| One of the terms you may run into early on while | | | | hybrid blow back. Each type of action makes a |
| getting involved in the adrenaline pumping sport of | | | | paintball gun work very differently, so think about how |
| paintball is "paintball marker." So what is a paintball | | | | quickly you want your marker to shoot and how much |
| marker? To put it really simply, it's the paintball guns. | | | | work you want to do to make it fire. Obviously the |
| Many players refer to them as "markers" because the | | | | pump action is the slowest, while the other methods |
| paint balls the guns shoots "marks" the target. A | | | | offer better rates of fire. |
| paintball marker might also be called a paintball gun or | | | | The other factor to think about with paintball markers |
| just a paint gun. After the safety mask, which is | | | | is performance. Performance is one word that covers |
| always the most important piece of equipment, the | | | | many several factors including good rate of fire, |
| paintball marker is the next most important since there | | | | accuracy, range, durability, and reliability. Some cheap |
| can not be a game without it. | | | | paintball guns will perform like clockwork one day, but |
| The first paintball game was played in 1981 in Henniker, | | | | then not at all the next. This is why early homework is |
| New Hampshire. Nine players took part, and the sport | | | | important: to learn first hand the reputation one model |
| of paintball was born. The earliest models of paintball | | | | of paint marker has compared to another. |
| markers were uniform (after all, this was just the | | | | Buying the right paintball marker can be difficult. Do |
| beginning of the sport). Now there are literally hundreds | | | | your homework ahead of time, and don't rely on price |
| of choices between various makes and models of | | | | alone. There are higher priced paintball markers that |
| paintball markers. Some are very cheap, some are | | | | are extremely unpopular with players because of |
| extremely expensive. No one could have imagined the | | | | obvious deficiencies. A $500 paintball marker is not |
| huge variety in choices. | | | | always guaranteed to be bigger and better than a |
| One of the first decisions you'll want to make when | | | | cheaper $200 one. |
| using paintball markers is to decide what type of action | | | | Appearance is also a factor. Just because a gun |
| you want from your paintball marker. By action, this | | | | "looks cool" means that it is a good buy. Do your |
| refers to the way that an individual paintball marker | | | | research on paintball markers and buy the one that |
| fires. There are three types of actions that cover | | | | works for you and you'll be much happier than you |
| most of the cheaper and basic lines of paintball | | | | would have been otherwise. |
| markers: pump action, semi-automatic blow back, and | | | | |