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.