A marker consists of four main components. These are:

• Body
• Hopper
• Tank
• Barrel

The vast majority of modern paintball markers have the previous components. There is, however, a strong following of stock-class players who use markers with a purposely low rate of fire and ammo capacity. Stock-class guns are usually pump-action paintball guns powered by either 12-gram CO₂ cartridges or small CO₂ tanks. Also note the trend in using the term "marker" instead of "gun": this is to lessen the public view of paintball as a dangerous sport and paintball markers as weapons. The term "marker" came from their original use: marking trees and wandering cattle. Markers were designed so that farmers and foresters could more convienently mark trees and cattle, such as from moving vehicles and across rivers.

Hopper

Hoppers (also known as loaders) hold paintballs for the marker to fire. There are many different variations, but the primary types are gravity feed, agitating, and force feed.

While agitating and force feed hoppers result in a higher possible rate of fire, they may fail due to dead batteries and contact with moisture, which keeps many woodsball players away from them.

An exception to this is the Q-Loader which uses a helical spring system to feed the marker.

One common problem to all hoppers is ball breaks. When a paintball leaks its contents into the hopper from either a break in the hopper or from a previous container, the leaked material (which is usually water based) causes the gelatin shells of the balls to deteriorate and sometimes stick together.

Gravity feed

The simplest and cheapest form, gravity feed hoppers consist of a large container and a feed tube molded into the bottom. Paintballs roll down the sloped sides into the tube.

Gravity feed hoppers are very inexpensive, since they are made of only a shell and a lid, but can become jammed easily as paintballs pile up above the tube. Occassionally, rocking the marker and hopper can keep the paintballs from jamming at the feed neck.

Stick feed

Primarily used on pump- and stock-class markers, these are simple tubes that hold 10-20 paintballs in a line.

Usually, a stick feed is parallel to the barrel and requires the player to tip (or rock) the marker to load the next paintball. Some stick feeds are vertical, or at an incline to facilitate gravity feeding, but this contravenes accepted stock-class guidelines.

Agitating

Agitating hoppers use a propeller to agitate, or stir up, the paintballs. This prevents them from jamming at the feed neck and feeding more rapidly than equivalent gravity feeds.

Most tournament-level hoppers are of the agitating type, since the higher rate of fire requires a more advanced and consistently-loading hopper.

Force-feed

Force-feed hoppers can use a propeller, spring-loaded, or belt-fed system to force balls at an accelerated rate into a marker.

Popular force-fed hoppers are the Odyssey HALO B, Viewloader EVLution II, and the Empire Reloader B usually for tournament use, and the Q-Loader and Warp Feed usually for woodsball and scenario players.

A few markers use force-fed loaders shaped in imitation of firearms magazines such as the Real Action Paintball RAP-4.

Force-fed loaders are used when a high rate-of-fire or low profile is required, such as in speedball competition or woodsball 'sniper' positions.

This type of loader is used by many professional teams and can reach speeds over 30 balls-per-second.

Some also include other features, which may include information about how many balls are remaining in your hopper, how many balls per second are being fired, and game timers.

Tank

The tank holds a compressed gas used to accelerate the paintballs through the marker barrel. The tank is usually filled with CO₂ or compressed air. High Pressure Air (HPA) is sometimes referred to as "nitrogen", as air is 78% nitrogen. Due to the instabilities of CO₂, most players use HPA tanks as soon as they can afford them.

CO₂

A CO₂ tank is pressurized at roughly 800-850 psi, and measured in terms of the amount of liquid it can store (in Ounces). At this pressure, CO₂ tends to form a liquid. When it is released, only a portion of the CO₂ is stored as gas, and the rest must boil into a gas before it can be used. This process leads to some commonly-known problems such as inconsistent velocity and freezing. It especially has problems in cold weather, which slows evaporation and increases the chance for liquid CO₂ to be drawn into the marker. Liquid CO₂ is very cold, and can damage the internals of a marker.

Anti-siphon tanks have a tube installed inside the cylinder which is bent to prevent liquid CO₂ from being drawn in. They must be screwed in so that the tube faces upwards to function properly.

Stock-class markers use 12-gram CO₂ cartridges.

High Pressure Air

High Pressure Air (HPA) is stored in the tank as a gas, bypassing the evaporating issue. Air is stored in the tank at a very high pressure, typically 3000-5000 psi, and output is controlled with an attached regulator, this regulates the pressure from 450 psi to around 800 psi depending on the type of tank. This results in a much more consistent velocity than with CO₂. HPA tanks have two measurements: PSI and In³.

HPA tanks are more expensive, since they must be rated for a much higher pressure, and are typically made from more expensive materials. Tanks can be purchased that are steel or aluminum, but the most widely used is wrapped carbon-fiber bottles, due to their light weight.

Barrels

A barrel serves to direct the paintball and control the release of the air pocket behind it. Several different bore sizes are available, to best fit different sizes of paintball, and there are many different lengths and styles.

Length

Generally, barrels are between 10 and 20 inches. Some custom barrels exist which may reach up to 48 inches. Recent tests have suggested that no accuracy nor efficiency benefit can be gained for barrels beyond eight inches long, as a paintball only requires about six to eight inches to stabilize. Longer barrels generally make less noise than shorter barrels by allowing excess gas to escape more slowly from porting along the sides. Longer barrels can allow players to "sight in" faster than they would with shorter barrels and thus give the perception that longer barrels are more accurate, however a good set of sights is more accurate.

Barrels longer than 18 inches require more propellant to keep the paintball from slowing down due to friction and gas vacuum, and can produce a noticeable decrease in gas efficiency. Barrels are important, and one should always be used or else the paintball will only travel about 10 feet.

Porting

Most barrels are ported (or vented), which means that holes are drilled into the front of the barrel allowing the propellant to dissipate slowly, decreasing the sound signature of the marker. There has been a considerable amount of marketing hype surrounding barrel porting, but there appears to be no basis for claims of the benefits of porting (such as that it decreases "turbulence", increasing accuracy), other than the decrease in sound signature.

It should be noted that excessive porting can vastly decrease a marker's gas efficiency since the porting will allow the propellant to escape easily, reducing the effective length of the barrel. For example, if a 16 inch barrel has large porting that starts six inches past the threads then it has an effective barrel length of only six inches. At that point, the ball has to travel the other 10 inches on its own momentum. As the friction within the barrel is not insignificant, overcoming this requires a larger burst of gas, decreasing efficiency.

Threading

Most modern paintball markers have barrels that screw into the front receiver, as opposed to some older types which slide a barrel on and screw it in place. Barrel threading must be matched to that of the marker. Common threads are Angel, Autococker, Impulse/Ion, Shocker, Spyder, A-5, and Model 98.

Bore

The bore is the interior diameter of the barrel. Two and three-piece barrels allow the barrel bore to be matched to the paint diameter without entirely new barrels. Paint to barrel matching is important in closed-bolt markers (as ball detents in such markers serve to prevent double-feeding, not to prevent roll-outs,) such as Autocockers, because small paint in a large barrel can roll out the front of barrel.

Construction

Barrels are manufactured in three types: one piece, two piece, and three piece.

One piece

One piece barrels are machined from a single piece of material, usually aluminum. Paintballs can range from .669 to .695 caliber, and barrels are honed to match these diameters. Many one piece barrels have a stepped bore that increases from their rated bore size to around .70 caliber after eight inches.

Two piece

Two piece barrels consist of a front and back. The back attaches to the marker and is machined with a pre-specified bore between .682 and .695 caliber. The front makes up the rest of the length of the barrel and contains the porting. Fronts usually have the same bore as the largest back the manufacturer offers.

Three piece

Three-piece barrels, instead of having multiple backs each with a different bore, have only a single back. A series of inserts, or sleeves, with differing bores are inserted into the back. The front is then screwed on to keep the sleeve in place. Sleeves are generally offered in either aluminum or stainless steel. This type offers the most flexibility in that the user needs only one set of sleeves and a back for each marker they own. They can also select front sections to make the barrel length they prefer. This type also generally offers the widest selection of barrel diameters, usually .680, .681, .682, .683, and so on up to .696 caliber.

Other

The Flatline barrel, manufactured by Tippmann is designed to decrease the parabolic travel of fired paint. The barrel is curved such that accelerating paint contacts the top of the barrel, imparting backspin. This backspin generates lift (known as the "Magnus Effect"), resulting in a flatter arc and longer range. This is especially beneficial in woodsball or scenario paintball where overhanging branches limit the range of traditional barrels. It is available for the Tippmann Model 98 and A-5. There are conversion kits to allow the use of the flatline barrels on some other markers, as well.

The Apex barrel, manufactured by Ben Tippmann Paintball Design also imparts spin to the ball. Unlike the flatline barrel, the Apex can impart back, top, or sidespin (this allows balls to arc around some obstacles, or have them drop over bunkers). The magnitude of spin can also be varied, allowing for a gentle curve or a sudden hook. It is available with threads for most markers.

Firing Modes

Pump Action

Pump action markers must be manually recocked, much like a shotgun. This manual action is slower than other configurations, but is preferred by many people over semi-automatic markers as a challenge to themselves to learn how to play with less firepower.

Semi-Auto

Semi-auto markers use a variety of designs to automatically cycle a bolt and load a new paintball into the chamber automatically, with each trigger pull. This frees the player from manually pumping the marker, increasing rate-of-fire.

Full-Auto

The Tippmann SMG 60 was the first fully-automatic paintball marker. As the name indicates, the marker will continue to fire automatically so long as the trigger is held down.

Ramping modes

Since the advent of semi-automatic markers in the early 1990's, both insurance and competitive rules have specified that markers used in paintball must be semi-auto only; specifically, that only one paintball may be fired per trigger pull. While this was a perfectly clear definition when markers were all based on mechanical/pneumatic designs, the introduction of electronically controlled markers in the late 1990's brought technology beyond the rule. Electronic markers are often controlled by a programmable microcontroller, on which any software might be installed, including software that may add more than one shot per trigger pull in various ways. This effect is generally referred to as "shot ramping" (as opposed to velocity ramping): an electronic firing mode where a consistent full-automatic rate-of-fire will be triggered as long as the player maintains a certain, lower trigger-pulls-per-second.

Ramping can be difficult to detect, both because it may not be consistent or easily observable by a human. Ramping modes can also be hidden in the software, such that a marker will fire in legal semi-auto mode when being tested, but in an illegal ramping mode by the player. To counter the problems with enforcing semi-auto rules, some leagues have begun allowing a specific ramping mode. The rule specifies a minimum time between shots of 66 milliseconds (approx. 15 shots per second), and that no more than one shot may be fired for the first three trigger pulls. The rate of fire is enforced using a device called a PACT Timer, a standard firearms timing device that measures the time between shots.

Stock Class

Stock Class is a set of commonly agreed upon but unofficial rules for paintball markers:

• The marker must have a horizontal paintball feed, which means that the marker must be tilted (rocked) forward or backward to feed the next shot.
• The marker may not be semi-automatic, which means that it requires pumping or cocking prior to each shot being fired (in other words "rock and cock").
• The marker must be powered by a single 12 gram powerlet, which limits the amount of shots to 15-30 depending on the efficiency of the marker.
• The marker may only hold a maximum of 20 paintballs in it.
• The marker may not have porting on the barrel.
• The marker may not have sights.

Auto-trigger markers are also not acceptable (able to shoot paintballs by holding trigger down and only actuating the pump). This rule is often overlooked as auto-triggering is almost impossible with a horizontal feed tube.

Very few fields or tournaments require full stock class compliance and instead use what is commonly called "Modified Stock Class" rules. These rules usually allow constant air (CO₂ or high pressure air) instead of 12 grams, feed tubes that hold more than 20 paintballs (horizontal or inclined) or even hoppers, and allow porting on the barrel. The only requirement is that markers be pump action only, and that no sights may be used. Different fields can allow or not allow rules as they see fit.

Arguably the most popular stock class marker is the Phantom made by CCI, and can been seen here.

Why stock class?

Stock class aims to retain the way paintball was at its birth: before electronic markers, high rates of fire, and overshooting. Players often play stock class for different reasons: some grew up playing paintball this way and don't like the direction the industry has taken the sport, some play this way to save money, and some simply enjoy the challenge of not being able to rely on a fast marker to get eliminations.

Fringe or Mainstream?

Stock class was the way paintball started, and as the technology evolved, so did the players. As stock class faded from memories, players joining the sport knew that a fast marker was the only way to compete. But as time drew on, stock class players could be found playing speedball against the high-end markers. This brought stock class back into the minds of the older players and introduced it to a new generation of players. The popularity of stock class play has been steadily increasing for the past few years, as seen in increased demand in sales and trades on popular forums.

See also

• 98 Custom
• A-5
• Angel
• Autococker
• Automag
• Bushmaster 2000
• C-3
• Excalibur
• Shocker
• SI-68

External links

• Direct Paintball Professionally written reviews on a wide variety of today's most popular paintball guns.
• AcmeAirsoft.com A community working to spread news and information about Paintball and Airsoft.
• Paintball Review.com A user based paintball review site.
• PB Nation The largest paintball related message boards on the internet.
• Paintball Gun Types In the sport of paintball, players have many choices when selecting a paintball gun.
• Stock Class Paintball Site devoted to expanding Stock Class play.
• Paintball Info Center Informational paintball site.
• Paintball Guns Paintball gun reviews and tips.
• Animations, Schematics, Modifications of Paintball Markers

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