Lowdown: The great thing about
Tippmann guns is that you can go shopping for them with your grandmomma. A manufacturer of fine sewing and die-cutting machines, Tippmann got introduced to the paintball game through a friend of a friend at a party. Another no-frills gat in the Piranha mold, with one glaring difference: with the optional Flatline Barrel System (an extra $150) this gun boasts the longest shot of any of the guns we reviewed.
Goods: The Flatlined Tippmann has more range than Ray Allen, and came with a great instruction manual, which is a lot more valuable than you might think. Cleaning, stripping, general care, and assembly are all covered clearly for the novice shooter.
Knocks: While the Flatline boasts exceptional range, it curves like a Randy Johnson junk ball. Its bent barrel puts a backspin on the paint ball, giving it distance, but it suffers on accuracy and leaves a lot of balls unbroken. While it’s in the same class as the Piranha, it’s not as consistent a shot. Oh, and it’s as ugly as Randy Johnson, too.
Geek Factor: See: the Piranha.
Overall: Good for fucking around in the woods, this gun would get you unmercifully booted from any tourney field. Observed one expert, “Once you break paint in this slingshot, it becomes a clown cannon.”
