I'm saved some money up and want to do my first real upgrade to my A-5.
I can't by all of them yet...

What would you buy first?

A regulator will do a lot for your performance, especially if you find yourself throwing a lot of paint in games.

I'm still not convinced that replacing the stock internals does anything to make the A-5 shoot better. All official testing I've seen done seems to show that aftermarket internals can actually reduce performance. I would only consider replacing the stock power tube if I bought an RVA (to get rid of the forward velocity screw and simplify dissassembly).

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E-grip and a Palmer.

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May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't. George S Patton

The barrel is the first upgrade always. I normally order a barrel with the marker. Then the Palmer or either HPA.

go with the reg. The stock a-5 barrel is really not that bad.

My order of upgrade for a-5s:
1. reg
2. barrel
3. HPA
4. Firepower

Some where in there if you want to add a RAV feel free

BARREL FIRST. all of the paintball experts say that a barrel will do the most to your marker in a positive way. As for me, i wouldnt go with the apex i got a J&J edge kit which is sweet. as for the palmers stabilizer i think it is way too expensive and would rather get an expansion chamber instead. HPA i think would be last. It is just too expensive for my taste and not necessary if you got the reg i think. but these are just my veiws. I still dont think the reg is worth it what does it actually increase other than concistency which the expansion chamber can do. Also i would like to hear about the internals i was considering buying a delrin star fire bolt.

BARREL FIRST - most of the time. The stock a-5 barrel is not that bad though!
Ex-chamber do NOTHING on HPA, and very little on CO2. They are a waste of money. Trust me, I've wasted that money. A regulaor, and a good one at that, will increase your consistancy far greater than a ex-chamber could ever hope to. All a exchamber can do is provide a few "wide" spots in the gas flow to allow liquid co2 to try to become a gas. It will do nothing to the incoming pressure of that gas however. A regulator will limit in incoming pressure to a set pressure ( well, with in reason. the best regs are only rated to 100/1 - which means for every 100 psi of incomming change, the regs output pressure will ony go up 1 psi )

Internal mods (starfire, power tubes etc) do nothing to help the marker work, infact some actualy hurt the preformance of the marker. I'll have to find the thread on that....

HPA is a ton of cash, but you can't start ripping 20+bps on co2. It just can't handle the speed. I have 1 HPA , and 3 20oz co2, and use all of them on the same marker, I just need to limit my speed on the co2. Thats all.

So a regulator will help with accuracy on hpa or co2?

Yes.

And I will add to that if I may…. The most common misconception out there is that the barrel is what makes a marker accurate or not. The simple truth is that barrels HELP but are not the thing that determines overall accuracy as it pertains to paintball markers. Consistency does…. the speed the balls leave the barrel and that this speed be as close to the same, shot after shot.

You can put the best barrel on a marker that is inconsistent (i.e. the velocity changes dramatically between shots) and you will not be accurate. But you can put an adequate barrel on a marker that is consistent, you will shoot accurately all day.

So I agree with Drewed. And I always recommend doing what will increase consistency in a marker first (within the person's budget), then any other upgrades. Sometimes if a barrel is REALLY bad I will say to replace it, but normally it is the second upgrade, or farther down the line.

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