Tippmann A5 Review

OUR TOP PICK

Let's start with a brief FAQs section: 

What caliber is this gun? 

This is a .68 caliber paintball gun. 

Is this gun customizable for games like Bomb Squad and King of the Hill? 

Yes. It is possible to fit this paintball gun with multiple accessories. Including any accessories, you would need for specific games or leagues. 

Is this gun better for beginners or experienced players? 

This gun is clearly designed for experienced players by experienced players. However, well-made guns like this one are great options for beginners too.

If you purchase a good gun at the start of your paintball career it will still be useful when you've gained a lot more experience. 

If you buy a gun designed for beginners, you will outgrow it quickly. 

Is this gun any better than the Tippmann 98 Custom? 

Yes, it is a vast improvement on the older model. 

Specifications

Let's start this review by looking at the specifications of the Tippmann A-5 .68 Caliber paintball marker: 

The full length of this gun is a respectable 20 inches. This is pretty standard and won't disqualify you from any competitions. 

It weighs 3.1 pounds and has a 8.5 inch barrel. 

Its hopper can hold up to 200 rounds, and this runs at a firing rate of 8 BPS, and a feeding rate of 15 BPS respectively. 

This gun has an impressive shooting range of 150 feet. 

This gun has a traditional trigger and can be powered by either CO2, compressed air, or nitrogen. 

This gun is an all-round star that performs well in every area of its specification.

Where this gun really shines is in its shooting range which is well above the 80 foot average (for guns of its size). 

As interesting as specifications are, they're no good if your experience as a user is poor. Let's look at that next. 

Shooting Experience and Performance

Once you've played a round with this gun, you're not going to want to use anything else. 

This is a light gun (only 3.1 pounds), with a 8.5 inch barrel. It is a semi-automatic that, thanks to its E grip, offers up to five different styles of shooting.

This includes auto-firing and single shot modes. 

If you use Tippmann's brand of paintballs*, this gun's air powered cyclone feeding system will smoothly feed at a 15 BPS rate, whilst this gun can shoot at up to 8 BPS. 

*One of the small downsides of this gun is that you have to use Tippmann's brand of paintballs.

The cyclone feeding system is specifically designed to work with the Tippmann paintball range.

And using a different brand will most likely lead to clogging within your gun. It might also lead to your gun being permanently damaged. 

Is this unusual for a big paintball brand? Not at all, in fact, it's very common. Most of Tippmann's rivals have the same issue.

Being forced into brand loyalty is the side effect of enjoying one of the smoothest feeding systems on the market. 

Fast shooting paintball guns are often excruciatingly loud (and are prone to giving your position away during matches).

The A-5 has a stone-honed barrel that suppresses the noise of its rapid fire feeding system. 

This gun comes with shock absorbers that drastically reduce the recoil on each shot. This makes it a lot more pleasant for beginners to shoot with.

These end cap shock absorbers also prevent long term wear on the gun. 

Finally, let's talk about this gun's shooting range. 

It's impressive - up to 150 ft! Choose the 15 inch Apex barrel over the 8.5 inch standard barrel and enjoy an even greater range.  

Quality and ease of use

If you've heard of Tippmann then you will be aware of their towering reputation.

Tippmann paintball markers are famous for their well thought out designs and durability. 

The A-5 .68 Caliber is no different. 

Tippmann is celebrated for offering warranties on their markers that last a lot longer than most of their competitors.

This gun has a two year warranty, and that is a testament to the quality of the gun. 

If you invest in a Tippmann A-5 you will have a high-performance gun that will last you for many years to come. 

The A-5's parts are made up of a combination of thick, high-quality plastic, and brushed aluminum.

Tippmann offers a large range of accessories. All are made to the same high-quality as their original guns. 

Both these accessories and spare parts for the A-5 are easy to find online and are competitively priced. 

Long term maintenance  

One of the major issues that cause failure in paintball markers is not being able to clean them properly.

Hard recoil can also damage guns in the long run, as well as having parts that are built to fail. 

This gun can be fully disassembled in under 2 minutes (even by beginners). It can be completely taken apart and cleaned.

If done regularly, there will likely be no internal damage caused due to paint build up. 

As we mentioned above, the parts of the A-5 are either made of thick, heavy-duty plastic, or from aluminum.

The parts come with a 2 year warranty and are built to last even longer than that. 

If you do have any issues with damaged parts replacements are easy to get hold of.

There will be no need to replace the whole marker because of one faulty part. 

The shock absorbers on either end of the gun do a great deal to extend the lifespan of the A-5.

By reducing the recoil they vastly decrease the amount of strain the gun is put under. 

Key Features  

Here is a list of what we consider to be the key features of the Tippmann A-5 .68 Caliber Paintball Marker: 

• Its mouth hopper can store 200 rounds, this allows you to go longer stretches without reloading and means more playtime for you  
• Its gas line is black, this allows for more stealth than previous Tippmann gas lines and is more durable than them too 
•  It's compatible with Tippmann brand up-grades and offers a wide range of customization options
• Recoil and ware are reduced by its high-quality shock absorbers 
• 8.5 Inch long stock barrel, non customizable  
• Large grip (front) makes shooting more steady 
• Easy to put together and take apart 
• Can feed up to 15 balls per second (BPS) thanks to its Cyclone Air feeding system 
• Comes with 5 firing modes 
• Can fire up to 8 balls per second 
• This gun comes with a 2-year warranty

Additional Features

We've talked for quite a while now about how the A-5 covers everything you as a player need it to.

But what about the little extras than just make your life that little bit easier? 

Well… 

Tippmann has a fantastic reputation with both new and experienced players.

It's not hard to understand when you look at a gun like the A-5, and see all the basics and extras it has to offer. 

Here are our top 3 additional features that come with the Tippmann A-5 .68 Caliber Paintball marker: 

1. The A-5 comes with an E grip which allows up to 5 different firing styles/speeds. Even better than this, the E grip has a magnetic adjuster which allows players to change their firing style without stopping shooting. 
2. The feeding mechanism is air powered which means no more carrying around o rings or battery packs during matches
3. The gun comes with a sling strap. It is easy to fit and remove. This strap makes the gun a lot easier to carry during games. 

Pros and Cons

Here is a pros and cons list to sum up everything we've discussed so far: 

Pros

• Easy to clean 
• Easy to assemble and reassemble
• Long term maintenance is easy 
• Shock absorbers reduce wear over time 
• Real long shooting range (150 ft)
• High BPS rate (8 BPS) and high feeding rate (15 BPS) 
• Can be powered by three different gases 
• Quiet shooting, thanks to its stone-honed barrel 
• Cycle feeding mechanism leads to smooth, fast feeding  

Cons

• You cannot customize the barrel 
• Using another brand's paintballs will clog the cyclone feeding system and possibly break your gun