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