An old buddy of mine and I got to talking and decided we really wouldn't mind being the "crazy old coots" on one of the local paintball fields. We're going to go sometime soon.

I picked up a Tippmann A5 a few years back, from a gun store that was getting out of paintball and I've never actually used it in a game, so I'm going to break it out for our geezer fest.

I want to make a few changes to it first, though. I've located a CAR stock for it, but I also want a remote setup and a barrel.

The remote stuff seems pretty straight forward, so let's talk barrels. I'm looking for one with decent range and accuracy.I've run J&J, Modded Line SI (on a 68 special), and Tippmann "sniper" barrels and all worked pretty well for their time. Things have changed a lot since I last played and there's a LOT more out there now.

What do you guys like and what have you had luck with? This will be strictly casual, so I'm not really looking for a professional set of fore and backs or anything like that. Just a decent "do most everything " barrel. Two piece if fine, but certainly not required.

This will be for woodsball, I never acquired a taste for speedball and won't be playing much, if any, of that.

I would recommend looking for a cheap Freak set off of ebay.  It is a front & back barrel set with interchangeable color coded sizers.  You find them pretty cheap.  You can find the tips cheap - want a longer or shorter barrel - just change the tip.  Want drilled "rifling" or some kind of ports or no holes for rain you can find those as well.  Also you can use the set on other guns you just have to find a used back for the other gun.  Also pick up a cheap ball sizer.  Before you play, size up the cheap field paint & slide in the matching bore sizer in the barrel.

For remotes you want a quick disconnect right off the gun into a slide check valve then into a slinky style coiled hose.  I am assuming this is not for CO2.  Since the tank will be on your back I would also recommend a to buy or make up a "fill whip."  The QD & slide check is great for between games if you ever want to put down the gun - just slide the valve, bleed the line & disconnect the gun to put it down.  The fill whip is great for quick filling since you wont have to ever pull your tank off your back to fill it.  

The fill whip is just a female QD end, a long HIGH PRESSURE 4500psi+ rated length of hose & a male QD end.  Female on to tank fill nipple & hand the male end to fill attendant.  Great for big games/scenario games & also rapid topping off during the hectic few minutes in between games.

E-trigger is also pretty fun on a A5, I do not recommend the RT trigger.

You're talking the SmartParts Freak and not the Empire Freak set, right?

Did not even know about the Empire freak set.  After looking it up it is just the newer version of the same.  & I just read that the two systems are compatible/interchangeable.  This is great so know between the two companies you should be able to find a back to fit almost any gun old & new.  Plus new freak tips & parts.  I would still think you can find a used smart parts set pretty cheap somewhere.

Keeping my eyes open for a SP set. Thanks!

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The A5 has a good enough detent to prevent rollouts, a barrel kit really isn't necessary.  I've tried LOTS of different kinds of barrels (Dye UL, Redz, J&J, CP, CCI, Empire, etc), the best one hands down is a Lapco Bigshot.  Paint these days is a little smaller in size, so I think a .687 bore size will be plenty big enough to be a do-all barrel.  You could even go .685 and probably not have any issues.

http://www.lapcopaintball.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6

These barrels have probably been around for as long as you are playing, but you cannot buy a better one in my opinion.

lighter is better

I wish I still had my DYE marker

I have a decked out 98 with a RAP 4 rifled barrel looks like an M4 its a heavy bitch

and I have another 98 with a flatline barrel

flatline is great for the price and range

also don't get a stock use your tank as a buttstock Tippmann markers are made to shoot with a tank as the buttstock.

don't go remote you lose mobility and it tangles

if you carry pods to reload get a good belt one easy to reload and won't get in the way like vests

get a good mask it really make the game better I figured that out after a 10 hour day in the summer
RAP 4 rubber masks are 50 bucks but work great or DYE masks are great but are a little pricey.

RAP4 mask

end rant

I used Angels for a number if years. Great guns. I wish they were still in business. I could shoot up an entire case of 2000 paintballs off one 68ci/4500psi compressed air/nitrogen tank. It's was very very very efficient.

I would get a Dye Matrix now.


Personally, I wouldn't get a big gun and tacticool it out with sights and stocks. I would want something small and compact with a 14" barrel. 16" if it was a woodsball type field with long areas. I also wouldn't get a remote line...they get caught in stuff. I use my tank as a "stock".


Me at 2005 Bunkerfest in San Antonio, TX using an Angel G7

hammerhead makes a good finned A5 barrel, but its still not going to get you minute of trash can at 40 yards.

This used to be my type of ball, back then as well.  I had a Shocker (fitting to my last name). :D

Came back home (to the US) in 2011, and was entirely surprised by the shift in paintball.. mostly revolving around MilSim. (at least in WA)

Sounds good to me. Ended up with a DYE Proto.

Good reviews and fairly inexpensive. I'm not going to be playing THAT often and the DYE I have on my Pro/Am has served me well.

Already have the stock and remote and aren't into them for too much, so I can remove both if I want to. I really wanted the remote for the ad-hock expansion chamber it provides. I'm not married to the concept, though.


As for Tippmanns, I own a SL-68, owned a FA, 68 Special (converted FA), Pro/Am, and an A5. I'm pretty familiar with their configuration.

expansion chambers are appropriate for co2 not hpa

That's cool. All my tanks are CO2.

For a long barrel to be effective you also have to use quality paint. My A5 has an RT trigger an X7 hopper and qd line to the bottle in a belt rig. The RT trigger uses air faster.but E triggers use batteries, alot of times my speedball friends guns go down due to electrics. I have played woodsball for a few years and have only had an o-ring issue with my A5 once. I also run a 10" or 12" barrel depending on field openess. I don't spray and pray I won't even use a case of paint in a 24hr. game. I played for a team for a year before I moved away. I had a blast. Now I have unpacked my gear and getting it ready

solenoid guns will not run on co2

The first thing you need to do is see if your old tank is still good.  You can find the hydro date on the tank, and its usually good for 5 years.  HPA is always better than Co2, but an A5 will be fine on C02...mine runs great with it...and I dont have an expansion chamber.  For the price of an Xchamber you mihgt just want to grab a steel HPA tank.  

Barrels.  My take on it is just get a .685 or .689 barrel and be done with it.  Paintballs are different from real bullets, a longer barrel does not help accuracy....it hurts it.  Accuracy is determined by bore to ball match, so a 685-89 should work on everything. .    An A5 is pretty long as it is, so you would want a 12-14 inch barrel max.  I personally have a 12 inch barrel,.  As far as barrel brands, Lapco($50), Custom Products, or J&J(both $30)  are great.  You really don't need more than that.  In fact there are some great deals on A5 barrels right now(~$25)..    

The only other suggestions I have is to make sure you have a good THERMAL mask.  Dye, JT, Empire, Sly, V-Force are great masks.  THe Thermal prevents fogging.  I would suggest going to a paintball store and trying on different masks.  Masks are not a one size fits all type of thing, you need to find the one that fits YOU.  Finally a good pod pack helps in carrying extra ammo.  You can get some great deals on them if you shop around($20 and under).  
I shop at ansgear.com  They have some great sales going on now.  If you need any other help just IM me.  

Oh yeah last thing invest in a cup.  I've been playing since 91 and never wore one until I was double tapped there last year......yeah that hurt

91, huh?

88 here.

Some of you guys are making the mistake of thinking I'm noobsauce here. I played for a long time through out the 80's and 90's and occasionally through the 2000's

When I played, the rule with Tippmann guns was "replace the barrel first thing". I was just wondering if you could still just throw a J&J or DYE on one and get acceptable results, like you used to. It seems that's the case, so I bought a DYE Proto off Ebay.

Thanks for the responses. I do have to get my tanks hydro'd, but a local place can handle that.

I played for the first time in years at a company paid for event. Sadly I couldn't get my dm4 to run and really bring the hurt the one o ring I didn't have was rotted so that was a bummer.  Had to use a field marker some Uzi looking thing but I stuck my revi on and it was decent. Since I couldn't throw paint like I'm used to I played mid/front it reminded me how out of shape I am after the first game I did a run through and was out of breath .   Was fun though most hadn't really played I played lots of tournies and x ball back in the day and turned the tied of office vs field techs lol.  

Far as guns I was going to recommend the ion, proto or even a dm series.

Honestly, while both DYE and J&J are good barrels, where you'll notice the difference in terms of performance is making sure to properly bore match your paintballs to your barrel. If you've been playing for that long you're more than likely familiar with barrels such as the FREAK, which use inserts similar to choke tubes, these come in different ID's and allow you to closely match said size, which in turn will lead to far better accuracy. In terms of tanks getting re-hyrdo'd depending on who is doing the testing, it may be cheaper to purchase new tanks? If you've got a SCUBA shop close by, they may offer that service or surely will know of someone, check with your local FD, as they to should be able to point you in the right direction.  I would however suggest look at getting HPA, you'll get far better results with performance. If you're dead set on using Co2, I'd have anti siphon tubes installed, this should be done by a local pro shop and they'll properly mate the tanks to your specific gun/asa, this will reduce liquid Co2 getting into to the reg thus helping a tad bit. You can get 48ci/3000psi HPA systems for about $50.00 and while the cost of the tank more than a 20oz or larger Co2 tank, you'll find it pays for itself figuratively and literally.

this one can hit a pie pan at 75 yards

Check prices for new tanks first.  I don't play anymore, but a buddy wanted to borrow some of my old shit and I was going to get my old CO2 tanks hydro'd (got rid of my HPA tanks a while ago, kept the CO2 ones JIC).  At least in my area, it was pretty much the same price, or sometimes even cheaper to just buy new tanks off of Amazon.  Weird.  

used to play alot but haven't been to a field in almost 7 years. But I just ordered a new gun/hopper the other day and found a field where i'm at so i'll be getting back into it, pics to follow once i get my gear
14' reflex rail
dye rotor

OP, invest in a compressed air tank, preferably carbon fiber wrapped (it's lighter).

You'll get better reliability, consistency, and it's more efficient (more shots)

just got in today
http://s30.postimg.org/isu94m0nh/photo.jpg

Paintballs stop acceleration after 8 inches. The 'most accurate' barrel is a clean, dry barrel.

The barrel doesn't really matter.

Also paint to barrel match is very important.

Take a batch of even good paint and put it to the micrometer. There is just too much variance. Get a 693 roll.