I have been playing paintball for almost 17 years now. I have been lucky enough to watch this sport step from the shadows of backyards and farmfields to being shown on ESPN. The sport is booming. It's not just a game for kids either. Church groups and some colleges have teams that play in leagues. In 2004 nearly 11 million people played paintball in the USA. That is nearly double the number of people who skateboarded that same year.
So you're excited. You want to play or you played your first game and you want to get a paintball marker (gun) for yourself. Maybe you're wondering what gun to get. Let me help you...
One of the first questions I ask anyone who is looking to get thier first paintball gun is what style of game to want to play? The next question I ask is how often are you going to play. The final question is how do you want to spend to get set up. It is important to remember that besides the gun you will be spending at least another $75 for a mask, tank, and hopper (and that's getting away cheap). For this guide I will simply stick to the question, what is the right paintball gun for me?
There are two main types of play. Rec style playing which may be in the woods or at a pay to play type field. The usually gebine some sort of natural and manmade bunkers for cover. This is the style of play that nearly everyone plays on a regular basis. The other style is speedball which uses a gebination of rigid and inflatable bunkers on smaller fields that are about the size of an indoor soccer field. There are paintball guns geared to both styles of play but either can be played in what ever style of game you choose. It is more fitting the part than being specialized. If you want to play speedball then you might want to play with a smaller gun geared towards that style of play were as if you want to play in the woods you might want to pick gun the is a little larger. Typical examples of paintball markers (guns) that are seen on speedball fields would be your Spyders. A typical rec marker would be a Tippmann. Like I said, either type of gun can be played in either type of game. I would just say that if you really like playing in the woods lean towards the Tippmann style guns.
If you are not going to be playing a lot then don't spend a lot of your gun. I would even suggest just renting at a field if you only plan on going out a few times a year. If you want to play more often or want to envolved with tournaments or league play then you might want to consider buying your own gun. There are plenty of good choices out there that won't break the bank.
That brings me to the amount you want to spend. Keep in mind that if you only want to spend $300 to get set up with your first gun you need to subtract at least $75 from that to get your tank, mask and hopper (all items you will need to buy to play too). You can find some great deals here on okay for guns and all the other gear you need too. The basic principle to paintball markers is how much are you going to get for your money. Simply put, the cheaper the gun the more you need to buy to make it gepetitive. This is not 100% the truth, all of the time. There are plenty of very good paintball markers for under $200 but for another $50 you can get that much more already with it. I don't know your budget but I would tell anyone to be prepared to spend around $200 for your first paintball marker. There are some out there as cheap as $40 but you get what you pay for there. There are paintball guns that cost over $1800 out there. You don't need it. They are cool but you don't need it. That $200 paintball marker shoots the same paintballs as that $1800 one. It might shot them a little further, with a higher rate and be a little more on the mark than the $200 one but remember, you're just starting out. No need to go to the poor house over this game. The game will begee an addiction on its own.
I would regemend for new players to look at Spyders or other Kingman products, Tippmann, the Smart Parts Ion, and maybe at a used marker. Spyders are the easiest paintball guns to work on and find upgrades and other parts for. Tippmann and the Ion also have tons of upgrades and spare parts for but are little tougher to work on for newgeers. Check out your local shops too. They can help you out making that final choice. Then shop around on okay for a better price! okay has a ton of paintball guns and gear!
I hope this helps. I will be putting more guides in for paintball gear so keep an eye out!
No comments:
Post a Comment