Editing Tippmann (section)

=== Establishment ===

Tippmann Pneumatics was founded by Dennis Tippmann Sr. in 1986.

Before entering paintball, Tippmann manufactured miniature working replicas of military firearms. Changes to American firearms legislation during the 1980s contributed to his decision to enter the emerging paintball equipment market.[1][2]

The company's first paintball marker was the SMG-60, introduced in March 1987.

The SMG-60 was one of the earliest commercially manufactured automatic paintball markers. It used .62-calibre paintballs, a side-mounted magazine and a firing mechanism capable of semiautomatic and fully automatic operation.

Its ammunition was supplied through five-round stripper clips, with the magazine accommodating three clips.

The SMG-60 also incorporated a refillable CO2 cylinder attached directly to the marker through a threaded air-source adapter, an arrangement that became widely adopted throughout the paintball industry.[2]