Sunday, April 20, 2008

Cheap Paintball Gun - Criteria for Evaluating

Are you looking to buy a cheap paintball gun? Maybe you have been paintballing a while and you are about to make your first paintball gun purchase. Are you short on advice on how to decide what makes cheap paintball gun a good cheap paintball gun? Well look no further for this article gives you clear, practical criteria for assessing what is good and cheap, and what is just cheap.


In a nutshell, a good cheap paintball gun will satisfy all the following criteria, but it will have none of the fancy features of the more expensive models. When doing your research and asking people how they rate a paintball gun, keep the criteria in mind.


Reliability and durability


Even a cheap paintball gun should be reliable and durable. The paintball gun needs to take some heavy knocks and not complain, it needs to function in all temperatures, be able to load paint and charge up with air and fire without causing you problems. If a paintball gun cannot do this, it is a bad paintball gun. It is therefore essential to take a paintball gun for a thorough field test before you decide to buy.


Ease of operation


A good cheap paintball gun will be really easy to use. A good way to assess usability is to have a read of the manual. Does it look easy to use? Avoid paintball guns where you have to use more than one tool to adjust the paintball gun velocity, or where you have to take the paintball gun apart to adjust velocity. Again, a field test will reveal all you need to know about ease of use.


Precision and velocity


Fired at the same spot, the paintball gun should be sending balls to that target with reasonable consistency from twenty five meters. Try fixing the paintball gun to a tree so that it can’t move. Then fire away and see how precise it is now that you have removed human inconsistency from the equation. If balls seem to occasionally fall short, then it looks like the ‘chrono’ velocity, the speed with which balls leave the gun, is inconsistent and so precision is suffering. Velocity needs to be consistent and high enough to give you reasonable range.


Paintball gun paint


A good cheap paintball gun will work with any brand of paint ball. A good cheap paintball gun won’t get all snooty if it’s firing lower quality paintballs, but a bad one will often break the cheaper balls. This an important issue, since when you get to the play area, you often have little choice in the brand of paintball that you are given.


Weight


A good cheap paintball gun should be relatively lightweight. Keep in mind that you will be carrying it all day, running around and if it really takes the strain on your arms then it is no good for you.


A safety mechanism


A good cheap paintball gun will have a safety mechanism which will make the paintball gun impossible to fire.


Ease of maintenance and cleaning


A good cheap paintball gun will be easy to maintain, easy to take apart and easy to clean. You should not have to spend much time on maintenance or cleaning. Again, check the manual and see how easy it looks to maintain and clean. Avoid paintball guns that require a lot of oiling. For example, if a paint ball gun needs oiling every two hundred balls then this is going to seriously compromise your playing ability and your fun.


Aftermarket upgrades and accessories


A good cheap paintball gun will be upgradeable and will be compatible with accessories.

Various Types Of Paintball Guns

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.

How to Play With a Paintball Gun Safely

A paint ball gun is something that just about anyone can have fun with. This is used in a sport that has grown into a huge success over the last few years. This game is some thing that has a lot of people fascinated and having a lot of fun at the same time.


There are so many different people that are playing with a paintball gun. Anyone can simply target shoot with their gun or they can play the game with a few friends. No matter what you decide to do with your paintball gun, the one thing that is very important is to play safely so that there is no one that gets hurt and nothing gets damaged.


Playing with a paintball gun is a necessity. There are no excuses for accidents that happen when you are not practicing a safe and well-organized game with a paintball gun. Any child that has a paint ball gun needs to understand the rules and the object of the game. There is no reason for childish acts that could result in a terrible situation. Parents should always be present when children are playing with a paintball gun. When a child misuses a gun, they should be reprimanded and taught the correct way.


When children are playing with a paintball gun, they should be well supervised. It is important for the children to have all of the information that is necessary for safety. All of the safety equipment that is recommended should be worn on all games. One should wear a facemask, long sleeves, long pants and gloves when they are playing paint ball. This is important because the hit of a paintball can sting when you are not protected with the proper items.


Paintball guns should always be used in a safe place. They should be used in remote areas that are not populated with people. If you are playing in your backyard, you need to make sure that you are not shooing at anything other than your target. You need to make sure that you know what you are shooting before you pull the trigger.


When a paintball is used in the proper way and with a little common sense, the game can be so much fun and give you a lot of exercise. There are no limits to the fun and excitement that you can have when you are playing a great game of paintball. You will find that the thrill of the game will bring you a lot of entertainment for a long time to come.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Troubleshooting The Spyder Imagine Paintball Marker

In spite of the fact that the Spyder Imagine paintball marker is extremely popular, there are some minor problems that most Spyder markers and paintball guns tend to have. For the most part these problems are easily fixed. In many cases you can even fix the problem while still on the playing field.


If your Spyder Imagine paintball marker locks up on you during play, you have probably broken a paintball in the chamber. You can easily fix this by laying the paintball marker on a flat surface with the barrel hanging off and pointing downward. Give the barrel a good whack and it should come loose. If you are on the field and do not have a good surface to use, you can try jarring the butt of the paintball marker against the ground or other surface to loosen the broken paintball.


If you are playing on the field and find that your paintballs keep breaking, there may be some adjustments needed to your paintball gun. Some of these adjustments may be done on the field, while others will need to be done somewhere comfortable and where tools are accessible.


First, the velocity may be set too high on your gun. Check the velocity settings to make sure something didn’t get bumped. Next, check your power feed plug, because if it is not straight up and down it is probably your reason for breaking paintballs.


Finally, a leak down the barrel is one of the most common problems with Spyder paintball guns of any style. There are a few things that you can do to fix this problem both on and off the field. You should keep some tools in your paintball gear bag to make sure that you are prepared for these types of repairs on the field.


A couple of easy possible fixes for a leaky barrel will be to clean or tighten up the cup seal. Another possible fix is to check the valve guide for bending. If it is bent, bend it back for the time being and plan on buying a new one in the near future. For these repairs you will need to take apart the valve assembly, which is fairly easy but can be time consuming. If you are doing this on the field you will need to have someone cover you while you disassemble and reassemble your paintball marker for these repairs.

Paintball Fields Reflect Style Of Play

The fast-paced, action-packed sport of paintball has a loyal and growing following. From weekend warriors to actual soldiers in training, the game is enjoyed by all types of players. The style of play for any particular game will likely be influenced by the paintball fields available in any given area.


There are many possibilities for how individual paintball fields might be set up. The actual design will impact the game scenarios run on the field and the pace of the games themselves. Some of the most common set ups for paintball fields include:


* Woods ball. On this type of field, paintball is played in an actual woodsy setting. Whether it’s a capture the flag scenario or some other objective stated, the idea is to use the trees and ground cover to one’s advantage as “enemies” are marked out one at a time. This type of paintball field is found in many locations and can even be set up by players in their own backyards. No special equipment is really needed to create this type of field beyond the trees themselves.


* Speed ball. As its name implies, the field for this type of game is designed for fast-paced action. Speed ball fields typically use inflatable bunkers and allow players the room and freedom to really kick up their guns a notch and see what they can do. This type of field and the style of play is likely not the best option for beginners. It can be a whole lot of fun, however, for those who know their way around the game and are looking for more of a challenge.


* Scenario. Scenario games can be played on a number of different types of paintball fields. Law enforcement or military trainees, for example, might find themselves on specially designed fields that mimic city settings, war zones and so on. Regular players might find themselves battling it out on a field with two “forts” where one team must overtake the other or capture a flag to win.


The potential styles for paintball fields know no boundaries other that what safety deems and imagination. Just about any terrain imaginable will work. As long as there is reasonable distance between “civilians” and their possessions, almost anything goes. Throw in a little cover and a location can be perfect.


Trying to set up paintball fields in a backyard, it’s a good idea to check out any local regulations that might restrict this activity. Some regions might have ordinances that prevent this, even for personal use. If plenty of open land is available, however, chances are setting up a makeshift field for a game will be more than acceptable.


Players looking to find commercial paintball fields in their areas will find this is more than possible in most regions. Locations that sell paintball guns and supplies often know the best spots regionally. Plus, the Internet provides great resources for finding excellent paintball playing fields.


Beginners to the game might want to start out with woods ball paintball fields or other similar setups. As skill and feel for the game increases, more challenging locations will be in order.

Paintball Tactics Of Professional Paintball Players

If you are going to really get into the sport of playing paintball you are going to want to learn some tactics that will help you to survive longer on the field as well as have a better chance of winning more games. Here are some tactics used by professional paintball players that you can adapt to be better on your local paintball field.


When shooting the best method to use is to pepper the opposing player while moving aggressively towards their position. By doing this you will keep them from being able to fire and will keep them hiding behind a protective barrier while you move in closer for a guaranteed kill.


Learning how to use the defensive tactic of cover effectively is probably the most important aspect of paintball. Everything that exists on a paintball field can be used as cover in some way. You want to stand or crouch during moments of covering so that you remain mobile in case someone is trying to sneak up on you. Just remember that on most fields standing straight up also increases your chances of being shot, especially if you are tall! Crouching has a little less mobility but it gives you better cover and still gives you some level of stability.


Coming up from behind or flanking is a very important tactic to learn as it can be used in just about every situation you get into. You can even use this tactic to counter another team