Considering HPA, Noob in need of help!!!

[Wraithspider]

Hi all,

As stated in the title I'm considering HPA but I have no idea where to start or anything more than you have a tank of compressed air strapped to you which blows BB's out of your RIF when you pull the trigger. ?

Some of the questions that spring to mind are:

• Is a Tippmann RIF a good starting point or are other brands considered a better starting point?

• What are the pros/con's of the different brands of HPA (Polarstar, Wolverine, etc)?

• How easy are HPA RIF's to use and maintain (what needs cleaning, how often, etc)?

Any, and all, advice is greatly appreciated. ?

Thanks in advance. ??

 

[Guest]

Polarstar etc are all modified AEG’s, Tippman is a dedicated HPA gun, and pretty much all GBB’s can be converted using a replacement input valve

Decide what you want really, the modified AEG’s are quiet, fast, but zero immersion.

GBBR’s on HPA have recoil and realism

Tippmans run AEG mags with recoil

 

[Wraithspider]

Polarstar etc are all modified AEG’s, Tippman is a dedicated HPA gun, and pretty much all GBB’s can be converted using a replacement input valve

Decide what you want really, the modified AEG’s are quiet, fast, but zero immersion.

GBBR’s on HPA have recoil and realism

Tippmans run AEG mags with recoil

Mainly trying to find out more as I've just had an offer for a Tippmann v1 (with tank and line), for £260, but I've mainly been looking at AEG's so don't know a lot about HPA. ?

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

I bought a v2 recently.   It's great fun to shoot, but not shooting as well as I'd like.  So do test fire it before buying, and really you want to shoot it somewhere where you can ensure it's accurate at 40+ metres, not just at short range.   This means the gun's power, innate accuracy (or lack) and the effectiveness of the hop can be gauged.  Ideally take some heavier BBs with you for testing the hop.

(If you can only test at short range, make sure it feeds properly in semi and full auto as the minimum.  Try to take a chrono to test the velocity variance isn't too much)

I started a Tippmann owner's thread, so feel free to bung specific questions in there.   In terms of maintenance, the stuff I've meddled with so far has been quite 'mechanical' and simple - easier so far than fiddling with an AEG gearbox.   But then again it's not working quite right yet... I'm a million miles from being the right person to ask

 

[Wraithspider]

I bought a v2 recently.   It's great fun to shoot, but not shooting as well as I'd like.  So do test fire it before buying, and really you want to shoot it somewhere where you can ensure it's accurate at 40+ metres, not just at short range.   This means the gun's power, innate accuracy (or lack) and the effectiveness of the hop can be gauged.  Ideally take some heavier BBs with you for testing the hop.

(If you can only test at short range, make sure it feeds properly in semi and full auto as the minimum.  Try to take a chrono to test the velocity variance isn't too much)

I started a Tippmann owner's thread, so feel free to bung specific questions in there.   In terms of maintenance, the stuff I've meddled with so far has been quite 'mechanical' and simple - easier so far than fiddling with an AEG gearbox.   But then again it's not working quite right yet... I'm a million miles from being the right person to ask

TBH, the RIF didn't seem to have a good rate of fire (in the video that was supplied) and I'm not particularly invested in getting a HPA so I'm probably not going to get it (mainly asking questions to expand my knowledge of HPA and as a politeness to the seller). ? Also, I wouldn't be able to test fire the RIF before buying as I don't live close to the seller so he would have to post it to me (not that it matters but I don't own a chrono either). ?

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

Tippmann's chug along rather being the high-RoF-overkill-machines some of the other HPAs are... 
I'm ok with that given the extra immersion of the recoil, but it's personal preference really.

 

[zwez]

I'll give a couple things depending on budget here as a straight answer:

If you are considering just HPA and not wanting any form of AEG in your mits, go with a Tippmann HPA M4.

Or you are ready to slap the cash down for a top of the line BB Hose, then try looking at the Wolverine MTW's out there.

But if something in the middlegrounds is what you are after, i'd say check out something in the Polarstar range, the engines are more like mods / upgrades than entire guns, but they are worth it honestly, especially the fusion as it replaces an entire AEG gearbox; so you can keep your guns original gearbox and swap them out for games as you please.

oh also wolverine do engines alone like polarstar do
 

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

(When I said Tippmann's chug along, I just checked on my chrono and it's currently at 16.5rps.  Much the same as my DE M906 on 11.1v, and perfectly acceptable IMHO)