Tippmann Arms M4-22

[Poconnor]

I saw a Tippmann Arms M4-22 .22 LR Rifle at my LGS. It looked pretty good. Anybody try one yet?

[HCM]

buddy who shoots IDPA and Steel Challenge has had one about a month. He is raving about it.

Only downside I see is the mags are proprietary and relatively expensive

[olstyn]

Would that be the same Tippmann that makes entry-level paintball guns, or am I thinking of a different company?

[HCM]

Would that be the same Tippmann that makes entry-level paintball guns, or am I thinking of a different company?

Same one.

[olstyn]

So given the pricing and the non-awesome rep Tippmann has (or at least, had; it's been a while since I paid attention to paintball guns), I think it bears asking what this gun does that the S&W M&P 15-22 doesn't. It seems like the M&P 15-22 can frequently be had for a lot less than the $550 MSRP Tippmann is asking for theirs.

[HCM]

So given the pricing and the non-awesome rep Tippmann has (or at least, had; it's been a while since I paid attention to paintball guns), I think it bears asking what this gun does that the S&W M&P 15-22 doesn't. It seems like the M&P 15-22 can frequently be had for a lot less than the $550 MSRP Tippmann is asking for theirs.

its all metal (weight) and has a full length rail available.

Otherwise, yeah I'm already invested in the 15/22 mags etc.

The competitor friend I mentioned is a shooter, not a collector. He has maybe half a dozen guns, all high quality, all of which he shoots the hell out of. He already has several thousand rounds and one steel challenge match with the Tippman, no issues so far.

[TGS]

So given the pricing and the non-awesome rep Tippmann has (or at least, had; it's been a while since I paid attention to paintball guns), I think it bears asking what this gun does that the S&W M&P 15-22 doesn't. It seems like the M&P 15-22 can frequently be had for a lot less than the $550 MSRP Tippmann is asking for theirs.

It's been a long time since I paid attention to paintball as well, but what's up with the non-awesome rep you're referencing? I remember them having a fantastic rep for QC, customer support, and overall ruggedness and reliability for the .68 Carbine, Pro-Lite, Pro-Carbine, and 98 that well exceeded everything else on the market, their biggest competitor at the pricepoint being the Spyder. I got out of paintball a few years after the 98 came out, so I have no idea what happened since then.

[olstyn]

It's been a long time since I paid attention to paintball as well, but what's up with the non-awesome rep you're referencing? I remember them having a fantastic rep for QC, customer support, and overall ruggedness and reliability for the .68 Carbine, Pro-Lite, Pro-Carbine, and 98 that well exceeded everything else on the market, their biggest competitor at the pricepoint being the Spyder. I got out of paintball a few years after the 98 came out, so I have no idea what happened since then.

I just remember them being thought of as kind of "meh" vs the truly competitive/cool guy options like Autocockers, Automag RT Pro/E-mag, etc. I guess I don't recall a lot of talk of unreliability or anything like that, but I also don't remember anybody I knew being excited about them either. "Non-awesome" wasn't meant to convey "bad" - it was meant to convey exactly what it said - "non-awesome." When thinking about cheaper paintball guns, I do remember being more interested in Spyders than Tippmanns, but it's been solidly 10, and maybe 15 years since I really thought about it much.

My skepticism probably also stems at least somewhat from the example of Umarex, an airgun company, which happens to own Walther, branching out into real guns, labeling them as Walthers, and having them all be significantly less good than "real" Walthers. (The perpetually problem-ridden P22 and PK380 are prime examples of this.)

[Poconnor]

What interested me is that the Tippmann is all metal. The rail was a nice mlok. It feels like a real AR15. The S&W feels like a toy AR in comparison

[TGS]

I just remember them being thought of as kind of "meh" vs the truly competitive/cool guy options like Autocockers, Automag RT Pro/E-mag, etc. I guess I don't recall a lot of talk of unreliability or anything like that, but I also don't remember anybody I knew being excited about them either. "Non-awesome" wasn't meant to convey "bad" - it was meant to convey exactly what it said - "non-awesome." When thinking about cheaper paintball guns, I do remember being more interested in Spyders than Tippmanns, but it's been solidly 10, and maybe 15 years since I really thought about it much.

My skepticism probably also stems at least somewhat from the example of Umarex, an airgun company, which happens to own Walther, branching out into real guns, labeling them as Walthers, and having them all be significantly less good than "real" Walthers. (The perpetually problem-ridden P22 and PK380 are prime examples of this.)

There are some funny correlations to guns:

Tippmanns were the HK of paintball. Shitty triggers but they just always worked, including cold weather. Choice of LE agency training guns and paintball range rentals. Feed it anything you want. Model 98 was their attempt to be more attractive to the mainstream, like the VP9.

Brass Eagle = Hi Point. Cleetus and all that. No two were the same...they were all bubba'd with dangerous, tacky looking jerry-rigged modifications.

Autocockers = 1911s. People had these for pride of ownership, and spent a month of tinkering so it could make it through 1 game day. Superbly temperamental on what ammunition you fed it.

Spyders = Cohen-Era SIG. Lots of unnecessary options, cool-guy features, and bling at various price points.....but they wouldn't run as well as Tippmann. At some point, the gun would go down during a game day. Good idea to bring a second gun.

Automag/E-Mag: Tuned Beretta 92 or CZ75 race gun for professionals. These people will murder you in a match. Go to a different field.

heh. Paintball. I had a lot of fun playing paintball in middle and high school. Almost got shot by some cops when it came over the radio that a kid had been shot, and the dispatcher forgot the whole "children with paintball" part.

IDK. If I had hope for any paintball gun company bringing to market a successful real gun, it'd be Tippmann. My observations on the companies are 20 years old though, so it's possible Tippmann went down the tubes. I think they actually started as a company making .22LR machine gun replicas before they even started making paintball guns.