A-5 Ball Detent Inquiry

Took my new A-5 to the field today, worked perfectly fine except that balls would constantly keep rolling out of the barrel when gun was pointed down --not a steady stream of them, just 1 ball at a time.  I would run around, shoot, point gun down, and again, a single paintball would roll out.

I've done some searching and found that I should inspect to see if my ball detent is damaged, broken or even there, but before I do, I'd like to know what I'm looking for. (what it looks like, and procedure to tear down gun.)

How do I remove/replace part?  I don't have my manual in front of me but any help would be appreciated.

-alex

alexblaster wrote: Took my new A-5 to the field today, worked perfectly fine except that balls would constantly keep rolling out of the barrel when gun was pointed down --not a steady stream of them, just 1 ball at a time.  I would run around, shoot, point gun down, and again, a single paintball would roll out. I've done some searching and found that I should inspect to see if my ball detent is damaged, broken or even there, but before I do, I'd like to know what I'm looking for. (what it looks like, and procedure to tear down gun.) How do I remove/replace part?  I don't have my manual in front of me but any help would be appreciated. -alex

I would hope that by now you have actually looked at the manual. In the A-5 manual the part is referred to as the ball latch. It is the same part as the detent used in the 98C.

If you had thought about it for a minute you could have figured out what it likely was and that you could probably see it by looking into the chamber...the area into which the ball sits before it is rammed into the barrel by the forward moving bolt. Don't wait for others to tell you every thing about your marker. Inspect it and try to understand how it functions...how the parts interact with each other. This understanding of your marker will allow you to correctly trouble shoot and solve problems that might keep you from missing a day of play.

There is no magic or mystery to the marker. It is a straight forward mechanical design that is simple in function and logical in design. Look at the schematic and try to comprehend how it all works. Besides saving yourself a day of play when something goes wrong, you will save a bunch of money fixing things yourself...particilarly something as straight forward as the detent.

If it is missing, yes it can be replaced without having to disassemble the marker. A dental pick or a pair of forceps will allow you to push a new detent into the slot. If paintballs are falling out of the barrel when the marker is pointed down, there is little doubt that the detent is the problem.

Edited by Bruce A. Frank - 04 September 2006 at 1:55am

MilSimBaller wrote: ^^^word homie^^^

i strongly agree

Edited by carl_the_sniper - 04 September 2006 at 1:57am

As an update:

I took the barrel off the gun and immediately noticed the notch where the ball detent/latch should be.  It was empty, nothing there!

I called tippmann this morning they said they would send one out for free.


Thanks all.

-alex

hopefully, tippmann sent me out a couple.

what other spare parts do you recommend i keep around? i keep a couple o-rings around and now will stock a few detents as well.

where does everyone purchase these tiny little parts without feeling robbed?


-alex