Tippmann says no to .50 cal
Printed From: Tippmann Paintball
Category: Tippmann Paintball
Forum Name: New Player Forum
Forum Description: New to the sport? Get Professional Advice Here!
URL: http://www.tippmannsports.com/forum/wwf77a/forum_posts.asp?TID=183210
Printed Date: 23 February 2026 at 2:58am
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Topic: Tippmann says no to .50 cal
Posted By: TinMan
Subject: Tippmann says no to .50 cal
Date Posted: 11 October 2009 at 12:30pm
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I saw this twice now, thought I'd post it.
"Dear Tippmann Customers:
At the recent Paintball Extravaganza in Atlanta, both my staff and I were asked numerous times about Tippmann launching a .50 caliber paintball marker. I want to put an end to the rumors and speculation and assure you that Tippmann is 100% committed to .68 caliber paintball markers. A .50 caliber platform has been announced by a new company but there has been very little information provided on product features and pros & cons for the industry. As industry manufacturers, we should always be driving toward new product innovation and technology as it is the life blood of any consumer goods category. However, until we know more about the .50 caliber platform we remain focused on .68 caliber. Industry manufacturers we have talked to are also in the “wait and see” mode. Tippmann had a great show in Atlanta as we showcased a number of newly launched .68 caliber products, including the TPX paintball Pistol, the U.S. Army Project Salvo marker and the newly redesigned SL-68 II pump action marker. Our investment in the engineering resources and tooling for these new products should be validation of our continued focus on the .68 caliber platform. We will continue to support the fields and dealers that sell and market .68 caliber products. As we push the envelope on new marker technology, our goal is to develop markers that will provide better air efficiency, superior range and improved accuracy. I hope this clears up any confusion, and as always, thank you for your support of Tippmann products. Should you have any questions, feel free to contact your Tippmann sales representative. Sincerely, Howard Kosick President " |
Replies:
Posted By: MeanMan
Date Posted: 11 October 2009 at 4:40pm
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Im not sure why everyone thinks .50 is going to happen. ------------- 
hybrid-sniper~"To be honest, if I see a player still using an Impulse I'm going to question their motives." |
Posted By: TinMan
Date Posted: 11 October 2009 at 4:47pm
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Yes, the same thing happened with 43.
When I saw the first 50 cal marker posts, the responses were wild.
Some said it was an industry conspiracy to make us buy new guns.
I lol'd.
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Posted By: oldpbnoob
Date Posted: 11 October 2009 at 6:48pm
http://www.spyder.tv/section/company/news/pr/100509.html - http://www.spyder.tv/section/company/news/pr/100509.html
------------- "When I grow up I want to marry a rich man and live in a condor next to the beach" -- My 7yr old daughter. |
MeanMan wrote:Posted By: TinMan
Date Posted: 11 October 2009 at 7:13pm
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Anyone know of 50 cal loaders being made?
On a different note, I may be able to make a 50 cal mod for my SMG60 if paint becomes available.
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Posted By: MeanMan
Date Posted: 11 October 2009 at 7:56pm
Yeah, I read through a bunch of pages of the PbN one. Some of it was quite amusing.
If that does happen and .68 eventually stops being easy to find, I would quite. For the amount that I play now, it wouldnt be worth rebuying stuff and having the current guns and hoppers be worthless.
They would probably lose a lot of people in the sport. -------------
hybrid-sniper~"To be honest, if I see a player still using an Impulse I'm going to question their motives." |
Posted By: oldpbnoob
Date Posted: 11 October 2009 at 8:07pm
MM, I would agree. If things go .50 and .68 gets difficult to find/expensive, I am most likely out. Unless CHEAP conversion kits can be had/made. I don't have the funds to replace my gear, especially if it becomes obsolete and can't be resold. ------------- "When I grow up I want to marry a rich man and live in a condor next to the beach" -- My 7yr old daughter. |
Posted By: Enos Shenk
Date Posted: 13 October 2009 at 9:26pm
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Good for Tippmann. The whole concept is pure idiocy and marketing lies, anyone with any brains knows this. They claim the .50 ball will magically fly better because its smaller, meaning less wind resistance. Pretty much psuedoscience there, but the for sure thing is it also wont have nearly as much range as a .68 ball. Reducing the size of a sphere drops the weight much faster than cross section, and less weight means it wont fly as far at a given speed. Of course since the shell will be roughly the same thickness, but the ball is smaller, guess what? More bounces, yay. The only real benefit I can even think of would be the .18" less bolt travel, making a smaller operating mechanism. ------------- 
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Posted By: dadew
Date Posted: 14 October 2009 at 2:38pm
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I don't know why everybody is having a such a fit over this .50 cal thing.A bunch of people say they'll quit if there is no more .68,because they say you just can't afford new gear,yet people will drop hundreds of dollars on upgrades and own multiple markers.Now from what I've seen on the new caliber,things look promising.I'm sure someone out there will come out with conversion kits,look at all the accessories and upgrades that there is out there.Hey if the new caliber performs like they say it performs,I'll give it a try.If it means more paint for the same money and more shots per tank then I'm in! oh by the way,I think tippmann is making a mistake about not jumping on the .50 cal bandwagon,they should at least look into conversion kits.... |
Posted By: oldpbnoob
Date Posted: 14 October 2009 at 2:49pm
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^^^ Because some of us currently have thousands of dollars into our gear and do not want to have to change and/or convert. Some markers will not convert easily, thus making them useless other than papereights and/or wall hangers. Some of us are at a level of equipment that we like and are essentially able to sell old gear, recoup money and invest in new gear while never really spending much. If all of this gear is suddenly made obsolete and unsellable, we have to reinvest hundreds, and in a lot of cases thousands of dollars on new gear. Considering a few of us, (cough, cough) aren't exactly spring chickens and may not have a lot of years of playing ahead of us anyways, it makes more sense to just hang it up rather than fight the battle.
For the new player with little or no investment, it won't really make much of a difference as they will just throw away their $100 Tippy 98 and buy a Spyder. But losing the ability to use a $500 or $2000 marker, and then suffering the pain of having to replace it might be too much for some of us. ------------- "When I grow up I want to marry a rich man and live in a condor next to the beach" -- My 7yr old daughter. |
Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 14 October 2009 at 3:13pm
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Having seen the range, breakage, and small marking issues that can occur with .50/.40/.43 paint, I don't think this is a good idea. In fact, since this has the potential to make the sport more like airsoft (where you have to trust your opponent to call every hit) I can see it driving people away from paintball. ------------- 
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Posted By: rednekk98
Date Posted: 14 October 2009 at 7:41pm
| I say tippmann breaks the trend an makes a .75 cal paintball marker. Increased range seems bogus to me. A .54 cal round ball has better ballistics than a .50 in a muzzle loader, and larger bore paint has always proven better at range than the smaller stuff. Ammunition capacity and milsim are the only reasons I can think of where a .50 would shine. Maybe if .50 paintballs could be chronoed to a higher velocity, but i think they'd still lose that velocity more quickly than a .68. |
Posted By: SSOK
Date Posted: 14 October 2009 at 7:55pm
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The single benefit for me would be that .50 cal would become more widely accepted, allowing me to use the Crosman 3357 im in the process of building. .68 caliber paint will not die any time soon, and if it does, Ill probably buy a new marker. ------------- 
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Posted By: __sneaky__
Date Posted: 15 October 2009 at 1:03am
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Posted By: Hades
Date Posted: 15 October 2009 at 1:33am
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Are there already .50 paintball markers available other than Splatmaster? I would like to see one if I can mod it for other purposes. ------------- 
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Posted By: Troopr
Date Posted: 15 October 2009 at 1:48am
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I personally hope this .50 cal trend dies quickly... I don't really care what I shoot with I just want consistency... Don't fix it if it isn't broken! Spyder should spend more on making their .68 cal markers more efficient and less time changing the standard. I'm not saying spyder is a bad company, but come on! I just got into the game, but I have seen a lot of people that have put thousands of dollars into this game, that would be Pissed! if .50 cal were to become the standard.... heck I only have $500 in the sport... 2 markers w/ extras... and I'm angry.... I'm running of a budget. I know this won't happen for a while, but I'm a little mad.... I hope they stick to one or the other, and that's what I have to say on this topic, whether anyone cares or not. My vote:  on .50 cal------------- <3's Paintball w/ TippMann Alpha Black Tactical Marker TippMann Project Salvo Marker After Market E-Trigger TippMann SSL-200 E-Hopper |
Posted By: tallen702
Date Posted: 15 October 2009 at 2:30am
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I was going to say, didn't we go through all of this oh.... 20 or so odd years ago? The .50/.62/.68 caliber debate was settled way back then. I can't for the life of me figure out why anyone would want to try and push .50cal. The only reason I can see on the supply side is that it would mean less material to make the paint, but they'd probably sell it at the same price. I seriously doubt they'd start packing more paint into cases as that would actually wind up being MORE materials for the same price. .50cal doesn't break against soft targets as well, doesn't have the range, and doesn't fly any better/straighter than .68 ------------- <Removed overly wide sig. Tsk, you know better.> |
Posted By: DeTrevni
Date Posted: 15 October 2009 at 6:39am
You mean the Crosman 3357? Splatties were .68. :P ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell" 
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Posted By: Hades
Date Posted: 15 October 2009 at 1:47pm
Actually, I meant really meant Splatmatic. 
As in: Splatmatic Pump Action .50 Caliber Paintball Shotgun 
or Palco Sports Splatmatic® Pistolsplat 
That Crossman is pretty nice. Any idea of the availability or price on one of those are? The Crossman would definitely not work for my original intentions of getting a .50 but it looks awesome. The above shotgun might work but I am hesitant at grabbing it due to the high price point for what I want to use it for. -------------
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Posted By: oldpbnoob
Date Posted: 15 October 2009 at 2:28pm
------------- "When I grow up I want to marry a rich man and live in a condor next to the beach" -- My 7yr old daughter. |
Posted By: DeTrevni
Date Posted: 15 October 2009 at 2:39pm
The Crosman 3357 was made in the '80's. They're not very reliable, very finicky and the cylinders often quickly wore down. Also, at the time, .50's sucked, and I'm not having too much faith in the modern ones. However, they are very cool, and increasingly hard to find. They typically go for around $150ish. ------------- Evil Elvis: "Detrevni is definally like a hillbilly hippy from hell"
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Posted By: jmac3
Date Posted: 15 October 2009 at 3:22pm
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I don't understand the need for this .50 cal push. I regret not at least testing it while I was down at cup, but the guy said they haven't even tested it in play yet. I just don't see the point. Paint is hard enough to see with a bigger ball when hit with it. ------------- Que pasa? 
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Posted By: Mack
Date Posted: 15 October 2009 at 9:41pm
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^^^What he said.
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Posted By: Ceesman762
Date Posted: 16 October 2009 at 12:42pm
better. ------------- Innocence proves nothing FUAC!!!!! |
Posted By: TinMan
Date Posted: 16 October 2009 at 5:45pm
I'm pretty sure Tippmann will say no to the Ma Deuce too. 
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Posted By: Sgt Richie
Date Posted: 05 November 2009 at 4:27pm
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.50 cal= more cheating in the sport...... if that even seems possible ------------- Try and find me.... |
Posted By: Monk
Date Posted: 07 November 2009 at 12:42am
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I suppose tooling for the barrels would be cheaper as .50 is a fairly standard size while .68 is kind of an odd ball. But the 68 size just seems like the perfect blend of air resistance, splat size, breakage, and distance. Also, gas efficiency should be in question here as well. |