How a Tippmann A5 Works 

As a mechanical engineering student, this was beautiful to watch

Incredibly well made and narrated. I opened up my marker and was able to figure out how things worked. Now, having this visual reference to demonstrate the firing sequence to others is fantastic. A huge thank you for the painstaking diagram conversion to Flash.

Very well made, and explained! This should go to a TV documentary, for it has enough quality. I wish that someday a similar work will come up explaining with this detail level, how a gas and a Co2 blow back and non blow back 1911, P-08, M-712 C-96, works...

Excellent video. It's a shame that more people can't do videos like these.

Now i understand why it auto-sputters when its low on gas. There isn't enough pressure to drive the hammer back far enough to catch on the latch, so it just bounces back and forth on the spring hitting the valve pin over and over.

beautifully explained! i know how to service my guns but knowing exactly how everything works in unison really helps with troubleshooting

2 hours of google search and this is the best I have found on this topic. Thank you for making this video.

I'm in the process of trying design my own marker as a personal project and this was very helpful

Super clear and precisely explained. Excellent!

This guy is right on the ball. ive open up my alpha black about 8 times looks exactly like this trust me. if you are going to open up your tippmann marker, PLEASE for your sake, LOOK UP A RU-vid VIDEO BEFORE YOU SCREW SOMETHING UP. This is said so you know what your doing so you dont mess anything up. i learned this the hard way.

That trigger is simply genius.

WUAU!!!. Really nice animation. thank you very much for your clear explanation.

Top video and narration. Hands down . Period thanks boss . Feel way comfortable opening up my markern fixing itself

Got a box of old markers and someone said they were similar to this design. Thanks for the info!

Very interesting and helpful video! Just sold my A5, but it's still nice to know how the internals work, in case a buddy who has one runs into trouble.

absolutely brilliant animation, thank you for your effort lord Odin...much appreciated.

The sear is key in all semi autos to full autos. The problems are always Timely municitions delevery. Pop filed the sear on an old marlin 22. Bent more bullets than it fired.

Wow very impress by your animation and narration. you should be proud of yourseld. and thanks for the help i couldnt figure out how the air goes around the tomb until now thats man

thank you for telling me how it works ive been wondering for awhile now.

Great work! Always good to know the internal operation of your marker to help diagnose problems. Thanks for this. Cheers, ThickChestHair - A5OG

Exactly what I was looking for, thank you :)

Fantastic video, very helpful.

i'm an engineer and i really like your video!

Awesome job. This will be very helpful in explaining how the markers work. - Cady

The more you know. Thanks for the work

@xxitzfamousxx It is a lot to remember. If you look closely, each part has a colored bloom effect when it is mentioned the first time to draw attention to it. After that, it referred to only by name. Try expanding the video to more clearly see what I'm referring to. Hope that helps.

Thank you, my friend's marker is broken and this explained so much for me

grt illustration and explenation!

WOW! Thank you for posting this video and spending time to explain it! I was looking for something like this! :) Now I feel more confident at what i'll be expecting when I open up my marker.

I remember the first time I opened my 98 and all the springs flew out everywhere, lol bad news, then 2 years after owning it the salve and hose leaked.

GREAT VIDEO. this should come as a disc in the A-5 box

Wow! Excellent job on both the video and the explanation.

@MASTERMARK360 The only difference is the trigger/sear interaction. The trigger will hit a microswitch, which causes the armature pin to push up the sear. From there, the mechanics are the same.

@relicMk Sure is. Bravo One is the same as the Alpha Black, just named differently for different countries. So this video will apply to the Bravo One, as well.

make sure the spring pushing the sear (purple piece) is strong enough to push itself up into the seating area of the hammer.

@ionizdgrunt2 The cyclone is powered by excess air. It feeds 15 balls per second. It looks like you need to push it, because you CAN push it. It is useful.

Very nice video. Though a legend would have been nice what the different colored objects are named

@ninja6kid Could be anything. From the pushpins keeping the hammer from flying back and hitting the mask, to the tombstone preventing the air from whipping around, to the quality of the receiver halves which may just fracture and send internals flying. No way to know until its exposed to it and it may vary from marker to marker.

@Tannk42 That might be a lot tougher to pull off. It would probably require a valve pin that is nearly the same diameter as the valve hole. Replacing the valve pin would be easier than replacing the valve itself. Right now, the pin has a thicker block and then gets narrow, allowing air to pass. If it were thick throughout (like a pole) then it would block most of the air. The problem would be replacing the pin or having one custom made.

Thank you! I have been looking for a trigger mechanism that works for semi-autos for so long

@PernellDD Yes, even with HPA, a reg will improve your efficiency a ton. You'll get a lot more shots per tank out of it. Just make sure to choose one that can output up to approx 650-700 psi.

@theTicklemehellmo The easiest way is by getting an e-grip but a less conventional method is by reducing the amount of trigger pull. TechT has a Hair Pin kit for Tippmann's. If you use the wrong size, your marker won't catch on the sear and it will go full auto. If you use one that is just below that and are able to hold the trigger juuuust right, you can utilize the mechanical bounce from the marker to trip the sear. When done shooting, let go. I had to explain this concept to a ref once..

@Thatmakessense356 Yup. There are several reasons why this can happen but this commonly occurs when the tank's gas supply runs too low and can't reset the hammer fully.

@M0RTaLK0MBaT68 You got it. The sole purpose of the blowback gas is to make a single-fire marker semi-automatic.

If the sear didn't slide back when the hammer moves forward.....couldn't that make the gun full auto?

so.... basically an open-bolt submachinegun, but instead of the firing pin on the bolt hitting the primer, the hammer hits a 'firing pin' that opens a valve, expelling a measure of propellant gas until the blowback gas resets the bolt, simultaneously shutting off the gas. neat.

very nice job

@PernellDD I'll be posting videos of my previous experiments in the coming future, which will cover lots of upgrades for Tippmanns and how they affect their performance. To answer your question simply, get the APE board and Cyclone upgrades (ratchet, squishy paddles). If you run straight off the tank, get the ZK, but if you use a regulator, avoid it and get a front bolt with an innner o-ring.

Thanks a lot for this video 💪

Hello i have one question my Tippman works perfekt but now i want use smaller balls (bullets) and i built a reduction in the gun barrel but now with the reduction i loose all the Power from the painter why is it so and how can i use the full power with the smaller gun barrel?

@jeanlucncoelho because the rate of fire would not be controllable. your a5 will shoot at uncapped speeds, depending on your set up, about 20 to 30 bps. u would not be allowed to play with it on most fields.

@LordOdin2008 Ive seen his video and the reason Im looking for another option is because I feel as though that the gun would be more efficient if you could close block the gas from getting out at all. Thanks for the help though, I appreciate it.

Thanks for the great video!

Nice video, Well explained.

Thank you so much. Great explanation.

At 1:35, you'll see that the trigger sear is pushed by the spring and waits for the hammer. It can't go full auto because of this. If the sear pivot hole wasn't oversized to allow movement like that, it would become full auto.

Outstanding video! Thank you!

excellent video man

@ninja6kid A lighter spring would release more volume up to a certain point where the ball exits before the valve is done releasing air. As far as the high pressure of 1500+ psi, I wouldn't try it for safety reasons. Markers are only designed to function in certain pressure ranges and that's way too high.

I would like to see this animation using techTs blowforward -blow back upgrade

That was a very good video. nice job

Very cool... But since you already animated it in slow motion, you should show everything working quickly too. It would be really cool to watch.

I wish I had better memory so I could watch one video and remember it all lol.

@MrBoatman95 That would be any marker that can shoot First Strike rounds. FSR are pretty expensive, though.

So if you were to increase the size of that chamber where air enters, you could create bigger pressure? Combine that with a long barrel and technically you have a sniper?

If that pink part didnt have an oval shaped hole, it would be full auto. Right??

might be a silly question but what are some reason to why the bolt wouldn't reset?

Awesome vid!

Could someone explain what the *tombstone* is? What does it do, why is it needed?

Nice video. Still wondering why many markers rely on electronics to achieve full auto. Guessing it's the least invasive way, but still annoying your firing controls depend on the reliability of a 9v battery.

What happens if the power tube is cracked?

VERY INFORMATIVE...thank you...

what effect does the front bolt have on the paintball? what would happen if there was only the propellant gas and no forward action of the front bolt?

Very nice video, i was always afraid of getting the A-5 because i though you had to push a rod that works the cyclone feed, but its all auto matic :D so in a week or so, im gonna get the A-5 marker :D

@EvilFingers Thanks, man. I appreciate it.

So if the hammer doesn't catch on the trigger, you just pull the bolt back? I assume the hammer is connected to the bolt.

How to balance between hammer's spring compresion and source air compression? Thank you

Well done video,,,,

WOW it takes 4 minutes to explain. BUT only 1/20 of a second to be put into action!

If you shot somebody at the wrong place. At point blank range. It can actually kill

Too bad you don't upload videos anymore... They were really good.

what is the best paintball gun??? (meaning wich gun is the most accurate, go the farthest, and hurts most when shot.)

If I remove the seer, connect air, then pop back the hammer will the gun go full auto until I shut off air?

can you explain something for me? i need further explination of that part where you changed it over to those 2 lines at around 3:30. i don't quite understand that part.

Could you make a video for how a response trigger works? oh and this video helps a lot thank you

hey i just bought a project salvo! trigger does not push sear high enough to release the bolt ?! the pins seem very loose int he holes and there is a small pin behind the trigger welded to the body the trigger hits this pin (close to rt hole) and is not shown int he illustration or in any video i watch should i remove this little piece of metal? it seem to be the cause of the trigger stopping premature to the sear releasing the bolt. even stops before the trigger stop pin is contacted! plz help

so....I have an Air Ordnance smg .22 (Air Ordnance is the same owner of Tippmann). I'm assuming that gun works the same way as one of these Tippmann paint ball markers? as it has the a similar exterior as this and I believe it works in a similar way. would be interesting if someone made a video explaining exactly how that gun fires.

@LordOdin2008 hey for the tippmann a5 do you recommend compressed air or co2? from what ive read, compressed air is better exept that it is cheaper also,what compressed air tank brand would you recommend?

pretty nice, never had tippmanns until now, I just got an alpha blac with e grip and cyclone, now... what are the best mods for this marker? I was told to get the cyclone upgrade kit, the zero kick hammer, aluminum power tube with delrin bolt and the APE board.... do you have any imput on all this upgrades?

does any one know if they make a conversion kit to make the A5 a mag fed marker. and is it possible to make the adapter the reverse way to where your using either the 12 gram cartridge or the 16 gram

@Tannk42 One method that I've heard of is to remove the o-ring off of the hammer. Since I've never tried it myself, you should try asking KRA_Sharpshooter. He has a channel on RU-vid as well. He did a shotgun mod and it doesn't reset the hammer.

I wouldn't. Make sure you removed overspray by polishing your clamshells so that the hammer can fully return.

How/could you go about sealing off the blowback gas? I am trying to make my gun not reset the hammer after shooting. Thanks

Ok now how would i stop the blow back valve in order to make it bolt action?

Hello Lord Odin Presents. Before i get to my Question, I would just like to say thank you for posting the "How a Tippmann A5 Works" Video. It was an amazing way for me to understand my own A5 on a more mechanical level.Now, I converted my A5 to a magfed Tacamo Vortex. But in doing so, I had MULTIPLE issues getting my marker to work properly. My gun would Double/Triple fire, then suddenly de-gas, forcing me to recock the handle after a few trigger pulls. I even replaced the trigger sear, but it didn't change anything. I converted my gun back to the A5, and it suddenly works again, no problems... My observation of the Vortex compared to the A5, is that on the vortex my buttstock is wobbly. Secondly, i have pretty bad power tube plugs on the side of the vortex marker. I would just like to know which do you think is the problem? Do you think, because of the wobbly buttstock, the spring guide rod would prevent the hammer from fully reaching my trigger sear? Or do you think i'm getting a lack of gas due to bad Power Tube Plugs?..

@LordOdin2008 Thanks a lot, the marker is stock so no reg, do you recomend using a regulator? I am going to run hpa.

Thanks for the video. Is there a way to make this thing more quiet when it shoots???

hey for the tippmann a5 do you recommend compressed air or co2? from what ive read, compressed air is better exept that it is cheaper also,what compressed air tank brand would you recommend?

This system rocks! Can't wait to get my hands on Tippman's airsoft gun!

what program did you use for animation