Three Paintball Upgrades for Better Performance

If you're a serious player who owns your own gear, there's nothing more thrilling than taking a stock marker and upgrading it into your perfect marker. With so many upgrades available on today's market, it's easy to get lost in the confusion. So, here's three of the most common upgrades.

Three of the Most Common Upgrades:

Tanks

Arguably the most overlooked upgrade for every marker is the tank. Most of us still use Co2 bottles and these work great with most all markers. However, upgrading to an HPA (high pressure air) tank will have tremendous effects on your marker:

HPA will make your marker more efficient and increase your overall accuracy as well. HPA is a better choice over Co2 for the reason that Co2 has to expand from a liquid to a gas in order to be used correctly inside of the paintball marker. This is done automatically with your Co2 tank and paintball marker. Although there are many factors that play a role in how quickly or slowly the liquid expands. Temperature and rate of fire are two of the biggest factors in how efficiently the Co2 expands.

The warmer the weather the easier it is for the Co2 to expand and vise-versa....if it's cold it causes it to expand more slowly. Higher rates of fire cause slower expansion rates as well because the Co2 doesn’t have time to expand all the way. This ends up hitting the paintball with small amounts of liquid Co2 causing the ball to spin or curve when coming out of the barrel. By using an HPA tank you no longer have to worry about the expansion of gasses, since all HPA tanks use a regulator assuring you that you will hit the paintball with a constant pressure each and every time you fire a paintball. HPA is also a cleaner gas and will actually make your O-rings inside your marker last longer than when you use Co2. Some of the down sides to having an HPA tank include the fewer places to fill them and a higher upfront cost. Overall if you’re looking to improve your accuracy and efficiency then a tank upgrade should be your first choice.

Barrels

Barrels are usually the go to upgrade for any marker. They can also be the most confusing upgrade because of all the different types and sizes of barrels there are. The first thing you have to ask yourself is what you're looking for when choosing your barrel? Do you want better accuracy or more distance? The common misconception with paintball barrels is that like with real rifles, the longer the barrel the more accurate the marker. This is not exactly true. Yes a longer barrel will make your marker easier to aim, so hitting your target is easier, but it will not make the paintball go straighter or add more distance to your shot.

The accuracy from your barrel is only affected by the first six inches of the barrel, after that it is all on the player. Also, the longer your barrel the more contact it has with the paintball, so the likelihood of a ball break inside of your barrel increases. The typical size of the barrel you want to go for is about 12-16 inches long. These sizes will provide you with the most consistent accuracy from ball to ball. Consider a Sniper I or Barrel Kit Five barrel.

Firing mechanism (Trigger)

Having the capability to fire your paintball marker at higher rates of fire makes trigger upgrades the best of upgrades in the paintball world. Being able to shoot more paint than your opponent is a huge advantage on the field. Consider a double trigger, response trigger or electronic trigger.

The ability to upgrade your marker is what makes paintball a fun and unique sport. How many other sports in the world let you add this type of customization and individuality to your equipment?