READ THESE TWO PARAGRAPHS FIRST:
This is a quick guide for anyone wondering what gun to buy. It is by no means all encompassing, so still feel free to post your own thread asking people what they think of your choices, this is just to help narrow the choices. I will not cover every single gun, that would take too much time and be pointless. I will try to be as unbiased as possible. Keep in mind, this is a speedball oriented thread, I will not talk about what guns are best for woods/scenario play.
I will cover a handful of guns in 12 categories, starting from $1-100, all the way to $1101-1200. This will not cover guns that haven't come out as of this date (September 21st, 2006), and will only cover guns that are still being produced/sold. This for guns sold being new from the retailer, not used. Some retailers have different prices, have sales, prices change etc. so you may find you can’t find the gun in some category in that price range, or perhaps you’ll find it cheaper; I can’t control this, I’ve tried to be as accurate as possible with prices.
I may decide to update or create newer versions of this thread in the future.
This thread was inspired by 98customplayer1's thread in the new player section, essentially the same idea but focuses only on lower end guns for new players looking for their first gun. Check it out if you're in that situation:
[Note to Readers: I'm an opiniated human being, I'm not a true expert. This is all my opinion, it is by no means fact!]
$1-100 Category
This category is for the cheapest of "weekend warriors". You will not be able to effectively compete at any level with guns in this category. I don't even recommend spending any money whatsoever on upgrades for these guns. Save up for something better.
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PMI Eforce GTI 2006: The Piranha line of guns are cheap and pretty good performers, they perform exactly like spyders except are built at a higher standard and use standard parts, while spyders use metric parts which are very hard to find. This gun is cheap, electric (meaning faster than a mechanical gun) and pretty durable. My top pick for this category.
*Stacked tube blowback
*Spyder threaded barrel
*Works on either co2 or HPA (must be a High Pressure tank, LP will not work)
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Kingman Spyder Imagine: Same performance as the above Eforce, but built more cheaply. I would stay away from spyders if possible, they have always had a bad reputation for quality, and still do. It’s still worth looking into however, as most guns will generally hold up okay so long as you do perform regular maintenance.
*Stacked tube blowback
*Spyder threaded barrel
*Works on either co2 or HPA (must be a High Pressure tank, LP will not work)
$101-200 Category
This is a good price range for anyone who wants to have their own equipment just to fool around and not play competitively or seriously.
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Kingman Pilot ACS: It’s cheap, relatively fast, and easy to maintain; it has the “ACS bolt” that is advertised to reduce/eliminate chopping. While the ACS bolt probably helps a bit, it won’t actually completely eliminate chopping.
*Stacked tube blowback
*Spyder threaded barrel
*Works on either co2 or HPA (must be a High Pressure tank, LP will not work)
*Anti-chop bolt
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PMI Eforce Evo: Again, same operation as a spyder (stacked tube blowback), but this time it comes with a very nice set of break beam eyes, which will do a far better job of reducing chops than the “ACS” bolt.
*Stacked tube blowback
*Spyder threaded barrel
*Works on either co2 or HPA (must be a High Pressure tank, LP will not work)
*Break Beam eyes
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Smart Parts Ion: Most definitely the undisputed king when it comes to bang for your buck, in any category. They have a bad rap for many different reason that I won’t really get into, but the fact of the matter is they’re pretty decent guns: they’re light, pretty robust, and fast. The real problem with these guns is the way they’re designed, you must take apart the entire gun to access the bolt assembly, which needs to lubed regularly. On top of that the electronics and internals are rather cheap, and since they must be handled very often to get to the bolt assembly they tend to break a lot. This is gun is definitely the best buy in this category,
if you feel confident that you can strip it down and reassemble it without a problem. It’s not complicated to do, you just have to be extra careful.
*Blowforward (Similar to spool valve but simplified)
*Impulse/Ion Barrel threads
*Replacable plastic body shell
*Break beam eyes
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Tippman 98: It's not very fast, or light, but it's a fairly decent performer. What makes it such a good choice is it's near indestructibility. So long as you put a bit of oil through it once in a while, the only thing that will ever break on this gun is the feedneck when is something like a $10 replacement.
*Single tube blowback
*Tippman 98 barrel threads
*Works on either co2 or HPA (must be a High Pressure tank, LP will not work)
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Diablo Wrath/Slayer: It’s a poppet valve with a spring return ram; this design seems to have a bad rap, although the design isn’t the problem here, it’s simply the gun over all. When they are working, they seem to be pretty decent guns, but I personally haven’t seen many of them working well, or even working period.
*Stacked tube spring return ram driven
*Break beam eyes
*Autococker tbarrel threads
$201-300 Category
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ICD Promaster: It’s light, quite fast, and efficient due to it’s poppet valve innards. It doesn’t come with a bottomline, so you’ll have to spend at least another $15 or so bucks to actually get it up and shooting right out of the box. Beware, I personally do not like anything from ICD, as I’ve seen too many of their guns having strange issues, particularly with their regulators, both the LP and HP.
*Stacked tube air ram
*Autococker barrel threads
*Break beam eyes
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“Private Label” Ions: Many websites are offering Ions that already come with upgrades installed. Due to this forum being sponsored by xpaintball.com, I can’t mention the specific websites, but just browse around, they are good deals. They’re a lot cheaper than if you were to buy the upgrades separately and try to install them yourself. Such examples are the “Redz Ion”, and the “Ion Pro”.
*Blowforward (Similar to spool valve but simplified)
*Break beam eyes
* [Barrel threads and body shell may vary]
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Diablo Wrath LTD: Same exact thing as the regular Wrath or Slayer, except with a bit lighter and smaller.
*Stacked tube spring return ram driven
*Break beam eyes
*Autococker barrel threads
$301-400 Category
There aren’t many guns in this price range that I would consider worth their price tag. It’d probably be a better idea to buy something in the last category, spend a bit of money on a few upgrades, or instead save some more money for the $400 and up categories.
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Worr Games Mini E-Orracle: It’s appealing for essentially the same reason many people would dislike it: it’s an autococker with a select fire frame. Because it’s an autococker, that means it will shoot great; because it’s an autococker some may find it to be finicky and more difficult to maintain. Because it has a select fire frame, it will be fast; because it uses a select fire frame, it does not have much adjustment (compared to the E1/E2 or Raceframe).
*Autococker operation (true closed bolt function)
*Autococker barrel threads
*Reflective eye
*On/off ASA
$401-500 Category
Guns in this category teeter on the edge of mid-end and high end; good for someone who plays lower level tournaments, or a serious player looking for a decent backup to a more expensive primary.
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Bob Long Defiant 2: Essentially a stripped down intimidator, similar performance. Only problem is it doesn’t come with a clamping feedneck or bottomline.
*Stacked tube air ram
*Break beam eyes
*Autococker barrel threads
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ICD Lasoya Promaster: It’s just a milled down promaster. Comes with a different board and trigger.
*Stacked tube air ram
*Break beam eyes
*Autococker barrel threads
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Smart Parts Nerve: It’s efficient, relatively light, and pretty reliable from what I’ve seen. Can keep up with pretty much any other gun too in terms of speed. Definitely a good buy.
*Stacked tube air ram
*Reflective eye
*Impulse/Ion barrel threads
*Clamping feedneck
*On/off ASA
-Continued in next post-