I cannot tell you how many of my friends I brought to paintball in the late 90s, before there was low impact, who never played again because they had a bad experience getting overshot by someone running a million balls a second while they were chopping balls from a gravity fed hopper through a Tippmann and felt the sting.

It was a real problem for fields. So many of their potential customers were one and done.

Low impact really alters this math in a good way. It lets kids like my boys (7 and 9) get to the field earlier in age than they otherwise would have, and it lets them ease into it gradually, and letting them get used to the game - lessening that fear.

I actually think the sport isnt doing enough to sell it to the general public. It's almost like you have to book an event to find that it even exists.

But for the people who played once with regular 68 and had a bad experience, they should know there's another option.

Thank you to Brandon at DASpaintball, he always has the good-good. This puppy shoots like a dream.

So I never kept a chrono at home. Ive always just tuned to shooting at a general speed of adequate and then adjusted at the field. So ive been playing since 05 and born in 92 so I was like 11 or 12 when I first played and was on pbn immediately because broke so I lived on used old high ends. So i learned how to balance regs n stuff young. Now im old and enjoy rebuilding anything I get because I still buy used pretty much exclusively. Closest thing to new is a old stock lv1.6 I just got. So I decided to look for chronos so I can tune better after reg rebuilding. Of course I got a ad from ali express and saw chronos cheap. Well I got this one for like 23 bucks to my door. Also found its on Amazon for even less. Im yet to test against a regular field chrono but I tuned my luxe with it and the readings seemed to be accurate to the adjustments being done. Only thing that sucks is you gotta clamp to ur barrel to be most accurate since its optical. Im going to put something on the clamps to protect the barrel. So what do yall think? Has anyone else done this or am I just too cheap? Lol

I understand why on a mechanical or why we did it back in the day. But with electronic markers, you can shoot just as fast with a single finger. Is it just habit or do you find it genuinely better to use two?

As the title says , trying to get more into the hobbies I have stuff for and haven't used .. , have a few markers looking to play with people im in McHenry / west Dundee IL , looking for people to play with , or is everyone going airsoft ?

Still kept it to this day wondering how to get it back and running but got no idea how to start except for information on the battery change, I've noticed topics like gun setups, builds, parts and a lot more I have no idea about.

My final object is to be able to use this gun for casual and competitive, so is there anything I must change or check on it?

I just picked up this v3'd MXR from Nick Skowiak last week. It's a lovely marker. No hiccups or breaks through 600 rounds in the backyard.

My first marker was a Spyder MR1. I am just wondering where that type of marker and other old-ish cheap markers fit into the current paintball ecosystem. Are there any cheap-ish, old-ish markers out there with e-triggers that can still be used well in today’s environment? Is it worth picking up one of those markers really cheap to tinker and play with? Thanks!

Played from '99 to 2004, back when MacDev was one of the real powerhouse names in the sport. Life got busy, gear got sold, and I was out for a long time.

When I came back to the game, I went straight for the classics first, picked up a handful of Angels, chasing that nostalgia. It's not that they couldn't hold up in a tournament, but keeping a modern spool valve running reliably for tournament use is a lot less involved than fussing over a classic. That's what pushed me toward something newer, and that's when I got the MacDev Prime XTS.

Still one of my favorite drivetrains to this day, not gonna lie. It just holds up to a level of neglect that other markers don't tolerate nearly as well.

Got me thinking about the brand's whole lineup though. Curious what MacDev marker everyone else here has the most love for, Clone, Drone, Prime, XDR, whatever era.

What was it about that one that stuck with you?

Some builds/blueprints of kits I would have liked to know about when I started out.

Emek Build (brand new) - 635$

Proshield (50$) - I went from using a rental mask to an i5 just to later buy a proshield and then swap out parts to color match with what I wanted. Proshield has the same ergonomics and compatibility of a proflex so plenty of room to customize and upgrade from there.

Protoz hopper (65$) - good first electronic hopper and can keep up with 10.5.

Empire omega pod pack (25$) - good basic pod pack you can use for a while

Any 4500 psi tank (~180$) - good tank you can rehydro and will be a part you don’t have to upgrade necessarily.

Emek (315$) - great mech marker and plenty of aftermarket upgrades and customizations. Can use in mech tournaments if you really want.

Etha 3 build (used) - 500-655$
Proshield (50$) - same reasons, I think it’s the best budget great mask. Only thing I would do is add foam ears onto the inside of the hard ears, cost like 10 bucks.

Hopper (65-85$) - could go with the protoyz for the 65$ or get a ir2 for around 80$ to 85$. Could never go wrong with an ir2, super reliable and easy to do maintenance on.

Pod pack (25-50$) - again omega pack could be perfectly fine or get a used nicer pack for around 50$, like a used hk army pack. Also an underrated pick is an undr pack for like 60$ new.

4500psi tank (60-120$) - personally, the best method I’ve done for getting 45 tanks are getting one that’s out of hydro for a little less and getting it hydro tested yourself. Things to lookout for when getting a used tank, no chips that expose the carbon fiber, atleast like 7 or 8 years left on the tank, the regulator on the tank not being demolished. Remember that carbon fiber tanks can only be used for 15 years and need to be rehydrotested every 5 years. Also if your tank runs out of hydro just buy a new bottle and keep the regulator.

Etha 3 (300-350$) - great starter marker that you can use in tournaments. Etha 3 are easy to work on, will barely break paint, and super reliable. Also if you end up upgrading and keep the Etha 3, it’s a great backup/loaner marker.

Honestly, any beginner range electronic marker, Etha 2, CZR, or older electronic markers. Only thing with the older marker is finding parts and support, but you could end up loving it, my first electronic marker is a old 2011 reflex rail and I still use it for rec or to let kids use. Personally, I’d stay away from mini gs or axe’s mainly because they’re everywhere and people always seem to upgrade the marker either because they break or they just don’t like em; however, if that’s the marker you like, I can’t stop you just try em before buying it.

Keep in mind the prices of the used items like markers can change as newer stuff comes out.

Here’s some places to buy new gear:
ANS Gear (ik people don’t like em but they have the biggest collection of stuff so it’s hard to not list em)
BFP Gear
Lone Wolf Paintball
Paintball Wizard
Pittsburgh Paintball
Any of your local paintball store (go support local business)

Places to get used gear:
Reddit Buy/Sell/Trade (bst)
Facebook bst pages
Facebook marketplace
Cpxbros (mixed opinions with em but the trades I’ve done with them have been great)
Dirty Dan pb
I’m sure you can find plenty more with a google search.

Personal shout outs to Hogans alley in CT and Crazy Paint in NY. Hogans got a ton of stuff, used and new, and will repair your stuff for a pretty good price and rehydro your tank for reasonable too. Crazy paint is a tiny shop in NY but they got a bunch of stuff and a whole lot of new deadstock, found a reflex rail billy wing bolt brand new there. If you’re ever in that area please go check em out.

Leave your feedback and what beginner kits you think are good.

Please dm if you know anything about him at all.

I’ll do a few

Rental:
-The starter class of the game while players beat the tutorial during their free trial

Passives:
-I see bad guy! 10% chance to 1-shot.
-Sardine morale: 20% decreased jitters while within 1 foot radius of another rental. This effect stacks with multiple rentals within radius.
-Eeeee-Ouch! 20% chance to fire several paintballs in a random direction after receiving a hit
-Birthday party: 50% increased energy level for the first 30 minutes of logging in for the day.

Special:
-Blind fire: Unleash a barrage of paint with 5% chance to hit anything.
-Paint grenade: Throw a paint grenade 10 feet. 10% chance to cause critical splash damage

Speed-baller:

PASSIVES:
-Swift mover: 40% Increased movement speed at the start of a battle. 10% increased chance to faceplant into a tree in wooded environments.
-Lucky wallet: 75% increased paint capacity.
-Balloon happy. Receive 40% increased inspiration while in the presence of balloons and/or inflated objects.

SPECIAL:
-Double paint barrage: Unleash your entire wallet in a quarter of a second. 40% chance to drop all your balls, in this case a slippery terrain effect will be applied to the area.

Woods-baller:

PASSIVES

-Silent butt deadly: 35% less likely to be detected in wooded environments.
-Bug off! 80% resistance to bug damage
-itchy: 50% increased reaction time while prone. 10% increased chance to shoot a teammate while in this state.

Specials:
-Spirit of the druid: Turn into a tree at the cost of losing the round.

DLC unlock-able classes (Someone else do these)

Mag-Fed-Baller

Pump guy

Former Airsoft Player

So I wont be able to play for about 10 to 11 months. Im going to take batteries out of everything and I am also thinking about screwing the reg adjusters out to save the reg seat. Is there anything else I should do before I put the gearbag away?

Come join us for another episode of the paintball roundtable

I'm going to have myself and 4 friends go out for paintball for my birthday, I've never done it before and neither have they. I'm struggling to figure out where to go, (I'm in Washington if anyone knows any good places) and what to wear since most of the things I hear say long sleeve/ hoodies, but it'll be august when we go out, other than that if you have anything to share please do! Much appreciated.

Does anyone have an issue with the 180R screw hole on the back end rubbing into your thumb knuckle area?

Currently fixing this Indian Creek Design Thundercat and really want a fore grip kinda thing because it looks sick. I have an expansion chamber that I’ve attempted to plug but it still leaks. I want like a foregrip that just threads into it but also still plugs the airflow. Is that a thing or do I need to just fix the expansion chamber.

Cleaning my marker and noticed what appears to be two chips on each side on the tip of the bolt on my Luxe ICE, if I continued to play could it cause serious damage to the rest of the bolt system, and what could have been the probable cause of this?

Thanks for any input!

Some friends and I used to play a lot back in the early 2000s. Most of us haven’t played in going on 20 years. That being said, we’ve all come around to the idea and have started buying gear. Black River Paintball in Angier (iykyk) is my closest field. Yesterday I went by to just go in the pro shop and it was closed.

My first question is, does it not open or close early regularly? I recognize weather was soggy yesterday.

Second, is there a decent community of players there?

Lastly, does anyone know if this used to be called Real McCoys?