Paintball Buyer’s Blog

The ability to accept so many mods and accessories is one if the hallmarks of Tippmann paintball markers, with the most popular being the shoulder stock. There are many styles to fit anyone’s specific need and look. Stocks require the marker to be taken apart to install. While Tippmann 98 Customs and Custom Pros are simple in their design they are a little bit of work to disassemble/ reassemble and can be a bit confusing to the beginner when doing maintenance or installations for the first time. Since one of our most common tech questions we receive via phone and email is how to install a 98 Custom stock I decided to try out my new camera and do a photo breakdown.

First, do go over the exploded-view schematic of your particular model in the owner’s manual. These can be downloaded and printed from Tippmann’s website if needed. Familiarize yourself with the parts and names.

Second, prepare your work area. I like to lay down an old bedsheet or towel to work over. It keeps oil stains and grease stains off the table and prevents small round parts from rolling off onto the floor. Have some rags or paper towels handy to wipe up any oil. Make sure there is plenty of light and have all the tools you’ll need handy. The less you have to keep getting up the less chance you will bump the table and have parts go everywhere! Safety glasses are not a bad idea either. I’ve had a small spring pop out and nail me in the eye before so its better to be safe and not need an eyepatch.

Most important… MAKE SURE YOUR MARKER IS COMPLETELY DEGASSED! Remove your air or CO2 tank and dryfire the marker one or twice to ensure there is no pressure in the valve. I cannot stress that enough.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any damage you may do to your marker by accident. Go slow and take your time, not forcing anything that seems stuck. If you are unsure what to do, please take your marker to your nearest friendly neighborhood paintball shop!

Note: The marker in the following photos is a 98 Custom ACT with Response Trigger

Okay, got your work area set up and the marker degassed? Take off the barrel and any other bolt-on accesories like sights. Leave the feedneck latched in place, it will help hold the frontsight latch spring in place later. With your 1/8th Allen key remove the ASA screws from under the bottomline ASA and set them aside.

Now remove the five body screws… one at the base of the grip, two by the reap cap, one just forward of the trigger and two at the frontsight and foregrip. Slide the foregrip out from the bottom and set aside.

Now comes the tricky part of the procedure. Gently separate the two body halves and lift the top one away. Don’t yank them apart as this tends to dislodge parts and send them flying.

Take a look at the front sight area. Remember how I told you to leave the feedneck attached? Thats because the little horseshoe-shaped spring under the frontsight latch (circled in blue) is easily the most lost Tippmann internal part. The ball detent (circled in red) should be in place as shown. If installed backwards the marker will cycle erratically or not at all.

Take a good look at the sear and trigger group. That big silver cylinder behind the trigger is the piston for the Response trigger system. Note the placement of the silver pins through the trigger and how they guide the sear. There is one black pin (circled in red) that the sear pivots around. Always make sure the black one is in this location because it is hardened steel, designed to withstand the abuse of the sear slamming against it. If you put any of the other pins here they will eventually bend and break from stress. See the sear sping circled in blue? Pay close attention to it because it has a tendency to pop out of position. It should be seated down snug in its guides.

Since this is an ACT (Anti Chop Technology) model there is a second spring set between the rear bolt and reap cap. Note the placement of all springs, pins and the linkage rod. Lastly, note how the square bottomline nuts sits snug at the base of the grip.

Next, wiggle the springs and spring guide rod out of the rear cap and replace with your new stock. See how the rear cap and the stock fit into the grooves molded into the body? I like to prop the marker up with the rear cap like a sawhorse in the middle of my work. Don’t forget the guide rod or your springs will get destroyed! Look everything over and make sure all parts are snug and in place.

Now gently place the top body half back, slowly working it down into place so the internal parts do not dislodge. Screw in the frame screw through the frontsight first, snug but not so tight that the latch cannot be depressed, then the other screws. The two screws by the stock are the hardest to do because the plastic of the stock is typically a bit oversized to ensure a snug fit. Give it a squeeze if the screws do not catch at first. If hand pressure is not enough, simply clamp it in a bench vise or use a padded pair of vice grips to press it into place.

Reattach the bottomline ASA and viola…. you’re done!

If you have the new Platinum Series 98 Custom the whole procedure is even easier. The Platinum is designed with three pieces to the clamshell body so only one section is lifted up so there are less pieces to be dislodged.

Note: An Ultra Basic Non ACT model is used in the following photos.

You do not have to take off the top rail and you can take the feedneck off if you wish because only the rear body section is being removed. Otherwise the internals are the same and follow the instructions above.

Hope that helps. Many people are intimidated by Tippmanns due to the number of parts but really they are a very simple machine. Just go slow and remember how everything goes into place. Tippmanns amazing reliability and build also means that you don’t need to do a complete strip down maintanence after every day of play like other markers! Any other questions about Tippmanns just give us a call.

Let’s face it… no one likes to run out of paintballs on the field midgame. To carry the paint on field you put it in pods (also known as tubes or pots) and to carry the pods you need some form of harness or pack to stick them in. There are lots of styles so which one do you choose? Well, it depends on your style of play, how much you need to carry and what else you might need to haul around as well. The four main types are the belt pouch, horizontal, vertical and tactical vest.

The simplest form is the basic paintball belt pouch. These are attached to a belt and usually hold two or three pods. They have a velcro affixed flap that holds the pod in place and often have an elastic ejector to help ease the pod into your hand. The advantages are pretty simple. They are lightweight, unobtrusive and affordable for any budget. The downside is the limited capacity and the tendency to flop around noisily.

Gen X 2 Pod Pouch NXe 3 Pod Pouch

A very common harness is the horizontal harness. These strap around your waist carry pods horizontally on your lower back. These often include a large pouch to carry a tank for use with a coiled remote hose. If the harness has this pouch it is designated as “+1″, so if a harness is referred to as a “4+1 Horizontal” that means it carries four pods horizontally plus a tank. These harnesses are generally secured around the waist by a strap with a buckle or velcro. Harnesses can get very heavy when loaded with full pods and a tank so many have attachments points for suspenders or come with suspenders as part of the harness.

CORE 4+1 Harness

Horizontal harnesses have a few advantages. Pods are easier to reach than in a vertical harness for most people and are easier to slide back in. During ’speedball’ games on concept fields players typically drop pods and pick them up afterwards but this is not practical in woods and big games so the ability to quickly and easily put empties back into your harness is a big plus. Horizontals also tend to fit the larger, plus sized players more comfortably. The downside to a horizontal is that because they are so wide they tend to stick out on the sides, making you a bigger target, and forget about trying to roll when on the ground. Most horizontal packs carry half the pods to the left and half to the right, which means you’ll need to switch hands or reload with your awkward offhand half the time.

This leads us to vertical harnesses. These are harnesses that carry the pods straight up and down across the small of your back. Vertical harnesses evolved with the rise of tournament-style ’speedball’ games to fill the demand for as low a profile as possible and to access all pods with either hand.

Designs vary but the one feature virtually all vertical packs have now is the elastic waistbelt that stretches around your waist like a back support belt, fastening with velcro in the front. This keeps the pack snug to your body and also can give some support to your back. Pods are worn pointing down for quick and low profile removal. Most have formed slots for your pods with a velcro strap to keep them in place. Others like the Empire Hinge Pack have flexible slots without retaining straps, instead utilizing a strong elastic band creating tension to hold the pods in place. As pods are pulled away the harness collapses on itself, thus reducing its target profile with each reload.

CORE 5 Pod Slam NXe Alex Fraige Edition Empire Hinge Pack

Often a harness has extra loops of elastic that is sewn between slots. These unfold past the slot and can fit a pod snugly. If a harness just has x number of slots for pods… lets say three for example… then it is simply referred to as a 3 Pod Harness. If it has the extra loops… for example two… then it is called a 3+2 Pod Harness

Proto 4+3 Pod Harness

The plus side to vertical harnesses is that they offer minimal profile and ambidextrous access. The downside is that empty pods are slow if not very difficult to slide back into place midgame. Dropping the pod and collecting them later is fine on speedball fields but not so much in the woods where pods are sure to be lost or picked up by others.

The last category is the tactical vest or “tac vest” for short. These are incredibly popular in scenario/ big games or for outlaw rec games where you might not be heading back to the staging area for long periods of time. Copied from equipment worn by police and military, they’re typically a full vest or belt/ shoulder harness combo with a variety of pouches, pockets, clips and other anchor points to comfortably distribute weight when carrying lots of gear.

Gen X Tactical Spec Ops Broadsword NXe Light Infantry Vest

Some vests have pouches sewn permanently in place. While you can’t rearrange the layout these hold your gear most securely. Others have large sections of velcro backing so pouches can be arranged and oriented as the user desires. More and more vests are utilizing the military’s MOLLE system. Short for ‘MOdular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment’, these are rows of webbing sewn in increments to form a base for MOLLE-compatible accessories to be secured to. These accessories have straps that thread through the MOLLE webbing and snap into place, offering more versatility since many army surplus and other specialty pouches can be used as well.

Common pouches for paintball tac vests include GP (General Purpose) pouches, pull-down pouches so you can show refs your ID/ Mission card, elastic loops for 12 grams and ten round tubes, ones to hold a tank vertically or horizontally and large sturdy areas to hold a hydration system bladder. When choosing or setting up a vest, make a list of everything you have ever used on the field and then visualize where it will go. The most used items like pods and squeegees should go in the more easily accessible locations… your energy bars, rags, spare o-rings and cel phone can go into the smaller pouches off to the side. Leave your shooting shoulder clear for the marker’s tank or stock to sit and remember to test it with your paintball marker going from a carrying to firing position. Any pouch that interferes with this motion is going to drive you nuts by the end of a long game day!

That should help you pick out what kind of harness you should get. Just consider your playing style and the type of games you plan on playing. Here are some more tips:

- Make sure you snap the lids of your pods securely. Nothing is more frustrating or embarassing than pulling down a strap for a pod and having paint dump down your leg.

- Orient the thumbtab of the pod’s lid when you load up your harness so that the tab sits where your thumb is when you grab the pod. This saves you valuable time when reloading under stress.

- Some harnesses feature ejector loops of elastic material that help push the pod out a bit, making them easier to grab. These speed up reloading.