the palmer regulator is a great addition to your marker for sure. but i would only put it as #1 if your running CO2 through it. if you are going to start out with HPA (which most dont) i would upgrade other areas first. but if you run CO2, the palmer is going to be your best friend as far as upgrades go.

on that note of CO2, if you bought your A-5 with full auto, i would try and upgrade to HPA as soon as possible, just because ive seen it so many times where people will open the A-5 all the way up on CO2 and end with freezer burns or something because their tank got so cold from the expansion.

but like it was said before, its really all up to you.

the 2 easiest are E-grip and a barrel, i recommend a 14'.

Ok my list,
1. Barrel ( 12" or 14" )
2. egrip or response
3. regualtor
4.drop forward( for the non mil - sim markers)
5.HPA
6. vortex mod

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"girlfriends marker" !!! Dude, do you know how incredibly fortunate you are? I'd say shes a keeper!

Just have to have an expansion chamber? I do, its a coiled hose to my remote mounted tank. It seems to reduce making fog with CO2 under higher rates of fire. I have to have a remote with my Spec Ops Air-thru Dogleg...

And thanks to this thread, a Palmer is my next upgrade. thanks guys!

I always recommend people to buy an air tank instead of a CO2 tank, as one of the first upgrades to your marker. Yes it is more expensive to buy. Than CO2. But it wouldn’t take you long to make up for that initial cost of buying one, in what you will save by using CO2.

Yes.. I agree. Now that 4500 psi fiber tanks are so popular, you can now get the aluminum 3000 psi tanks for about $60-$70 on ebay. Not sure what a ex. chamber or regulator costs, but I would do the HPA first if that is the way you eventually want to go, then look at other mods if you are not happy with your consistency.

Does the palmer give you any benefits if you are running on air?
Not as much as on Co2?

My first mod was and would definately be an HPA tank. Whether you buy the A5 with or without the E-Grip you will gain a major advantage in accuracy and consistent shooting with the HPA. If you plan on getting into the E-Grips and fully automatic trigger setups, an HPA is a must, so you will already be prepared. A barrel was also one of my first upgrades and the consistency of HPA is a must for a Flatline. There are too many variables that affect Co2, giving you a much less accurate marker under less than perfect conditions. As an avid woodsballer I live and die on consistency.

Erhnam, HPA tanks already come regulated so the only benefit the palmer would give you is that you can adjust the PSI to save some air. But as far as consistency you probably won't notice too much of a difference. I'd say that if you are already using an HPA tank and if your budget is low...buy something else instead of the palmer. Like a barrel, stock or an RVA. I'm using a 72ci 3000PSI tank and after about 1,000 shots I still have plenty of air left.

odd... I get about 800-1000 shots out of my 4500PSI/70CUi tank! Im guessing my RT eats up a lot of extra air or you have a regulator set to a lower PSI then what Im running (the HPA tank is set to 850PSI and the A5 is stock regulated other then that)?

Anyway, like he said an HPA tank should be your first mod for the A5 no matter what. This goes double for anyone who shoots with an e-grip or RT on burst/full auto modes. Using C02 and running automatic is a good way to frost up your gun and kill your o-rings (not to mention freeze your fingers!). Just screwing around with c02 in my back yard I got my RT/cyclone lines to frost up and that was with a very limited stream of rounds being fires. A few seconds more and the bdy of my A5 god as cold as ice. Im sure any more and my o-rings would have been toast.

This NEVER happsn with compressed air. NEVER. HPA stays in it's gas form so there is no big temp difference like you get with a liquid turning into a gas (e.g. CO2).

AFTER you go with HPA, upgrade the barrel. I suggest (on the high end):
Palmer Brass (for accuracy)
Faltline (for distance and decent accuracy)
Apex (to shoot around corners or drop balls on people behind bunkers)

or if your budget is limited go with a J&J ceramic. The one piece is decent and will shoot most paint with decent distance/accuracy. The 2 piece is better, but for the same price you can get a non coated/unvented Palmer brass barrel (~45 bucks).

After that you can go onto other things like stocks, different hoppers and slings (i find that my 3 point sling really works wonders)

Cliffs notes:

Get these in this order:
HPA
Barrel (Palmer brass, Faltline, APEX, J&J ceramic)
whatever else you may require

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'07 Proto Matrix Rail (all composite changed to aluminum)
Dye Ultra-Lite frame
Dye Throttle 70/45 HPA tank
Deadlywind Carbon-Fiber barrel w/ SS Freak insert kit
Halo-B V35 board, Rip-Drive, & Bone boost battery pack