I've been looking for a smaller hopper for a while. I'm hoping someone is going to make a manufactured one for the A5, there's a market for those that want something smaller (but bigger than a Tactical Cap). I'm still planning on making my own mold for one (laid in fiberglass in my own custom shape that I've designed). But this one will do for now.

Almost all of my pods on my vest are 100rds and I'm a conservative but good shooter. Plus, I have a short torso, so carrying long pods doesn't work well for me.

*BTW: if you're using power tools and don't know how to use them - get a friend or adult to help. Wear eye protection!

Here's what you do!

1. You need 2 parts, a smaller hopper of your choice (I used a Sportshot pump one) but anything in the size you want will do.


The second thing you need is an offset neck, either the 45 degree one or the snakey looking one. I used the snakey one.



2. Cut the bottom feed neck off, you're going to adapt the cyclone offset neck onto the bottom of the hopper.


3. Cut the feed neck so that the top portion has enough material to contour to the shape of the hopper.



This is tricky, but with a few back and forth test fits, you can get pretty close to matching the shape. Using a dremel helps.



4. I wanted mine to sit level, not an angle so some more cutting and fitting did the trick.

One thing I did notice is that the more "offset" i wanted to make it, the higher the hopper sat (due to the angle of the feed neck) so it's a bit of a compromise to get things where you want.

A helpful thing to do is mark off the area you want to trim with a white marker. DO NOT use a Sharpie, if you intend to paint the hopper, the sharpie marker lines seep through the paint!





5. Keep test cutting and fitting. You want the feed neck to be about 1/8" taller than it needs to be.
Why? because you're going to glue the feed neck inside!


6. When you have a perfect fit, place the feed neck over the hole in the bottom of the hopper. I positioned mine so that it conveniently covered the older smaller hole, and still "offset" the hopper. Draw a line to indicate this larger hole.



7. Dremel out the hole in the bottom of the hopper. Don't cut the hole too big, start smaller and constantly test fit the feed neck until the fit is snug.



8. With the feed neck in position, test fit the hopper on your marker. make sure you have enough clearance to twist the hopper on and off, and make sure there's no sight rails or scopes in the way.

9. Look inside the hopper, and you'll probably see that the feed neck might be sticking "into " the hopper too much, causing a lip. This might interfere with the balls falling into the Cyclone, so trim that extra material off. take off a little at a time.



10. When you have the feed neck the perfect length, you're ready to clean things up. Use a Dremel to bevel the inside edges, smooth them down so that the balls can feed easily from the body of the hopper into the feed neck.




11. Sand the inner lip of the feed neck with sandpaper to really smooth it out. You don't want any nicks to scratch the surface of your paint balls causing breaks.



12. Now glue the feed neck onto the hopper. you can see I marked off white lines where I aligned the 2 parts during a test fit. This ensures that you have a straight hopper. **Important!!** Remember that the feed neck needs to TWIST counterclockwise into position, so make sure it's locked down when you do your marks before you glue the 2 parts.

You can use epoxy or hot glue, I used a hot glue gun. You gotta work fast.



Everything looks pretty good. The new hopper is nicely lined up. You can play right away like this, or paint it black or any color you like.








As you can see below, the new hopper is quite a bit smaller than the stock hopper, about the same height as the X7, but it's quite a bit shorter.

This goes a long way for changing your silhouette in the woods, plus it deals away with the X7 hopper being too long (and having paint getting trapped in the front).

I've tested my new hopper and it holds 140 rounds / (150 packed tight *which you don't want), which is pretty good for me. When I'm running low, I know I still have 30-40 shots and I can load in one of my 100 round pods.




You're pretty much done, but if you're a paintball geek like me, you've gotta step things up - so I decided to paint it digi camo to match my marker project!

12. Sand the hopper down, wash it with detergent and let it dry. Paintballs have an oily feel to them, and they can leave residue on hoppers, so wash everything down before you paint. You may even want to wipe it down with alcohol before you paint.



13. I've masked off the feed neck (where it goes inside the cyclone) and the opening. You want to paint the lid separately. There's lots of articles on painting camo, so I won't go into that.
I've also use a rolled up magazine as a support post during painting so that I don't touch the freshly washed hopper.



Your hopper is complete! Go out, and hide from your enemies - be stealthy!








EDITED: Updated with size comparison photos below.