Procarbine or A5?

[BrickHaus]

Il toss a middle of the road opinion I cut my teeth with an a5 with a special ops a2 grip. I'd spring for that. It'll give you the upgradability of the a5, and the horizontal grip makes it feel more like a pro carbine.

But imo I like procarbs for the build quality, short of the trigger weight.

I like the a5 for the modular design, but it's definitely cheaper in build quality.

[cheapguitarscheapthrills]

I had to Google it but I remember googling their website where they sold those parts or some other custom mostly A5 and Tippmann stuff

[Dusty Bottoms]

I love the aesthetic and build quality of the ProCarbine, but when it comes to actually playing with them on the field then the A5 would be my choice. The Pro Carbine's trigger is clunky, heavy garbage. Tippmann did a trigger redesign for the Model 98, which the A5 also uses, and it's much better than the old style trigger found on the ProLite, 68 Carbine, and ProCarbine.

[markdem]

I actually preffer the clunky feel of the carbine

[cheapguitarscheapthrills]

Thank you all for your input! I think I'm gonna go with A5 since there's one available local on the cheap. Plus I can get an A2 style foregrip to mimic one of the main reasons I dig the procarbine and also have the parts availability of the A5.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Pro Carb is a blast to shoot. I stick feed mine I got a .681 HK barrel for it from a friend it shoots awesome. I like the Pro Carb a lot better. It’s probably my favorite tippman.

[Drunkscriblerian]

I own both a Pro-Lite and an A-5 and I would say....an HPA-compatible Pro-Lite (which is what a Pro-Carbine is) would all-in be the better choice for a loaner marker. The A-5 is fun at the chrono range...but its a bitch to actually play with. I think a new player would have more fun with a Pro-Carbine. The A-5 has all those balance and handling issues, whereas a Pro-Carbine just doesn't.

People on here have said that the Pro-Carbine is the best gun Tippmann ever produced and I would tend to agree. Sure, the trigger on a Pro-series sucks but the handling on an A-5 sucks more...and I can tell you from having used both recently that I'd rather deal with the Pro-series trigger than deal with the A-5's clunky ergos. Especially if you're on a field where marker hits count. I'm lucky enough to not be, but goddamn...when I ran my A-5 I was forever wiping paint off the front of my Cyclone. On a field where marker hits count the Pro-Carbine is definitely the superior choice.

[Chuck E Ducky]

I think you nailed it. It’s the feel of the Carbine over the A5 for me. The A5 just feels big for nothing and a lot of unnecessary metal and plastic. I don't feel the need to shoot fast. If it was there are lots of better options then a Tippman. The trigger isn’t bad it’s just a stiff pull compared to more modern options so it shoots slower. That’s how my play style has developed in rec over the years anyway so it doesn’t bother me. Does a new player need to shoot fast to enjoy the game? I don’t believe they do.

[Meleager7]

I'll help you make an easy decision, buy both!!

They can both be had pretty cheaply, and if you upgrade the barrel , you can use it on both guns. Some of the repair parts are interchangeable, like hammer orings, ball detents, etc.

[glaman5266]

I realize I’m very late to this party, but I’ve gotta say I have no idea why the heck the Pro Carb is getting heat in this thread.

If you guys are getting twist/flex in the frame, what the heck are you doing to it?! Mine doesn’t flex at all.

Easier to service? No, not if you need to yank the bolt or tear apart the Cyclone. All you have to do with a Pro Carb is slide the sight off, drop the linkage rod out the top & pull the back cap. Guts slide right out. No clamshells & no problems.

Shouldn’t have velocity issues. It’s a high-pressure blowback, which requires a high-pressure bottle (~800psi). If you’re actually having issues after a rebuild and while using a high-pressure bottle then I’d suspect the mainspring is worn out.

Stiff trigger? It takes the same size trigger spring as a SL68-II, and it’s lighter. Swap one of those in or make your own with something from your local hardware store. While you’re at it, polish the sides of the trigger plate with some sandpaper. Work it up to 1000 grit. Or just use a Dremel & sanding discs. A new spring & a quick sanding job are IMO the two best mods for a Pro Carb. They are easy to do & worth it, even for a loaner.

The Pro Carb isn’t as modernized as the A-5, but this is a classic example of “what is newer isn’t always better.” Tippmann’s quality dropped with the advent of badged 98s & the Custom Pro. One could justifiably argue the M98 was a step down.

EDIT: There is merit to taking an A-5 over a Pro Carb. They don’t need a battery-powered hopper, older A-5s can take a ton of add-ons if that’s your thing, and they have those nice pins that aid in quick teardowns. But those don’t make for better shot quality & overall build quality.

[Chappy]

The biggest difference I was able to make on trigger pull was my lightened hammer. It’s an aftermarket hammer, not a modified stock. I don’t know if it is the lower weight or the improved interaction with the sear but it makes a huge difference in trigger pull. Unfortunately it also dropped the fps bu about 30. I had to hog out the power tube to make up for it. I used a second one cause I’m ocd about keeping my og parts. Power tubes are getting harder to find but ex rental procarbs seem to fall into my lap(mainly because i run in an awesome paintball circle and they know I use them as loaners )
It’s been a few years since I took part my procarb. Maybe I’ll open her up and takes some pics

[Chuck E Ducky]

I got a parts marker 😉

[glaman5266]

For my trigger job I contoured & sanded the trigger plate, shimmed the trigger pin with nylon washers, made my own trigger spring & polished the sear. I didn’t do anything with pre- and post-travel. I thought there was too little to bother with & didn’t want to inadvertently mess with the recooking. I can take some pics.

EDIT: Turns out I didn’t have room for trigger pin shims. But it’s still not bad. I usually put shims in Spyder triggers.

[Chappy]

The problem with pre 2005 tippmanns is they are getting hard to find parts for. The problem with post 2005 tippys is that the parts kinda suck.
I love A5s but clamshell design is inferior to extruded aluminum body with a composite frame.
I’ve been shooting my procarb as one of my primaries for 18 years. I use a lightened hammer, and I modified the power tube so it shoots 300 with no issues. I have acquired plenty of spare parts I haven’t needed yet. I will let y’all know when I need to replace something besides the detent.

[Myrkul]

The problem with pre 2005 tippmanns is they are getting hard to find parts for. The problem with post 2005 tippys is that the parts kinda suck.
I love A5s but clamshell design is inferior to extruded aluminum body with a composite frame.
I’ve been shooting my procarb as one of my primaries for 18 years. I use a lightened hammer, and I modified the power tube so it shoots 300 with no issues. I have acquired plenty of spare parts I haven’t needed yet. I will let y’all know when I need to replace something besides the detent.

I've also drilled out the power tube in mine, between drilling out the power tube and the air fittings these always reach 300 fps no problem.

If you want to take it even further, throw a lighter spring in the valve, I usually use black warrior Spyder valve springs.
Then make sure you have a barrel sized appropriately for your field paint, 9 times out of 10, a 0.685 will do the job perfectly, but if your paint fluctuates a lot you might want to go with a freak. Blue Loctite the the velocity adjuster to the maximum open position. You can also bump up your tank output to 950 psi.

At this point, the gun will DEFINITELY be shooting hot. Drill out the back cap and tap it for 1/4-28 to make a home brew RVA. Use the RVA to back off the main spring tension and lower the FPS to reach field legal limits.

Some of the tension on the mainspring on these makes its way into the trigger pull, so the lighter you get that main spring the lighter your trigger pull will be, not to mention the smoother the overall operation gets.

And you can also polish up the trigger plate and pin, and replace the trigger springs with SL-68 II springs as everyone else has mentioned.

If you do all of the above, the trigger pull on these actually becomes pretty good. Definitely easy to be quick on and not clunky at all.

[glaman5266]

This is why I'm not sure about getting a lighter hammer. As much as I'm sure I'd like it, I don't want to risk the other parts with any drilling. But the trigger & other stuff I'll do. Major mods to drivetrain stuff makes me nervous sometimes.

[glaman5266]

So as to not clutter this thread further, I’ll just start a new one with the trigger job I did.

[Myrkul]

I am a total sucker for trigger work, I can't wait to see this!

[cheapguitarscheapthrills]

I was gonna say y'all are invested more than me at this point. Love the passion 😂

[glaman5266]

Myrkul I don't think it's anything super special. Nothing that I wouldn't do for any other polish & shim job. But I'm working on it right now, lol.

[gabe]

Retro grouches out in force. I didn't realize the older Tippmanns were so great. The 98 has always treated me good and so has the A5. I'd go with the A5 if it had a direct feed. The cyclone always blended paint in my experience.

[Myrkul]

I started with a 98 and definitely still have a soft spot for them, but sanding out the over spray on internals of the clam shells and then sanding out the casting defects to polish them up and get them shooting optimally is just so labor intensive that I don't want to do it anymore. I was completely blown away by the build quality on the carbine line the first time I pick one up, especially after shooting 98s for years. Carbines are unquestionably my preferred Tippmann at this point, and that's after years of having both.

Absolutely with you on disliking the cyclone loader. On my A-5 the very first thing I did was track down a feedneck adapter so I could chuck the cyclone in a box and never look at it again.

[Meleager7]

I'll add another hot take.

You could loan your pal a run of the mill, dime a dozen , plain jane A5 ..... or you could let your buddy rock an upped Carbine or Pro Carbine !!

Here are a couple examples I put together to my preferences