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  Special Ops Home SpecOPS Store Paintball Forums SpecOPS Brigade  Articles Home X7 Mods Tippmann and Special Ops Unite (press release) Tippmann and Special Ops Unite 2006 SPPL Oklahoma Practice at Dominating the Woodsball Field Problem Free Paintball Aliens In The Rockies VI 2006 SPPL Utah Qualifier A Case For The Defense Basic Load 2006 SPPL Georgia Qualifier Got Fog? Scenario Paintball Guns Pinch And Win Sponsorship - The Holy Grail Of Paintball Sniper Tech Packing For A 24-Hour Scenario Game Conversation With A Sniper Modifying Your A-5 Finding The Right Paintball Gun Castle Conquest XX Paintball Pistols Paintball Gun Optics and Laser Sights Ultralite Camo - Run Through The Jungle Night Paintball Advantages of DuraCoat Finish 3-Man D-Day Tournament Paintball Gear 'R' Us Trickin Out Your Paintball Gun Team SpecOPS Razorback Paintball Tank The True Paintball Sniper The Self-Aiming Paintgun Should You Buy A Tippmann? Paintball Hand Grenades Paintball Silencers Full-auto Paintball Machine Guns The Special Ops Brigade The Special Ops Game Locator Paintball Vests Paintball Radios/Communications Going Remote in Paintball Welcome to Paintball Hip, Thigh, and Groin Protection Scenario Paintball Gear Protective Paintball Clothing Paintball Land Mines Scenario Paintball Communication It's Not About Winning Co2 and Compressed Air Scenario Paintball Sniper  Special Ops Collapsible Tool Bag Special Ops Gun Pack/Mat AGD Sydarm Pistol 32 Degrees Delta .68 Aromtech Zeus G2 pistol The Response Trigger and E-Grip Tippmann C3 Paintball Gun Ariakon SIM-4 Elite Tippmann Pro/Carbine Palmer Stabilizer V Balls V Force Profiler Products Home Gloves Review Paintball Boots Review Paintball Gun Sights Rocket Cock II Special Ops Longbow Special Ops Action Ghillie Special Ops A-5A2 Kit Special Ops A-5A2 Foregrip Special Ops F-Bombs Tippmann A-5 Review Tippmann Flatline Barrel Tippmann E-Grip Tippmann M98 / Custom 98 Tippmann Grip Mods Tippmann Buttstock Mods Firestorm Crank Duracoat Gun Finish Paintballs  Team Play/Positions Home Why Teams Rock Positions Squad - Commander Dagger - Light Rifleman Sabre - Medium Rifleman Broadsword - Heavy Rifleman Hammer - Mobile Heavy Gunner Ambush - Sniper  Open Tactics Manual |
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A. Tippmann Flatline Barrel for the A-5 B. Tippmann Flatline Barrel for the Custom 98 It used to be that all barrels were created equal. Those days ended with the rise of the Tippmann Flatline. The Flatline turned the paintball world on its ear by giving a twenty to thirty-percent range advantage to anyone who was smart enough to own a Tippmann A-5. If you've ever seen a ping-pong player put backspin on a ping-pong ball, then you understand how the Flatline works. The barrel is roughened and curved and this causes the paintball to pick up backspin as it speeds out the barrel. Backspin, in turn, causes the paintball to "float" noticeably further than a paintball from any other barrel. Instead of flying in a parabolic arc, as with any other flying paintball, the Flatline-fired paintball flies relatively level, then plunges to the ground when it runs out of momentum - way the hell downrange!  Ah, but there are prices to pay for all that distance (other than the cost of the Flatline barrel.) Each paintball is slightly different, so the Flatline affects each ball just a little differently than the last ball. That translates into decreased consistency and decreased accuracy. Standard paintball barrels put the paintball in the same place with greater frequency than the Flatline. Also, the Flatline's roughened interior surface is slightly more apt to shred weak paintballs than smooth-bore barrels. Since the Flatline puts backspin on your paintball, you'll need to tune your Flatline before you play. The top of the barrel needs to be exactly on top of your gun (or the backspin becomes some version of a curve ball.) The Flatline replaces the threaded barrel lug that comes stock on your A-5. To install the Flatline, you need to loosen all the allen screws on the front half of your Tippmann, remove the stock barrel lug, then push in your Flatline. Once all the allen screws are re-tightened, you need to fire you're A-5 and gently rotate the Flatline until your balls stop curving to one side. Prepare yourself to be amazed at how much further the funky float causes your balls to fly. In the end, the tradeoffs make sense depending on your field position. A Heavy Rifleman or a Heavy Gunner, who shoot a large volume of paint from longer distances won't mind the inconsistency of the Flatline (and will dig the range advantage.) A Light or Medium Rifleman, on the other hand, will miss the short-range accuracy and will probably stick with a standard barrel.
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