The Autococker: The Evolution of a Paintball Legend

David Wilson asked:


Yes, the venerable Autococker. In the world of paintball, few other guns have the same level of legacy that the Autococker has. As a marker, it has spanned all eras of paintball history. Starting out as a pump gun in the form of the Sniper, and evolving all the way up to a a high end, tournament grade gun with todays high precision electronic versions. In this article, I will outline the basic steps on how this transformation occurred, and how it has changed the game of paintball.

In the beginning, there were pump guns. One of the most well respect of these pump guns was Bud Orr’s Sniper. With it solid, robust design, the Sniper proved to be a force to be reckoned with. Even in the pump gun days, the Sniper developed a reputation for accuracy and reliability.

Of course, the era of pump guns didn’t last forever. With the advent of semi automatic paintball guns such as the VM-68 and the Automag, it was clear that the days of pump guns in the mainstream of paintball were numbered. Bud Orr, ever inventive, set to tinkering. Since he already had a solid design with his Sniper, he set out to convert the design to a semi automatic.

To accomplish this, Orr devised an ingenious pneumatic system that would automatically actuate the pump on the Sniper when the trigger was pulled. It was this system that gives the Autococker its name, as it is simply an automatically pumped pump gun. Orr refined his design, and put it into production.

When the Autococker was first released, it quickly developed a reputation for being unreliable. This was due mainly to the complexity of the pneumatic system, which required a skill mechanic to set up properly. Also, many of the stock parts weren’t of extremely high quality, leading them to be replaced by aftermarket pieces. However, all this made the Autococker amazingly popular with tinkers, who took the gun as a platform for their own custom creations.

It was the aftermarket that really helped the Autococker take off. After a few modifications were made, the Autococker became a fast, accurate, and decently reliable paintball gun.

This helped it pick up momentum among paintball enthusiasts. Worr Games noted this popularity, and quickly began to improve the quality of the stock Autococker, which helped boost the guns popularity among recreational players. The Autococker had secured its niche in the paintball world.

However, things were changing in the paintball world. With guns such as the Angel, it became clear that electronic markers offered a serious speed advantage to serious players. The Autococker was slow in comparison, and began to loose ground among professional players. Of course, the tinkers weren’t unauware of this problem, and began to create electronic triggering systems for the Autococker. At first, these systems were plagued by ball chopping problems, but with the advent of electronic anti chop eyes and high speed loader systems, these problems were quickly solved. Electronic Autocockers became a common site in the professional circuit.

As time went on, simpler electronic markers began to dominate in many areas. However, the Autococker is still used by many who enjoy its unique feel, sound, and limitless configurability. It should be interesting to see what the future holds for this venerable marker.



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Paintball Pistols: Pros and Cons

kevin asked:


 

Paintball pistols are small pocket paintball guns loosely resembling pistols. They are either pump action or semi-automatic firing.They are usually .68 caliber and powered by a 12 gram co2 power let or cartridge. They are most successfully used as a sidearm or back-up gun to complement a main weapon of choice. There are pros and cons to carrying paintball pistols as compared to standard paintball guns.

PROS

Paintball pistols are extremely light and portable. They are very useful in woodsball because they are compact and can be kept in a pocket, harness or holster.

They are highly manoeuvrable enabling you to move around corners and across the field more easily. They are useful for those tight spots on the field that require quick responses and the ability to shoot fast and hit hard.

Pistol markers are ideal for bunker assaults and quick hit and run or intimidatory tactics. They make the perfect sidearm in a last resort situation.

Most paintball pistols are quick and easy to reload; Some take literally seconds to drop and reload a new magazine. This makes for much swifter action on the field. They are highly upgradeable and easy to disassemble and clean.

CONS

Because of their shorter barrels, paintball pistols lack the accuracy of a good rifle. Most pistols perform best within a 25-50 meter range. If you need to shoot further, a longer barreled gun is a better option. Shorter barrels give paintballs less time to stabilize before leaving the gun, which results in less accuracy over a greater distance.

Pistols have a smaller ammunition capacity than standard paintball guns. This leaves the player at a severe disadvantage against an opponent.

Paintball pistols have a smaller air capacity and are not as powerful as the longer barreled markers. They are usually powered by a 12 gram co2 cartridge. Depending on the weather conditions and how the pistol is chrono’d, you can only expect around 30 shots from one cartridge. This, again, puts you at a disadvantage against a player with a more powerful weapon.

Paintball pistols have their place in the game. They are light weight, easy to handle, highly manoeuvrable and quick loading. They are particularly handy in scenario ball or woodsball as an efficient sidearm. You must, however, be aware of their limitations and not expect the same performance from them as you would from a standard paintball marker.

Hawksbill Paintball Hawksbill Sports was established by players, for players. Our goal is to give you the products you need to enjoy the sport of paintball. We have low prices and fast shipping and promise the best customer service you can find anywhere. for more information about paintball gun, pistols and other accessories, go to Paintball pistols

 



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Paintball Guns

Jason Smith asked:


Paintball guns are the primary equipment in paintball game. This is also called paintball marker and they generally use compressed air or carbon dioxide to release paintballs through the barrel. Most of the paintball guns have 4 main parts that includes the body, gas system, hopper and barrel. All these come in a package, you may also buy separate. Paintball guns are usually known as paintball marker as people often think it as a deadly sport.

Description of the Paintball guns:

Most of the paintball guns have a body made of aluminum as this metal significantly lowers the weight of the marker. The body comprises of all the main parts essential for firing, like trigger frame, loaders, valve and bolt.

Trigger frames – are an integral feature of these paintball guns. One can achieve high firing rates depending on the force required to fire from the marker and also the space the trigger moves before the action takes place. Electronic trigger frames are expensive and have different advantages like sensing abilities. It affects the rate of firing and records a very high rate. There are also non-electric guns that use mechanical trigger frame and uses a number of levers and springs.

Valve and bolt – this combination assists to fire the gun or marker. The valve and the bolt control firing and direct airflow allowing the paintballs enter the chamber.

Hoppers or loaders:

These are responsible to hold paintballs before they are fired from the gun. These are several types – force feed, agitating, gravity speed and stick feed. The first three are quite popular and stick feeds are generally used for pump paintball guns. Gravity feed is cheaper and also simpler form of hopper. Agitating feeds use propeller that spins inside the container and agitate the paintballs. Stick feeds are positioned parallel to the barrel and in order to load the next paintball, the marker ahs to be tipped.

Propellers:

The tank consists of carbon dioxide or compressed gas that dismisses the paintballs through the barrel. Carbon dioxide is mostly used in cheap paintball guns. Whereas, compressed air is stored in tanks under high pressure, so it is suitable for expensive markers.

Barrels:

Barrels control the airflow and direct the paintballs out of it. These are generally in three types of configuration – one-piece, two-piece, and three- piece. Barrels are mostly 21 inches long but you can also get custom made barrels of 48 inches as well. These longer barrels are quieter than the shorter ones as they let extra gas pass out slowly. The interior diameter of the barrel is called a bore and it should match the paint otherwise it will give incorrect results.

Trigger mode:

There are different types of triggering modes available, some are pump action markers and some fully automatic. Pump paintball guns are like pump action shotguns that need to be manually re-cocked after every shot. This is a slower version among all the paintball guns and often players choose it for effective shots. It can fire in extremely steady rate if adapted properly. Semi-automatic trigger versions are also equally common for different purposes.



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What You Need to Know About Paintball Guns

Michael Contaro asked:


Paintball is becoming one of the most loved hobbies today. With exciting game play and awesome equipment options, paintball sure is a hobby that should be explored.

The heart of a paintball game is the paintball gun. Without the gun, the game play of paintball would be rather boring. Paintball guns are filled with paint (what else) and uses a gas which expands rapidly (like carbon dioxide) to propel the paint balls into the target. The air can propel a ball through the air at approximately 300 feet per second. This is the appropriate speed for a paint ball so as to make it break when it comes in contact with a target and to avoid tissue damage upon contact.

There are several components that comprise the paintball gun. These are:

a) Body b) Barrel c) hopper d) tank

There are many different customizations that one can do with his paintball gun. A person can choose from a variety of guns with different specifications and features. There are paintball guns out there that have a firing system which is electro-pneumatic, which means that the firing system is electronically controlled. There are also sear trippers which utilizes a hammer which slams into the valve containing the bullet which propels it into target. There are also paint guns out there which utilize the power of the gas to propel the ball into the air.

When it comes to the barrels of paintball guns, they usually come in 12, 16, 18 or 20 inches. There are also people out there who were able to order customized paintball gun barrels which can reach up to 40 inches! People opt to have longer barrels because these barrels make less noise than the shorter ones because they limit the escape of excess gas.

However, there’s no difference in terms of accuracy or noise reduction qualities when it comes to comparing a 16-inch barrel to a 40-inch barrel. The problem with very long barrels is that it can slow a player down quite significantly.

Paintball guns also come in different firing modes. Some paintball guns have pump action, but this type of gun is not for the player who seeks speed because it requires manual cocking. However, it is a good gun have when learning the basics of paintball because it focuses on skills and not on fire power. There are also semi-automatic paintball guns in the market. It reloads a new paintball whenever the trigger is pulled. The fully automatic paintball guns give a lot of fire power. These guns will reload and fire automatic rounds as long as the trigger is pulled.

Here are some tips on how to choose a paintball gun:

1. Know your budget

As with any other hobby, one must define his budget for buying a paintball gun. The guns in the market can cost from a hundred dollars to less than a thousand. Guns which are semi-automatic and fully automatic ones use more gas than the manually reloaded ones. These factors should all be considered when defining one’s budget.

2. Be practical

If it’s possible for a player to play with a borrowed gun, he might as well do that and rethink about buying a brand new one.

3. Shop for second-hand guns

Another option is to buy a second-hand paintball gun. These guns are usually good enough to play decently without digging a deep hole in one’s pockets.

4. Ask the best buy

If one is too enthusiastic about getting a brand new gun, he should consult his buddies regarding what gun gives quality performance at a reasonable price.

These are some simple tips which can be overlooked sometimes. Remember that paintball is just a hobby, a great one if I may say but it’s not something that should waste one’s money away. Be wise and have fun.



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Airsoft Vs. Paintball

Justin Kander asked:


Airsoft and paintball are pretty similar sports, and they can be played exactly the same way. There are a few key differences, such as that airsoft is used more in military and law enforcement reenactments than paintball. In this sense, gameplay can differ, but people use paintball guns for reenactments as well (just not as often). If you look at the big picture, the games aren’t that different, but sometimes strategy and tactics must be changed depending on the specs of your and your opponent’s gun.

The guns used in airsoft and paintball differ greatly. Paintball guns have a hopper that you pour paintballs into, while airsoft guns use clips. Therefore, loading and unloading is usually easier in airsoft, as is carrying around extra clips. In paintball, you need to have a vest or belt to put large cylinders of paintballs into. That doesn’t mean that airsoft has paintball trumped in this category. Paintball guns can usually carry more ammo than an airsoft gun, and you can still reload relatively quickly.

Ammunition; paintballs in paintball, 6mm BBs in airsoft. This is an important thing to consider. In a forest, there are many tiny branches that can break paintballs, thus stopping them from reaching their target. You have to find a very open area without any obstructions. Airsoft pellets are very small and the likelihood of them hitting tiny obstacles is miniscule. Also, in many cases they can be more accurate than paintballs, so it may not take as much time for a game to end as it might with paintball. The speed, in FPS, of airsoft is also usually higher (between 300fps and 400fps). It can be as low as 120fps, but that isn’t very efficient in an airsoft game. Paintballs can also be dodged; it doesn’t happen often, but if you see one coming toward you in advance it is easy to move out of the way. Airsoft pellets are too small to see at a high-speed, and dodging is basically out of the question. Therefore, overall, in the case of ammunition, airsoft has the advantage.

The next item on the list is maneuverability. Airsoft guns are definitely easy to hold and run with, while with paintball there are big and bulky external CO­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­2 and N2 (or compressed air) containers. Also, the hopper can sometimes get in the way. One gets used to how paintball guns are made, but shooting an airsoft gun is, well, somewhat of a relief. Some people have made advanced apparatuses where CO­2 is on their backs, and a tube from the paintball gun coils around into the tank on their back. I personally saw a man with two paintball guns, each with two tubes extending from the guns to the back-CO2 tanks. It was pretty cool. Anyways, it is clear that airsoft beats paintball in maneuverability.

Another important thing is maintenance. Paintball guns you do need to oil, clean, and of course refill CO2­ (depending on how much you play, frequently). If you have a gas airsoft gun, that will also needed to be refilled, but electric and spring airsoft guns require no gas at all. Both kinds of guns can break if not properly maintained. Paintball guns need the barrel regularly cleaned, although that is relatively simple. Most of the time, paintball guns have more parts than airsoft guns, and they may be more costly to repair, but crucial problems rarely occur in either gun type.

The thing about airsoft is people can cheat very easily. In paintball, the ball explodes and the paint is very visible on the person. Sure, one could wipe off the paint, but people rarely risk it because if they are caught, well, they are in trouble. However, somebody can get hit in airsoft and just shake it off. If there are two very competitive people playing, and they keep getting hit, one or the other can’t really prove it, unless they are close enough up to see the pellet hit the person. Airsoft relies on the honesty system, and sometimes that isn’t enough. 6mm paintballs are always an option, but they can break in the barrel, and that causes problems.

The superior product really is a matter of opinion, as there is no clear-cut winner. Each type of gun has its own advantages and disadvantages. Usually, if you start with paintball, you’ll stick with paintball, and likewise with airsoft.



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Practical Guide To Buying Paintball Guns?

Tim Hoss asked:


You have made up your mind. It is time to buy a paintball gun. You begin your research and quickly find out there are so many choices and features. What does it all mean and what should you buy? This article will help narrow the choices.

The first thing we usually ask people is where are you going to play? Will you be playing on an organized field or will you be playing around your own land or a friends land in the woods? The answer to this question will guide you to certain models of guns due to the air supply. If you are going to play at an organized field, they will have resources for compressed air or CO2. The type of air you have access to, will lead you to choosing an applicable gun.

If your paintball gun choice is limited to using CO2 tanks, then you should stick with paintball guns that are happy using CO2. Care must be taken to choose paintball guns that are made to run on CO2. CO2 is a liquid gas and is damaging to paintball guns or paintball markers that are not made to handle the liquid. You could buy an expensive paintball gun and damage it beyond repair with just a few uses. We recommend sticking with good quality name brand paintball markers that are designed to run on CO2.

There are many models of CO2 paintball guns. The main brand names are Spyder, Smart Parts and Tippmann paintball guns. You can choose electronic or non-electronic. Popular models of paintball guns are the Spyder Victor, Xtra, Sonic, Pilot, Electra, VS1, VS2, Smart Parts Vibe.

CO2 paintball guns with a military look are the Spyder MR1 and MR2. Smart Parts has the SP1 model designed to run on CO2 and a military scenario look. New releases from Tippmann are the Tippmann Alpha Black Series. These paintball guns are packed with features at competitive prices. Tippmann also has its more rugged and upgradeable Platinum Series Custom 98, A5 and X7 paintball guns. They are all great brand names backed with good warranties.

We left the compressed air paintball guns until now because generally the compressed air markers are a little more expensive to a lot more expensive. Paintball guns range from the low $150′s to close to $2000.00. This is often where the range and choices on the market confuse everyone. Simply stated, at this point it is about features, price points and you get what you pay for. You really have to determine what it is that you are looking for. Are you a recreational player, or are you playing competitively? There are several main features and so we will briefly explain some of these popular features.

One of the main features on the market is if a gun is electronic or not. Electronic guns have modes that allow you to set the marker firing modes. Electronic triggers or “egrips” often allow you to change the paintball marker from single firing mode (one shot, one trigger pull) to 3-shot burst (one pull, 3 paintballs fired), to semi-auto (one pull, one shot to ramping up to auto if you pull the trigger within a set time period) to full auto( one pull, multiple firing). There are various features that help enable the gun to rapid fire such as anti-chop systems (ACS), electronic eyes etc. The key statistic to key on is the balls per second or bps.

We like to ask if you are the type of person that likes to take things apart and rebuild them? Or are you more likely to play, clean and put away until next time? If so, please buy a paintball gun that is easily maintained. Smart Parts has some very easy guns to maintain as are the new Tippmann Platinum Series paintball guns. Cleaning and lubricating your paintball guns is the key to longevity and happy ownership. If on the other hand you like to tinker with your equipment, there should not be any limitation in your choice. There is plenty of help with manuals, manufacturer internet sites, and help videos on Youtube.

Another key consideration is upgradeability. Are there upgrades available for your model of paintball gun? Do you want to be able to upgrade it in the future? Most people answer yes, as by nature we become bored of the same old thing everyday. Also, many of us like paintball because of the military replica or scenario aspect of the paintball games. If this is you, then you may want to be able to change your paintball gun from an M16 to an AK 47. Our suggestion for those of you that want to have the maximum flexibility with military upgrades is the Tippmann X7 paintball gun.

This article was the beginning of the fun involved in finding out what you really want and need. Decide on the air you have access to and match your style and type of play to the paintball guns you are interested in. Compare features and price ranges. Narrow in on your choices and finally buy a paintball gun and take out your friend or enemy in style!



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Electric Paintball Markers

Debra Atkins asked:


There are assorted real authentic and legendary paintball marker manufactures that provide a significant variety of different markers for your paintball experience. The paintball gun is known as the marker. The paintball gun or marker was first developed for the logging industry and the farmers to mark the livestock and the trees. Naturally it didn’t take long for a grouping of people to come together and originate the athletics of paintball games. There will be several roles for the players to accept. Depending on which game you settled on, or if you create the rules from game to game, paintball is enormous fun. If you are on a team, most all participants like the role of the paintball sniper. As you could guess, the assorted roles necessitate assorted guns. Numerous paintball participants like to acquire the best of the best when they pick out a new gun, but many participants go beyond the best markers, and acquire the most state-of-the-art markers. 

A electronic paintball guns, could be classified in some different types of guns. One of the unusual markers has something named an e-trigger, which could set up several bps and speed rates, which can be very helpful for different scenario sports. As professional paintball participants participate in professional paintball tourneys, and travel games they usually possess electronic paintball markers that they apply because this helps them to shoot quicker balls, and likewise aids accuracy also. 

Numerous big time paintball role players who go to travel games, and so forth use these markers, because they was mostly designed for speed ball gaming, as that’s what these players ordinarily play. A lot of beginner players may use these electronic paintball guns, just to realize a swift upper hand on the competition. 

The electronic paintball guns are designed for the extreme paintball enthusiast who might plays virtually non-stop, and wants to continue to move into first place at there tournaments they go to. The electronic paintball guns also comes with various items like hoppers too, that are electronic, and aid to feed in the paintballs into the paintball gun faster and aid the player shoot down the challenger faster. That might be great for the paintball participants who play the speed ball tournaments, and require to shoot real high-speed.



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The World of Custom Paintball

Adan Rivers asked:


The world of extreme sport saw the dawning of new and cutting edge games such as the custom paintball and air soft. Custom paintball is one strategic and military – orientated game which requires not only physical abilities and endurance, but also psychological and psychology conditioning. Custom paintball has pre-requisites so that players would experience high level of performance in their game.

What custom paintball gear is critical to have?

Custom paintball guns are paintball gears which a lot of fans spend a large amount of their cash on. There are different relying of paintball guns depending on the user’s discretion and private, distinct desires. As an example, the player’s style and methods in playing the game is an important determinant as to the kind of new or used paintball marker to purchase.

What sorts of plan are you use in custom paintball?

It’s important that the gun has a quicker way of loading paint for faster shooting. Many upgrade marker kits are available for better performance, but to be more effective, there are other guns which are more fitted to your requirements without the pricey upgrades.

Another style of combat is a sniper type system or attack. In this case, a gun that can assure more accuracy from distant places or locations is of utmost option. A pump sniper paintball gun is OK for this need and style. A good magazine for your marker similarly plays an imperative role. Other stuff to consider are upgradability, manufacturer and comfort in using this equipment in the period of your game.

What are important features of a custom paintball?

For instance, you must have a selection of upgrade options for your custom paintball gun. This means it can keep up with the constant and growing need of its user at any point in time. Likewise, it’s important that your gun is very much in compatibility to your body system therefore comfy to use. Finally , the brand of producer of your marker should be reliable enough in manufacturing top of the range custom paintballs.

Likewise , web stores also offer great lines of paintball gears and necessities.

Custom paintballs have definitely taken the sector of sports by force, and in a brief period, short time period, that is. Therefore, it is always imperative to consider accessing them with great discretion and smart judgment.



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How to Make Paintballs

davemathews asked:


There are quite a few different opinions that are out there when it comes to how to make paintballs yourself at home. You might also get a few questioning glances about why you even want to bother taking all of that time to make your own paintballs. You need to remember to make your paintballs small enough to fit into the barrel of any of the paintball guns out there. Make no mistake about it you are going to be much better served by making reusable paintballs out of modeling clay (because it is durable) that you can use over and over again (for a while at least).

Some would say that making your own reusable paintballs is more economical; while others say that the single use paintballs that are commercially available are the best. If you are making your own paintballs according to the popular how to make paintballs guides and articles many will advise you that Crayola’s Model Magic Modeling Clay is the best thing to use to make a reusable paintball that is durable and workable; while other guides will advise you to create a shell out of silicone tubing or another easy to work material (like the gelatin based material that commercial paintballs are made from) that you would fill with paint that is both water-soluble and friendly and messy colorful enough to really make their presence known, seen and felt when you get hit by them. Firing any of these types of paintballs out of the popular paintball guns is easy to do.

The paintball that you make yourself is not going to be as perfect as those that you can buy that are commercially made; yet that is the beauty of it as well. If you already have some type of mold made to shape the shells of your paintballs you are halfway there. You need to remember to make the paintballs the right size to fit into the barrel of the paintball gun that you are likely to be using. You also need to remember that there are different sizes and calibers of paintball guns just like there are in regular guns that shoot bullets. It has been said (and easily proven by doing a search) that there are so many different how to make paintballs articles that you could refer to so that you have a better idea about how to go about making your own paintballs.

Making your own paintball mold is pretty easy (or so some of the available how to make paintballs articles and guides state) and does not take that much time or cost that much. Those of you that have paintball guns and want to get involved with all of the excitement of the various paintball tournaments and get into some pretty wicked paintball fights with your friends need to remember that paintball come in as many sizes as the guns themselves do; and are measured in calibers (just as bullets are). Too large a paintball will not fit in your gun; and too small will not go anywhere.  



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Used Paintball Guns – A Great Way To Get Started

Kevin Andersen asked:


For the person who loves the game of paintball being able to have a good quality paintball gun is essential. However this can sometimes be a bit of a problem as these guns are quite expensive. There are a few options that you can try out. One such option would be that of buying cheap paintball guns and the other option is that of getting used paintball guns.

Now this is probably the better option especially if you are new to the game and you have absolutely no idea what the game is all about. For a novice buying used equipment is probably the best way to get acquainted with all of the ins and outs of this fascinating game.

Once you have decided that you either like this game or you love this game, then you can think about getting various upgrades for your guns. There are various used equipment accessories that you can buy for a relatively inexpensive price. However even before you buy these goodies you should think about getting some of the more needed supplies to help you survive the rough and tumble of paintball.

You will need be able to buy all of these items and used paintball guns at paintball stores. Sometimes these paintball guns will be in a special section for used equipment and their various accessories. You will need to inspect the used paintball guns to make sure that all of their working parts are in good condition.

Any malfunctioning part of these used equipment means that you should not even think about getting this gun. Sometimes you could get backfiring paintball because of a faulty firing mechanism. Other times you might not be able to even get one round of paintballs out because the barrel has become jammed.

Whatever the reason may be for used guns not working properly the only thing that you can do is to leave these guns alone and see if you can find another one. Now even though this fact could turn you off buying used paintball guns you should consider the advantages that come with buying used paintball guns.

With used paintball guns the potential to customize your paintball gun arises. There are many parts that are also sold as used that while other paintball players may not want you can most certainly use. These used parts will give your used paintball guns an edge that many of the factory made guns never have. With this edge you can take your playing ability up to the next level with pure ease, and with a little practice with your newly upgraded toys you can win with ease as well.



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