Paintball Gun Reviews and Buying Guide:

If you are just getting into the game of paintball, buying a marker can be a little intimidating. The good news is that most websites and stores where you can purchase a paintball gun have them set aside into categories of playing ability. Are you a beginner? Recreational player? Scenario player? Perhaps even at tournament level? All skill levels require a different type of marker with difference characteristics. Recreational players that want an easy to use and maintain marker that won't cost too much should consider something like the Tippmann 98 Platinum ACT Paintball Gun ($130), it's the perfect starter marker with a high rate of fire, it's accurate, and users find it easy to operate. You will often find paintball markers sold in packages where you get other items included. We found the Tippmann 98 in a Sports Authority sporting goods store that was $169.99 but came with high performance goggles, an anti-fog lens, and a 9 oz CO2 tank. The propellant systems in paintball guns is between the more common CO2 tank and the HPA (high pressure air) tanks. The HPA tanks are referred to as nitrogen tanks and tend to provide more consistent shooting results when compared to the regular CO2 tanks. HPA tanks will cost more but deliver a better average velocity than CO2 ones. Cheaper paintball guns will almost always come with a CO2 tank.

You will find gun barrels are made in 3 varieties - one, two, and three pieces. The bore sizes on the barrels allow for different size paintball pellets to be shot effectively. As for the trigger mechanism, you will find semi-automatic, fully automatic, and pump paintball markers. The pump action markers are probably the hardest to use since you are forced to pump in between shots. It slows the game down and can actually make the game more exciting as players are required to do more than just sit there and fire off 100's of rounds without thinking. As you move up in the ranks and go from recreational player to scenario player, the next best paintball marker is probably the Tippmann A5 Paintball Gun which sells for about $229. The Tippmann A-5 is considered a mid-level paintball gun with a response trigger and the Cyclone feed system which feeds up to 20 balls per second. Recommended upgrades for the A5 include the Smart Parts 14" Progressive Paintball Barrel for about $35 more. One other aspect of paintball markers that should never be overlooked is the loader system. Loaders are also called "hoppers" and that is where the paintballs are stored before you fire them off. Most markers have force feed, gravity feed, or agitating hoppers. Woodsball and scenario players tend to avoid the force-feed and agitating hoppers since dead batteries can fail during a game. Also, moisture is an issue with these types of hoppers. Gravity feed hoppers are the cheapest and more reliable, although you can only get about 8 balls per second into the hopper. The one problem associated with gravity feed hoppers is that they can become jammed very easily. Tournament play can be very stressful and exciting as paintballs are being fired at high rates of speed and from all directions. You need a quality paintball marker to combat those conditions.

The Smart Parts Ion Paintball Gun at $165 is great for front players in tournament action. The Smart Parts ION has lots of upgrade potential and since its release in 2005 remains a top selling paintball marker for all levels of players. Mid players should look at the Smart Parts Shocker NXT Paintball Gun which is more expensive at closer to $500 but lets you unload on your opponents with rapid fire and easily shoot from multiple angles. Back players require accurate, high end markers and the Dye DM9 is a paintball marker that will makes your friends jealous. The two piece barrel and fully adjustable reach trigger give you the accuracy you need from the back field in tournament play. Other top brands for markers include Bob Long, 32 Degrees, BT, Invert, JT, Kingman, PMI Piranha, Proto, Planet Eclipse, and Diablo. The PMI Black Maxx Paintball Marker and the Diablo Mongoose II are two exellent entry level markers and are noted below in our reviews. There are lots of sources for "best paintball markers" on the Internet and we looked at about 6 sites to see who is buying which models and which ones rate the highest. There are some good paintball gun reviews at Paintball-online.com, Paintballgunplus.com, Paintballguns.net, Pbreview.com. It appears that Tippmann and Spyder paintball guns are the most popular although Smart Parts makes affordable guns as well. Amazon keeps an up to date list of the best-selling paintball markers and gear here.

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