Tippmann A-5

Tippmann A-5 Review
Tippmann.com

Specs:

• .68 caliber
• semi-automatic
• 15+ BPS
• 8.5” stock barrel
• 3.5 lbs

Looks:

Modeled after the MP5K submachine gun by Heckler & Koch, stock with forward grip. This grip can be removed to attach other under mounted accessories. I think the marker looks pretty cool myself, and of course, lends it self extremely well to cosmetic modification to whatever the owner desires. Cost is the only limit.

Weight and Balance:

The A5 is a heavy little guy in my hands, weighing in at 3.5 pounds before any modification. Even with a stock, my marker tends to be very front heavy. Especially as you add mods to the marker, this thing becomes a beast. However, the low profile of the Cyclone Feed System and its hopper avoids the wobbly-off-balance feeling I get from my MR2 and its Halo B hopper.

Reliability:

This is of course, where the A-5 shines. The marker has been branded by the well-known Tippmann brand. That alone will tell you a few characteristics about the gun if you know about their past reliability.

First, its Cyclone Feed System positively feeds paintballs into the breech via a 5-cell fan-looking mechanism that all but eliminates ball chopping (*unless you have a really bad football or super greasy balls….didn’t that last one just sound great?*). The Cyclone itself is well made, although older A5’s have a problem with the internal ratchet wearing out after time, a $1.50 replacement and ten minutes worth of work from Tippmannparts.com

The rest of the marker in incredible for its ruggedness, in part due to it having no electronic components stock. I have banged mine off of trees at high speed, had it fly out of my hand and skid ten feet away when I fell, and played for an hour in heavy rain and never had this marker cease functioning.

Stock attaches securely into the rear of the marker and held in place with pressure and two push-pin bolts. Some stock users, especially the DogLeg users, have had problems with these rear push pins shearing from the stress of stock use. I use a folding stock on mine and have had no problems.

Maintenance:

A two edged sword! On one hand, this is a very easy marker to get along with due to its reliability above. I used to take my marker down after every single game, and noticed all I was doing was cleaning a bit of CO2 residue from the internals. I now take it fully down every 3rd game, or when I have played in the rain or taken hits that might gum up the marker like direct down the barrel.

On the other hand, the A-5 sucks to take down to non-moving parts, unlike say a Kingman Spyder. Four push pins and a half dozen or so machine screws need to be removed, and there are several springs to come popping out on the unwary user. The internals are mostly intuitive, although the user manuals exploded diagram comes in very hand the first couple of times stripping the marker.

My main aggravation is the tombstone latch and spring being under fairly high pressure so it pops out and across the room at times, and the charging-handles spring is much longer than its guide bevel, requiring steady hands to keep it in place while the marker halves are put back together.

Upgradeability:

Simply incredible. This marker has the most aftermarket accessories than any other marker, maybe even three 🙂 A bewildering array of stocks, barrels, shrouds, internals, grips and other mods are available for it. It comes with a 3/8″ dovetail rail on its top for mounting Weaver rails and optics, and again, the front fore grip can be removed to add additional accessories.

The only problem here is price! It is easy to go crazy adding modifications, and each will add to the weight of the marker.

I run a Low Pressure Kit and Palmer Fatty regulator as the main mods on mine, with an OPSGEAR MP5K-PDW folding stock and a BT Apex or 20″ SmartParts Tactical barrel. Also added a SwatForce red dot sight on a JCS offset rail and love the hell out of the package!

Function:

First and foremost this is a loud and hungry marker! Operating at about 800PSI internally without modification, the A5 eats up CO2 like a dog eats dinner dropped on the floor. Additionally, the signature BOOM BOOM BOOM of an A5 cannot be mistaken. My LPK + Regulator help out with this a lot. I now get 700+ shots on a 9oz CO2 and the marker has been quieted substantially.

The marker is easy and intuitive to use. However, the safety on the grip pushes to “hot” rather easily if you don’t watch your hand placement.

The Cyclone uses exhaust gas from your propellant to function, so when that tank begins to run dry, the Cyclone might cease to function. There is a push plunger that allows manual advancement of the Cyclone and feeding of paintballs in case of this, but in general practice, once it stops functioning, you are just plain done.

I do not run full auto with mine but I have heard that the Cyclone will run out to about 17 balls per second off of a Response Trigger or E-grip without further modification. Standard trigger has a relatively heavy trigger pull and gets around 4-6 bps semi auto without modification.

Accuracy of this marker is very dependant on barrel choice. The stock barrel is fine for close quarter combat of 50 feet or so, but if you plan on shooting at longer distances, or trying to knock over soda cans, a good replacement barrel is a must.

I also like the fact that the Cyclone Feed System and its hopper are very low profile, far lower than most other markers.

Miscellaneous:

I really like this marker:) Reliability is my first priority in all equipment I buy, and it definitely has that down pat! I also am very keen on the fact that I can buy one marker and interchange accessories to make it a sharpshooter, general purpose, close and fast, or whatever else I so desire.

The paintjob is annoying, mine is scraped and bubbled off on many places and will require a new paintjob very soon.

This is an excellent marker for just about any sort of play, and definitely one well suited to the rough-and-ready nature of woods ball play. I doubt you will be disappointed if you get the Tippmann A-5!

Thanks to arclight642 at SpecialOpsPaintball.com for the review

Tippmann A-5 Paintball Gun Video