Hey guys,
Being this was my first tippmann, I read previous threads about polishing the internals and thought you guys were just anal. That was until I opened the gun a few days ago to see how things work. Man was there a lot of left over paint, it felt like sandpaper. I instantly became concerned and a believer in polishing. I can't believe tippmann thinks o-rings will last moving over that crap.
I found this in another forum and thought I'd copy and paste for the guys that haven't done it yet. I used the brillo pad method and the internals look like a freakin mirror now. Also, I found no need to remove the o-ring since the powertube doesn't move anyway. I just got close enough to it to let the powertube slide oout when doing maintenance...

Edit**** Originally posted on the A5OG by Monitor


How-To: Polish your Internals (Tippmann A-5/98)

I am going to show you two different methods of polishing your internal receiver halves. Please follow the directions as best as you can, and please do not rush, or “skimp” on certain steps.

The pictures show a Tippmann A5, but the procedure is very similar for that of the 98 in regards to the polishing procedure.

I am not going to break down the 98/A5 by showing the disassembly steps, I am sure you are all capable of doing that at this point, so the pictures should be pretty easy to follow with the given instructions.

Before performing this modification, take a velocity reading of your current adjustments. Do not change or alter anything while breaking the marker down for this modification. After completing this modification reassemble the marker and check your velocity number again. Most people see an increase of 5-10FPS, or in some cases even more, so keep that in mind as well…

Brillo-Method

The first method I will show you is probably the cheapest, and maybe the most available way to polish your internals. This method is the “Brillo-Method” in which you will be using nothing more then water and your common “Under the Kitchen sink” Brillo pad. This does take a bit more time and effort depending on how “dirty” the internal shells are. The best part about this method is that it eliminates the need to follow up in repeat steps.



Materials

Water (Bucket, Tub, Sink, w/e)

WD-40

Paper Towels
Time (The more time you take with this the better)

Good job I dont like havin to look this up on the other site anyway, this is much easier to find, and after reading your post Im going to have to do this myself, this will probably help the Origns last twice as long, Good post.

I have read others that said they have used a dremel tool to polish their internals. Just wondering if you, Matt, or any other members could give some details, pros/cons of the dremel method.

I know the dremel on high speed can do some crazy stuff, and I don't to take any chances ruining my gun, or worse half a gun.

Well, that's just it, you run the chance of "over doing it" w/ a dremmel.
I would highly advise against it.
Using the Brillo method is not hard at all.
I think it took me 30 minutes or so.

I used the brillo pad and was done polishing in about 6 minutes. I think a dremmel would be over-doing it. Don't forget to polish both sides of the cocking handle slots. The brillo pad gave it a mirror finish and no chance at over sanding...

I used 600 grit sand paper lightly then 1500 wet lightly. then used Master Formula Metal Gloss to do final polishing..(by hand of course)... a dremel wouldn't be too much as long as you're skilled with it. the proper polishing buff and grit of polish would be the main factor in whether too much material gets removed or not IMO.... I only have large tools for metal fab and my polisher is big and bench mounted which doesn't help lol can't go wrong by hand though! mine took about a half hour as well . either way gets great results...... waaaaaaaaaayyy better than stock casting!LOL II will go back through with fine steel wool and see if it can get the cocking lever channel a little better and the linkage arm channel between the bolts ..steel wool ( brillo) would prob get into corners better than sand paper

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Great tip! I'm gonna give it a shot

I Like the fancy paper towels in the pictures. and the little sunflower drain plugs too.. very very fancy...

p.s. thanks for taking the time to make this guide up. I will be following it when I get my X7.

And, guys, DEFINITELY do the WD-40 deal...
I thought wiping it down with oil would be enough... So, I tried that... And, afterwards, I ran WD-40 over it... It picked up a LOT of stuff the oil left behind!

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"Beware the FURY of a patient man" - John Dryden

Im not sure if maybe i missed it in the original post, does this in any way void your warranty?