I took my 12-yr old stepson out to the paintball field on Sunday. He generally likes indoor stuff (watching tv, playing video games, etc.) and I was happy that he was interested. He had fun, but I had even more. I had previously been out maybe 7 years ago or so, and it wasn't as much fun back then. I don't know what changed, maybe I played enough Gears of War to learn how to use cover more effectively. Or maybe the rental gun that I was using this time was a lot more accurate than the cheapo I had purchased previously (and which was subsequently broken by someone who borrowed it).

Most of the people there were beginners but there were a few dudes that really rocked. One of them used a pump-action gun (so not semi-auto like all the rest). He was extremely accurate and used so little paint, probably not more than 20-30 rounds per game. I saw him headshot 3 people in a row.

Anyway, does anyone here paintball regularly? I want to buy a gun/marker now but I'll probably go rent at least one more time to make sure I really want to continue before I drop a bunch of cash on gear.

Does anyone know good websites for gun/marker reviews and for purchase online? I stopped by our one local store that sells paintball junk (along with every other sport) and nobody working there really knew anything about the gear they were selling.

calling darkjedibob

yo

[edit] was on the phone, couldn't type this out:

Rental guns do make all the difference in the world. I worked at a field for a while, we had several types ranging from the Piranha to the "cat" series (Thundercat, Shadowcat, and a couple more), and you learned which ones to avoid.

I love the guys that play pumps. Last time I was out we had 2-3 on each team, the field owner lets them shoot a little faster because they're single shots, but they'll go out with shotgun belts for the 10-round tubes. I've got another friend who has a semi-auto, but with a dot-sight and uses the 10-round tubes instead of a hopper.

I prefer to play woodsball, so I play in BDUs, crawling the bushes and the like. If that's your thing, you'll like Special Ops Paintball. My next setup (once I get a job again) will be a Tippmann X7 and other goodies from there (or at least what I can't get local). The other sites I used to use (lens replacements, etc) shut down, and I haven't needed to find someplace else yet.

I currently shoot an older Spyder model, and that's done very well by me. Lower-end, but still does well enough even when playing against the guys with Angels and Autocockers. If you want a more "traditional" style paintball marker but don't want to shell out the big bucks, you might want to look in that direction, although I can't tell you much about their current offerings.

I want to do it again after my stag activities. But not in a dress this time.

Post paintball knowledge!

Might not be a bad way to demoralize your opponents.

If you wear a dress everybody shoots you in the arse.

I used to play paintball a lot, but it lost it's flavor (read: too expensive). I've got two Tippman A5's with Flatline barrels hanging around somewhere, PM me if you're interested. They'll be cheap. Not too pretty on the outside, but man, they'll leave a nice fat welt on whoever gets in the way.

Steven - what's the range on those things before the wind catches the balls? I was getting about 20 yards in Seaham.

If there's little or no wind, a standard A5 will get about 40 yards. The Flatline adds an extra 40 yards of flat trajectory. You have to use quality paint, though, not the cheapo mixed boxes. And it takes a bit of tuning the pressure system to get the velocities right. You have to monkey with it a bit, but it's worth the trouble.

[Edit: A fair review. Also, no batteries. I hate electric guns. The A5 is not as fast or pretty as an electro-pneumatic system, but it's more reliable and sounds oh-so-scary.]

see my edit

Thanks. The field I played at had 2 types of fields, two were similar to speedball or whatever fields except instead of having blow-up bunkers they were all built in. But they are small fields with a lot of cover and relatively small games (~5 people per team). Then they have a single large forest field which I only got to play on once, and it was a lot of fun. I think there were ~10-12 people per team in that game. I liked it because it was easier to hide and shoot people because they didn't even know I was there. I probably hit more than half their team in that game (first few minutes had resurrection so I got to shoot some of the same people again, that was fun).

I really want an accurate gun. I don't care how fast it shoots really, even ~5 shots per second will do. I tend to shoot in 2-3 round bursts anyway. When I first played years ago, we went through so much paint because I would just lay it down, but this time I was more conservative and I had more fun (and it was easier on my wallet). We used ~1300 paintballs between the two of us for the whole day (well... 3.5 hours of play I guess).

That's more or less how I play, I'll use around 1000 rounds a day, makes splitting the case easier. I'll do one shot for windage and accuracy check, then double-tap the target if that first round didn't hit. If accuracy and distance is what you're really looking for, then as Steven mentioned a flatline is more or less the way to go. I would suggest anything in the Tippmann line for that, and they are one of the go-to brands for playing in the woods anyway.

For balls per second, the markers these days are normally limited by the feed system. 18 bps is what I typically see, so that shouldn't be an issue for double/triple-taps.

wow brian you seem like a really cool step parent
most step parents seem to be interested in they're own children/wife or husband in the marriage

Get a 98Custom.
I've owned dozens of guns, shot even more.
The ONLY gun I've NEVER had issues with, that worked 100% of the time was this gun.

Get an HPA tank for it. If you worry at all about your "accuracy" HPA is the first step.
Paint and barrel match is key to accuracy. If you play at a field with field paint, test the paint you think you'll buy the most to a barrel. Put a ball in the barrel and blow on it. It shouldnt roll out and it shouldn't be too hard to blow out.

Don't listen to flatline=accuracy.
Flatline shoots FAR. NOT accurate.

I guess the one I shot must have been broken.

Regardless ... The point is ... you don't need the flatline. It's ridiculous.

I've shot just as good groups with my Tippmann and $40 barrel than with my $1200 guns and barrel kits.

The Flatline, unfortunately, is somewhat picky in the paint it likes, as you mentioned. It also has a very specific optimal pressure range. Unlike most markers, to get better distance out of a Flatline, upon initial install, the air pressure must be turned way down. Most people put the barrel in and go shoot without adjusting the pressure, or worse, they turn it up. It actually works out great with the pressure lowered. Of course, temperature makes a difference, as does the paint being used. It takes a little while to come up with a good combination, but when it does get there, it's a great choice for woods players.

Why differentiate woods from other types?

Speedball, seems more a matter of "who can throw the most paint in the shortest amount of time" and lacks subtlety and tactics. The Tippmann isn't remarkably fast compared with newer electrics. so it's not the best choice for speedball, but it gets the job done. It's better for woods, where there are ambushes, long range fights, and teamwork.

It's like the difference between a submachine gun and a heavy machine gun. Sure, both can shoot a guy, but one is a better choice in tighter quarters.

Hrm, ok. I don't think anyone I played with on Sunday had anything that was ultra-fast. If they did, I certainly didn't notice it. I'm not too worried about the balls-per-second, more about accuracy.

I'd stick with woodsball.
Speedball has turned into an elitist society where the better cheater wins. Or the person with more money to waste on paint.

I used to be big into the tourny scene and won quite a few .. but then I just got so sick of all the BS I quit. I've played a few big rec ball games here and there, and had way more fun than any tournament.
Playing Skirmish D-Day was freaking awesome. Thousands of people playing paintball at once? Hell yes.

Brian, where you from? If you live near Penn. I highely suggest you check out D-Day if you want to have a fun weekend. Get a friend that has a camper if you don't have your own. Good times.

Yeah, speedball turns into "let's throw a constant stream of paint", and usually involves a reload or two on the field. I have a pack that can hold another 4 loaders, but I don't like using it.

Well it's always been that.
I don't go on a speed ball field without my 4 pack of pods.
I played front. I'd rush the 50 if the team sucked and grab the flag for the first touch points. If not that, I'd usually make it to a snake or some other laydown in the 40 area.
I was always running a Automag of some sort .. so I either had the electro emag or a RT going so it was always easy to rip.

But what I'm talking about is people stopped being honest. They'd wipe hits constantly. They'd slide into runs covering up a hit they got from moving from point a to b. They would had modded electros to fire faster. stuff like that.

We've never had a problem with that at my local fields, mostly recball players. We also didn't play gun hits.

Lucky.
Well part of my falling out with Tourney ball was the collapse of MRPL (Maine Recreational Paintball League). Long story short, awesome paintball league. The guy that ran it died. After that cheating went rampant around here. Was cool, we'd get some pro players out here for the 5 series summer event every year. Bea Young liked my teams Jersey and we gave her one (Her fav colours, black and yellow) She was also DJing. Our captain totally bunkered her in a pick up game after the tourney too, that was fun.

Good place online to buy things like jerseys and such? The one linked earlier seems to have retail prices...

Do you want custom jerseys? Or standard '09 (brand name) jerseys?

I never wore a jersey unless it was required by the organization. I played many tournaments in Khakis and an Hawaiian T-shirt. (it was me MO) Jerseys are really lame IMO.

I'd say invest in a pair of good pants before any jersey ... they help you out way more.

Yeah, especially if you're planning on playing mostly woodsball. I don't know about where you're at, but here we've got some nasty prickly bushes all over our main woods/trench field. Wore my light BDUs once... yeah, I wear only the heavy set now. Thicker pants will also do better when yo're crawling or sliding.

Also, this is up to personal preference, but I also play with hard-backed cutoff gloves. I've taken hand/knuckle shots before, and they rank right up there with unprotected forehead and nut shots.

People wear jerseys for paintball

I wore a medium-weight green flannel and I was baking. I want something lighter. The jerseys are a lighter material with some extra padding around the elbows. Years ago I wore my BDUs from the AF but they no longer fit...........

They have team jerseys and stuff but that's not really what I'm looking for, I don't want names/numbers or anything on it. I saw some guys wearing some camo ones.

Yep, I need to grab some pants for sure.

I was wearing some craftsman mechanics gloves. I was hit three times in the hand/fingers and was glad I had them. A bit more padding on the outside would be nice, but no more on the fingers.

http://shop.specialopspaintball.com/special-ops-fusion-battle-jersey-3xl.html

Something like this, but they don't have my size. I'll look around.

I've been paintballing for about 5-6 years now. I own three markers, the latest being an 06 Angel Speed. I'm not much of a rec ball player (i.e. large fields with bunkers made of random objects, trees, etc.), I'm more of a speedball player (sup air mostly). I haven't been in a few months, particularly since paint got so damn expensive recently. Also, it's summer in Arizona. It's way too damn hot for that.

I recommend Paintball Gear for any online purchases. PB Review is a good resource for reviews on equipment and fields. Of course people wear jerseys!



This. You will thank yourself later.

Here's some shots of me playing recently on sup air. Ignore the hit on my hopper.

http://web.archive.org/web/20031207090427/netrauma.com/splash.html

Speaking of PB pics, here's my old page, it's been long murdered, further more than just being on archive.org (people edited it long after I was gone from the team)

teammate grabing the flag

on the break