It seems like everybody wants a "full-auto", even if they haven't got the faintest clue as to what that is. It sounds deadly, I suppose, and as in any game, you've gotta' go in with that little bit of bloodlust.

Well, here's a short reference about the different types paintball markers for you those of you that would like to know more, and are perhaps afraid to ask?

The paintball marker can be broken into three categories: pump, semi-automatic, and fully automatic. To shoot a paintball out of a marker, there are two main actions involved: "chambering" (loading the paintball into the breach, or, literally, the chamber that is located before the barrel), and the actual pulling of the trigger ("firing"), or the release of the striker pin unto an air valve that will release the air needed to ejected the paintball out of the chamber's cavity into and out of the barrel. The three categories of paintball markers have names that indicate the total, manual actions that are needed to shoot a paintball out of the marker. As the "pump" name implies, a pump gun requires the player to manually work the action that chambers the paintball before it is fired by pulling the trigger. In "semi-automatic" and "fully-automatic" markers, the guns will automatically perform the chambering step of the process. However, "semi's" require successive, and "fully's" require constant trigger pulls to operate the combined chambering and firing action.

On the face, pumps are often discounted as a "po' boy's" gun. Pumps however, offer many advantages despite the tedious task of having to work the action manually. To begin, pumps are a great way to practice accurate shot placement. A paintball pump marker, not to be confused with the pump action of an airgun whereby the pumping is used to accumulate air pressure for propulsion, relies on the pump action to open and close the breach, and actuate the valve. Since the ball is fired from a closed bolt position, not only is the "blast" of air channeled directly down the barrel, the manual action coupled with concentrating the blast make a more efficient use of air, and most importantly, consistency, since there are very few springs to be relied on, and the chamber is always closed when fired (making for a predictable shot each time). Comparatively less air pressure is needed to fire the ball, since there is no "blowback" action (further described below), which translates to less ball breakage and gas efficiency. These guns are also relatively inexpensive to buy, and as these guns are lenient on gas and ball consumption, and with few moving parts to break or maintain, pump guns are an economical great way to be introduced to the sport. With current auto-trigger outfits where the trigger can be held-down and the gun fired with the pumping action alone, the modern pump can fire nearly as quickly as a semi-automatic.

The benefit to the semi- and full- automatic markers is, of course, fast, successive shot placement, and the ability to do so without the recoil action of pumping. Both semi- and full- automatic guns will automatically chamber a single round for you in anticipation of the next trigger pull. In particular, Semi- automatics are commonly used in tournament play because of their speed. However, drawbacks to both semi- and full- automatic markers is the tendency to consume more paint, more ball breakage, low gas efficiency, but most importantly, inconsistency, since the autonomous action of chambering relies heavily on a system of springs.

The traditional semi- and full- automatic marker relies on a system of "blow-back"(the recoil from the air after firing, which propels the paintball forwards, but also pushes backwards [blows back] on the hammer of the gun), and springs. As blow-back requires a volume of gas sufficient not only to propel the ball to its destination, but enough air to force the striker hammer back against a high-tension drive spring to the trigger sear, it is apparent that gas consumption becomes an issue. However, a common misconception about blow-back operating semi- and full- automatics is that these guns don't shoot as far as pumps because half of the gas to fire the paintball is lost to working the blow-back action, or the all-too-common escape of air from the chamber during firing. To dispel the baloney, since "half" of the gas is now available to propel the paintball, the player simply lets more air into the firing process to compensate when s/he is calibrating the marker at the firing range. However, paintballs coming out of semi-automatics fly less far because there is more air needed in the firing process than in pumps, but since the paintball can only take so much before it breaks, the player reaches an upper limit as to how much s/he can subject on the paintball, and suffers from a minor distance disadvantage. Where these markers suffer from inaccuracy in the form of mechanical inconsistency the most are these markers' heavy reliance on a system of springs and blow-back force.

Repetitive shooting subjects the chamber cavity to many different dynamics - although there is a fixed amount of air let into the chamber upon firing for example, chambers cool, causing the air entering the chamber to become more dense and less forceful in pushing the paintball and hammer. Springs that drive the hammer wear-out quickly over time, suffering from weakened compression and it's ability to completely close the chamber shutter (bolt), as well as the ability to let the same amount of air into the chamber with each succeeding shot. As we said before, an incompletely closed chamber, between shots, is a very common cause of inconsistency, since varying amounts of propellant air is allowed to escape the chamber after the trigger is pulled. Both the varying motion of escape of propellant air, and the lost air pressure will affect the paintball's trajectory, distance, speed, and create even more inconsistency between shots.

To combat this problem, blow-forward designs such as the Sheridan Equalizer have been developed which allow the propellant air to strike the paintball before the recoil air is allowed to push against the drive spring, opening the chamber for another ball to feed. The Autococker, perhaps one of the most proven semi-automatic designs in the sport of paintballing, is highly valued for its shot consistency. This is done through a complex network of valves and regulators, whereby o-rings are pulled throughout the gun at separate intervals to eventually create a gun that literally pumps itself - a completely different concept than the original recoil-driven semi-automatic marker as the air is completely channeled down the tube, and without the use of high-tensioned drive springs!

Now for the player with the fat pockets and a fat finger to match, there are the coveted full-automatic markers. Unfortunately, these types of guns are not used for tournament play, since they continuously fire balls as long as the trigger is depressed until the gun malfunctions, or you run out of paintballs. The reason that these markers are not used for tournament play is that these markers are expensive to buy, maintain, and hog a lot of paint, and typically afford an markedly higher advantage to the player who can afford to run it at outings, especially since they shoot paintballs at rates faster than any human can pull a trigger. It can be argued that there is little skill involved in sitting back and dumping paint on a field, and certainly detracts from the game, keeping in mind that paintball is just that, a game.

A new type of marker out there is the electro-pneumatic marker. Also known as servo-assisted paintball markers, this is a non-conventional marker in that the heart of this kind of marker, is a CPU. These markers operate on a synergy of electronics and mechanical actions. Players that operate these markers are not directly operating a mechanical action to shoot the paintball, per say, but instead "flipping a switch", whose signal is processed by a computer chip, which in turn, actuates servos that "suck-in" paintballs into the chamber, close the chamber, and separate servos that release a coordinated and calculated blast of air into the chamber. The obvious advantage to the electro-pneumatic marker is that the computer (CPU) has the ability to "instantly" analyze and tailor each shot to maintain consistency and therefore accuracy on behalf of the gun. Another advantages are that the markers can force-feed (via suction and actively pushing) paintballs into chambers - a previous limitation to full-automatic markers that could shoot faster than the balls could be fed. Electro-pneumatic automatics have the ability to shoot paintballs at lower pressures since there is no feedback action needed - chambering is all done electronically, and the lower pressure results in greater gas efficiency and fewer instances of ball breakage. There are fewer springs in electro-pneumatic markers, and the servos tend to be more reliable than springs. The biggest advantage is that, since the player is essentially pulling a switch, the computer can be set to play in semi-automatic mode, too. However, a lot of times, even that is not enough to convince tournaments to allow these types of markers onto the fields, since tournament rules dictate that balls be gravity-fed into the chamber. Oh, and the disadvantages? They're expensive, have limited upgrade paths (though at this level, any player would be ahead of the competition anyway), and the batteries become another consideration in addition to paint and air.

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