ChoicePaintballGuns

Paintball is totally fun, but perhaps one of the downers of the sport is the constant need for CO2 to power your paintball gun.  If you play paintball, you will soon require a re-fill for your CO2 tank.  If you mostly play at a commercial paintball park or local field, you can get your tanks filled there at any time you want.  However, most players do not have access to these places; there simply aren’t any close enough for most paintballers to use.  Now that Wal-Mart has decided that paintball is not as good as airsoft and quit re-filling tanks - we’re plagued with the dilemna of finding where to get our tanks filled.  Here is a short list of places to try…

Paintball Stores.  If you have a paintball shop in your city, these are the first places to look.  If they don’t fill your tanks, they’re sure to know who will.  You can also stock up on paintball supplies when you’re there.  Find a local paintball supply store via the Internet or your phonebook.
Gun or Firearm Shops.  Many gun and firearm stores will fill up CO2 tanks.  Some gun stores sell air rifles and even paintball guns, so there’s a chance they might also fill tanks.  While few cities have paintball fields or stores, most have gun shops.
Bass Pro Shops.  This is a giant store that may or may not be close enough to you to visit, but they sell and refill CO2 tanks.
Fire Extinguisher Supply.  Find out if there’s a store or company in your area that refills/sells fire extinguishers.  Places that sell or repair fire extinguishers have the tools necessary for refilling a CO2 tank.
Fire Department.  Sometimes your local fire department can/will fill CO2 tanks.  If they do, it’s doubtful they will have the right connections; you will want to purchase a CO2 refill kit before going.  This product includes all the necessary hoses and gauges to refill your tank.
Commercial Air Tank Supply Companies.  Find out where your local hospital gets their tanks refilled.  There is a good chance you will be able to get your tanks filled there as well.

The expenses of paintball can add up quickly!  Constantly re-filling air tanks, paintballs, paintball field/park fees make regular paintballing a bit expensive at times.  CO2 tank O-rings are an essential piece of gear; without them, there is no seal between your tank and paintball gun and air will leak from your tank.  If you aren’t careful, you can go through o-rings like candy and this can add up expenses over time.  O-rings are generally not expensive but if you have to go through a lot of them, it can add up to a lot of money if you play a lot.

The most common cause of damaged CO2 tank o-rings occurs when the CO2 tank is removed from the user’s paintball marker.  Most paintball players simply unscrew the CO2 tank from the paintball gun, allowing all the air in the paintball gun to spill out and freeze the tank o-ring causing it to swell.  The tank adaptor’s threads often cut the swollen o-ring as the tank is unscrewed, ruining the o-ring and preventing that tank’s use until you can replace with a new o-ring.  The way to avoid this is… once you’ve unloaded all the ammo from your gun, fire your marker slowly but continuously while you’re unscrewing the tank.  This will slowly release air from the gun through the barrel rather than rushing out at the tank connection.

The problem with CO2 is it can convert from gas to liquid and visa versa very easily; this is a problem for paintball players and their equipment.  CO2 is very sensitive to temperature changes.  When rapid shooting, it’s common for CO2 tanks to ‘freeze up’.  Next you will notice the velocity of your shots drop off and starts becoming inconsistent.  When you rapid fire your paintball gun you are use a large amount of C02 very quickly.  Your tank gets cold because the liquid C02 inside is changing into gas to replace the C02 used during rapid firing.  This change from liquid to gas is called a ‘phase change’.  When you fire your gun (with a chilled tank), you are releasing less C02 than if the tank was warm. 

There are also problems if your CO2 tank gets too hot; if you left your gun and tank in the sun for example.  If your tank approaches 89 degrees (F) all of the liquid in the tank will expand and the gas has nowhere to go.  Hopefully you have the right rupture disk in your tank because at this point only two things can happen.  Either your tank’s rupture disk will burst preventing your tank from rupturing or your velocity will rise to very dangerous levels.  Moral of the story…. consider an hpa tank or keep your CO2 tank a constant temperature.

Many paintballers hang up their gear for the winter, but some of the more hardcore fans play all year long.  Playing in the cold, however will require you to use certain paintball equipment.  CO2 tanks tend to freeze up after shooting your marker repetitively; this causes inconsistencies in the temperature of the gas, making your paintball gun’s shooting less reliable. CO2 tanks will freeze up much faster in cold temperatures; so a better choice is to use High Pressure Air (HPA) tanks for winter-time paintballing.  HPA tanks deliver the same temperature air more consistently and your marker will shoot better.  When playing paintball in winter, it’s also important to use ‘winter formula’ paintballs.  These are made by a company called Karnage and make a huge difference in being able to play in the cold. Regular paintballs get warped, become harder to break and may fly inconsistently in cold weather.  Winter formula paintballs act like regular paintballs in normal temperatures.  Playing in winter will force you to dress warmer and heavier too - this will give you more protection for when you get hit.

If your paintball marker chops your paintballs, stop what you are doing right away and clean it out.  Clean your gun thoroughly where the ball broke.  Clean the bolt, bolt face and the marker barrel.  Make sure to clean out all of the paint as well as the film, shell bits, and any other debris that does not belong there.  If you continue to chop paintballs, take the gun apart and check for damage.  Completely disassemble the marker, and check out the bolt face for burs, nicks, chips, and other damage.  If you have found any damage to the bolt face or o-rings, then you should replace the damaged components.  If you weren’t able to fix the problem while at the field, when you get home take your paintball gun apart and inspect all of its components for scratches, fraying, or other damage.  Check out each individual part.  As soon as the paintball gun starts to fail or act funny, try checking the sear and hammer first.  For your marker to operate flawlessly, the hammer and sear must be sharp, with cleaning edges that are not worn down or worn out.  If your bolt, sear, and hammer do not show any obvious signs of wear and tear, have an airsmith inspect the entire machine. An airsmith is to a paintball gun what a blacksmith is to machine tools.

Paintball is easy to get addicted to; in fact I know a lot of guys who can be considered ‘over-addicted’.  Getting over addicted to paintball is both good and bad for a player.  It is good because it shows that you love to play the sport and you’ll play it enough to get good; but then the bad thing happens. You start putting money into it that you don’t need too; you start overspending every last dollar you’ve got.  Every paintball player at one time or another has spent money they didn’t need to; I know….  I was overly addicted to the game, and I still am.  Once you get sucked into the world of paintball it is very hard to get out of it.  I may need to join some kind of 12-step program to help with my paintball addiction!  The money comes in from the constant supply of paintballs you need, jerseys and everyone always wants the latest and greatest markers, and equipment; I sure do.  But now I try to control myself a little bit by saying to myself, “Hey the paintball marker I have is very good and still works fine; why buy a new one when I don’t really need it right now?”  I’ll tell you why you eventually give in and buy the new marker…. because they’re awesome!  Try not to get to overly excited with paintball, because it can clean you out quickly.  Two pieces of advice that I can give you is that if your going to play paintball alot… Get a job!  The other piece of advice is shop at www.choicepaintballguns.com - they’ve got great deals.

Cleaning your paintball marker is a very important task that needs to be done after each time you play.  Some players never clean their marker at all, and this could lead up to many problems such as ball breakage - paintballs will often prematurely break when shot from a paintball gun with a dirty barrel.  Also, leaving your gun dirty can make it malfunction in other ways as well (clogging up the internals, etc.).  If you want to be a regular paintballer, you need to realize how crucial it is that you clean your marker after every time you play.  When you clean your marker, make sure you clean it inside and out. It does not take long, and its also kind of fun.  I love cleaning my paintball marker, it makes it look brand new again, and it functions much better when it’s clean.  Cleaning your marker will keep it looking new, and it will definitely add to it’s life.  No one likes a marker with dry paint on it from a past game.  Keeping your paintball gun in good shape (whether you have a competition paintball gun or a military replica tactical paintball marker) will allow you to have a great time on the field with fewer problems.  So remember to clean your marker after every time you play.
Mike Morton, Team Trinity  

Over the past few months, feedback regarding the new TPX Pistol has been overwhelmingly positive.  This new .68 caliber paintball pistol has generated a tremendous amount of interest and excitement among paintballers around the globe.  However, a recent issue regarding the pistol has surfaced….

It appears the dimensions for disposable 12g CO2 cartridges vary far beyond Tippmann’s initial testing and have resulted in some cartridges not puncturing.  Although they tested numerous brands, they have discovered that certain types of cartridges may not puncture on the first pull.  If you have noticed this issue with your TPX Pistol, please call Tippmann at 1-800-533-4831 or visit www.tippmann.com (click on the CO2 Upgrade Kit link and simply complete the appropriate TPX form with your serial number.  Tippmann will send you a free CO2 Upgrade Kit including a new cap with an adjustable set screw that adjusts for various CO2 cartridge sizes, as well as a new, easy-to-install pin assembly.

If you have experienced any other issues, whether it’s velocity, efficiency, or paint breakage related, we encourage you to visit Tippmann’s new TPX Tech Support program on their website to learn more about troubleshooting, installation and maintenance of your TPX pistol.  There are also some helpful tips on how to correctly pick paint and properly load a magazine.  And if you can’t find what you’re looking for in the videos, you may always contact their Tech Service Team at 1-800-533-4831, or 1-260-749-6022.

When on the paintball field, there is one major thing the game revolves around…. shooting the enemy.  In order to do so, effective aiming is a crucial point.  Here are some tips for aiming a paintball gun.  In order to aim the gun better, try pointing your finger down the barrel.  Doing this ensures you are pointing the gun directly where you want to.  Remember, this is only good as long as your gun is in range, otherwise you will need to arch the gun, or raise it up to compensate for an arched trajectory of the paintball.  Hitting targets just beyond your marker’s range is an art and is something you will need to practice; this is more of a guessing game.  I suggest you shoot a couple of times to get a gyst of where your ball is going, and then adjust from there.  Happy shooting!
Matt Kresch, Team Trinity

So I bring my son’s CO2 tanks into Wal Mart to exchange them for filled ones the other day….. and the kid behind the counter proceeds in telling me how paintball is being ‘phased out’ and that airsoft is taking over!  Yeah right!  Let’s face it…. air soft is cool but it’s a far second from actually marking your opponents with a realistic tactical paintball gun.  What he meant to say was how ‘Wal Mart is phasing it out’ and that they won’t be re-filling CO2 tanks anymore.  At first I thought maybe it’s just our local Wal Mart but I’ve heard it from other paintballers around the country as well - Wal Mart is going to stop re-filling/exchanging air tanks for paintball guns.  Don’t worry though, there are other places you can go to re-fill your tanks; Wal Mart was just very convenient.  So make sure you stock up on all your CO2 needs…… CO2 tanks, refill kit, tank O-rings; you might even think about getting your own air compressor.  Get great deals on all these CO2 tanks and accessories at www.choicepaintballguns.com!