[Randy B]

I've played twice before in the past 4 years, but now I went ahead decided to play recreationally. I'm more a woodsball or scenario player.
I purchased a Tippman 98 Custom Platinum Series.

Now I understand the first thing I'm going to upgrade is to HPA Tank.

My next upgrade is going to be a better(Cyclone?) Hopper & a longer barrel in the coming weeks.

I went with Tippman because of it's durability.

Oh by the way the package came with a Mask, a gear bag that holds 4 pods & the tank.

Quick question does it matter what brand of a barrel you get ? I do know it has to be either 12 - 16 inches.

[Panda Man]

Barrel only matters in the value of boring and quality of the barrel.

for a Tippmann I always suggest either a CP 1 piece or a Lapco Bigshot, and pick the bore that best suits your paint.

Also I'd suggest a better mask. Those are to critical to buy cheap.

Then look for a pretty cheap HPA tank, then a Good valued hopper.

[Randy B]

Panda Man, on 29 January 2013 - 01:15 AM, said:

Barrel only matters in the value of boring and quality of the barrel.

for a Tippmann I always suggest either a CP 1 piece or a Lapco Bigshot, and pick the bore that best suits your paint.

Also I'd suggest a better mask. Those are to critical to buy cheap.

Then look for a pretty cheap HPA tank, then a Good valued hopper.

Thanks for the tips, I'll look into it. Upgrading the mask is something I'm going to do as well,
not too fond of the one that it came with but for the price I got the package couldn't say no since
I was looking at the platinum series at Sports Authority but found it online cheaper, just have to wait.

[kingJurzy]

Do not buy a cyclone feed.

[Randy B]

Suggestions ?

I'll still look around for the hopper atleast, heard good things about Apex. Gearing towards a lightly packed type player that rushes the bunker.

Once then I'll get into the internals.

[Vidalecent]

I think the first, and most important, thing you should buy is a mask. If you bought the package from a website the mask they provide is more than likely not too great. Since most of the package masks are non-thermal and the padding feels like poo. Good qualities in a mask include thermal treated lenses, good ventilation, and coverage

Before anything grab a quality mask, is it the single more important piece of gear you can have.

The JT Proflex is a great mask for the price. V-force Grillz are great, Dye makes good masks, Empire Events and E-flexes are great. See if your local shop will let you try some on to find which one suits you the best.

DO NOT CHEAP OUT ON A MASK.


After you have gotten a quality mask, go ahead and grab an HPA tank. The size of tank will depend on your arm length. With the tank in the gun and your arm stretched all the way out, the tank's butt should rest right around the elbow. Carbon fiber ones are definitely the way to go Guerilla Air and Ninja tanks are great. You can find some used for $90-100. You will not regret grabbing one. They are significantly lighter than the metal HPA tanks and will give you more shots per fill. Try to get one that is still in hydro.

I would grab a used super loader after that (Rotor, Pinokio, Prophecy, Spire). These loaders will keep up with any gun you may get later on, and in the long run will save you money from having to pay for a new loader if you get another marker. The cyclone feeds will only fit the Tippmann marker. So if you decide to get a different marker and get rid of the Tippmann, the cyclone feed is now useless.

As for barrels. The CP one piece is one of my favorites, cheap and effective.

[Panda Man]

I suggest a Invert TOO for the hopper, they are around $73.

[Randy B]

Appreciate the feedback ... Those JT's masks look sick .. I did see several videos on those particular masks.

[OBF]

Wouldn't advise upgrading the tippmann internally.

[walk on pro]

if you get a proflex keep in mind they go out far, i shot a guy in the face (skin) under his mask

[Dakent]

kingJurzy, on 29 January 2013 - 01:26 AM, said:

Do not buy a cyclone feed.

This. They really aren't that good and if you ever buy a new gun you won't be able to use it. Use that money to buy a good loader like a used rotor/Z2 or even a new pinokio.

[Randy B]

OBF, on 29 January 2013 - 04:48 PM, said:

Wouldn't advise upgrading the tippmann internally.

Is their a reason ? I would atleast put an e-grip on it

[Cookybiscuit]

Because for the money of an Egrip and Cyclone you might aswel have just bought a better gun to begin with. I'm a massive fan of Tippmann, but to put it blunt their guns are shite, if you invest in them you just get swarmed in plastic and end up with no money left to play. Not only that, but once you've spent your however many 100's dollars on it, if/when you come to sell it, you'll maybe get $50 for it. If its a paintball part and it fits a Tippmann, don't buy it.

Use your gun, enjoy it for the time, then when you feel you've got your moneys worth, or your itching to get more performance, buy another gun all together. For now, a mask, loader and tank will do 10,000 times more for you than anything you can stick on your gun.

[REDCOBRA]

Don't bother with any 'upgrades" on a Tippmann . Honestly I was where you are when I started. My first marker was a Tippmann Project Salvo. I saw all the stuff that Youtube pages had about "upgrades" ( Hustle Paintball I'm looking at you...) and at the field guys always talked about the "durability" of their Tippmann's and it made me want to buy more things for it. I dumped >400 $ into that marker for red dot , new barrel , sling , fore grip , etc . When my Tacticool phase ended ; I sold it for 105$. I feel really goddamn stupid now for doing that. If I went straight to something else that was better , I know that I would own an EGO or a G6R right now.

Also, the mask you got with it is probably crappy , go out and buy yourself something good like Events or an E-Flex . Don't buy a steel tank for an HPA, it's a waste of money, go straight to a carbon fiber. The hopper I'm gussing isn't much better buy a Rotor or a Spire , not a gravity fed or a Halo Too.

Just a word of warning from a guy who was screwed over buy Tippmann BS and Budget balling...

[Randy B]

Thanks again I'm just putting the necessary things on it. I highly doubt I'll ever get into any of the xball or any of those
fast game types. I'm more of a woodsball and am looking at airsoft but paintball seems more fun. I guess I can say I'm a recball
player but I take your advice so thanks.

[Orange Chicken]

A light, fast setup that's very maneuverable and adaptable isn't easily made possible with any Tippmann, and even when you do, is still outclassed by much better markers, even those set in the same price range. For the same money as a 98 Custom, the GoG eNMEy is much more efficient, much quieter, better quality shot, comes with a regulator, and is very easy to maintain. To top it all off, the trigger pull requires about one pound of pressure, and moves a fraction of a centimeter, allowing you to shoot at much higher rates of fire. The low pressures that this gun operates at means that the bolt will be softer on paint than most to all mechanical markers out there, save for Automags with Lvl. 10 bolts.
Electronic markers, however, are much better, as the operation is much nicer, there are better features, and just overall better for the sport of paintball.

However, I am not one to judge. We all got Tippmanns, or something similar, when we first started, and, if it wasn't for the expensive price of paintball, I believe to be a good start for people, learning to use the worst or at least the basic ones with no innate advantages first to hone basic skills, then moving to the advantages that they can use to the best of their learned abilities. But, as no beginner wants to buy a 130 dollar gun only to move onto a 250+ dollar gun just to start off, it's a lot easier just to jump to that 250+ dollar gun and get things going.
Upgrades, especially on a Tippmann, are near to useless, again, especially on a Tippmann. Most of the upgrades are money pits, while the others either come with another liability to worry about, or do barely to nothing for the performance of the gun itself, and even if it does, it still shoots like a low end marker.
Put no money into your Tippmann, unless its a good hopper(cyclone by no means is good), or a nice HPA Tank. Buy a really nice, high-end mask, then get a nice loader and HPA tank. For masks I'd look at the Dye I4's, which have a nice range of vision, or the Empire E-Flex if you have a larger head. I personally find the E-Flex's to be more comfortable, and although the Dye I4's are very comfortable as well, it just can't beat the erotic foam of the E-Flex. If you're on more of a budget, get the VForce Grillz.

Loaders, I would look at the Empire Scion or Spyder Fasta, or get everything done with and buy a new superloader, or, better yet, a nice used one on the BST here.

For barrels, the honing on the 98's are actually kind of shitty, so I would look into a better honed barrel. Size, barrel boring, length, etc. do not contribute to accuracy, only the quality of the barrel finish and the paintballs themselves.
For a nice barrel, the Disruptive Barrels are great for the price. They have great honing, equal to the Custom Products barrels. But they also have some of the most porting and control bore of any other barrels out on the market. The porting is also stepped, thus is very quiet. Plus, they go for around only 50-60 bucks.

[D.A.M.Baller321]

If your hell bent on a barrel all the ones already mentioned are good but I'm gonna throw another in the mix to make things interesting. When I had my 98 custom about maybe 4 years ago I got the tippmann 16" sniper barrel and the difference in shot was night and day. It also shot $40 paint just as good as it shot the $60 paint. And when you do upgrade to a better gun I recommend a speedball gun because they are more versatile. You say your not into speedball now but you might grow into it later. I use my ETHA for everything. You won't be able to keep up as well on a speedball field as you will in the woods with a speedball gun. And if you still want the feel of milsim but the dependability of a speedball gun there are still options for that too. There's the gog g1, empire bt tm7 or tm15, or my milsim of choice the dye dam just to name a few. The beautiful thing is the choice is yoursre are Manny good good ones and many bad ones. Do your research and you also have us here to help. You can pick my brain anytime and if I don't know the answer there are many helpful well informed people on this site that might have the answer. The most important thing about this sport is spend all the money you can or want but always remember to make sure you have money to play or all the money spent on equipment is a waste if you can't enjoy using it. Oh and one last thing and my rant is done. Welcome to the wonderful world of paintball. You have a great fun filled and hopefully safe journey ahead of you.

[get.lit.up!]

I've personally found 14+ inch barrels for the 98c as way over kill. I wonder if I could just run a aa back no front and still be good :/

[Cookybiscuit]

D.A.M.Baller321, on 30 January 2013 - 12:54 PM, said:

When I had my 98 custom about maybe 4 years ago I got the tippmann 16" sniper barrel and the difference in shot was night and day.

No it wasnt.

[tallsmallboy44]

Randy B, on 29 January 2013 - 11:01 PM, said:

Thanks again I'm just putting the necessary things on it. I highly doubt I'll ever get into any of the xball or any of those
fast game types. I'm more of a woodsball and am looking at airsoft but paintball seems more fun. I guess I can say I'm a recball
player but I take your advice so thanks.

Nothing you put on your 98 will be necessary, red dot, barrel, egrip, ect are all unnecessary, and won't do anything in terms of performance.