Tippmann A-5 Elaboration

Hey it's Eli. For this post I'm going to explain the Tippmann A-5's cyclone feed system, the flatline barrel and how to maintain you're Tippmann A-5. All of these things might sound familiar because I mentioned them on one of my earlier posts and I said I was going to elaborate on these things.

Tippmann's A-5 marker like I said in my earlier post is a really good marker for beginners. One of the main reasons is because of the cyclone feed system. The cyclone feed system feeds the paintballs into the marker without any batteries. You might be asking “But Eli, how can a hopper feed paintballs without any electric stuff?” The answer is pretty simple. As you shoot the Tippmann the gas used to shoot the paintball out of the marker goes into a little tube on the side of the the Tippmann. This gas then goes to the hopper were it rotates a plastic blade that forces the balls into the chamber where it gets shot out. Its a very ingenious and very well thought out solution of how to make the Tippmann A-5 an electronic less marker which makes it cheaper to manufacture which in turn makes it sell at a cheaper price.

Ok we got the most complicated part out of the way and now we can talk about the flatline barrel and what makes it so accurate. First of all I would like to say that the flatline barrel works only with Tippmann markers because those are the only markers it is built for. Ok so as you can see in the lovely picture I provided for you, the holes in the barrel that guide the paintball from the marker to the opponents head are not aligned. This is because the actual barrel is inside a capsule, and the barrel inside it is bent. The barrel is bent so that when you shoot a paintball, the ball will role in the bent barrel so that when it exits the barrel it will have a spin. Using basic physics, a round object that spins will have increased accuracy. The capsule that surrounds the barrel is there to protect the barrel from unnecessary damage. There are a couple of drawbacks to having a flatline barrel. One is that it is hard to attach and detach the barrel to a Tippmann marker because its not your regular screw on barrel, you have to take the marker apart and put it back together with the barrel attached to it. Another drawback is cleaning the barrel. You will have a hard time doing field maintenance because you have to take the marker apart to clean the barrel so if you clog the barrel during a game you might as well surrender yourself. Another drawback is that the flatline barrel is more likely to get jammed than a regular barrel because some paintballs may pop before leaving the barrel.

Ok so I know many people that own a Tippmann A-5 are usually beginners and luckily I will explain to you how to maintain your marker, but first let me just say that you rarely need to maintain a Tippmann

A-5 even though you should at least once a year.

1. 
   
   Take all attachments off your Tippmann including the barrel and the tank.
2. 
   
   There should be a couple of push pins on the Tippmann, remove all of them.
3. 
   
   Once you have done that, carefully split the marker, make sure none of the springs inside fly out.
4. 
   
   Clean any paint and debris off the marker.
5. 
   
   Place 2 drops of lube on the bolt and spread it like you all know how to do so well ;).
6. 
   
   Put the marker back together by putting back all the pins.