Editing Steve Constable (section)

=== Relationship with Tippmann ===

Constable's relationship with Tippmann Pneumatics has attracted interest among historians of early semi-automatic paintball equipment.

The Tippmann SMG-60 and subsequent 68 Special were among the early commercially available semi-automatic paintball markers.

Accounts collected by Daniel Bacci suggest that Constable may have been involved in the development or modification of powertube components associated with these markers.[6]

However, Bacci documented conflicting versions of the story.

Some accounts credited Constable with aspects of the design, while others attributed the same developments to Tippmann.

The precise origin of the disputed components has not been conclusively established.

Constable's visit to the Tippmann factory in 1987 is documented separately from claims concerning the invention of specific components.

He should therefore not be credited definitively with inventing the Tippmann powertube or the SMG-60's operating mechanism without additional primary-source evidence.