In general, the upgrade path for most any marker goes like this:
THERMAL LENS FOR MASK
Accuracy
Feeding
Velocity Stability
Rate of Fire

First things first, if they don't have thermal mask systems, that's the most
obvious thing to upgrade, before anything else. If your mask is fogging, it
doesn't matter what you do to your marker, you're still going to be at a
disadvantage when playing. Thermal lens systems prevent the mask from
fogging up, and allow the player to have a MUCH better time playing. There
are many choices, and I prefer the JT Spectra for that.

Accuracy: most guns have a stock barrel that is pretty crappy. The next
replacement is an easy one, the barrel. When it comes to barrels, expensive
is not necessarily better. What is important is to get one middle of the
road barrel that will work for most situations. A medium bore barrel is the
right choice in this instance, as it will fit most brands of paint fairly
well, enough so that a person's accuracy will not suffer because of paint
size. My personal preference is the J&J Ceramic. It's inexpensive,
lightweight, durable and accurate, and can be had for about $40 online.
When upgrading barrels, longer is not necessarily better. Anything past 8"
is technically just wasted space, but many people like to use a longer
barrel to get better aim down the length of the gun. My preferred length
for a barrel on a Tippmann is 12", but you can get them up to 16"(a length I
personally consider to be ridiculously long).

Feeding: if you gun doesn't feed right, it doesn't matter how fast you pull
the trigger, because you won't guarantee that a ball will fly when you do.
Next upgrade is generally a way to make the gun feed better, and that means
an agitated hopper of some kind. There are plenty of choices out there, and
the price ranges from about $50 to $150. They all work, some better than
others, but some are overkill for a Tippmann. My personal choice is a
Revolution hopper, the one that started it all. They are quite inexpensive,
but don't have the rate of fire that some others do. If your kids are
planning on getting deeply into the sport, might as well drop the clams up
front to get them something a little nicer, like a Halo or something.

Velocity Stability: Velocity stability does so much to improve a gun, it's
not even funny. You guaranatee that, from shot to shot, your velocity will
not fluctuate that much, meaning that you can much more accurately predict
where your shots are going to go. You can also ensure that you never exceed
safety limits while allowing you to play closer to the edge. The simplest
way to accomplish this goal is through a high pressure air(HPA) tank.
Assuming you can get it filled at your local field, HPA will be the most
constant air source you can find. The cheaper air tanks can be had for
about $80, but those ones rarely hold more than 500 shots. A HPA tank is
something that can be taken from gun to gun, so it may be something to
splurge on. I would recommend a 68ci/4500 psi tank, and if you can afford
it, get a carbon fiber wrapped tank(they are lighter, and last longer) as
opposed to a steel/aluminum tank. There are other velocity stability
choices, including the regulator(Palmer's Stabilizer is the key one there),
Expansion Chambers, Remotes and Anti Siphon CO2 tanks. However, most of
that(except the regulator), becomes redundant if you buy and can fill a HPA
tank.

Rate of Fire: This is the RT upgrade you describe below. This will
increase how fast the gun fires from paintball to paintball. There are many
choices, unfortunately, not too many for the Tippmann. If you want to
increase your rate of fire, in general, you can either get an electronic
grip frame, which will electronically fire the gun whenever you pull the
trigger, OR, get the RT upgrade, which will assist you in firing faster by
putting the trigger back into firing position faster. Personally, I think
it should be the last thing you upgrade, not the first, since if your gun is
not feeding, doesn't have stable velocity and can't hit the broad side of a
barn anyways, all firing fast does for you is break paint in your gun and
make sure that paint that DOES leave your gun is never on target.

Hope this has helped.

--
Jeff Goslin - MCSD - www.goslin.info
It's not a god complex when you're always right


"RHallVA" <rhall50@erols.com> wrote in message
news:4IedndAzH4KWgUXcRVn-hA@rcn.net...
> My kids got these recently and are eager to upgrade from the basic models
> they got. Both want to spend their hard-earned $ on adding the Response
> Trigger System. I have a few questions if anyone has the time and info to
> share.
>
> Is the Response Trigger System a worthy upgrade for the 98c?
>
> Will an upgrade hopper/feeder be necessary to make the new trigger system
> fully operational? If so what would be the least expensive (but suitable
and
> reliable) hopper to upgrade to?
>
> Is the stock barrel on the 98c a good one or should that be considered for
> upgrade? Are their better barrels that do not cost a lot of money, but
are
> still noticably better than the stock barrel? What kind of barrel should
be
> considered for the 98c?
> Not sure the Flatline is really worth the $100+ to upgrade to that. What
> would be a good choice for a barrel?
>
> Thanks very much!
>
>

Jeff Goslin wrote:
> In general, the upgrade path for most any marker goes like this:
> THERMAL LENS FOR MASK
> Accuracy
> Feeding
> Velocity Stability
> Rate of Fire
>
> First things first, if they don't have thermal mask systems, that's
the most
> obvious thing to upgrade, before anything else. If your mask is
fogging, it
> doesn't matter what you do to your marker, you're still going to be
at a
> disadvantage when playing. Thermal lens systems prevent the mask
from
> fogging up, and allow the player to have a MUCH better time playing.
There
> are many choices, and I prefer the JT Spectra for that.
>
> Accuracy: most guns have a stock barrel that is pretty crappy. The
next
> replacement is an easy one, the barrel. When it comes to barrels,
expensive
> is not necessarily better. What is important is to get one middle of
the
> road barrel that will work for most situations. A medium bore barrel
is the
> right choice in this instance, as it will fit most brands of paint
fairly
> well, enough so that a person's accuracy will not suffer because of
paint
> size. My personal preference is the J&J Ceramic. It's inexpensive,
> lightweight, durable and accurate, and can be had for about $40
online.
> When upgrading barrels, longer is not necessarily better. Anything
past 8"
> is technically just wasted space, but many people like to use a
longer
> barrel to get better aim down the length of the gun. My preferred
length
> for a barrel on a Tippmann is 12", but you can get them up to 16"(a
length I
> personally consider to be ridiculously long).
>
> Feeding: if you gun doesn't feed right, it doesn't matter how fast
you pull
> the trigger, because you won't guarantee that a ball will fly when
you do.
> Next upgrade is generally a way to make the gun feed better, and that
means
> an agitated hopper of some kind. There are plenty of choices out
there, and
> the price ranges from about $50 to $150. They all work, some better
than
> others, but some are overkill for a Tippmann. My personal choice is
a
> Revolution hopper, the one that started it all. They are quite
inexpensive,
> but don't have the rate of fire that some others do. If your kids
are
> planning on getting deeply into the sport, might as well drop the
clams up
> front to get them something a little nicer, like a Halo or something.
>
> Velocity Stability: Velocity stability does so much to improve a
gun, it's
> not even funny. You guaranatee that, from shot to shot, your
velocity will
> not fluctuate that much, meaning that you can much more accurately
predict
> where your shots are going to go. You can also ensure that you never
exceed
> safety limits while allowing you to play closer to the edge. The
simplest
> way to accomplish this goal is through a high pressure air(HPA) tank.
> Assuming you can get it filled at your local field, HPA will be the
most
> constant air source you can find. The cheaper air tanks can be had
for
> about $80, but those ones rarely hold more than 500 shots. A HPA
tank is
> something that can be taken from gun to gun, so it may be something
to
> splurge on. I would recommend a 68ci/4500 psi tank, and if you can
afford
> it, get a carbon fiber wrapped tank(they are lighter, and last
longer) as
> opposed to a steel/aluminum tank. There are other velocity stability
> choices, including the regulator(Palmer's Stabilizer is the key one
there),
> Expansion Chambers, Remotes and Anti Siphon CO2 tanks. However, most
of
> that(except the regulator), becomes redundant if you buy and can fill
a HPA
> tank.
>
> Rate of Fire: This is the RT upgrade you describe below. This will
> increase how fast the gun fires from paintball to paintball. There
are many
> choices, unfortunately, not too many for the Tippmann. If you want
to
> increase your rate of fire, in general, you can either get an
electronic
> grip frame, which will electronically fire the gun whenever you pull
the
> trigger, OR, get the RT upgrade, which will assist you in firing
faster by
> putting the trigger back into firing position faster. Personally, I
think
> it should be the last thing you upgrade, not the first, since if your
gun is
> not feeding, doesn't have stable velocity and can't hit the broad
side of a
> barn anyways, all firing fast does for you is break paint in your gun
and
> make sure that paint that DOES leave your gun is never on target.
>
> Hope this has helped.
>
> --
> Jeff Goslin - MCSD - www.goslin.info
> It's not a god complex when you're always right
>
>
> "RHallVA" <rhall50@erols.com> wrote in message
> news:4IedndAzH4KWgUXcRVn-hA@rcn.net...
> > My kids got these recently and are eager to upgrade from the basic
models
> > they got. Both want to spend their hard-earned $ on adding the
Response
> > Trigger System. I have a few questions if anyone has the time and
info to
> > share.
> >
> > Is the Response Trigger System a worthy upgrade for the 98c?
> >
> > Will an upgrade hopper/feeder be necessary to make the new trigger
system
> > fully operational? If so what would be the least expensive (but
suitable
> and
> > reliable) hopper to upgrade to?
> >
> > Is the stock barrel on the 98c a good one or should that be
considered for
> > upgrade? Are their better barrels that do not cost a lot of money,
but
> are
> > still noticably better than the stock barrel? What kind of barrel
should
> be
> > considered for the 98c?
> > Not sure the Flatline is really worth the $100+ to upgrade to that.
What
> > would be a good choice for a barrel?
> >
> > Thanks very much!
> >
> >
I think you're right. Personally, I'm getting a flatline barrel and a
20oz tank first. Next, probably a agitating hopper. Since I'm usally
more of a stay-back and wait kind guy, I really don't worry about the
ROF much yet. My velocity is cool, but lately my gun will like shoot
kinda crappy for a second and make me recock it, then repeat the
process. When I get back outta the woods to check the darn thing, it
works perfectly. And latley it shoots less far than normal too. Would
that have something to do with velocit? Or maybe my tank is getting
low.