The Tactical Operations Custom A5 Foregrip.

I'm running a fairly stock Tippman A5. It's always been a great marker for me and I've never had a problem with it. All in all the A5 has been fairly reliable. The only thing that I never really liked with the A5 was the stock grip. I realize it's design is based on the MP5 but I never really liked the look of the real-steel versions vertical grip either. It's a bit long, not so dynamic looking and I've always felt that it was too compact (close to the trigger frame) which doesn't give me lots of leverage to keep the marker steady while lining up a bead on a target.

I tried out a number of different grips but couldn't find anything that was quite what I was looking for. So I built my own! I like to call it the Tactical Operations A5 Foregrip. or Tac-Ops A5FG. :P (Things always sound better abbreviated!)

The Tactical Operations A5FG.



The Tac-Ops A5FG has gone through over 40 man hours of design and development work. I completed all of the work myself. I cast the grip myself and package them myself. All the work is done in-house and I'm proud to say that it's 100% Canadian Made. No grip leaves my hands to be sold if it doesn't live-up to my standards.

The grip is also fairly rare. They are cast in small batches which naturally limits quantity. So if you buy one, chances are, you'll be the only guy on your field with one and it'll definitely turn some heads in the tactical realm. I spent a while researching real grips on a variety of gun designs.

The Tac-Ops. A5FG. is based on a combination of different real world concepts including:

hand ergonomics, anti-fatigue, balance, leverage, compactness and mechanical simplicity.

I wanted the grip to be usable by a particular type of player. One that was smarter than the spray and pray amateures that frequent most rental fields.

The Tac-Ops. A5FG. is for players that don't shoot until they've actually got a shot! Players that like to prefer to hit their targets BEFORE reloading a 200 round hopper! My grip gives me a more solid hold of my marker while allowing me to get low to the ground and the wider hand position gives me more leverage and better aim. Of course your aim is totally up to you! Not as easy with your hand on the stock vertical grip or just grabbing onto barrel or little "nub" on the front of the A5 receiver halves. Whichleads me to another reason I made the A5FG. I really don't like the little "nub" on the front of the A5 so I covered it up!

If I'm inclined to lie prone, my new grip is perfect for that too.

If you use a gas-through magazine on your A5, most of, if not all air-through designs will work with the A5FG as it's mounted far forward. The grip requires the use of the stock A5 foregrip bolt and mounting hole, therefore if you're using any other gear that requires the use of that forward mounting point, you'll have to remove it in order to use the Tac-Ops A5FG.

It's also important to note that the A5FG uses your existing mounting bolt from the stock A5 grip WITHOUT the lock washer. Simply remove your stock grip, pop out the bolt, remove the lock washer and insert the bolt into the A5FG, it's a tight fit and may require screwing in with your proper sized allen key before attaching to the marker.

If you've lost your stock A5 Foregrip Bolt. It is a standard bolt which can be purchased through Tippmann. I know that Home Depot sells the identical bolts and they're very inexpensive. I will post the exact specs of the A5 foregrip bolt in a future post. (t's late and I don't want to get into the specs now...!) In any case, you should already have the bolt in question as it comes standard with all A5 markers.

I'm also looking for a hard-core sniper that likes to blog about gear to field test it for me and write up a review!

Pictures of the grip to follow very soon!

Stay tuned for my future posting:
Creating the Tac-Ops A5FG.

The process I followed to design, sculpt, prototype and finally cast the Custom Tactical Operations A5 Foregrip.

Thanks for reading. "happy tagging"
~Frosty.

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Jeff, AKA Frosty, is a sculptor, designer and avid paintballer. He started Radical Plastic through a desire to create wicked paintball gear for fans of Tactical Style, Scenario Paintball and Woodsball. His first product is the Tactical Operations A5 Foregrip or Tac-Ops. A5FG.