marker while wearing a paintball goggle system a bit difficult and makes for an awkward setup with anything but the smallest bottles. The inline holes at the bottom of the marker’s grip frame provides owners with a clear and simple upgrade path for remedying this situation, however, and even encourages a trip to the local paintball store for a bottle adapter, hoses and air fittings necessary to tailor a bottom-line setup to the owner’s individual liking.
The magazine included with the Spyder Hammer7 pump works very well with both paintballs and First Strike rounds. Holding nine of either type of ammunition, the magazine is simple and quick to load and seats firmly into the marker’s AR-style mag-well. An AR-style magazine release is a simple button in front of the marker’s trigger guard and the magazine drops free when the button is pushed. Once loaded and inserted into the marker, the Hammer7’s magazine experienced no failures to feed of any kind and no paintballs or First Strike rounds were chopped or damaged during testing. The Hammer7’s pump stroke may not be on the level with high-end pump markers like a hand-tuned Sniper, those from CCM or the Phantom, but the stroke is short and positive and the marker is equipped with an auto-trigger for faster shooting if needed, but with only nine rounds at the ready in the magazine using the auto-trigger isn’t something that should happen often.
Adjusting velocity with the Hammer7 pump is accomplished via an adjusting rod down the barrel. While this may be a bit alien to some newer players, anyone playing for a few years or who has experience with older pump and even some older semiautomatic markers will recognize this system for adjusting velocity and have no trouble with it. With well-sized paintballs, First Strike rounds and especially with compressed air, the Hammer7 is a consistent marker, easily holding strings at approximately 280 feet per second with minor and manageable variation. Accuracy with the marker’s stock, twelve-inch aluminum barrel is very good and groups were solid at all average paintball ranges. Accuracy was helped when using the marker in a magazine-fed configuration, enabling the shooter to sight down the top of the marker. The Hammer7 was put to its best use as a “designated marksman” weapon, loaded with a magazine of First Strike rounds, fitted with a bottom line and small bottle for the best sight picture, and used with a red dot sight zeroed for First Strike rounds. In this configuration, the marker was able to punch well above its weight with devastating results, putting single well-aimed shots on players far away who in most cases weren’t even aware they were within anyone’s range. Even when used with regular paintballs, especially in a group with other pump players, the Hammer7 is a fine paintball gun that functioned well.
Simple, light, versatile, convertible, upgradeable and effective well beyond its peers in its price class, the Spyder Hammer7 tactical pump is a great paintball gun. Tactical and mag-fed players will love its performance and price, while players looking to take a shot at pump paintball will love its simplicity and price. Whether as a player’s only marker or an addition to a serious player’s gear bag with special missions, pump day or mag-fed day at the local field or scenario event, the Hammer7 is a great buy!
By Josh Silverman
