PAINTBALL MARKERS

[338FAN]

I have recently found a new hobby. paintballin is a blast. it is also some good training for hunting season.(sneaking through the woods trying to snipe my buddies). they really don't hurt that much but can leave some really cool bruses. i have a tippman 98 custom. well worth the extra money over the base guns. i am thinking about putting a better sight on it and i don't know if i want to put an old cheap scope i have on it or put a hollow sight (red dot) like a competition pistol shooter. i don't know how carried away i want to get. any recommendations would be appreciated.

[elmbow]

I have a Spyder Shutter I've been using for about four years now. I put an aftermarket barrel on it and I have been pleased with it. I quit paintballing with the group I used to, they all have etriggers, motor feed yada yada, took all the fun out of it for me. Mostly I use mine for dissueding the local wildlife from using my yard for their toilet. There is no better tool IMO and it's fun as h*** to send tham scedaddling on home to mom and dad with paint all over 'em. I used to think cats was pretty stupid but they learn real quick to walk across the street from my house. tee hee. As for what to buy, only you can determine how much to spend on your toy. I don't think optics are useful on a paint marker. Shots are always multiple strings, you're not a sniper, You can walk in any shot in a split second with the firepower they offer and the paintballs themselves just aren't accurate enough to hit where your crosshairs are.

[338FAN]

thank you elmbow, for the input. i am not sure yet as to what i am going to do. i do want to keep it a hobby. i kinda doubt that a scope will work but i am looking at a red dot lazor pointer like you would put on a home protection pistol. not sure yet we will see what the budget allows. also how much did your accuracy improve with the aftermarket barrel. and also in typical kifaru fasion is there any way you recommed to shave weight.

[elmbow]

My accuracy went from about 8" to 4" at 30-35 yards. Buy the best quality balls, they shoot farther better and don't break nearly as much. Want to keep it light? Don't add all the doo dads. So much depends on what you're going to do with it. If you get into serious competition you'll want compressed air instead of CO2 which jacks the price of bottles substantially. You'll want remote tanks, speed loaders, e triggers and motorized hoopers. All those things make it a serious investment and add a lot of weight. If you just want to shoot stray cats and plink once in a while, a basic hopper and semi auto with maybe a $40 barrel are all you'll need. The Tippman 98 is a tried and true. The A5 is the top of the line customizable gun on the market these days. A good friend of mine here locally is a 19th SFG soldier and he is partners in an online business based here in SLC http://www.specialopspaintball.com/index.asp
They specialize in paintballing gear and I recommend them as a shopping source. They work with some of the law enforcement agencies in scenario training and he recently got back from some huge WWII paintball re-enactment in the midwest. Obviously, he eats up that spec ops crap. If you call them , his name is John and he'll give you good info. I'd rather be sneaking in the woods with my bow. As an aside, we just lost one of our Southern Utah Artillery boys to an IED in Iraq and a couple others lost limbs. Wish they'd get rid of those damn Humvees and put some armored vehicles on the ground over there! Shinseki with his beret and his light army concept can go to H***!

[axisofignorance]

sights have very limited use in paintball as the trajectory is not very flat.Most experienced players just shoot first and walk the rounds in.Most of my team doesnt use sights and we use stock guns.With practice you can become very good at point shooting much like with a shotgun.

Telescopic sights are useless as you will never really be shooting beyond 25 yards.Aquisition is also very slow.Lazer pointers have weak visibility during the day and if anyones used one in a real paintball game youd find them next to worthless.

Red dot sights are nice but most worth their weight are expensive and fragile.Ive shot out a few players lenses.In paintball THE best sight is no doubt the armson prodot.It can be used with center feed guns, its durable enough to take direct hits and plenty fast.DIfferent sights come and go but the only one that seems to work well in the long run is the pro dot.

Jack Wine
team blowfish
Jack@blowfishpaintball.com