The MacDev 07 Cyborg
Text and Photography by Joshua D. Silverman
Printed Paintball Games International Magazine Issue 216

You see evolution nearly everywhere you look in paintball, from the game we physically play to the gear we use and the industry we buy it from. Paintball guns, specifically, have evolved unimaginably from the finger-cutting bolt action pistols that spawned our sport to the electric seal-clubbers we pound each other back and forth across the field with today. Almost more amazing to me than how quickly our equipment has changed in the twenty years and change it took to get us here is how quickly companies can refine their products once they have established a stable platform. One such refinement of a platform comes from Australia 's resident paintball equipment manufacturer, MacDev,
with the latest edition of their flagship marker, the Cyborg.

On the market for its third generation, the Cyborg has been a perennial underdog to other, higher profile guns made by companies with deeper pockets who can afford to advertise heavily to influence public opinion. Early Cyborgs proved functional but somewhat unrefined when forced initially to stand and fight, armed only with performance, against the Dyes, Smart Parts and Planet Eclipses of the world wielding dozens of pages of ads, top professional teams and years of success. The new 2007 MacDev Cyborg comes to market clearly refined and ready to face the opposition.

Always a simple and lightweight marker, the 2007 version of the Cyborg is no exception. Still a stacked tube electropneumatic design with the bolt riding atop a ram, what was once a somewhat ungainly, blocky and tall gun has been whittled down, with sizeable chunks of aluminum shaved off the receiver reducing size and weight and vastly improving the Cyborg's look. For 2007, the entire back section of the Cyborg's upper tube has been hacked off, and even its eye covers could not escape the knife, creating a very light paintball gun at approximately two pounds. Noteable, the '07 does possess some sharp edges that will quickly show wear in its attractive dust anodizing finish. Speaking of anodizing, the 2007 Cyborg can be had in black, blue, red, pewter, olive or a nearly white “stormtrooper” finish, all with gloss black accents.

Standard with an accurate Matchstik two-piece barrel with Autococker threads and plenty of porting, the 2007 Cyborg features the popular and consistent Gladiator in-line regulator that has also been refined for the new season. Carried over from Cyborgs past is the ingenious placement of the on/off switch inside the upper portion of the trigger guard in front of the trigger, where it cannot be accidentally switched off during play or shot and filled with paint and shell fragments. A Delrin, quick-pull bolt is standard, and new Cyborg owners are warned not to be alarmed by the tightness of the bolt within the gun's upper tube, as its manufacturers explain that it will wear to a perfect fit. The .45 grip frame is still a little blocky in the hand, but is narrow and has been upgraded with a dovetail, eliminating the need for a rail, and a small snatch grip.

Laser anti-chop eyes continue to be a feature of the Cyborg for 2007, all but preventing chopped paintballs. A low rise, clamping feed neck has been added to the new model that will hold onto any hopper with ease, still leaving room to upgrade to a lever-locking model. The vertical bottle adapter, into which the Gladiator inline reg threads, has been secured to the receiver with two screws, one internal and one external, eliminating the chance of the adapter loosening during play, and the on/off bottle adapter is simple and function, complete with Macro line fittings and a length of line pre-installed. The low pressure regulator, as usual, resides at the front of the receiver beneath the barrel.

Adding a Crossfire 68 cubic inch, 4,500psi bottle and a HALO hopper to the Cyborg added nearly five pounds to its weight, but due to the distance between the grip frame and the vertical in-line regulator, balance remained manageable. Flipping the on/off switch forward activated the Cyborg's board and anti-chop eyes. Standard with every conceivable mode including the capability to design custom break-out and ramp modes or play legally in any league from the NPPL to the PSP, Millennium and CFOA, my test model was sent ready to ramp. A few quick shots to get the feel for the gun were all it took to let me start landing shots onto targets near and far. A couple of quick pulls and the gun kicked into ramp and started mowing, with ropes of paint landing splat-on-splat at close range and in acceptable, if not surgically tight, groups at longer ranges. Even when the HALO hopper was completely emptied of even its last two or three paintballs, the Cyborg refused to chop, a testament to the performance of its laser eye system. Once during testing, the Cyborg did sputter and nearly fire with the breech empty, as if the ram came forward slightly, but the gun did not completely cycle and the mis-fed paintball was not chopped.

Out of the box the velocity of my Cyborg was enough to permanently scar both the mind and body of opponents, with shots consistently in the 350 feet per second neighborhood. Needless to say, at this velocity the firing Cyborg was a bit loud. A quick crank on the Gladiator regulator's side-mounted adjustment screw was all that was required to turn things down to more legal and slightly less painful speeds in the 290's with very little fluctuation. Even at these speeds, the Cyborg was noticeably louder than some of its competitors, but this is likely due to the very small porting in the Matchstik barrel. Though air efficiency of the Cyborg has always been legendary with 2007 models advertised with the ability to shoot nearly 2000 rounds on a 68/45, I found my numbers closer to the 1500 mark. However, things could improve as the new marker breaks in, paint and barrel match always affect these numbers, and besides, 1500 shots per tank is still an excellent number!

Accurate, very light, well-built, consistent and efficient, the 2007 MacDev Cyborg is capable of keeping up with the DMs, Shockers and Egos of the world without missing a beat. However, with a price of well over a thousand dollars, in a world of Ions, Rails, ETeks and Proto Matrices, MacDev may have to be satisfied with a niche market, unless they can find a way to ease off on the price of their new machine. Overall, the 2007 version is by far the best Cyborg ever, and an excellent paintball gun.