Learning About the Guns of Paintball

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A basic gun or marker for paintball consists of a barrel and body with a hopper (loader) above and an air tank below. The hopper contains the spare paintballs, while the air tank uses compressed air or carbon dioxide to propel them. Each component may now vary from the first markers used in early games.

The first markers could only hold a limited number of paintballs - about 10 or 12. They also had a pump action and a low rate of fire. Since most of the early games consisted of stalking and the game was quite slow compared to today's games, this was sufficient.

Those paintball players who prefer to use these early markers are called stock-class players. They feel the game is best played as a game of skill and patience rather than speed. However, progress will have its way in all areas, so now markers are made with quite a few significant differences. Electronic models can cost thousands of dollars, but most recreational players are content with middle-of-the-range markers.

The design of the marker body has been altered to achieve better balance and compactness. It has been made of lighter materials so the hopper and air tank size can be increased. This means that more ammunition can be fired for a longer period of time without any problems.

On markers that now cock automatically, triggers are set to have a light and short pull distance with the use of carefully adjusted pneumatics.

Hoppers - the part that holds the extra paintballs - can work by gravity feed, force feed or agitating. The two latter give a higher rate of fire, but can be compromised through dead batteries or moisture contact, making them a poor choice for Woodsball and Scenario players. Gravity feed hoppers seem to work the best, but there are still problems with balls jamming as they go down the tube.

The jamming problem can be alleviated to a great extent by rocking the marker, or by the shaking and recoil that occurs when firing, but those with electronic triggers don't shake so the problem of jamming is exacerbated.

Agitating hoppers, as the name implies, stir up the paintballs at the neck of the tube to prevent jamming. There are two types of agitating hoppers. Electric markers often have an agitating hopper with a LED and photo detector that can tell if a ball is in the firing chamber. These can prevent the gun from firing if the chamber is empty. If there is no ball, they spin to free the jam, while those without eyes spin whether there is a ball there or not, thus running the batteries down more quickly.

The tank is necessary to propel the paintballs, and may use carbon dioxide (CO2) or high-pressure air (HPA). The cheaper markers mostly use the former. Since it works by vaporization, its effectiveness is compromised in cold weather.

HPA tanks are more expensive, but are more dependable, since the stored air is pressurized in the tank with a regulator to control output.