Hey, i'm new to these forums and I have a couple questions for you guys, i've recently purchased a Tippmann A-5 Special Ops edition and the guy at the store told me that the Clip on the gun had an expansion chamber inside of it and that the clip was just for looks. Now I talk to this kid online and he has the same gun and he was told the same thing, but when I took off the clip I was suprised to not see anything that resembled an expansion chamber. He also did this with his gun and nothing. I've known the guy at the Paintball shot for a few years now and i'm sure he wouldent lie but this is really odd. Anyway on to my next question, I play alot of woods ball and i'm looking for a barrel that is accurate and has decent distance, my friend offered to sell me his E-Grip and a Smart-Parts progressive barrel for $75 I told him hellz yes. But I would like to buy another barrel to for this reason, I had the smart parts progressive barrel on my old Model 98 and I wasn't amazed by it, I did have the Tippmann 16" barrel on my A-5 but it just plain old sucked and defenitly was not worth the $70 so I took it back and got a refund. So what barrel would you guys recommend? Now on to my next question, I was out earlier tweeking my velocity because I was really dumb and bought cheap paintballs (will never do again) and the odd ball would break in my barrel and you know how gay that can be, so I turned the velocity down and borrowed some paintballs from a friend that he said were good but the distance on the balls were horrid, and they would never go straight they were going where ever they felt like. What kinda paintballs do you recommend for woodsball?

Now I know i had alot of questions but bare with me, i'm kinda new to paintball and only just started getting into it compeditivly, before I just did target shooting.

Thanks alot guys,

Kevin.

1) Wrong section: should be in new players, upgrades, or gun maintenance/ repair.

2) All guns shoot the same distance unless using a flatline or apex barrel system that creates backspin on the paintball.

3) Accuracy is detrmined by a marker's kick, and the paint to barrel match. In that regard it depends on the paint you use, which barrel would be the best fit. I suggest you get a barrel kit, either the Evil Pipe Kit, Empire 4 or 7 piece kits. I am pretty sure some of those were discontinued, but you can still find them new on the cheap. This allowed you to change the barrel backs to get the best paint to barrel match, regardless of the paint you are using.

4) I can't believe you would pay 70 dollars for POS tippmann barrel. Good move on returning it.

5) http://www.paintballreview.com - www.paintballreview.com shall be your friend.

*edited to reflect questions posed.

• Commander, he said A5, not X-7. And by spec-ops edition did you mean this?
• Secondly, if not the one pictured above, does the gas line from the ASA go through the mag? if not, then it's just cosmetic and doesn't do anything performance wise
• As far as a good barrel goes, barrel kits are great if you feel like doling out the cash, but if you want best bang for your buck, go lapco big-shot or J&J Ceramic, no longer than 14"
• As for the velocity, make sure you chrono your marker at the field limit. Also, make sure your barrel is clean and free of debris and paint. That will cause drag on the ball which will not only slow it down, but also send it off in every-which-direction
• Commander Cool IS right with the paint-to-bore match being the governing factor of accuracy.
• With paint, you get what you pay for. It's that simple.

Ok first thing first, I did not once metion the x7 in my post, the e-grip i'm getting is from an A-5 that is going to be put on my A-5. Yes that looks exacly like my gun.

Ok so I just ordered a 14" J&J Ceramic barrel off the internet I should have it in a few days and I will get back to you and tell you how it preforms. Also, is buying an expansion chamber worth the pretty penny?

birdhouse wrote: Hi gang! I'm relatively new to paintball and I just bought (today, April 15th) my first gun from Tippmann, the 98 Custom. However, me being a newbie and all, I assembled it the way was most logic and...it won't shoot. I've played paintball before but I've never owned my own gun. So, I tried reading the owner's manual in detail and followed all instructions. I must be doing something wrong 'cause it just ain't working!  Now, I'll tell you what I've done: I've removed the packaging (duh) took it out, put on the CO2 canister and the paintball cartouche, and...that's about it. Does the canister come with CO2 in it? Do I actually have to put an 8v battery, as specified but the manual, 'cause there isn't any space for one. Anything else I might be doing wrong? If someone owns this exact gun, could they tell me how they got theirs to work? Thanks. (I'm sure it's nothing but a stupid mistake)

1) You need to get your CO2 tank filled.

2) If your gun has an e-grip in it you will need to put in a 9v battery, if it does not, don't worry about it.

3) When you attach the CO2, you will have to cock the gun, and make sure the safety is not on in order for it to fire.

4) Try not to jack someone elses thread as it can cause confusion or sidetrack the conversation away from helping them, simply make a new thread.

Quality paintballs will definitely make a difference.  Bad balls have variety, and variety = inconsistency.

You should also look for paintballs that fit your barrel well - i.e., they shouldn't roll through freely, but gently grip the sides of the barrel.