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Druid · March 11th, 07:57 AM

Hello every one. My name is Sean and I’m fairly new to paintballing. I’m from Wales which is in the UK (the country to the west of England). I only paintball as a leisure activity on average, once a month. I have mainly participating in woods ball/scenario. Me and a couple of my friends tend to hire a day at a paintballing centre. We don’t have any of our own equipment but it’s cheap enough to hire. I have had an idea about starting my own business manufacturing paintball markers and other equipment. I currently work for a technical collage as a technician. The engineering behind a marker isn’t too difficult. I have made custom parts for some of my friends that have there own markers I.E barrels and custom triggers.
My mane reason of manufacturing my own stuff isn’t just to make money (honest) but to exploit some areas of the market and the fact that I love to design and make pretty much anything. As I have for mentioned I do mainly a bit of woods ball. The only problem I have is with the markers I have been using. There is nothing wrong with the markers that I have hired in the past (usually a Tippmann 98c, It’s a very good marker) but due to the way I play it has some things that I don’t like. I.E the hoper is obviously on the top which doesn’t let me take aim very well. This is a problem as I tend to shoot very accurately (I was kind of military trained no nonsense stuff and not Rambo esk antics).
I mainly want to know about what the public wants. I know that the prices are high; lowering prices is defiantly what I want to do. The prices in the UK are high despite the good exchange rate. I have modified a friend’s marker in the past to change the hoper feeding vertically to a bit offset. This has increased his shouting. He mainly does a kind of speedball that we have over here. Any suggestions would be grate and be free to post response and questions. Thanks to those of you that have read this rather long thread and happy balling.

**CrazyAzian** · March 11th, 08:15 AM

There is always room in the industry for a company with new ideas. Thats cool how you modified your friends feed to one like the Ego, which I'm assuming was your inspiration.

Wholly Quakers · March 11th, 09:44 AM

make a trigger frame for a shocker that does not cost over $100 bucks and alot of people would be very happy.

**Mescaline** · March 11th, 10:04 AM

id love to see some pics of the work you already done

**M4Maniac** · March 11th, 10:14 AM

Ima kill anyone who says "tl;dr" with my E-Nuclear Missile.

Good luck man that sounds awesome, pics of what you've done? Good luck too man.

**Kleivonen** · March 11th, 11:16 AM

tl dr

lol j/k

sunds cool, and good luck

**bobide** · March 11th, 11:36 AM

sounds interesting. First i'd like to warn you that you are not the first person or company to have a desire to create the small parts for guns.

The q-loader addresses the problem of the hopper being on top. There are easily 10 companies out there that make great triggers.

If I were you i would try to make parts for the scenario baller. The mil-sim guys. They are a market that is not being fully realized yet. With your military training you should have a idea of the types of things they would like.

The big thing with the mil-sim market is all the stuff is WAY overpriced. The companies making parts now just try to suck the players dry of cash. Most of the parts aren't the best either.

**Brockocoli** · March 11th, 11:49 AM

^very good advice.

**paintballkid320** · March 11th, 12:12 PM

you could make some barrels with a cool design but theres a bunch of barrels out there already so you could always make some cheap triggers that are comfortable and easy to walk.

**Tim-Tim** · March 11th, 12:35 PM

Actually Bobides advice is really good. There is a lot of woodsballers out there and there arent very many companys in that market.

**CrazyAzian** · March 11th, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mescaline

id love to see some pics of the work you already done

Definately. I'd like to see some of those triggers.

**Huntin Dawg** · March 11th, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M98Man

Ima kill anyone who says "tl;dr" with my E-Nuclear Missile.

Good luck man that sounds awesome, pics of what you've done? Good luck too man.

qft.
i wana see some pics of ur work cuz it sounds great

Druid · March 12th, 11:59 AM

Currently I don’t have any pictures of work that I have done. The hoper feed system that I modified was based on another marker. The marker that I modified comes from the late 80’s and was a cast off that a friend of mine picked up (free to a good home job). I have started to design a scenario ball gun with the paintballs fed from a magazine. The gas canister is stored in the stock. The actual size is a bit of a mystery. I have only designed it to hold 12oz/20oz CO2 canisters so far. I probably need feedback on what size I should accommodate for. At our nearest paintball park they have air supply which is completely free. They also hold a paintball league there and the 6 nations (a speedball competition between Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland, France and Germany). This is a good source to tap into but I think that the biggest market is definitely in the U.S
I have about a year left on the contract in my current job. I have free rome of the equipment within reason. We have various lathes and millers of which a large number are CNC and a rapid prototyping machine. I mainly design things on our cad system which is Solidworks. At this stage I won’t bother with charging anyone. The only cost that I require to cover is on materials.
The barrel I made was fore the same friend that has the old 80’s marker. He bent the barrel. He couldn’t find a replacement so I made him a new one. The marker that I have designed is similar to the assault rifle that is in halo 2. I will attach a 2d sketch with the next post that I will create. My designs are at the mercies of patenting lawyer at the moment. I’m gaining help with the business side of things as I have no experience of training.
I also have been advised not to pin my hopes on one product so I’m sourcing out other possible areas that I can break into. As I’m a newbee to everything I’m fairly lost. I have to thank every ones response and sound advice so far, a special thanks to bobide. You’re posting, it will silence some critics on my end about the woodsball/scenario market.
Any ideas just send me what you want on a basic sketch and I will design something for you. I you are worried about me stealing you’re ideas don’t worry. I’m only going to use it for research and you will own the IP of the product (wholly Quakers if you supply a basic sketch I will try to get back to you with a trigger). One thing I do require is that you give me accurate dimensions on the fixture holes ext .its kind of crucial. I will look at doing any custom jobs (within reason) and as I have for mentioned I only need to cover the materials. My Boss is easy going heed let me work late on such projects as it will increase my experience. In the UK someone of my position of work would usually require a degree or at least 3 years industrial experience as a CNC operator so my boss is eager to develop my skills.
Happy balling

Kris Is Awesome · March 12th, 03:26 PM

This sounds like a great idea. Not often enough does someone want to get something started liek this. Alot of work, planning, and money will go into it. Best of luck to you- Hope all turns out in your favor...

**bobide** · March 12th, 03:55 PM

heads up on your gun project. There is a gun that uses a magazine feed system and has the co2 in the stock. I can't recall the name right now, but it has two versions. A .44 and a .68 caliber style. However since they are US based I bet you would have no problem taking over the european side of the market if your patents go through.

best of luck!

Wholly Quakers · March 12th, 04:53 PM

I will make a sketch but it will take me a couple of days

**Kleivonen** · March 12th, 10:23 PM

good luck again, and this sounds really cool.

i really can't wait to see some of these sketches

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