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- Tippmann Model 98 Custom
- hellion666's review
Have a picture of Tippmann Model 98 Custom?, please send it to us.
Picture courtesy of nick molnar.
| Value for Money | 8.4/10  |
|---|---|
| Reviewer Rating | 8.6/10 |
| Overall Rating | 8.7/10  |
By hellion666
on 29th Jan 2007
| Value for money | 10/10 |
|---|---|
| Overall value | 9/10 |
 hellion666's recommendation | |
Dont you just hate reviews that are crunched together? I'm going to try to make this review as easy as possible to read.
I've waited a year to review this gun so I can make sure I can get every little detail in.
Durable - Any gun can be durable if you take proper care of it. When i first got this gun, I did not know i had to oil it... I didnt oil it for 5 months and it still ran like new. This gun is good for newbies who want to play occasionally but also dont want to spend too much time cleaning their gun. But for me, this is my main gun, everything on the gun is upgraded, i am just short of an e-bolt which i should be aquiring soon.
Many owners - This is a pro and a con. Anybody can help you with this gun, many people own it therefore help should be easy to aquire if needed. There is not a problem with this gun that cant be fixed, there is always a fix for this gun... either a proper fix, or a ghetto fix.
Upgrades - Almost any paintball website will have upgrades for this gun, its is very common. Upgrades are pretty nicely priced but you can go overboard easily like me and spend $600+ which was good for me, cause i like my m98, im comfortable with it. As long as your comfortable with your gun, who cares what people say.
Co2 Acceptance - Runs great on co2, heck you can run it on constant liquid co2 if you want. The CVX valve is indestructable. Im sure most of your starters out there wont have enough money for a decent tank (68/4500 which run for $180) although you can get a cheap HPA tank for 80 bucks, but you wont get enough shots.
Design - The way the m98 opens is great, its in 2 halves, this way, you can see everything in front of you and it is accessible... it just takes some time to take it apart and put it together. I can do it no problem now, but if your new, be careful when taking apart the gun, if you need any help ask me.
Stock barrel - but hey, what can you ask for, its stock... no gun comes with a good stock barrel with the exception of some high end guns (impulse etc.. even those barrels are swapped out some times)... but out of all the stock barrels, spyder, piranhas, the tippmanns is the worst. Its 8 inches, the inside looks like its been pulled out of my ass. The insides are so rough, but the barrel still works. You can either polish the barrel yourself which will take some time but make it better than the stock, or pay for a new barrel which will run anywhere from $30 - $100+.
Design - The little parts inside the gun can be a pain in the butt to take out/reassemble when you are a newbie. There are pins, little springs that can go flying. Dont worry, this isnt rocket science, dont let it scare you. You will have to take apart your gun sometime (well my friend has his gun for 2 years already, and hes still yet to take it apart for a cleaning). Trust me, you will have to start somewhere, so start now and learn. Watch for the front sight spring the most, i lost mine, but i ghettofabricated a custom sight spring so its all randy dandy now.
The gun is also pretty long, compared to my friends guns, my gun is a speedball rifle, but i like how it feels, so thats all it matters.
I also wish the body was not cast moulded, the metal is very rough and looks bad... only if tippmann made the m98 more percise. The barrel threads are moulded (sometimes can eat your barrel, it ate the anno off my bigshot)
Another plus would be exchangeable bodies, but nobody makes them, a custom body for the 98 would be so awesome. Since nobody makes aftermarket bodies, i resorted to mill it myself.
Many owners - as i said above, this can be both a pro and a con. A lot of fields use this as their rental guns and many newbies have this gun. It kinda sucks walking onto a field and seeing 908458972341 people with the same gun as you... it really does. Its hard to be unique without dumping alot of dough.
Tippmanns Customer Service - yea, they were top notch a while back. Now, they just plain S U C K... their service blows now, i have completely lost faith in them. My marker was still in warranty, my powertube cracked, and i emailed them for a replacement, i stated that my gun was still in warranty but they still made me pay for a new valve. This pissed me off alot... I rate their service a 2 out of 5. They get a 2 because they actually reply and ask for your money.
Tippmanns weird thinking - The m98 has been out for what? 4-5 years now? Just this month, tippmann out of the blue decides to change the barrel threads for this gun. So new owners will not be able to use old barrels, but old owners could use the new barrels... how stupid is this? Wouldn't this idea change be a little late?
Quote from Tippmann:
quote:
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We changed the ID and OD of the receiver and the barrel threads of 98 Customs about two weeks ago. All guns with serial numbers above 495,501 will not accept the old style barrels. All barrels being made now, have the new style thread. However, all new barrels will also fit older guns regardless of serial number.
If you have an aftermarket barrel with the older style threads, it will not fit the new receiver. We suggest that you contact your supplier for a new style barrel that will fit. All barrel manufacturers were notified of the change long before we ever made any changes.
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I hope this review has helped anybody decide to buy or not buy this gun.
I hope my choice of waiting 1 year before writing this will benefit others.
I would recommend this gun to any beginner who wants something to play with but also wants a gun they can upgrade
I will add more to this review as necessary
Good Luck
| Helpful | Unhelpful | Agree | Disagree |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Total Respect: +1
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| Additions Direct | £42.95 |
| Marshall Ward | £42.50 |
BomBom101
on 29th Jan 2007
titan
on 30th Aug 2007
hellion666
on 4th Sep 2007