Like any sport, paintball requires certain accessories. The main difference between paintball and other sports is the complexity of the gear required to play. Paintball guns are intricate machines. Some are simple mechanical affairs, while others are marvels of the electronic age. If you’re new to the game, it can be intimidating to realize just how many different types of guns are available. We can help. In this post, we’ll break down the major types of guns into basic categories.
Pump Action/ Purely Mechanical
This is the earliest form of paintball gun, and the best for beginners. If you start with a mechanical marker, you’ll understand how the insides work. This knowledge is crucial, as you must be able to troubleshoot when something goes wrong. Certain forms of paintball guns, such as paintball pistols, are almost always mechanical. Paintball pistols are generally used as a sidearm, for use while one’s main marker is down. The sniper paintball rifle and other tactical paintball guns also fit in this mechanical category.
Once you gain experience with a mechanical gun, you’ll likely be itching to step up to a semi-automatic or fully electronic gun. That’s because mechanical guns must be pumped by hand, which limits the firing rate. The more balls you shoot, the more likely you are to hit an enemy.
Sear Tripper/Semi-Automatic
There are many different semi-automatic designs, but they all do basically the same thing: automatically load the next paintball, which frees the player from pumping his or her marker between shots. In this way, semi-automatic guns increase a player’s rate of fire (ROF).
Sear trippers are one type of semi-automatic gun. They use a 12-volt battery to activate the sear, the part of the gun that butts up against the trigger. When the sear is tilted up by the trigger, it releases the hammer and allows an internal spring to shove the paintball out. The only electronic part of this gun is the sear itself; velocity is adjusted by manually changing the air flow or the spring tension.
Fully Automatic
If you want continuous firing and other overwhelming forms of paintball power, you need a fully automatic weapon, such as a paintball machine gun. In fully automatic guns, an electronic trigger activates the solenoid, which fires the weapon. Basically, these guns are fully electronic. This category has some addictive toys, such as the paintball grenade launcher and the paintball bazooka.
Whatever type of gun you choose, know that there are advantages and disadvantages to each. Some are easy to clean, while others are more fun but require more upkeep. Whichever gun you choose, be sure you understand its internal workings, so that you can keep it in good shape and handle any issues on the field.