question about guns
Printed From: Tippmann Paintball
Category: Paintball Equipment
Forum Name: Which Gun is Best
Forum Description: Need Advice? Ask the pros.
URL: http://www.tippmannsports.com/forum/wwf77a/forum_posts.asp?TID=139909
Printed Date: 23 March 2026 at 5:28pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.04 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: question about guns
Posted By: Kittles
Subject: question about guns
Date Posted: 12 August 2005 at 1:02pm
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ok im new to the paintball sport. ive played about 5 times. now im looking to get a gun. something thats good, strong and able to keep up with the competition.
Now i really like the look and feel of the A-5 with the E-Grip, however i have some questions. first of all i dont see alot of players with tippmann guns, is there a reason for this? second i hear the A-5 is a gas hog, is this accurate. and thirdly althought i am aware that this is a tippmanna forum dose anyone have any other guns that might be good for someone like my self? Thank you
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Replies:
Posted By: woodzballer08
Date Posted: 12 August 2005 at 1:15pm
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#1. They can be big and bulky(hopper-a-5)
#2. no, hopper uses extra air from blowback
#3. for the price of the A-5 you could get an Ion. Or you could get the 98 custom with e-grip for $229.99(if you get this i must recommend a co2 tank with a anti-syphon.
#4 "how deep are your pockets"
#5 Speedball or Woodsball?
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Getting bunkered is like having sex in prision; it will happen weather you like it or not.
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Posted By: TRC1040
Date Posted: 12 August 2005 at 1:28pm
I would look at a Kingman or Raven. most people at fields will not have tippmanns, unless it is an all woods field. tippmanns aren't good for speedball
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Posted By: ShortyBP
Date Posted: 12 August 2005 at 1:57pm
I don't see how a Kingman is any better (or worse) than a Tippmann for speedball. What difference makes one better than the other??? They're both blowback semi-autos.
An A-5 is NOT bigger and more bulky because of it's hopper. You put a standard marker with a HALO on it up next to an A-5, and tell me which has the smaller profile. (hint: it's not the one with the HALO)
The A-5 does use more gas than a lot of other gun types. But is par with some other types.
Deciding on a gun is not a very simple thing. There is no "one" better gun than another. And there are a lot of variables to consider when deciding.
First and foremost... try holding several gun types. A gun can be the "greatest" gun on the market... but if it doesn't feel comfortable in your hands... it's worthless to you. Be sure to pick one that is comfortable in your hands.
Then decide on your determining factors.
Cost: a biggie.
Weight.
Size.
Out-of-box performance.
Available accessories and upgrades (which will also have to be considered based on actual performance enhancement vs cost).
Ability to use CO2 vs HPA.
Reliablity/ruggedness.
Customer Service of the manufacturer (should you need it).
I could tell you to get several guns. I like my Intimidator... I think it's an excellent gun. I like my Level10 Minimag... again, excellent gun. I've always liked my 98s. I didn't like A-5s at first, but now thoroughly enjoy my E-grip A-5.
TRC mentioned Kingmans. Spyders can be a good choice... but go with a simpler model as the factory accessories tend to be of poor quality. The last Spyder I thought was excellent out-of-the-box was the old Spyder TL+.
There's a lot of choices to ponder. First you have to try and decide on what priorities you have in regards to determining factors... then if possible, see what guns feel good in your hands... and then see if you have enough money to purchase both the gun, AND all the necessary equipment (hopper, air source, etc).
Good luck!
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Posted By: CallouS
Date Posted: 12 August 2005 at 2:16pm
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I have a A5 it is the right fit for me
not to big , or small
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Third tour of duty
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Posted By: Kittles
Date Posted: 12 August 2005 at 2:22pm
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as far as money goes im willing to spend 300-450 on just the gun. i was looking at the spyder electra as an alternative. i enjoy woodsball but would like a gun that is good all around for.
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Posted By: solxion
Date Posted: 12 August 2005 at 8:05pm
I suggest starting out with a 98 custom or the custom pro.you can upgrade it the way you want,and you will always have a dependable backup(if you decide on another
marker).
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98c/rt,12" j&j pro-1,java coiled remote to 20 oz,eggy II,spee-t-cocker,ghetto fab stock(homebrew),pgp2k1. 
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Posted By: Kittles
Date Posted: 12 August 2005 at 8:14pm
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besides the loader and feed system is there a difference in the 98 custom and the A-5?
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Posted By: cdacda13
Date Posted: 12 August 2005 at 10:25pm
 Kreeper-X wrote:
How does the A-5 really stack up against the Model 98 Custom?
By Kreeper-X Updated 04-04-2003 Overall: 9 out of 10
I've discovered, since the release of Tippmanns' latest marker, that there are a lot of misconceptions about the A-5.
One
of the first things people said, before ever even seeing one in person
was that the Cyclone feeder was far too large and made for a "huge"
target on the right hand side of the marker. As you will read later on
in this article, that's not true at all.
The prevailing "wisdom"
among those who don't own the A-5 is that it's nothing more than a
"rehash of the Model 98 Custom with a fancy hopper" and that there are
few, if any, improvements to the overall performance of what's looked
at by many in the paintball community as "just another Tippmann blow
back semi."
It is for these people that I write this article.
The Similarities
Looking
strictly at the design of the marker, the A-5 is what Tippmann has
perfected and does best, an open-bolt blow-back semi-automatic
paintball marker utilizing Tippmanns' extremely versatile CVX valve.
The design is simple and extremely durable, so much so that Tippmann
has changed very little in the valve and bolt system design since the
68 Carbine was released some time ago.
Like all modern Tippmann
markers, the A-5 utilizes a rear bolt that is driven forward by a drive
spring and returned to the ready position by blow-back gasses. The
front bolt which opens and closes the breech and releases gas into the
barrel is connected to the rear bolt by a linkage arm. As the rear bolt
comes forward to strike the valve pin and release the gas, the front
bolt forces the paintball into the breech and seals off the barrel
before releasing a burst of gas into the barrel, launching the
paintball.
The A-5 also uses Tippmanns' old velocity adjustment
screw which works not by changing the gas output of the valve, but
creating turbulence in the power tube, slowing the air down. This
system wastes some gas and a good Rear Velocity Adjuster will fix this.
The Look
Once
you get past the basic operation of the A-5, the similarities with the
Model 98 begin to end the differences become apparent.
The
very first thing that anyone notices about the new Tippmann A-5 is the
look of the marker. The M98 and M98c really didn't look all that great
in my opinion but they were far from ugly (except those darned gills on
the M98). The A-5 has a decidedly "real world" look to it without a
hopper and tank on it, resembling an H&K MP5 right down the
foregrip, cocking knob and trigger grip frame. Players need not worry
about being arrested though, as the A-5 with the Cyclone and a hopper
and a tank looks less like a real firearm and more like a paintball
marker.
Also noticeable is the MP5 style trigger grip frame
which is made primarily for right handed players. Some people prefer 45
style grips so Tippmann made the grip frame removable to accommodate 45
grips or aftermarket Lefty grip frames. J&J performance is working
on an aluminum 45 style grip, and Tippmann has recently released an
electronic sear tripping E-Grip. The stock A-5 grip frame is made of a
plastic polymer to reduce weight, but it's not just cheap plastic, it's
ballistics quality stuff and can take a serious amount of abuse.
In
fact, a lot of the A-5 is "plastic" instead of aluminum both because of
cost and weight. The grip frame and foregrip as well as the main
cyclone body and cocking knob are plastic. This reduces weight, so it's
not a bad thing, though some people are scared to death of plastic.
Tippmann made this marker to last and you need not worry, it's not a
Brass Eagle marker after all, it's a Tippmann Marker and we all know
how Tippmann stand behind the products they make.
The overall
size of the A-5 is a little longer than the M98c and a bit heaver, but
this is because the M98c is weighed without a revy hopper and the A-5
has the Cyclone built in. However, due to the low profile and the fact
that the hopper and Cyclone feeder fit so close to the marker, the A-5
has a better overall balance to it than the M98c.
The Cyclone Feed System
The
second thing that they notice is the Cyclone Feed System, which looks
like about half of a soda can with a five arm "star" agitator inside
it. The Cyclone Feed System resembles the Star Feed System on the old
Tippmann Factory F/A markers from the mid nineties. In fact the Cyclone
is the next generation of the same feed system.
The Factory F/A
was a fully mechanical Full-Auto paintball marker that, for the most
part, wasn't allowed on most fields or in tourneys, and Tippmann needed
a reliable and fast feed system to keep up with the F/A, and they came
up with the Star Feed system. The Star Feed system came only on the
Tippmann Factory F/A markers and used spring tension to load paintballs
into the breech each time the bolt opened when a shot was fired. The
paintballs rest in the gap of the star arm and as the bolt opens, the
feeder turns one stepand loads a paintball into the breech.
The
main problems were that the F/A had some timing issues with the delay
sears and shocks so the marker could fall out of time and become a
blender and everytime you filled the hopper, you had to turn a crank on
the bottom of the Star Feed that wound the pring so the marker could
fire another 150 rounds before doing it all over again. These problems
were solved by Tippmann by linking the Star Feed to a gas powered
piston and thus the Cyclone Feed System was born.
The cyclone
Feed System works by directing a small portion of the excess blowback
gas released by the CVX valve into a piston which forces the cyclone to
turn one step. So each time you pull the trigger a paintball is force
fed into the chamber and ready for firing again. No matter how fast you
shoot, the cyclone loads the next ball just as fast. A common
misconception about the Cyclone is that it sucks up extra gas, this is
not true, the Cyclone requires a small amount of gas that is normally
wasted in the normal operation of a Tippmann blow back.
The
Cyclone main body is connected to the marker by a single bolt on the
left and two guide pins on the right side and connected to the CVX
valve via a valve tap and banjo fitting. There is also a cylinder that
houses both the air piston that works the Cyclone and a manual feed
knob that you use to force the first paintball into the breach at the
beginning of a game.
As paintballs fall into the main feed body,
they fall into one of five "star slots" that effectively pre-load the
next five shots and keeps them in stand-bye to be fired, just like a
gumball machine. As the trigger is pulled, the cyclone advances the
"star" one step, forcing the next paintball into the chamber.
The
Cyclone acts as a force-feed system, not just an agitating hopper and
was factory tested to 16bps and it can handle every bit of that and
then some, though you will have to get the Tippmann Reactive Trigger
Kit or E-Grip as well as a good flowing High Pressure Air (HPA) tank to
realize that potential. To see the A-5 RT w/HPA in action, CLICK HERE
and then download the video.
Some of the earlier Cyclone Feed
Systems could malfunction when used with HPA or in markers that cycled
a ton of paint on a consistant basis, so Tippmann released a Cyclone
Upgrade that fixes these problems and will install it free of charge if
you send the marker to them or they'll send you the parts if you feel
secure enough to install them yourself.
The hopper for the A-5
is a little different looking and has an odd flat face, but it
functions just as well as any other hopper. There were reports of Early
A-5s having hopper that would break if they took a direct hit from a
paintball. These hoppers will be replaced by Tippmann for free if you
do break one, and Tippmann has replaced the old plastic hopper with a
stronger hopper made with thicker plastic on all new A-5s leaving the
factory.
Now a lot of people have been yelling about the size of
the cyclone system and how much larger it is that a "normal" hopper
such as a Revolution or Evolution. But the facts are that the hopper
has a lower profile and is tighter to the marker than any other marker
on the market. The Hopper sits a full two inches lower on the A-5 than
on a Model 98 with a Revolution on it. the hopper itself is smaller
than a revy, only holding slightly more than 160 rounds, but the size
difference is really telling. Check out the Cyclone Size Review, also
on this reviews page, to see the pictures for yourself.
The Bolt System and Rate of Fire
At
first glance, the A-5 seems to utilize the same bolt system as the M98
and M98c but that is far from the truth, A quick look at the rear bolt
reveals that it's hollowed out and isn't the same as the rear bolt on
the m98. The Rear bolt is just as strong as the m98 bolt, but it's
slightly heavier. This heavier bolt is intended to stop the run-away
trigger that the M98 had with the RT installed, but the rate of fire
isn't effected. IN fact the A-5 can fire faster than the m98 because of
the trigger system and the stream-lined design.
The recoil is
only slightly heavier than that of the M98c and is barely noticeable
for those used to non-electronic markers, however, the rate of fire is
radically different.
Tippmann Factory Tested the M98 to 9bps and
when they released the 98C, they addressed the complaints of M98 owners
about how difficult it was to upgrade the marker and tweaked 11bps out
of the 98C. With the A-5, the designers went all out and came up with a
marker that can actually fling 15bps mechanically. They lightened the
trigger pull and reduced the play in the A-5 trigger and that, combined
with the re-designed bolt system, boosted the rate of fire into
"high-end" territory.
Now, the average human finger can't pull
the trigger 9 times a second, let alone 15, but the potential is there
and can be fully recognized with an RT or E-Grip and other upgrades.
Field Stripping the A-5
One
of the biggest gripes everyone had with the M98 and 98C series markers
was how hard it was to strip down and clean. Even the precursor of the
M98, the Pro Series markers, were easier to field strip and clean. The
M98 cleaning process was a comlicated and tedious process, involving
springs that liked to fly off in different directions and pins that
liked to fall out.
The Pro Series markers had a rear sight that
held the linkage arm down on both the front and rear bolt. You simply
had to remove the rear sight, pop the linkage arm out, take the barrel
off and remove the end cap and the rear bolt would come out and the
front bolt would come out and you would clean the marker out.
The
A-5 is like a mix of the two concepts, allowing you to strip the marker
down in less than 60 seconds. Standard cleaning and maintenance can be
done by turning the velocity screw all the way in and then pulling out
four quick-pull pins, removing the grip and ASA adapter and pulling the
entire valve system out of the marker. Though the A-5 is still a
clam-shell design like the M98 and 98C, it can be stripped down and
cleaned without completely disassembling the marker.
Everything
in the A-5 is very modular in design. This becomes evident when fully
disassembling the marker. We find that the entire trigger and sear
system is a single self-contained part. No more springs flying
everywhere when you strip the marker like there was with the M98 and
98C. The one-piece trigger assembly can be broken down easily for
installation of a double-trigger or for maintenance sake.
You'll
also notice that the A-5 utilizes a completely enclosed bolt system,
meaning that there are no openings to the outside anywhere on this
marker except the barrel and the breech. This improves on the design of
all previous Tippmann markers which have a big hole in the rear-bolt
area that allowed paint and dirt and other outside contaminants into
the bolt system and that could result in wear and malfunction. The A-5
is completely closed off to the outside, making it harder for anything
to get inside causing problems.
Upgrade Options
Out
of the box, the A-5 features more upgrade options for the player than
any previous Tippmann marker. Built into the valve system is a vertical
Tombstone adapter which will accept any regulator or expansion chamber
with standard threads. This eliminates the need to upgrade the M98 and
98C to accomplish the same thing. The A-5 also features a completely
removable grip frame so switching to the E-grip of new J&J
Performance 45 Style Grip frame is easy as pulling two pins and
changing the bottomline ASA out.
The fore-grip can be moved
about an inch forward or back or can be completely replaced with any
number of aftermarket front grips, including an adapter by Lapco that
allows you to mount the front grip at a 90 degree angle similar to the
old British Sten Guns or, in paintball, the old SMG-60 and SMG-68s that
Tippmann first made back at the very beginning. The front grip can also
be completely removed if you so desire, quite unlike the foregrip on
the M98 and M98c which is a part of the receiver body.
The ASA
can be removed altogether and you can run vertical if you desire or you
can get the Lapco universal adapter and use ANY drop forward you want.
Also
worth mentioning is that the barrel threads of the A-5 are removable
and exchangeable. The A-5 is shipped with a Pro-Carb barrel thread
adapter which accepts almost all Pro-series barrels and well as most
F-4 barrels, but if you want, you can get a series of aftermarket
adapters that allow you to use spyder, m98 and other style barrels on
your A-5.
Overall, the A-5 was built to be even easier to
upgrade than the 98C which was released primarily due to demand for a
easier-to-upgrade Tippmann marker than the M98. The kits that were
supposedly "drop in" for the M98 and 98C are truly drop in kits for the
A-5. The RT drops into the A-5 in less than 15 minutes if you are
familiar with the marker and requires very little alteration to the
grip in the removing of a single tab. The E-Grip can be installed in
less than a minute. The A-5 Flatline comes as a one piece modular
barrel system which twists on with a quarter turn and aligns itself to
the marker easier than the old style M98 or 98C Flatline.
You
can do just about anything to the A-5 that you can do to an M98 or 98C
unless the product hasn't been released yet. The upgrades are coming
out all the time so just be patient and you'll have everything you
could possibly want to add to your A-5
Conclusion
In
conclusion, the A-5 is the next evolution in the Tippmann line of
markers. It corrects the majority of complaints players had with the
M98 and 98C series markers, improves on the design and performance, and
and does this without sacrificing any of the Tippmann reputation for
building the most reliable and durable markers on the planet.
If
you do find that you have a problem, Tippmann has the best customer
service on the planet and you can count on them to solve it for you,
often free of charge and often for the life of the marker. In fact,
Take a SMG-60 to a Tippmann Trailer at a big game than they'll do
everything that they can to make sure it works like new for you.
The A-5 out performs the M98c in every way and holds it's own against markers twice it's price.
Oh
yes, the price. People are always griping about the price. Well, since
it's release, the A-5 has gone from $350+ down to $225 for a stock A-5.
They argue that the "A-5 is basically an M98" and "any M98 can be
modified to function just like an A-5."
Let's face facts here.
If you buy a Model 98 Custom ($125), a vertical adapter ($25), 12 volt
Evo2 hopper ($85), a quick strip thumb screw set ($15), and a FullBoar
rear cocking knob ($30), you're going to have spent $280+ and guess
what, you still have the same bolt system and are still only going to
get 9 to 11bps without further upgrades. You might as well save the
extra $30 and get an A-5 which not only looks better, but also performs
better and is easier to maintain.
And even A-5s with RTs are
selling for around $269 now, so the price is coming down. Remember,
everything new is more expensive than it should be and once they age a
little the price drop inline.
The A-5 is a great High-mid-level
marker that can grow with you as you grow as a player. It can hang with
the "big dogs" out of the box, but with a little work, you can put
together a truly awesome marker.
I hope this helps clear up some misconceptions about the A-5. |
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