first gun-new a-5?

[orion09]

I have gone paintballing around 7 times so far and am on a path to become a casual paintballer. Would a Tippmann a-5 with a flatline barrel, ris shroud and a six-position adjustable stock, and guerilla air 48/3000 tank be a good first buy?
The paint I currently have with me is sold from a field that requires me to use their paint. Stinger .68 caliber. The a-5 would have no problem with it right?
Annual speedball player, but primarily scenario ball in abandoned army bases/woods.

Thanks

[Orpackrat]

I have gone paintballing around 7 times so far and am on a path to become a casual paintballer. Would a Tippmann a-5 with a flatline barrel, ris shroud and a six-position adjustable stock, and guerilla air 48/3000 tank be a good first buy?
The paint I currently have with me is sold from a field that requires me to use their paint. Stinger .68 caliber. The a-5 would have no problem with it right?
Annual speedball player, but primarily scenario ball in abandoned army bases/woods.

Thanks

Forget the flatline, the Apex is cheaper and far superior. No need to order the RIS shroud. Folding adjustable stock is far better. Get a 4500PSI tank if you can afford it. Co2 tanks are also great when combined with a Palmers Stabilizer. I've used Stinger paintballs in a cyclone feed, they are decent paintballs.

Still being rather new to paintball, I would suggest just getting the A5 without the upgrades and play for a while. Get yourself a good mask with a thermal lens. Play for a bit, get to know yourself and gun and slowly upgrade from there.

[Corrupted355]

As usual, Packrat is right on the money. I'd just like to elaborate on a point he skimmed over. The gear you wear is far more important than the gear you carry. You can have a top-of-the-line marker, but having to rent a mask will ruin your day. Trust me on this: I've got some great gear, and I had to rent a mask once, and it does suck massive donkey balls. The key is to make yourself comfortable physically before you can become comfortable on the field. If your field of vision sucks, or the mask pokes you somewhere, or it fogs like crazy, you aren't going to have fun.

I also highly recommend a dedicated set of paintball pants. You can get away with t-shirts, but the pants are kinda unique. I currently use a set of Draxxus pants modeled from a couple years ago (most "speedball" style clothing comes out with a new model every year). But for a long time, I was using the pants from Smoking Products. I loved those pants so much that I bought a black pair to wear at work (which is not a bad idea if you want to double duty them, as long as you wash 'em), and I wore them for about eighteen months before I wore right through them. My friends really like the SpecOps Ultralites too. IMO, the key is to get something with "pud" protection, if you get my drift.

But a mask should definitely be your first purchase. You can always rent or borrow a gun if you need to, but the mask is critical. The Vents and the JT line are both phenomenal and have dual pane, thermal lenses available. I can recommend both from personal experience without reservation.

[orion09]

You guys have been a great help! Corrupted you are too right. The first time I wore my own mask the experience was exponentially better.