There are a ton of
paintball guns on the market today. Deciding which gun will serve you best can be a difficult choice. Some understanding of the game and the environment you'll be playing in can help assure you'll get the gun that will serve your current and future needs.
There are two primary styles of paintball play. There are tournament level games played in a netted arena with inflatable bunkers. These are fast-paced games and high-end, electronic tournament markers rule the field. The most popular style of paintball these days is
woodsball, also known as rec-ball. This is the typical style game played on weekends at commercial outdoor fields and woodlands all over the country. You'll see just about every style paintball gun here but the current trend is towards military style markers.
In recent years, so many manufacturers have entered the woodsball world producing paintball guns specifically for the military style crowd. Tippmann has always been a mainstay in this arena. They have a long history of rec-ball paintball guns. Guns like the Tippmann A5 and 98 serve as the foundation for some of the hottest woodsball creations in the world. Now companies like Smart Parts, Kingman, BT Paintball and even Bob Long are now part of this community serving woodsballers with quality weapons. There are a few areas you should consider when choosing your woodsball paintball gun.
Upgradability – This is probably the most important of all the factors to consider. If you’re like everyone else, the first ten minutes after receiving your gun you’ll be hitting the web looking for parts. Also, it’s likely that you’ll see some heavily modified guns at the local field. You’ll be scratching your head wondering if those parts are available for your gun as well.
It’s very simple, do your research before you buy. Make sure that the gun you purchase has a decent among of aftermarket parts that will allow you to create a gun that suits your style but also allows for future performance upgrades. No add-ons, or a lack of performance parts, only means you’ll be buying a new gun in the near future and scramming to sell your current marker for anything close to what you paid for it.
Paintball guns like the Tippmann A5 offer endless possibilities for building the marker of your dreams. There are currently more aftermarket
Tippmann A5 Parts available today than for any other paintball gun in production. But as other guns such as the Smart Parts SP1 and the US Army Alpha Black gain in popularity, aftermarket companies will continue to offer more and more specific upgrades for these markers.
Electronics – This could be categorized in the upgrade department but electronics needs to be discussed a little more in depth than a brief reference. Not all guns come from the factory sporting an electronic trigger frame. Many have the capacity to be upgraded to an electronic trigger via an EOM or aftermarket replacement kit. Most electronic triggers offer adjustment to both the rate of fire and the firing mode. This is crucial if you show up at the field and everyone is totting $1100 pneumatic paintball guns with 30+ balls per second firing rates. It’s just tough to compete against that kind of firepower regardless of how quick you think you are with your good ol' semi-auto.
At the other end of the spectrum, you may be playing with a lot of people using field-provided rental guns. These are typically semi-auto and offer a minimum of performance. Not exactly fair on your part if you’re switching firing modes and knocking people out of the game the moment the whistle blows.
Get a paintball gun that allows you to easily switch your level of performance to match the firepower of most of the people you’re playing with. Believe us, it’s much more enjoyable and people will actually call you the next time another game is being organized.
CO2 and Nitrogen – Most paintball guns on the market will work with either CO2 or Nitrogen without any modification to the internals of the gun. It is generally accepted that Nitrogen paintball tanks are a far better gas source than CO2. Nitrogen is more efficient and provides better consistency shot to shot than CO2. Why not use Nitrogen exclusively then? Not all fields have the equipment to fill
Nitrogen HPA Paintball Tanks. CO2 is cheap and requires some basic equipment. But if your gun runs exclusively on Nitrogen, you may be out of luck if you run out of compressed air and a long way from the nearest place that will fill your tank.
By doing a little research and taking into consideration some key points, finding the right paintball gun to match your current and future needs is not as hard as it may seem.
Visit ROCKSTAR Tactical for all the latest paintball guns, parts and accessories. We carry one of the largest Tippmann A5 and X7 parts selections available today. Fast and secure order processing with free US shipping on orders over $100, join the elite group of woodsballers that use
www.rockstartactical.com exclusively for all their paintball needs.
