Paintball x3

The Tippmann 98 Custom is designed around a very robust and reliable in-line, blowback system in which a rear bolt, connected by a linkage arm to a front bolt, acts as a striker and is pushed forward by a spring to strike the valve which rides in front of it in the gun’s single tube. As the rear bolt moves forward and strikes the valve, the front bolt moves forward and pushes a paintball into the barrel where the air drives it towards the target. This system works well on both liquid and gaseous CO2 or compressed air, helping the 98 function in practically any weather conditions or environment. This has made it a favorite of scenario players, recreational players and even paintball fields themselves, who often keep hundreds in their rental fleets. While the 98 Custom is inherently very reliable, basic maintenance will ensure it functions consistently shot after shot, case after case, day after day, for years.

Ensuring that the 98 Custom functions well starts with the users and the peripherals he selects for his marker.  Assuming most users will prefer inexpensive CO2 to compressed air due to the up-front cost of a compressed air bottle, a twenty-ounce CO2 tank is the best air bottle for a Custom as it provides plenty of shots and is slower to chill down during rapid-firing than smaller size bottles. While the basic, five-dollar hopper that comes with each 98 is fine for beginners or rental models, experienced players should utilize some form of motorized hopper, as it will allow higher rates of fire and drastically reduce jams and chopped or broken paintballs. Furthermore, 98 Custom owners will find that their paintball gun performs much better, shoots straighter, chops and breaks less paintballs and requires less cleaning when used with fresh, high-quality, recreational-grade paintballs from the local paintball store. Low-quality paintballs or those with thinner shells will be much more easily chopped or broken by the Custom, especially in colder weather.

While a Tippmann 98 can function acceptably with significant amounts of dirt, paint and grime in and on it, thus its reputation, a clean one will obviously perform better. After removing all paintballs and air from the 98 Custom, remove the barrel and clean it with a pull-through squeegee and set it aside. Then, push down on the front sight and remove the feed neck. Run warm water through it and dry it with a towel, removing any paint or dirt. Once the feed neck is removed, the breech area can be easily accessed by pulling back the cocking handle. A spray bottle filled with warm water can then be used to spray any broker paintballs, dirt or other debris from the breech area and the front bolt can be allowed to come forward and be sprayed clean as well. While the front bolt is pulled back, check to ensure that the ball latch, the orange device in the breech that prevents more than one ball at a time from being fed into the barrel, is intact and in good repair. The entire outer receiver can be sprayed clean and wiped dry as well. While the 98 can be dismantled for further cleaning or lubrication by removing all of the Allen screws that hold the two halves of the body together then lifting the top half of the body off the bottom half, this is not necessary more than once every few months and can often lead to lost parts.

On the rare occasions that the 98 Custom must be dismantled, owners must take special care to ensure that the front sight spring is not lost and that all the springs and pins in the trigger mechanism are put back as they came out. With the screws removed and the top half of the Custom removed, exposing the internal parts, the front bolt can be wiped clean while the rear bolt can be thoroughly wiped clean with a wet cloth then oiled and its o-ring inspected and replaced if necessary. The main drive spring can be removed from the rear of the receiver and cleaned, along with the bumper and guide pin. The ball latch can also be examined for wear and replaced if necessary. During disassembly, the valve should be left in place as repeatedly removing the bolts that hold the valve into the body can cause excess wear and tear on the valve and lead to its premature failure.

Once the 98 Custom has been cleaned with warm water and is free of all dirt, paint and grime, the gun can be lubricated and made ready for its next use. Only paintball gun oil should be used for lubricating the 98 Custom, as other lubricants may not be compatible with CO2 and cause the marker to fail to function. Pulling the charging handle all the way to the rear will partially expose the striker o-ring through the front of the cocking slot. A few drops of oil can be placed on this o-ring and more can be placed on the striker through the cocking slot as well. Several drops of oil should then be placed in the Custom’s air adapter before a bottle is threaded in. With the barrel and feed neck still removed and the gun pointed in a safe direction, several shots will cycle oil through the entire marker while blowing any remaining water leftover from the cleaning process out. This safe, basic and quick process, once completed, will sufficiently clean and lubricate the 98 Custom and allow it to function well for months, if not years.