What are some tips to buying paintball markers/guns?

Tippmann makes great entry level woodsball guns. They are all durable and reliable. I have a Tippmann 98 Custom and I love it. If you want a good entry level speedball gun, you could get a Smart Parts Ion or Vibe. Just do a lot of research on the gun you buy. If you have a real paintball store around, go there and ask the employees and they’ll help you out a lot. Hope this helps!
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Do not buy Brass Eagle, JT USA, Stryker, or Viewloader branded markers. Also stay avoid buying a WGP Worrmachine.

Look for markers that are upgradable. There is no specific paintball marker type (mechanical or electronic,) model, or brand that you need to buy for woodsball or speedball, although it is ideal to have a faster electronic paintball marker for speedball. You can use electronic markers for woodsball.

Spyder VS2 is a good electronic paintball marker to start with. You can find new ones for $99-$150 or a factory re-manufactured for $70.

Tippmann 98 Custom is a great mechanical marker. It is built like a tank and very reliable. There is a vast amount of parts and upgrades available. You can pick up a new one for around $120. Since they are so reliable, your best option is find a used one for $50-$80.

Edit: The last I heard and this was last month, December 2008, the NPPL has gone bankrupt.

My suggestion is intended for a new player getting into the sport. If he wants and can afford a mid to high end marker, then by all means buy one or ask for suggestions. I do not know anyone who is just getting into the sport or buying their FIRST paintball marker that was willing to invest more than $200.
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10+ years paintball. tdh FTW

don’t listen to any of these guys im about to go to an NPPL team and it all depends on your budget because if you want a good gun but it would be expensive because dye and bob long makes the best guns but other wise get an invert mini they are the best try this website i use to get all my guns and equipment from here and tippmann are okay but i have a tippmann and you have to put allot of work into it because i had to put over $200 just into upgrading it so i would get and invert mini http://www.shop4paintball.com/
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don’t go with tippmann, viewloader, or spyder. they are basicly bad quality guns. yes tippmanns are upgradeable, but they manufacture them so that you have to buy multiple upgrades and though the marker starts out cheap, the upgrades end up costing alot more. if your looking for accuracy and reliability, don’t go with spyder or viewloader(vl). they both are bad quality guns with horrible customer service. if your marker ever breaks, you can’t call the company and expect any customer service except from some indians in pakistan whove never touched a paintball marker. go with any of these brands. smart parts, proto, and planet eclipse. those will offer you reliablity and more and will last you forever. everyone always makes the mistake of buying a tipppmann or spyder, so just skip that step. do some more research. hope this helped.

mark
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7 years paintball experience

since you are a begginer you should probably go with a tippman 98 custom, a 2008 spyder pilot, a smart parts vibe, or even a proto slg. all of these markers a great markers and are great in preformance. the one i would leat recomend is the spyder but it is still a decent gun for a begginer. hope this helps.
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electric guns=Proto matrix rail 07, invert mini,Smart parts ion, vibe or epiphany. The proto matrix rail is my favorite.

mechanical=any tippman or icon x

NO Spyders!
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