Paintball

[DE727UPS]

I went for the first time last Sunday with about 30 people, mostly kids. It was really fun though I always was the first one to get shot. I was wearing four layers and never got shot at close range....so their was no pain involved. Some kids were only wearing two layers of t-shirts and I saw some pretty good welts....must have got shot close up.

So...now I want to buy some paintball equipment cause part of my property would be a good place for games and I think it would be a great draw for youth ministry stuff.

I hear Tippman makes the best guns. What can I expect to pay for six to eight guns with masks?

Anyone JCer's like to paintball?

 

[av8rmsu]

I love playing paintball. I don't have a gun or anything, but check on ebay. They have some great deals. Also check on the prices of pump guns...they aren't as good but are a lot cheaper and don't "waste" as much paint as the semi-automatics.

 

[WillNotFly4Food]

Tippmann is a good place to start. I had a Tippmann for a while (link) until I left it at the shop and never saw it again... little bast#@ds!

They can get to be pretty expensive when you start to add things up. The gun, hopper, c02 tank, mask... make sure to buy a good squeegee so you can clean the barrel out after a ball explodes before exiting (if that happens a lot you have cheap balls or have your c02 cranked up) heh, I said balls!

Autococker, Automag, Spyder all make guns and you can spend $150 - ungodly on one, kind of like headsets.

It's fun, and safety first!

p.s. 4 layers of clothes!?!? Play like you surf JC, butt ace naked. Whole new meaning to the term "blue balls".

 

[pilot602]

I used to play pretty regularly but I'm not much into "tourney" style play. I much prefer trees and woods and creeks to run around in and that kind of terrain doesnt exist in the desert.

Tippman makes good, solid guns. The Tippman '98 is a nice solid entry level semi-automatic , blowback (part of the CO2, or Hydrogen is used to blow the bolt back for recocking purposes. A blow forward uses all the gas to propel the bolt/ball forward and a spring returns the bolt for further firing) paintball gun.

You can also find plenty of "Spyder" derrivatives out there and I actually just ran across a couple of them for as low as $70 bucks a piece. They are a solid design but really don't come into their own until you customize them. But for occasional play you wouldn't do too bad with a Spyder. You can pick up combo packs with masks for probably near the $100 mark.

But for a decent entry-level gun, mask and tank (small one 10oz or so) and hopper you're probably looking at the $140 mark. Which considering I paid $300 for the same "level gun and accessories not three years ago the prices have come down andthe quality has gone up.

I have an Automag as my primary (semi-auto, blowforward no exposed moving parts) and I'll be switching out the core to the new X core here if I ever get aroundto playing again.

Full auto guns have come WAY down in price as well. You can pck up a ful-auto (electric) Spyder derivative for like $150-200. Not three years ago An Autococker could easily runn up to $1,000 one it was fitted.

If you have any specific question drop me a pm.

 

[Tommay85]

Oh yeah, painballing rocks.

I have a tippman 98 with the flat line barrel. That thing rocks. Im the sniper on my team. This only works out doors though. In close quarters I am screwed, my gun is to long to be wiping around trying to shoot someone within three feet.

I like shooting from a distance. I dont know of any other gun that is more accurate than the Tippman 98 with a flatline.

Flat line.

 

[davetheflyer]

I used to play a lot before I started working most weekends.

We had pickup games in local woods and farms. It was really cool to play in and around old barns and farm buildings. I've never played on a dedicated field.

I had a used pump gun which I paid about $70 for. I finally stopped playing when I started working on weekends and too many players started buying automatics. Everyone really needs to be similarly armed to have a good game.

I've seen cheap pump guns at Wal-mart for around $25.

 

[John_Jones]

Paintball is something I also do occasionally. In the past me and my brother chris went out to the mud fields and just shoot each other...Trying to act like the big men that we werent (I was 13 and he was 7 and it continued untill his death) wearing only on layer and having some big @$$ welts on our skin. I played a lot around my old town (Lafayette, LA) but I found its just not very popular around the Corpus Christi area.

 

[turbojet28]

Hey DE727UPS,

Im glad to hear that you enjoyed paintball! Being 16, I have played quite a bit of paintball. I used to play in tourneys, but now just play quite a bit in the woods on a speedball course that me and my buddies constructed.

I would agree that the Tippmann 98 Custom is a great gun. It has a few setbacks, however. Out of all the guns I have played with, it is the most bulky (especially if you decide to modify up to a 12 to 14 inch barrel). Other than that, great gun at a great price, for the most part.

My most recent gun has been a Spyder Compact. I would recommend getting Spyders. Out of all the guns that I have played with, they seem to be the most consistant and also the most easy to upgrade, all at a fairly cheap price.

That being said, I would also recommend upgrading barrels (if you have the means to drop on it). Any gun that you buy will PROBABLY have a less than accurate barrel. Getting a new barrel is by far one of the best things you can buy in paintball. I would recommend the J&J Ceramic (which you could probably get for like 45 bucks) in the 14 inch version. It is the cheapest barrel for it's performance, IMHO. Mine is dead accurate (even more than all the other $100+ category barrels I have used) and is also very quiet.

The next thing I would get is an expansion chamber (a chamber that allows the liquid CO2 to expand into a gas form before it enters the gun). This will help the gun shoot at a more consistant speed and help when it is more humid/colder out.

To recap, I would recommend Spyder (made by Kingman) guns and an upgrade on barrels and to also get an expansion chamber, all to make your play more enjoyable (and competitive if applicable)! This of course is just my .02. Paintball is a great sport to help you stay in shape and also to help build teamwork and commradery.

--TurboJet28--

ps. Can you tell what my main hobby was before flying?? lol