Hey fellas, this is my first post and problably not my last.

I just went painballing the other day for the first time in ten years (I was real young)and man do I wanna get back into it! I don't think I'll be a full time painballer because it's an expensive sport but I wanna get a gun and some gear so when I can play I don't have to rent ya know?!

Looking for someone that's not a saleman for advice, I personaly want a marker that has (forgive my rookie talk) a comfortable place to hold the barrel while aiming, kinda like the tipman pro/carbine. At least right now I don't want to hold the marker like a tommy gun. I'm interested in Tippmann because of it's rep for a long lasting low maintnence gun but not sold yet. I'm looking at the custom 98, it doesn't have the grip on the barrel like I mentioned earlier but from what I can tell on my own it's a study marker and if I get serious with the sport I can upgrade it until I'm broke. Is there a barrel I can buy that would put the grip I'm looking for on the barrel? Does anyone think I'm on the right track? I plan on playing in a couple different places so speedball and woodsball would be in the picture.

Anyway those are my basic questions, if any of you experienced guys can throw some open minded opinions my way I'd be very thankful.

Rock on!

Thanks for repying.

So (in your opinion), when people critique the flatline as not being effective up close, are these people just being picky or is having a gun and barrell that big really going to handicap a player in close encounters.

Thanks again

"pm the gut in my sig enos shenk" either this is impressive painball lingo or you typing too fast. Yes I do want to know more about the Pro Carbine.

In your opinion (anybody reading this), should I just get over the whole "I wanna hold a gun by the barrel" phase, it's what i wanna do but i'm looking in the mags and sites and it seems nobody does it. Do you guys not hold the gun by the barrel because of good technique or lack of options?

For a first day back on the field in a decade I didnt feel like a newbe, I did pretty well even with a gun that was only effective up close. I wanna play speedball and woodsball, What gun would you recomend, Tippmann or not, Holding the gun by the barrel or not.

Thanks again for all the replies!

-PREDATOR- wrote: BOB LONG INTIMIDATOR 2005!!!

Ahhh.... The intimidator seems to be an expensive date, like $1600 or so, do you have. I would never spend that much but I'm curious about how good the gun is.

Tip (and I'm not trying to make fun of you): Check the ppls signatures.  They usually have their gun upgrades on there.  His barrel's a J&J Ceramic 14"; a very good barrel for most tippys.  You could get a Lapco Bigshot, both barrels work well. 

As for the Flatline, I have never fired one nor do I own one, but from everything I've read, the Flatline seems pretty cool if you can eventually learn to manipulate it.  Heard somewhere that a guy would turn his tippy onto it's side and fire with the Flatline.  At a certain distance the ball would curve in the direction he wanted and he could sometimes get players that way who were hiding behind bunkers.

I recommend any Tippmann.  Carbine will be harder to find upgrades as mentioned before, so I'd probably stick with the 98c since you're somewhat thinking of tricking it out.  You could probably find a rail shroud on a mil-sim site (military simulation) that'll allow you to have a grip on the barrel rather than on the "Tommy Gun" position, so research that option before you get too fixed onto the Carbine.  I know for a fact that they have M-16 barrel shrouds for the A-5 that look sturdy enough.

P.S. Welcome to the forums fellow newbie!

I think the A-5 or the 98c would be perfect for you but dont upgrade yet! Play a few games in boath woodsball and speedball then based on what you like you can upgrade from there. tippmanns are realy player markers i say that becouse they reflect the player that owns them. Take My A-5 for example Flatline, ^6 position car stock, sling, remote, Red dot sight. now what about that dosent scream woodsball. but take the same A-5 and put a J&J a good sized drop and a top feed and bamn its a speed ballers dream. you see what i mean?

As for the grabing the barrel thing you should look in to a M-16 barrel kit got to Ospgear.com and just look arround they have all the stuff you could ever want.

Good luck in you future games and welcom to the forum

 I say an autococker because u can get them cheap upgrade em and they can shoot fast but they are also very accurate for ur woodsball needs. Uhh i dont know much about autocokers but i guess u could put ur hand on the barrel oh this gun if u really wanted im thining it would just be uncomfortable because of the front handle. http://paintball.com/reviews/detail.cfm?id=176 - http://paintball.com/reviews/detail.cfm?id=176  thats the link dunno how much it is though

I have heard the A-5 is one of the best woodsball guns out there, but i've also heard that it isn't so great for speedball because the front of the hopper is flat and it really sticks out far if you are right handed. i don't have the gun yet but i am looking in to getting one. depending on how much money you are willing to spend cockers are great for speedball but i've only test fired one. but i don't know about in the woods. they can run pretty expensive though so it's basically all about what you are willing to spend. what ever you do though don't get a crappy gun from wal mart just cause you see that it's really cheap. trust me i speak from experience. however they do sell a 98 custom pack for only 170. ( gun, mask, hopper, co2).

well i hope this was helpful and have fun when you go out to play.

So I'm not an expert, only been playing 9 monmths. But I have a 98 custom with flatline. I think its great. The shroud allows me to hold like a rifle which is more comfortable for me when I'm in place to do a little sniping. The virticle grip is grate when I'm doing closer quarters. But if your planning on playing speedball, I just can't see the flatline as being good for it, granite, I've never played speedball. But don't forget, their are other options. A friend of mine has the A5, with an M4 stock. It seems to work just fine and still give you the ability to hold under the barrel, without the extra length of the flatline. If your interested, check out http://www.rustyspaintballgear.com/ - http://www.rustyspaintballgear.com/  thats where my friend first found his. Theirs lots of possibilities out their so don't get stuck on flatline or carbine.