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Are you a paintball sniper or more of an attack player? Learn how to choose the right paintball gun for your needs in this free paintball gun buying guide from a paintball expert. Expert: Robert F. Stewart Contact: www.hill13.com Bio: Robert Stewart is a 15 year veteran of the sport of paintball. Stewart brings his military training and experience to the game of paintball. Filmmaker: MAKE | MEDIA

Paintball is a sport that has grown - and is growing - significantly since it's humble beginnings in the seventies. Paintball markers (or guns) originated from gas-powered guns that the forestry industry used to mark trees and trails, or farmers used to mark cattle. These markers were redesigned for speed and safety, and began to be used for recreation.

Since then, it has developed into a highly competitive, professional sport that takes place outside, inside or in many other forms. According to insurance statistics, paintball is surprisingly one of the safest sports to choose from. In this article, we're going to be taking a brief look at paintball guns - their types, advantages, and where paintball guns are going technologically wise.

Paintball guns (known as 'markers' in many circles, but in this article we will refer to them as 'guns') began with the conventional pump action gun. These needed to be manually cocked, and provided a significantly slow game. Because rate-of-fire (speed and amount of paintballs released) became (and still is) important, and the need to progress into a faster game arose, paintball guns evolved from the pump action to auto-cocker guns, capable of delivering more paintballs at a greater speed.

Since then, the guns have evolved into automatic and semi-automatic categories, as well as Sniper rifles and electronic guns. The barrel of the guns have been significantly elongated, to allow for more accurate shooting. They also come in many different colors - either camouflage (for the purist) or various other colors.

Many paintball gun manufacturers have begun to manufacture military replica's - which is ideal for the real combat enthusiast. The gun's accuracy, weight, speed, rate of fire and gas usage are all necessary pointers to look at when purchasing a gun, and mostly depend on the kind of game you prefer, but these essentials are important in all kinds of paintball guns.

Semi-Automatic and Automatic paintball guns have highly sensitive triggers, and are mostly recommended for the more serious player. The speed of an automatic paintball gun is incredibly fast, and some are capable of releasing 20 balls a second. If you're just starting out, a cheaper gun with the capability for upgrades and cosmetic add-ons is the best choice.

Many of the paintball guns are capable of being upgraded - adding a double trigger, or a bigger 'hopper' (where the paintballs are loaded) or better gas-usage. You can also add some aiming cosmetics - a laser, or just better gun sights, to add to the accuracy of the gun. This is an inexpensive way of improving your gun while you improve, and discovering your game and the way in which you play best.

Paintball guns have begun to move into the electronic era now, with hair triggers, more accurate velocities, programmable firing modes and low gas pressure. Some guns even have LCD panels. These guns are for the serious, professional competitor. They are very expensive, but the advantages these guns bring to your game are exemplary. There are manufacturers which claim that their electronic guns are capable of releasing 30 balls a second - an unbeaten statistic.

When you play paintball you need something reliable, durable, and capable. From semi-automatic, to automatic, to electronic, you have a great choice of paintball guns to suit your level of play.

For the person who loves the game of paintball being able to have a good quality paintball gun is essential. However this can sometimes be a bit of a problem as these guns are quite expensive. There are a few options that you can try out. One such option would be that of buying cheap paintball guns and the other option is that of getting used paintball guns.

Now this is probably the better option especially if you are new to the game and you have absolutely no idea what the game is all about. For a novice buying used equipment is probably the best way to get acquainted with all of the ins and outs of this fascinating game.

Once you have decided that you either like this game or you love this game, then you can think about getting various upgrades for your guns. There are various used equipment accessories that you can buy for a relatively inexpensive price. However even before you buy these goodies you should think about getting some of the more needed supplies to help you survive the rough and tumble of paintball.

You will need be able to buy all of these items and used paintball guns at paintball stores. Sometimes these paintball guns will be in a special section for used equipment and their various accessories. You will need to inspect the used paintball guns to make sure that all of their working parts are in good condition.

Any malfunctioning part of these used equipment means that you should not even think about getting this gun. Sometimes you could get backfiring paintball because of a faulty firing mechanism. Other times you might not be able to even get one round of paintballs out because the barrel has become jammed.

Whatever the reason may be for used guns not working properly the only thing that you can do is to leave these guns alone and see if you can find another one. Now even though this fact could turn you off buying used paintball guns you should consider the advantages that come with buying used paintball guns.

With used paintball guns the potential to customize your paintball gun arises. There are many parts that are also sold as used that while other paintball players may not want you can most certainly use. These used parts will give your used paintball guns an edge that many of the factory made guns never have. With this edge you can take your playing ability up to the next level with pure ease, and with a little practice with your newly upgraded toys you can win with ease as well.

Paintball is becoming one of the most loved hobbies today. With exciting game play and awesome equipment options, paintball sure is a hobby that should be explored.

The heart of a paintball game is the paintball gun. Without the gun, the game play of paintball would be rather boring. Paintball guns are filled with paint (what else) and uses a gas which expands rapidly (like carbon dioxide) to propel the paint balls into the target.
The air can propel a ball through the air at approximately 300 feet per second. This is the appropriate speed for a paint ball so as to make it break when it comes in contact with a target and to avoid tissue damage upon contact.

There are several components that comprise the paintball gun. These are:

a) Body
b) Barrel
c) hopper
d) tank

There are many different customizations that one can do with his paintball gun. A person can choose from a variety of guns with different specifications and features. There are paintball guns out there that have a firing system which is electro-pneumatic, which means that the firing system is electronically controlled. There are also sear trippers which utilizes a hammer which slams into the valve containing the bullet which propels it into target. There are also paint guns out there which utilize the power of the gas to propel the ball into the air.

When it comes to the barrels of paintball guns, they usually come in 12, 16, 18 or 20 inches. There are also people out there who were able to order customized paintball gun barrels which can reach up to 40 inches! People opt to have longer barrels because these barrels make less noise than the shorter ones because they limit the escape of excess gas.

However, there's no difference in terms of accuracy or noise reduction qualities when it comes to comparing a 16-inch barrel to a 40-inch barrel. The problem with very long barrels is that it can slow a player down quite significantly.

Paintball guns also come in different firing modes. Some paintball guns have pump action, but this type of gun is not for the player who seeks speed because it requires manual cocking. However, it is a good gun have when learning the basics of paintball because it focuses on skills and not on fire power. There are also semi-automatic paintball guns in the market. It reloads a new paintball whenever the trigger is pulled. The fully automatic paintball guns give a lot of fire power. These guns will reload and fire automatic rounds as long as the trigger is pulled.

Here are some tips on how to choose a paintball gun:

1. Know your budget

As with any other hobby, one must define his budget for buying a paintball gun. The guns in the market can cost from a hundred dollars to less than a thousand. Guns which are semi-automatic and fully automatic ones use more gas than the manually reloaded ones. These factors should all be considered when defining one's budget.

2. Be practical

If it's possible for a player to play with a borrowed gun, he might as well do that and rethink about buying a brand new one.

3. Shop for second-hand guns

Another option is to buy a second-hand paintball gun. These guns are usually good enough to play decently without digging a deep hole in one's pockets.

4. Ask the best buy

If one is too enthusiastic about getting a brand new gun, he should consult his buddies regarding what gun gives quality performance at a reasonable price.

These are some simple tips which can be overlooked sometimes. Remember that paintball is just a hobby, a great one if I may say but it's not something that should waste one's money away. Be wise and have fun.