How to Use Paintball Gun? – Unlocking Paintball Potential
If you are a beginner and want to shoot a paintball gun but don’t know how to start. There is nothing to worry about. This article will show you how to use a paintball gun. When you get good practice in operating a paintball gun, you can run it very efficiently, just like when you learn to ride a bike and after learning to ride it well, you have no problem running it. You have to get familiar with your gun because different paintball guns operate slightly differently but have the same purpose, i.e., shooting paintballs.
Steps Guide about How to Use Paintball Gun:
Now, let’s move towards knowing how to use a paintball gun.
1. Install the battery:
You must first install the battery to operate the electronic paintball gun. Many electronic paintball guns run on a single 9-volt battery, but some newer models use AA batteries. But a mechanical paintball gun does not require a battery. It works without batteries.
2. Attach the CO2 or HPA tank to the paintball gun.
The second step you will do before shooting is to fill the CO2 tank or HPA (High-Pressure Air) tank and then attach it to the ASA (Air Source Adaptor) on the bottom of your grip frame.
3. Load the hopper or magazine:
In this step, you must fill the hopper or magazine with paintballs. Firstly, attach a hopper or magazine to the paintball marker. You can see a feed neck on the top of the marker to fix the hopper. However, in mag-fed paintball markers, you can see a chamber on the bottom of the marker to attach the magazine. After attaching it, load the hopper or magazine with paintballs. Hopper has a wide mouth and can hold 150 to 200 paintballs, while magazines have a small mouth and the smallest capacity to hold paintballs.
4. Activate paintball gun:
Now to activate the mechanical paintball gun, you have to press the cocking knob or power button present in the mechanical paintball marker. This cocking knob is usually located on the body frame of the mechanical marker, but it can also be on the top of the body frame. On the other hand, the power button is located on the backside of the grip frame or next to the trigger frame.
A mechanical paintball gun has a safety button. This button keeps the gun from accidentally firing if the trigger is pulled. Push the safety button until you see a red line. Your paintball gun will be ready to fire when the red line is visible on the safety button.
5. Hold the Paintball gun:
To hold the gun properly, I will discuss here a technique.
Press tanks against your shoulder:
- The first step is to hold the main grip of the paintball gun with your dominant hand and place your finger on the trigger.
- In the second step, hold the foregrip with the non-dominant hand.
- In the third step, press the compressed air tank against your shoulder
Now, you are ready to aim.
Wrong ways to hold your paintball marker:
If you hold the paintball gun incorrectly and shoot it, it will reduce your shooting accuracy. Beginners make the mistake of holding the paintball gun incorrectly, and that’s why they complain of being unable to hit their target. So I am telling you the mistakes you must avoid after knowing them.
- One mistake players make when shooting paintballs is firing from the hip. Even experienced players make this mistake, especially when they are tired. So do not shoot from the hip because it is inaccurate and unprofessional and increases the chances of shooting in areas you should not.
- Holding the paintball gun very distant from the eyes is also a bad practice.
- Another common mistake players make is that they hold their paintball marker sideways. That is an inappropriate way.
6. Aim your Target:
Aiming well in paintball requires a lot of practice and patience. It is not if you think that aiming a paintball gun is the same as an actual firearm. Bullets in actual firearms travel straight, while paintballs travel in trajectory motion.
Both your eyes should be open. You should have a better field view. The gun in your hand is a paintball marker, not an actual firearm, so you do not need to close one eye while aiming.
Point the barrel of your paintball gun at the target. Your eyes should be slightly above and behind the back of the marker. Keep your face 1 inch above the gun’s bolt because it can hit your nose if you’re not wearing a mask when it pops up.
7. Pull the Trigger
After pointing the marker’s barrel at the target, your next task is to pull the trigger to shoot paintballs.
8. Adjust the Velocity
The standard velocity of a paintball marker is 280 to 300 fps (feet per second). So, you cannot operate a paintball gun at more than 300 FPS because it can seriously injure the opponent or cause the slightest bruise. Before firing the paintball gun, you need to set the velocity of your paintball gun to play well in the field.
Solve Problems, if any:
Suppose you face any problem while running the paintball gun, like marker leaking, low accuracy, double firing, low velocity, excessive breakage of paintballs, or trigger jamming. In that case, you should be prepared with appropriate tools to solve the problem.
Final Thoughts:
Playing paintball brings fun, and shooting a paintball gun is a satisfying experience. Good shots require practice, whether you are a new player or an experienced shooter.
So practice for good shooting. Understand the features of the marker you have. Different paintball guns have slightly different functions, but they all do the same thing, i.e., fire paintballs. This article has shown you how to use a paintball gun.
If you hold the gun incorrectly or shoot with too much velocity, you won’t be able to hit the target or your opponent may get hit in such a way that he gets injured.
