Stocks For Tippmanns

Jamie Innes - 16/01/2005


If you're looking to go "the milsim route", or have gone to a remote and found yourself in need of one... a good stock will bring to your marker it's own set of pros and cons. This article is primarily to tell you about what kind of stocks you can buy for Tippmanns, since there is a large aftermarket for them, however the fundamentals in this article apply to fitting a stock on any marker.

WHY USE A STOCK?

One reason is because you've started using a remote line, and want a way to shoulder your marker. You can of course shoot without a stock, but having one gives you a stable shot, and generally, slightly better accuracy (than using your marker without ANY way of shouldering it). Another reason, sometimes in conjunction with the former... is because you want to make your marker look "more milsim". Whatever your reason, there's some things you need to know.

NOT ALL STOCKS ARE CREATED EQUAL

I could have said "here are the pros and here are the cons", but the fact is there is so much variety in types of stocks and quality... AND manufacturers, that it would be hard to properly represent them all in a pros and cons list. So what I'm going to do is list for you some of the ones you can buy, and tell you a bit about the stock itself.

SHOOTING WITH A STOCK

One of the big reasons the naysayers will never use a stock is because stocks don't mix well with paintball masks. If you have ever fired a rifle or air rifle then you'll know that when aiming, your cheek gets very close to, and sometimes touches the stock. Translate this to paintball and you find the mask can and often does touch the stock, sometimes preventing you from aiming as you would like to.

Additionally, it's quite an adjustment to make if you are used to shouldering your tank from your bottomline or drop forward. Using these, the barrel is nicely placed in front of your eyes to aim with. Changing to the stock usually means you have to start tilting your head down to sight down your marker. This is something you never had to do before. Bear in mind too, there are variables, what paintball mask you wear and which stock you have on your marker can have a big impact.

Generally speaking, try to use a paintball mask with a flexible chin/cheek area, such as the JT Proteus, or JT Proflex masks. With a flexible chin/cheekpiece, you'll have less problems with your cheek touching the stock. Also, to improve sighting, you can buy raised sight rails to sight down, or mount a red dot or fibre optic sight. Raised sight rails are good because you don't have to tilt your head down so far to sight down them.

HOW DO STOCKS ATTACH TO A TIPPMANN?

The A-5 has a removable buttplate where you would normally affix a sling. The buttplate comes off, and the stock slots in, and is affixed by two push pins. On the 98... you must unscrew the hex screws to take the two recievers apart, the stock then slots into a circular section at the rear behind the bolt (same position as the A-5). You remove the default 98 plug and insert the stock, then reassemble the recievers.

CARBINE (CAR) STOCK

The Carbine stock is named because you see it on the M4 Carbine rifle, which is a compact variant on the M16 series. You see many special forces using rifles with this stock. This stock is very popular because it looks good, is usually quite robust (It's made of plastic however), and collapses or extends to whatever length the operator wants it set to. The most well known manufacturer of the car stock is Proteam.

SOLID STOCK

Solid stocks come in variety of styles and qualities depending on what you're buying. Opsgear sells a variety of these such as the AK-47, PSG1, MP5, SIG, SAW etc. Be wary when buying a solid stock. Some are a high quality, and some are less than high quality.

FOLDING STOCK

JCS (Jet City Specialties) specialises in a few tippmann accessories, including several folding stocks, such as the MP folding stock, Voodoo and Combat folding stocks. These stocks are extremely high quality and are made from solid aluminium, no plastic parts. They will take a beating and ask for more. Rap4 also sell an MP5 style folding stock for the A-5.

T-STOCKS

T-Stocks, some of which are also gas-through stocks, are simple rods of steel or aluminium in a t-shape. They usually affix to your bottomline, or the bottom of your trigger grip. They are very lightweight and usually are strong, however since they don't "look the part" of a rifle stock, thier appeal is fairly limited.

SHOULD YOU BUY A STOCK?

The biggest thing you need to be concerned about is how happy you are going to be shooting with it. As outlined above, it is a big change from using the bottomline or drop forward. Of course... the stock does add to the milsim look, and is lighter than using a tank, so it may just be your thing.

PLACES TO BUY TIPPMANN STOCKS...

JCS www.bp-usa.com
Opsgear www.opsgear.com
Rap4 www.rap4.com
Tippmann www.tippmann.com
Cops911 www.Cops911.com
Proteam www.proteamdirect.com
Xtremez www.xtremez.com
Paintball Gear www.paintballgear.ca

Credits;- "Modified AK-47 solid stock" thanks to A-5 Warrior"
"Carbine stock" thanks to Yeti
"Gas through T Stock" thaks to www.paintballgear.ca

Jamie Innes