I’m new to this, and I haven’t bought a paintball gun yet. I was wondering what the diffeences between the electric, compressed air, CO2, etc. paintball guns are. I saw one the had little cartridges of CO2 in it and that looked cool, but I want to know the ups and downs. Usually ill just play in my backyard and sometimes ill go over to a friends hows to play. Thanks!
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There are a few kinds of paintball markers. Lets start out with the basics.
You have your tournament marker (proto slg, ego, dm, pm etc)
Then you have your woodsball and scenario markers (tippmann, bt, rap4, etc)
THen your low to mid class (spyder, azodin, pmi, etc)
In all of these different classes of markers you can have a mecanic marker or an electronic marker. THe mecanical markers are reliable and dont require batteries to opperate just co2 or hpa(high compressed air tank).While the electronic markers use a battery and board to operate the marker but you can shoot a lot faster with an electronic marker then a mechanical one.
Co2 is known as dirty air, co2 has a lot of crud in it and is normally used for the starting paintball that doesn’t want to spend a lot of money. Problem is you end up spending more because it costs more to fill up a co2 tank then it does to fill up a hpa tank. Also hpa ir regulatoed. Which means the pressure coming out of the tank is always the same while co2 can be anywhere from 200 psi up to 1200 psi. Most markers are made to run off of co2 or hpa. The high end markers are made to only run off of hpa. There is a reason for it. Hpa is better for your marker, more consistent, and operates smoother.
For you since you dont sound liek you go play at fields and just like running around i recommend either the azodin koas or tippmann 98 custom. These are very reliable markers and work great.
Here are some good vids for a beginning paintballer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqEfbAoHTas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alc0650GY0w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwMpGgTDX-Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WskV0QDIIg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMTk-TnvXbc
hope this helps you
There’s 3 types of guns/markers: pump, mech & electro. Pump means a pump handle is used to recock the gun before each shot. Mechanical (mech) is semi-auto, meaning it recocks itself after each shot. Electronic (electro) is also semi-auto but the trigger function is controlled by a circuit board and typically has other firing modes as well, like burst shot, full auto, and in other cases there’s different tournament modes, to quickly set a gun to specific tournament specs. Electronic guns still need a gas source like all other paintball guns, which is explained below.
Compressed air and co2 are gas sources, it’s what creates the gas pressure inside paintball guns, allowing them to operate & allowing them to propel a paintball. They both do the same thing, just are comprised of different gases. Co2 is carbon dioxide, obviously, while compressed air is simply the air you breathe, highly compressed.
Co2 fills are mostly liquid co2, which constantly converts to a gas that the gun can use. The downside to this is the liquid portion can sometimes get into the gun, and the gun does not like that. It’s extremely cold, freezing & destroying o-rings (rubber seals inside the gun that prevent gas leaks), and in higher end markers, can destroy more sensitive internal parts. Co2 isn’t actually dirty, just the damage it’s capable of gives it the nickname "dirty," like "a dirty rotten scoundrel of a gas." Co2 tanks come in various sizes that are identified by weight, like 9 oz, 12 oz & 20 oz.
Compressed air, on the other hand, is just plain ol’ air, so it’s incapable of this type of damage, making it the prefered gas source. The downside is compressed air tanks cost more and not everyone has access to refills, since the air compressors needed to fill them are really expensive. However, they are ultimately cheaper than co2 in the long run because compressed air refills have no re-occuring cost. Compressed air has different names, like hpa, no2, nitro, etc, but they’re all the same. These tanks also come in various sizes but also in 2 different materials – metal alloy tanks and carbon fiber tanks. Carbon fiber is lighter and comes in a greater variety of sizes, but they’re also much more expensive.
Some pump guns & all paintball pistols use 12 gram co2 cartridges. Really no ups or downs to it, that’s just what they use. Pump guns don’t shoot fast so players typically carry less paint, thus needing less gas, so some just use the cartridges. Pistols simply hold less paintballs, so they don’t need a larger gas source. One of these would be perfect for you, however pump guns and pistols are relatively expensive.
For your situation, you don’t need to spend a lot of money. A cheap gun & a small co2 tank are all i’d recommend for you. May even want to check craigslist or ebay for used gear.
A great website to check out Paintball Gun Packages so you will get everything you need in one set is http://www.pntball.com
Ive been playing paintball for years ok first off don’t use co2!!!! use a hp tank its way more stable ans shoots better and cleaner,second co2 cartidges are only good for a couple of shots and you will have to change them constantly dont do that,if your just starting out i suggest getting a spider or a tippman 98 custom.they aren’t the best guns but to get a really good gun our looking at around $600-1000, just because the components are more advanced and the boards in them are more high tech(what makes it shoot full auto etc) also the first thing you want to do is b4 u buy a gun look around,don’t just go to one website and get it there immediatly.here is the site where i buy all of my paintball supplies.http://www.paintball-discounters.com/get_list_94.htm.also im selling a avenger paintball gun for $50 if your intrested.and if you have a little bit more money and u play in the woods i suggest looking at bt guns rap4,tippman or u.s army guns.
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