How To Choose The Right Paintball Gun

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How To Choose The Right Paintball Gun

Choosing a gun is one of the more difficult decisions that awaits an aspiring paintballer. With all the different brands and stylings available, and all the various features that they offer, players drowning in the sea of options often end up just grabbing onto the first rope thrown their way. It's always best to be an informed buyer, and the world of paintball is no exception to this rule. This guide will help you ensure that you get a gun that works for you.
The three main elements to consider when you are purchasing a paintball gun are comfort, performance, and durability. These are the primary factors that will affect your short and long term enjoyment of the gun, which will in turn affect your performance on the field and your overall enjoyment of the sport. So how do we figure out what we're looking for in each category?
Comfort

The comfort features of a gun generally break down into grips, ergonomics, and weight. To get a good idea of whether the grips on a gun feel right to you, pick it up and hold it in your standard shooting stance. Ask yourself these questions:

• Do the grips fill my hands?
• Are they too bulky?
• Are they grippy enough? Too grippy?
• Do I have to rotate my hand to depress the trigger comfortably?
• Does the spacing feel right?

If you can answer yes to most of these, then move on to the ergonomics test. Holding the gun in the ready position, sweep it across your full field of vision. Pay close attention to the balance. Are you having to compensate for unevenly distributed weight at any point? If the gun is well balanced and generally comfortable, it's time to check the weight. By this point, you've already been holding the gun for a while. If you're already experiencing arm fatigue, odds are good that the gun is too heavy for you. If not, there's a quick and easy test you can do to determine if the weight is right for you. Hold the gun at a ready position, then return it to your standard not-ready position. Do this ten times, and then put the gun down. If your arms feel fine, congratulations. You've found a comfortable gun. Now for the next question... How does it shoot?
Performance

In most cases, you're going to have to rely on information available over the internet and through friends to figure out how well a particular gun shoots. Thankfully, there are plenty of reviews and videos available online. Google and Youtube will pretty much cover the vast majority of paintball gun reviews. Things to look for when researching gun performance are accuracy, rate of fire as measured in balls per second, loudness, air consumption, and ball chopping. Make sure that the reviewer is not using after-market replacement parts in their gun, since it does little good to know that the gun is deadly accurate with a replacement barrel that costs the same as the gun itself. Videos are an excellent source of information and present an opportunity to see the gun in action. Make sure that you take into account all of the information, good and bad, and be honest with yourself regarding what flaws you are willing to accept in a gun. If you're satisfied with the accounts given on the gun's performance, it's time to check out the durability.
Durability

Now that we know we've picked a good gun, we need to make sure it's going to last us a while. This means it's time to disassemble the gun. Answer these questions as you go:

• Do the parts come apart smoothly, or is there resistance?
• How many small moving parts does the gun have, and are they replacable by the manufacturer?
• Are there any areas that can't be accessed for cleaning?

With these answered, it's time to head back to the internet. Many gun reviews will be posted weeks or months after the reviewer has gotten the gun, leaving them with plenty of time to find any potential issues with the gun's construction. Seek out reviews where the reviewer mentions dropping the gun, getting it muddy, or getting it wet. These situations are the ones where the gun's construction will show its true colors. Ideally, the gun should hold up to a reasonable amount of abuse as long as it is properly maintained. Watch out for guns that rust easily or develop an increase in chopping after being dropped. These are glaring signs of quality control issues. If you really want to do your due dilligence, consult paintball forums and search out reviews there, or post asking questions about your gun of choice.
If you've made it this far, you are ready to make an educated decision on purchasing your first Paintball Gun. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and rip it up!
About the author
Niko Brain is a freelance writer and offers sound advice on the sport of Paintball. He runs his own personal paintball site and enjoys writing reviews on Tippmann and Spyder Paintball Guns . He's your "average Joe" paintball player and is an up and coming industry resource that loves to help newcomers to the sport.