Paintball Guns

Paintball games can be played anywhere local firearm laws permit, but they cannot be played without the paintball gun. There are five types of paintball guns that can be used for shooting:

Semi-automatic
Pump
Electronic
Pistol
Stock

To choose the best paintball gun, consider type of use, frequency of use, your knowledge of paintball guns, maintenance required, and budget.

Semi-automatic Paintball Gun

Most players use this type of gun. A semi-automatic gun’s shooting speed is only limited by how fast you can pull the trigger. The more expensive guns have a very sensitive trigger. Some so sensitive that just touching the trigger will cause it to shoot. A "heavy" trigger is one that you have to pull much harder. For many it is worth the added expense for more sensitive trigger with the shortest pull to have the fastest shooting speed possible.

Pump Paintball Gun

For shooters with a small budget, this type of gun is preferred. Pump paintball guns are at among the more affordable of paintball guns types. Pumps do have their advantages. With this type of gun, the paintball is “pumped” into the chamber before shooting. It is different from pellet guns where air is pumped into the gun to be able to shoot it. The pumping action is similar to a shotgun; the paintball is pumped into the chamber. Some of the advantages of a pump paintball gun:

Shoots more accurately
Shoots further than most any other gun
Shooters use a lot less paint

Some pumps even have a trigger that can be held down and just pumped to shoot. This is called a constant trigger. With a constant trigger with pump paintball guns, a skilled shooter can shoot just as fast as some semi-automatics.

Electronic Paintball Gun

Also known as electronic markers, these are the top dogs out on the field. Electronic paintball guns have the following features:

Different fire modes that are controlled by a computer chip and are easily cycled through.
Adjustable shoot busts. This meaning that the trigger is pulled once and the gun will shoot 2-3 or even more balls each time.
Fully automatic mode is available on some models. This means the gun will continue firing as long as the trigger is held down.

Regular games may and competitions may not allow use of all the modes due to it giving the electronic paintball gun user and unfair advantage.

Pistol Paintball Gun

These guns are small and conveniently fit in your pocket. They get their power from a twelve-gram CO2 cartridge. They normally hold about ten shoots. Out on the field this can slow a paintball player down because of the constant need to reload. While playing a paintball game, a pistol can come in handy as a back-up gun on the paintball field. They are fun to draw and shoot

Stock Paintball Gun

Commonly are seen only in stock only games. Two types of players enjoy a stock class gun for regular paintball games:

Old school paintball shooters
Players looking for a challenge

Due to the number of rounds that they can hold, often players with a stock gun are out-gunned by other types of paintball guns. One of the things that slow down the shooting is that the feed tube can only hold 10 balls, and must be parallel to the breech. To load the paintball, the gun must be tilted to load (rock and cock). A single 12-gram CO2 powerlet powers the stock class paintball gun. It is held in place by a knob or housing that has to be completely removed to change the 12-gram powerlet. This can be inconvenient out on the field. A regular paintball pump gun can be modified to stock specifications. Once this is done, it can be used in the modified stock class. Stock paintball guns use less paintballs. When playing paintball games with a stock paintball gun, more skill is needed so that every shot counts.