What should I upgrade my Tippmann A5 with if I want a light, accurate and long range marker?

Question

I have been thinking of purchasing one of these 3 barrels:

Tippmann A5 Flatline - 99.95 CDN$

BT Paintball Apex Barrel A5 - 69.95 CDN$

Smart Parts Proggresive 16" A5 - 34.95 CDN$

Not really worried about the prices but I was wondering which one would be better for like a cross between scenario and speedball, because I like to run and get into the action but I also want to be able to take long accurate shots.

Also, I was wondering if purchasing a EMPIRE 56cui 4500psi HIGH PRESSURE TANK for my A5 is worth 219.95 CDN$. If I did would it increase the accuracy of my shots, so much so to be worth that much money?

And I was also wondering that if I did purcahse that air tank if it would fit into a NXe 4+1 CAMO STYLE Harness.

Thank You

Answer 1

ok so for a barrel...The flatline is best for longrange, but it requires high quality paint and you can't shoot fast or else a ball will break. Apex barrels can be used as normal or flatline barrels, but there not very good, you can however buy a apex tip and mount it on a different barrel. I would personally go with a J&J performance 14/16" ceramic barrel, there just as good as smartparts barrels and they are self cleaning. If you buy a compressed air tank your shots wont be more accurate, but they will be much more consistent, Co2 has pressure spikes making it somewhat unreliable, so compressed air will help each shot be more consistent. And no a compressed air probably wont fit into your camo harness. Another thing you can get to improve accuracy/consistancy would be a new front bolt, there are a few to choose from online at Actionvillage.com and ebay.

Also try Pbreview.com for great reviews on anything you want to buy.

Answer 2

Forget the Tippmann Flateline or even the Smart Parts Progressive.  I would buy the BT Apex barrel system.  IMHO, it is the better choice of the three.  Lapco offers an inprovment over the standard BT Apex.  They sell an Apex-ready Big Shot with an Apex tip for the same price as the Tippmann Flatline.

Other A-5 barrel owner favorites are:  Palmers Brass, Lapco Big Shot, and J&J Performance.

56/45000 is nice but the 68/4500 is IMHO a better size, especially if you are going to haul it around on your pack/waist using a harness.  You can pick up a nice DXS 68/4500 for about $10 more than the Empire 56/4500.

Either tank will fit in the NXe 4+1 Camo harness.

Answer 3

"Paco"  The flatline is not the best, the apex can shoot much farther as its settings is:  0=off, 4=flatline, and 8=super flatline.

A new front bolt or powertube will not increase performance.  It has been proven that the stock powertube and bolt perform better.  A new bolt or powertube is simply a waste of money.

People think they perform better because they spent alot of money on the upgrade but in reality, the stock parts perform better.

Flatline barrel needs tuning and can take a while to get it to work properly.

The Apex is the best option but the barrel the Apex tip comes on is not the best.

For best performance and long range shots, this is considered to be one of the best combo's you can buy:

http://www.palmer-pursuit.com/cart/index...

The Palmers Brass Barrel has a unique bore that will fit and accurately shoot differently sized paintballs.

(not longer than 16", porting not needed on a Tippmann, .690 bore)

The Apex tip from the Apex barrel (ebay has them cheap) and a Palmers Brass Barrel adaptor:

http://www.palmer-pursuit.com/cart/index...

or do the tape mod.

Just remember, the farther you shoot, the slower the paintball which means the more likely it is to bounce.  Also, the farther you shoot the less accurate it will be.

HPA has a much more consistent pressure than Co2 and therefore will make your shots shoot the same distance each time rather than some shooting farther than others.

I suggest getting a Palmers Stabilizer:

http://www.palmer-pursuit.com/cart/index...

The Stabilizer with regulate the pressure from Co2 and give Co2, HPA like performance at a fraction of the cost.

Answer 4

Well, if you have an A-5, light is definitely out of the question. Those little buggers are heavy. If you drop the "Light" requirement we can get started.

All paintball barrels have about the same average range. What really affects is is your barrel, the paint, and your gas system.

Flatlines and Apex barrel's are notoriously inaccurate over long distances. Your better off using something like a Hammerhead barrel or a Tippman Rifled Barrel. If all else fails just get a 14-16 inch brand name barrel.

The Gas tank you want to get is an HPA (Highly Compressed Air) tank. It will make your shots more CONSISTENT, but not necessarily more accurate. IMHO, its not worth it.

Lastly, just buy good paint. If you use the highest, highest quality paint, Apex and Flatline barrels will work out. Hammerhead barrel work very well with any type of paint (To a certain extent).

Thats only if you want to take accuracy and power over weight and speed.

If you can, get an apex and really nice paint, and that should make it possible to use the Flatline setting for long distance, but still be capable of CQB.

Just my 2 cents, listen to scamp, he knows what he is talking about.