Tippmann A5 black with free TACAMO AK-47 Polymer barrel kit for Tippmann A-5

The A-5 is a semi-automatic pneumatic gun made by Tippmann for playing paintball.  It was first produced in 2002 in the USA. It utilizes a revolutionary new loading concept called the "Cyclone Feed System." This enables the gun to have a high rate of fire without the addition of aftermarket loaders. It is known to be tough, rugged, affordable, and extensively able to be modified.

• Features

The standard A-5 is a semiautomatic open-bolt sear-trigger paintball marker. Its inline blowback gas system can utilize both CO2 and HPA propellants. Standard marker includes single-finger trigger, 8.5 in (216 mm) ported barrel, front and rear sights, tournament-legal velocity adjuster, opaque black 200-round wide-mouth hopper and Cyclone-Feed System.

Cyclone-Feed System

Tippmann A-5s utilize a revolutionary concept called the Cyclone-Feed System. It aims to do away with expensive agitating hoppers and electric loaders.

Whereas most markers have a feed tube attached to a hopper/loader that either drops paintballs one-by-one or force-feeds (in the case of loaders, such as the Odyssey Halo) into the chamber. The Cyclone-Feed System is a housing on the right side of the marker. Contained within the housing are two star-shaped sprockets. Paintballs fall from a wide mouth hopper into the gaps between the spokes.

As the operator fires, some gas from the trigger pull is routed to a cylinder, which holds a piston. The gas pushes the piston forward, rotating the position of the spokes and feeding paintballs into the chamber simultaneously. This effectively means that the rate at which paintballs are being fed into the marker is dependent on the rate at which the operator pulls the trigger. Users have reported speeds in excess of 25 bps, but this requires mechanical modification to the stock cyclone parts.

 The A-5 is one of the most modifiable paintball markers in existence. Some products are performance upgrades, while others are purely aesthetic. Kits allow the A-5 to resemble many real-world firearms

Some of the many upgrades include:

• tippmann a5 Barrels

• tippmann a5 Body Kits

• tippmann a5 Camouflage Kits

• tippmann a5 Compressed Air Low-Pressure Kits

• tippmann a5 Drop Forwards

• tippmann a5 Electronic Upgrades

• tippmann a5 Expansion Chambers

• tippmann a5 Foregrips/False Magazines

• tippmann a5 Hoppers (due to the unique Cyclone-Feed System, very few hoppers [the stock hopper, Ricochet hopper, TAC-Cap loader, and a 240 round ammo box version] are available).

• Regulators

• Stocks

• tippmann a5 Tactical Shrouds

• tippmann a5 Triggers

The upgrades available from Tippmann specifically for the A-5 include the CAR Stock, Response Trigger, E-Grip, Low-Pressure Kit, Expansion Chamber, Universal Mount, 98 to A-5 Barrel Adaptor, Remote Line, Sniper Barrel (12", 14", 16" lengths), Camouflage Graphics Kit, Double Trigger Kit and Flatline Barrel System.

Flatline Barrel System

The Flatline barrel is a curved paintball barrel. The slight "S"-shaped curvature, in addition to a roughly honed surface at select points in the barrel, creates backspin on the ball which increases its range by 100 feet over a standard barrel. Because each paintball is spun differently, is not quite as accurate as many other paintball barrels. Another disadvantage is its tendency to break paintballs more easily. This can be remedied with higher quality paint, however. It is also quite loud, due to lack of porting.

Unfortunately, Flatline Barrels are sometimes considered difficult to remove and clean, though it has been said that the A5 is much easier over the version used by the Tippmann 98 Custom. On the 98 Custom model, they do not screw into the adapter on the muzzle of the marker; three bolts must be loosened before the barrel can be removed.

The Flatline is often favored by players who like to play farther back roles, especially those providing suppressive fire as the range gives them an advantage.

E-Grip

The E-Grip is an aftermarket pistol grip and trigger for the A-5. It features five different fire selections which include: these mode are acsses through the new w.a.s. technology

• Semi-Automatic Fire

• Full-Automatic Fire

• 3-Round Burst Fire

• Turbo Fire

• Auto-Response Fire

The maximum firing rate of the E-Grip is 17 balls-per-second. But with modification, such as installing a new circuit board or modified chip, the rate of fire can be increased to 25+ balls-per-second.

Response Trigger System

The Response Trigger System is a firing system available for the A-5. The system uses a series of parts that are added to the gun to greatly increases firing rate for the marker. The system uses excess carbon dioxide or compressed air from the firing process to reset the trigger and sear with a pneumatic cylinder. The system can reset the trigger with only moderate pressure on the trigger. When this happens, the pressure of the finger can immediately pull the trigger back, creating "bounce", and firing again. This effectively gives the shooter the ability to fire at fully-automatic speeds. As such, it has been banned at some commercial paintball fields.

 Construction

Continuing the Tippmann tradition, the A-5 is very durable and features a solid cast-aluminum receiver with a high-impact shock absorbing endcap. The A-5 can take much abuse as all parts are tough and industrially designed. The grip/trigger assembly, end plate and bottom-line hose (or direct Air Source Adapter) are held to the receiver by four push-pins that can be easily removed to allow easy field stripping.

 Field-Stripping

Unlike previous Tippmann markers, the A-5 is very easy to field-strip and clean. This is done by removing four push-pins which hold the tombstone, endcap and grip frame in place.

To field strip an A-5 marker:

• Depressurize the marker by partially unscrewing the propellant supply and firing dry to rid marker of any latent gas.

• Remove barrel from marker.

• Remove four push-pins (#1, #2, #3, and #4). Use pliers and lubricate with gun oil if pins are difficult to remove.

• Depress tombstone latch and pull tombstone to remove it from marker. Remove endcap and grip frame; make sure the velocity screw is screwed in past the aluminum housing, now the valve and bolt assembly will easily slide out the back of the marker.

• Clean chamber and bolt assembly.

• Lubricate o-rings with a few drops of gun oil.

• Reassemble marker and replace push-pins.

 Operation

The Tippman A-5 uses an inline open bolt blowback system.