Trigger Mods and Upgrades

By J. Franklin

www.specialopspaintball.com

If you’re looking to modify or upgrade your paintball gun’s trigger system, the Tippmann Response Trigger and E-Grip are two of the best trigger-upgrade solutions on the market. Available for the Tippmann 98 Custom and the A-5, both the Response Trigger and E-Grip offer similar, yet distinctly different features and benefits. And since each mod offers unique capabilities, it’s important that you get some “game” experience on the woodsball field (preferably under different situations) with each trigger mod.

Hopefully you’ve already undergone the evaluation process concerning your style of play and determined that a Response Trigger or an E-Grip will provide capabilities that are specific to your needs, and thereby enhance your effectiveness on the field.
During my first games as a paintballer, I used a Pro/Carbine, which is an excellent marker that can take one hell of a beating, yet continue to function reliably. However, working in the SpecOps offices eventually took its toll, and I couldn’t resist the temptation to upgrade markers. I purchased an A-5A2 (with E-Grip). At the time, I was a decent player, but I figured this high-performance scenario paintball gun with killer firepower (thanks to the E-Grip trigger mod) was going to take my game to the next level.
Since our local field allows full-auto, I seldom changed the firing mode of the E-Grip and before long, I became addicted to the wicked full-auto capabilities. It was a comforting feeling to know that I could squeeze off 15 rounds in one second – just in case I ever needed to get myself out of a jam.

But then I came across an A-5A2 Dagger Mark I with a Response Trigger for an excellent price, and I couldn’t resist adding the marker to my arsenal. I particularly liked the versatility that the JCS folding stock offered. And since I was now playing on a lot of fields that didn’t allow full-auto, I wasn’t able to utilize all the features of the E-Grip, and the Dagger Mark I with the RT became my primary paintball marker.

The RT and the E-Grip are both excellent trigger upgrade for your Tippmann, but the Response Trigger proved to be the ideal trigger mod for me. The Response Trigger is more difficult to “tune in”, and it took a little while to get accustomed to its “sweet spot” (the trigger pressure that offers full-auto firing), but for the most part, I only used semi-auto, supplemented occasionally with a few bursts of full-auto. The Response Trigger still offered a lot of firepower, but I felt that I had a little more control when I wanted to be selective with my shots.

But the feature of the RT that swayed me the most was the “durability” factor. During the rainy Aftermath 2020 scenario game in Oregon, most players with electro-pneumatic markers and E-Grips experienced difficulties with their guns. Granted, the soggy conditions were pretty harsh, but the Response Trigger never faltered.

Tuning the Response Trigger is a bit more difficult than getting your E-Grip up and shooting. Though the RT can be tuned to shoot as fast as the E-Grip, most owners don’t have it tuned to do so. And, unlike the E-Grip, the RT has a sweet spot that the user needs to find when pulling the trigger. (When the E-Grip is set to Turbo, a simple squeeze of the trigger – regardless of finger pressure – unleashes a steady hailstorm of paint.)

The firing mode of the Tippmann E-Grip is adjusted by using a jeweler’s screwdriver to turn a tiny radial switch on the outside of the grip-front. It’s not the most convenient way to change your mode of fire, but it’s functional, and you can still change modes fairly quickly. The five modes of fire are:
• Auto-Response: Fires one shot for each trigger pull or release
• Full Auto: Fires repeatedly as long as the trigger is held
• Three-shot burst: Fires three shots for each trigger pull
• Turbo: Fires one shot for every trigger pull, or fires one shot for every trigger pull or release if the time between trigger pull is less than .25 seconds
• Semi-Auto: Fires one shot for each trigger pull

Though the E-Grip and Response Trigger have some “crossover” in terms of performance capabilities, the two trigger mods are based on very different operating systems. The E-Grip replaces the mechanical trigger by using an electronic control board (inside the grip) to activate a solenoid. So instead of you having to apply the trigger pressure to trip the sear, the solenoid the solenoid does it for you. The E-Grip trigger system is powered by a 9-volt battery inside the grip (which can be a bit of a pain to swap out).

The Response Trigger increases the cycle rate by using excess gas during firing to reset the trigger and sear. The gas is used to operate a cylinder behind the trigger to do the resetting. The pressure of your finger on the trigger pulls it back to fire the next shot. The speed is determined by the amount of flow through the knurled adjuster on the side. The upper limit on the rate of fire is set by this adjuster.

Obviously, like all other paintball gun mods, trigger mods come down to a matter of personal preference. The person who sold me the Dagger Mark I preferred the E-Grip over the RT – hands down. But if I’m playing in a 24-hour scenario game, I’d rather use the Response Trigger. Before you settle on a new trigger upgrade for your Tippmann, do everything you can to test out the different options on the playing field. Hopefully you’ll find a friend who will let you borrow his E-Grip or Response Trigger for a game. Do anything you can to spend time with different mods before you buy. You may be surprised by what you’ll discover.