The Sniper tip wasn’t difficult to cut down or shape, but like many other layered tips I’ve tried, it did not want to retain it’s nickel shape without a fight.
I would shoot a few racks, it would flatten out and I would reshape it. The Sniper isn’t quite as tall as some of the other layered tips on the market and I began to worry about how far I would have to take it down before it would finally cooperate.
Don’t worry all you Sniper lovers, I also have some nice things to say about the tip, so here goes.
In between the work I was putting in reshaping the tip, I began to realize that I liked the way that it felt as I shot with it. The Sniper is considered a medium to medium/hard tip, but to me it felt more like a cross between a medium and soft tip which is exactly what I am looking for. It holds chalk well and the cue ball was responding beautifully when I applied English, used a stop or force follow shot and drawing the cue ball with the Sniper was no problem at all.
Yes, for all the work I was putting in and the frustration it was causing me, I realized that the tip was starting to grow on me. Then it would flatten out again.
That is where I stood when I first did a review of the Sniper.
It was 10 days ago and one of the members of the SPM family took issue with me over my review. He, like me, was a devoted fan of the old Moori tips and was just as disappointed as I was when they changed into the unreliable and inferior product that you get if you purchase one of the new ones. He had also tried Sniper, but unlike me, fell in love with them immediately and they had replaced Moori as his new favorite tip.
I have been searching for a replacement also, hoping that I would develop the same devotion for a new tip that I felt for the old Moori. I promised him that I would not cut off the Sniper—that I would give it more time to impress me and I have to admit that he was right about them. I’m glad that I didn’t give up on it.
The Sniper eventually began to hold it’s shape without constantly needing work and much to my delight it was finally behaving like a good layered tip should. In the end, it was more work than a lot of other tips, but unlike a lot of other tips, I really like the Sniper.
Another example that sometimes the best things in life require a little hard work! At this point I would like to thank Ryan Theewen, builder of Rat Cues, for recommending the Sniper to me and SPM member Greg Rogers for helping to convince me not to cut the Sniper off and move on to another tip without a little longer trial period.
Is it love? Well, let’s just say I’m much more careful about declaring my love for any one layered tip than I used to be. I will say, without reservation, that the Sniper tip will be near the top of my list when I am finally done searching for a new favorite.
William Hurst was born in Philadelphia and grew up in a small suburb southwest of the city until the age of fifteen. For the last thirty-five years he has lived in Florida, and currently resides in a small town called Crawfordville located in the big bend area of Florida’s panhandle. He is married and has a teenage daughter who used to play pool, but—unfortunately for him—gave it up. He is a simple man with a passion for this wonderful sport and enjoys sharing that passion with like-minded people. Photo: David Lenker/Flickr Editor: Dana Gornall
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