subject: Choosing A New Paintball Gun [print this page] If you have played paintball, or maybe if youre just beginning, you might want your own paintball gun. While paintball markers can range from about $200 to more than $1000 dollars, having an idea of how often you will paintball can affect the kind of gun you buy.
1. Price: Some guns are drastically more expensive, and for good reason. If youre just beginning your paintball career and you want a gun, dont spend more than $500. But if youre a seasoned vet, the features you want should help you decide how much you want to spend. The more guns youve played with, chances are the better an idea you will have of what you want.
2. Manual or Automatic: Pump guns have fewer moving parts, which means fewer mechanical problems. Typically these guns are quieter and can be more accurate, but a semi-auto is easier to reload and shoot, which means more stealth.
3. Strengths: Determine what you want from your gun. If accuracy is most important, choose a marker that can hit targets from far away. If reliability is crucial, look for a reputable name brand. Once you have your own gun, you will need to take care of it, so remember that its important to be able to clean your gun easily.
4. CO2: If you have constant air as opposed to cartridges, your air will last longer, but you will need to refill your tank after about 400 shots. Cartridges last for about 25 shots, but you can have many of them. Hpa is another option, but may be more difficult to find refills for.
5. Loader: The size of your loader determines a lot about how you play. If you like to shoot in rapid bursts in close contact, you may want a larger loader to hold more paintballs. Remember that the bigger the loader, the heavier it is. If youre a sniper, you probably want a small, light loader.
6. Barrel: Like the loader, the longer the barrel, the heavier it is. What you give up with a shorter barrel is accuracy. If you want to invest, a rifled barrel with grooves inside makes the paintball go farther and shoot more accurately without the awkward weight and length of a longer barrel. Ported barrels have holes around the tip to allow some pressure to release, which means a quieter shot. Dont get a barrel with more than 4 inches of porting, or else you will lose CO2.
7. Paint: Choose paint that fits accordingly with your barrel. If your paintballs are too small, you will lose accuracy.
8. Upgrades: Once you have your gun, you can begin to add accessories to it. A sniper scope, a new barrel system, and hand guards are just some of the features that are easy to add.
Play around with your gun and figure out how to assemble and disassemble it. Understand its features and how to use them. Feeling comfortable with your gun is the first step to being a paintball pro.
