Tippmann

Tippmann Pneumatics is a manufacturer of Paintball markers. Tippmann is a family owned business run from Fort Wayne Indiana, and also manufactures pneumatic sewing machines, as well as some industrial products.

In the very early 1980's Tippmann was known as the Tippmann Arms Company, and manufactured scaled down .22 caliber replicas of military machine guns. When company owner Dennis Tippmann saw the growing popularity of Paintball, he applied his expertise with machine guns into manufacturing a paintball markers.

The first Tippmann Pneumatics product was known as the SMG60, and was the first production semi-automatic paintball markers, as well as the first production full-automatic paintball markers. While it was not the first semi-automatic paintball gun developed, which was a Sheridan creation, it was the first on the market for purchase. The SMG also was the first paintgun created that used a screw-on CO2 tank, later termed Constant Air.

The SMG60 fired .62 caliber paintballs, which at the time was one of a handful of calibers in use. Not long after, the "standard" size was set at .68 caliber, and Tippmann released a .68 caliber version of the SMG known as the SMG68. To this day the SMG68 is one of the rarest paintball markers ever produced, as it was manufactured in very limited numbers. SMG68's can be seen selling for $800+ on eBay.

Also contributing to the SMG68's rarity was the release of the Tippmann 68-Special. Built on the same design as the SMG, the Special was the first Tippmann paintgun to use a hopper adapter to accommodate an Ammo Box. The Special was also semi-automatic only. At its release, Tippmann offered a program to convert SMG68's to 68-Specials, further removing the SMG from the market.

Tippmann went on to produce other notable paintguns, such as the Pro-Am which used a solid machined aluminum receiver, the Factory F/A which used the first force-feed system and a fire rate limiter to shoot semi and full automatic, and the Model 98 which used a cast aluminum design to retain quality but lower prices.

Their latest offerings are the A-5 and the Tippmann Pro Custom. The A-5 shares many parts and the cast aluminum design theory of the Model 98 but is cosmetically different and adds the patented Cyclone Feed System that forces a new paintball into the chamber every time the marker discharges by using excess blow-by gasses from the discharge cycle. The Tippmann Pro Custom is an upgraded version of the Model 98 Custom, coming out of the box it includes a two-finger trigger, a drop-forward so the tank sits lower on the gun, and a "Tippmann Werks" 12-inch micro-honed barrel. Also, the paint on the Pro Custom is scratch resistant. Although it is approximately $30USD more, all these acessories separately would cost a recreational player about $100USD

Tippmann is highly respected by other manufacturers in the industry as producing middle-cost highly durable products, and for continually innovating. Tippmann is not so well respected by "professional" paintball players, who term Tippmann paintguns as newbie equipment, due to Tippmann's success at dominating the recreational player market. Tippmann is one of the very few "original" paintgun manufacturers that have existed since the beginnings of the game in the early 80's.

Tippmann currently manufacturers the Pro/Carbine, the 98 Custom, the Pro Custom, and the A-5.

External links

• Tippmann Pneumatics (http://www.tippmann.com)
• The Paintball Museum (http://www.paintballmuseum.org)
• History of Paintball (http://www.paintball-guns.com/paintball_history.html)