Have you heard the term paintball marker but don’t know its meaning? This article will help you know about What Are Paintball Markers? their appearance, and their types. A good paintball marker has various names, such as a paintball gun, marker, or paint gun. If you don’t know much about paintball, don’t worry because I’ll explain some details about this sport.
A paintball is a shooting game in which the players have to defeat their opponents by shooting them with gelatin bullets. This game has gained a lot of popularity in recent years. The paintball guns or markers are specially designed guns for this game. Although they seem similar, these guns have different types. Let us explore the paintball markers and their types.
What Are Paintball Markers?
Good Paintball markers or guns are the prominent parts of paintball because they are used for shooting dye-filled bullets or capsules on the target points. The mechanism of shooting these bullets works in such a way that these guns have compressed gasses or compressed air that moves the gelatin bullets through the barrel and helps them reach the target point quickly. The most commonly used compressed gas in these guns is Carbon dioxide, while the most typically used compressed air is HPA. Watch till the end to check this answer to your questions like what are paintball markers used for.
Types Of Good Paintball Markers
1. Pump Markers
Pump markers are the oldest yet most reliable type of paintball markers. These markers take some skill to operate and therefore they have a loyal following. In pump markers, you need to manually operate the pump to cock the gun and load a ball into the firing chamber. These markers have the lowest firing rate but they allow the players to focus on field skills and accuracy instead of firepower. Pump markers are rare and are only used by some pro players in specific gaming styles.
Related Post: How to Fill a Paintball Tank?
2. Mechanical Marker
Mechanical markers are the most common type of paintball markers since they are budget-friendly, have simple firing mechanisms, and least maintenance requirements. These guns use a spring-hammer mechanism in the bolt-sear assembly as a firing mechanism. These guns are also called blowback guns. Mechanical markers use refillable air tanks that use either CO2 or compressed air.
The firing rate of mechanical markers is 5 to 6 balls per second. It basically depends on how fast you pull the trigger. Entry-level mechanical markers have a long and heavy trigger pull that limits their firing speed and accuracy. However advanced mechanical markers use a soft trigger pull to improve the firing rate and target accuracy.
3. Electronic Markers
Electronic markers use the latest firing technologies and are the most expensive type of paintball markers. These markers use a solenoid instead of a spring-hammer mechanism and can fire at an impressive rate of 25-30 balls per second. These markers use advanced electronic circuits on which the trigger is embedded. The trigger is actually a microswitch. Pulling a trigger in electronic markers is like pressing a button in an electronic device.
These guns use pneumatic poppet valves or spool valves and there is no blowback action. In addition to firing rate, electronic markers have the best accuracy of all types of paintball markers. Premium-grade electronic paintball markers come with additional features like digital displays, automatic ball loading, and pressure adjustment.
Good Paintball Markers Parts And Features
Design of Good Paintball Markers
Although these guns look similar to regular guns, the positioning of their parts is different from others. The main components of these guns are their trigger, bolt, and valve. Most paintball guns have aluminum material, making them lightweight and easy to handle during the game. As I stated earlier, the positioning of some parts, such as the trigger and barrel, is different to make the shooting easy and more accurate.
In some professional and branded guns, the position lies towards the forward or center of the gun. This position makes your gun’s compressed air tank denser and makes the shooting process easy. If you use this type of paintball marker, you won’t need any modifications to improve your performance. Moreover, some guns have the barrel positioned backward, which enhances their exterior design and helps you handle the marker properly.
Related Post: How Old Do You Have to Be to Play Paintball?
Receiver
The main body of the paintball marker to which all other parts are attached is called the receiver. It is the main structure of a paintball gun or marker that is made with lightweight metal like aluminum. All other parts like bolt-valve assembly, hammer, foregrip, main spring, and power tube are attached to it.
Grip Frame
The grip frame is the second biggest part of the paintball marker. It is even bigger in paintball guns or rifles. It houses various parts like trigger mechanisms, batteries, and electronic switches in the case of electronic paintball guns, LCD screens, hand grips, electronic circuits, etc. In the past, compressed air was brought to the air guns through external hoses and pipes. These pipes tend to snug and fail. Therefore in advanced paintball markers, they have been replaced with an integrated air route through the grip frame.
Trigger
You might know that a trigger is a significant part of a gun. Its quality and positioning play a prominent role in the performance of a marker. You can find a variety of paintball guns on the market with different advanced features. Some paintball markers contain an electronic trigger that increases the speed of a bullet leaving the gun.
Furthermore, these electronic triggers have various qualities, including micro-switches, infrared switches, and hall effect sensors. A micro-switch increases the durability of your gun’s trigger and helps to produce a big movement in a short time. A hall effect sensor plays a prominent role in detecting the presence of a magnetic field. Lastly, an infrared break-beam sensor helps in the detection of the motion.
In contrast, non-electronic triggers produce less movement with low speed than other triggers. Moreover, these triggers have manual parts, including springs and levers. Many professional paintball players prefer using guns with electronic triggers because they are more reliable and have advanced features to enhance performance.
Bolt And Valve
Blot and valve are the two crucial parts of a paintball marker. These parts control the firing function of the gun. A valve is a mechanical switch that is used to control the compressed air activity. Let’s take a look at the working of a bolt valve assembly in mechanical and electronic paintball markers.
Sear and hammer are two key parts of the bolt and valve assembly. In mechanical guns when you cock the gun, the bolt is pulled back and engaged by the sear. When you pull the trigger, the sear is tripped and it activates a spring. When the valve is sealed, compressed air can’t enter the firing chamber and the gun will not fire.
In order to fire, the valve should be set to release a specific volume of compressed air into the firing chamber. Blot also controls the movement of paintballs and compressed air through the gun. The spring forces the hammer to the power tube. This force opens the valve and the compressed air is released. This firing mechanism uses a blow-backs valve.
The firing mechanism in electronic markers is the same but it doesn’t involve a long and heavy trigger pull. In electronics markers, a solenoid is used to open the valve instead of the spring-hammer assembly. Electronic paintball markers use poppet valves or spool valves. Blot also controls the movement of paintballs and compressed air through the gun. Usually, there are two types of bolt mechanisms in paintball markers: open-bolt design and closed-bolt design.
Closed bolt markers work in a way that when the bolt and paintball to be fired are forwarded the feed stack is closed off from the chamber. In open bolt design, the firing chamber remains exposed to the feed stack that contains the paintballs. The open bolt assembly is quick but less accurate than the closed bolt design.
Feed Neck
Feed necks or hopper adapters attach to the bolt and valve assembly. The feed neck connects the paintball hopper with the receiver. It is a path through which paintballs load into the gun for firing. In advanced paintball guns, the feed necks are adjustable and therefore we call them hopper adapters. These adapters ensure a controlled loading of paintballs and protect the hopper from falling off during the game.
Ball Detent
It’s a small yet the most crucial part of the paintball marker. A ball detent is a spring that holds the ball in the breach and prevents it from slipping forward. In this way, it prevents another ball from trying to feed when the bone ball is already in the breach. This part minimizes the chances of jams and cracked balls.
Hopper
The paintball hopper is the detachable part of paintball guns. The function of a hopper in a paintball marker is the same as the function of a magazine in a real firearm. It holds multiple paintballs and loads them into the firing chamber of the marker. The capacity of the hooper varies depending on its size.
Air Tank
An air tank that contains C02, compressed air, or HPA externally attach to the paintball guns. These refillable tanks provide the main power source for firing in the mechanical paintball guns.
How Much Should I Spend On Good Paintball Markers?
Paintball markers are available in the market over a wide price spectrum. Literally, you can find a paintball marker as low as $70 and as high as $400. The wide price gap suggests the difference in quality and functionality of the premium grade and budget marker. Mechanical markers being old and simple are always on the lower side of the price spectrum. Electronic markers use advanced electronic circuits and even the simplest electronic paintball markers will cost you somewhere between $200-$250.
If you are buying a mechanical Marker $120- $150 is a safe price range. I won’t recommend anything under $100. Cheap paintball markers have limited functionality that seems okay for beginners but soon you will outgrow them. Also, budget markers compromise on quality. So a cheap gun can be even more expensive.
Wrapping Up – Good Paintball Markers
A paintball marker is a complex technical machine that made by assembling dozens of different parts together. These guns categorized into the main types depending upon the power source they use. However, all these types share the similar idea of firing paintballs through a bolt-valve assembly. If you want to spend a few hundred dollars on good paintball markers, you can rent them from a local paintball shop or paintball course for as low as $20 per day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Paintball markers are recreational weapons that are used to play paintball games. The markers use compressed air to propel the paintball through the barrel. In addition to recreational use, paintball guns are widely used in military and police training.
Paintball guns or paintball markers are the same describing the recreational air-powered weapons that are used to fire paintballs in paintball games. Paintball guns or markers feature an air-powered firing mechanism allowing the player to fire paintballs at one another.
Different types of paintball markers are pump markers, mechanical markers, and electronic markers. Pump markers are the oldest while electronic markers are the latest type of paintball markers.
You can find a high-quality mechanical paintball marker between $100-$150. If you are looking for an entry-level marker there are plenty of options available under $100. The simplest electronic markers will cost you somewhere between $220 to $250. You can also rent the paintball market for $10 to $20 per day.
In mechanical markers, the firing rate depends on how fast you can pull the trigger. On average mechanical paintball can shoot 5 to 6 balls per second. Electronic paintball guns can shoot 25 to 30 balls per second.
In his impressive career, John M. Anderson has played alongside the best players in the world and earned the respect of many top competitors. His skill, versatility, and timing have helped him become one of the top players in the paintball world. He is a true pro who will likely be remembered as one of the greatest players in the game’s history. His impact goes beyond the field as well. He has become a spokesperson for the sport, sharing interesting stories and facts from the past, and he also regularly contributes to this blog to help and guide new players in the world of paintball.