Tippmann A-5 review
Well, I've been doing the impossible... playing speedball/hyperball with my mil-sim Tippmann A-5 paintball marker. The nearest paintball field (and by far the cheapest) is Santa Clara Paintball.
The action is fast paced, is an A-5 up to the test?
From the left side.
From the Right side.
Here's what I've got installed...
Tippmann A-5
Core red dot sight (with offset rail)
Flatline barrell
Remote feed
Response trigger
6 position collapsable stock
Core deadbox red-dot sight.
Another view of the Core deadbox red-dot sight.
Response Trigger - (1) Cyclone feed gas line, (2) RT gas feed, RT trigger piston.
Front profile.
Yes, the A-5 has a big front profile. Most markers have a big blimp feeder anyway, but the flatline barrell is just plain big. The sight doesn't help either, it took a direct hit the other day and I didn't bother cleaning it for several games, I found looking over the top easier when snap shooting anyway.
The flatline barrell is tight to longer ranges, so it helps compensate for a lower rate of fire with accuracy. I tend to play back anyway, so I'm happy picking off guys at a distance with my much lower rate of fire.
But when the action gets heavy, it's quantity (BPS) not quality (accuracy) that counts. I've also found the flatline is extremely sensitive to dirt & debris. I holed up in a (plywood) castle in a recent game and used a small gunport to pick off the opposing team, quite effectively until the next game when they saturated my position with paint. At least 2 balls broke on the front of my flatline barrell, 1 of which got into the barrell itself. Yes, technically I was out but I hadn't noticed the paint yet...
It was only when every shot made a sudden nasty turn at about 50 feet in a random direction that I realized my barrell was dirty. I thought I had broken a ball, but I checked the front and found the hits. I called myself out, then tried cleaning the barrell with a cable squeegee. I bailed out of the next game for more cleaning.
So, the motto of this story the flatline is great until it gets dirty, then fairly difficult to clean. Paint tends to stick to the coated surface inside the barrell and you can't unscrew it withour using an allen wrench.
I think the A-5 is a great marker, and I'm impressed with the flatline barrell, but this is not a speedball marker by any means. That said, I'll probably keep playing speedball with it for now, it makes a very impressive sound and looks really mean.
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