So you might ask yourself a couple of different questions. "What can I do to make paintball more interesting?", maybe "How can I be different?", but more than likely, " Where can I get one of those?!?!"
Your answer is pump paintball.
Key terms/ small pump dictionary
Stock class- A set upon rule of play that involves pump, feed tube, 12 grams, ball limit, and other rules.
Pump markersPump markers- Markers that require manual cocking after each shot. Pump markers have a handle either around the handle or under the barrel.
Feed tube- A horizontal tube that is right above the marker. It holds paintballs. Most feedtubes hold from 10 to 15 paintballs.
10 round tubes- Small plastic tubes that hold 10 paintballs. Are used to reload into the feed tube.
12 grams- Very small canisters full of co2 gas. One time use only.
12 gram changer- A two piece device. One piece screws into an ASA. It has Male threads on the other side with a sharp point to pierce the 12 gram. The other piece is a bucket-style thing that holds the 12 gram. You screw it onto the upper piece. It pushes the 12 gram until it breaks the metal seal at the top, then the co2 flows into the gun.
More will be added later.
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Here's a little history lesson. Paintball started a long time ago using Nelson 007s, guns that shot little balls of paint, used to mark trees to be cut down. That is where the term "marker" came from. They were made by Nelson Paint Company. Some people got together and played a game with these markers. They used tubes of 10 paintballs and 12 gram CO2 (carbon dioxide) canisters. The first game was finished without a shot being fired. The friends started National Survival Game. Then it all started up.
The first markers were pump. Until an inventor came around, all markers were pump. Many pump markers have come and gone, some staying, some leaving ever so fast. Many designs came about, some stuck and some didn't. The main design that most pump markers are is called a Nelson design.
This is a picture of phantom internals, phantoms are Nelson "clones".
The front (farthest left) item is the bolt, or the TPC. It regulates the velocity by adjusting the spring in the middle.
Phantoms, along with carters, mavericks, traccers, hornets, spyder hammer, and many other modern pumps are Nelson clones.
Other styles of pumps include Snipers. Don't laugh, for the term Sniper when talking of pump means a pump autococker. Do not confuse it with the lying on the ground kind sniper. Any autococker can be turned into a pump. They make pump kits, as well as pump kits for autococker trilogies.
There are many other types, but fear not, the night is young, you will hear more later.
First let's cover what guns there are.
Nelson clones
First comes the nelson.
OLD SCHOOL! First paintball marker ever. Very basic design.
Then all the nelson clones.
Phantom ~$250 through $300
Follows basic nelson design with some improvements, courtesy of Mike Cassidy. The design of the phantom hasn't really changed a lot since 1989.
Carters/buzzards ~$450 or more
Made by Carter. Follows the phantom/nelson design with some improvements, like metal in place of plastic.
Mavericks/traccer/hornet/brute/spyder hammer/ pretty much any gun that looks like the picture - ~$50
Basic, if not the most basic, nelson design. Same internals as a phantom, pretty much. Lower quality, so cost is cheaper. Want to see if something is a cheap nelson clone? Does it look like the posted picture? There's your answer. It is a very popular model and was made by a lot of companies in a lot of different ways.
Now onto other markers.
PGPs ~$50 or more
Pistol style marker. Still is pump. Has feed tube on top. Uses 12 grams. I don't know much about it, only basic information.
Snipers ~Price varies a lot, some are $100 while some can be over $500.
Snipers are pump autocockers. You can turn any mechanical autococker into a pump by taking off the pneumatics and putting on a pump kit. Electronic autocockers are much harder to convert.
Those are the main types of pump markers. There are many, many different kinds out there. If you search and search you cannot find them all. Obscure pictures pop up every once in a while of some ludicrous set up that no one would use today, yet were the fashion back in the day.
Here is where you make a choice. Do you want to spend a reasonable amount of money to get a reliable set up, or do you want to get a cheap gun to try it out with?
The good thing about whichever you choose is that pump guns hold their value. Phantoms have been selling at the same price since 1989.
Phantom
A good starting marker would be a phantom. Reliable, easy to maintain, everything awesome. I have one and will always have one, they are one of the best guns out there. Many people use them, and for good reason. They are very customizable, require almost no maintenance, and need no upgrades. They are around $250 for a VSC set up.
Where to buy
Phantoms can be found many places. Here are some of the main ones. *note, I am not advertising other forums, just giving helpful links*
phantomonline.com
wevopaintball.com
whitewolfairsmithing.com
Here at pbf, sometimes phantoms pop up in BST
pbnation.com under pump BST
bunkerboyz.com/phog under market place
mcarterbrown.com under forum and BST http://z1.invisionfree.com/forums/StockClassPaintball/index.php under bst
I recommend wevo. He is an awesome guy, ships stuff fast, very awesome. Reasonable prices too. He also carries a variety of accessories.
Snipers
Snipers are also very nice. LA hitmen use snipers when they play NPPL events. They are very upgradable, have different set ups, nice pump strokes.
Expect varying priced for different guns and different set ups.
Carter/buzzards
Honestly, I do not know much about carters. I have seen them in use and they are very nice. My friends dad has one. Some would say that Carters are higher quality since some parts are made of metal rather than plastic.
Expect a somewhat hight price, Carters/Buzzards are nice guns and they hold their resale really well.
PGPs
Nor do I know much about PGPs. I was going to buy some on PBF but ended up not going through with the deal, and the next time I checked they were sold. I havn't seen any in use, they are somewhat old/obsolete. People still rock them, you might have seen Tyger from Web Dog Radio using one.
Assuming you already have the required paintball apparel for normal play, I will go ahead and talk about pump specific items.
12 grams or tank
Playing pump you have the option of air source. For a very light set up you will probably want 12 grams. If you want to be able to play a little more games you might get a 3.5 ounce tank. If you want to be able to play all day you could go for a 9 ounce, or even a 20 if you want to last a week. You only use larger tanks on back bottle or bottom line setups, it would break any vertical asa. If you want to be able to shoot as much as you want, you could go with a compressed air tank of any size, that is up to you. Small compressed air tanks are made, there are 13 cubic inch tanks and 22 cubic inch tanks.You have many options while playing pump.
The 12 grams, the 3.5 ounce tanks, and the smaller compressed air tanks are for sale at wevopaintball.com. You can also find them at the forums previously mentioned.
Paintball options
Just like tanks, there are many options for you to use for paintballs. Want to use a hopper? Go ahead. Want to use a stock class feed tube? Be my guest. Many different guns have many different changeable bodies. Take phantoms for example. If you want a stock class feed you take off the other body and put the stock class feed body on. If you want direct feed you take off the stock class feed and put on the direct feed. It is literally that easy.
On snipers it is a lot easier to use a hopper. Autocockers were made to be able to use hoppers, that's how most paintball is played today. LA hitmen, the pump team that plays NPPL, use revolution hoppers and compressed air tanks. They are really good pumpers, so they decided they needed tougher competition so they moved into the semi league.
The spirit of pump
Many pump players feel a certain way when playing pump. Some describe it as Zen, others describe it as the joy in one balling other players. The limited rate of fire plays a big part in this. Many believe that it separates the player from the marker and makes the player depend more on skill. One could attribute this feeling to the lack of firepower yet still coming out on top. That being said, there are times when you get out gunned in a pump vs semi game and can't do much.
Some pump users view themselves as if more sophisticated because of their marker choice. While this may seem snobbish, there is a certain degree of advancement when playing pump. Many people have noted that after they start playing pump they see the game differently. Pump users are required to think more on their tactics and game plan than rushing in while firing quickly.
There are many reasons for someone to play pump. One of the best feelings in paintball, honestly, is being under fire from a quick-fingered individual, snapping out and shooting one ball, hearing the player's firing stop, and seeing them walk towards the deadbox. While this may not seem as great an accomplishment as, say, double bunkering while supermanning to the flag, it still leaves the pump player with a great feeling.
Many people love the tactics, the stealth, the lack of firepower and the necessity of planning. This may seem as if pumpers are being compared to military snipers. They aren't. If you're an individual who enjoys this activity, maybe you should pick up a pump. Try playing pump. You may find yourself falling in love with this different style of gameplay. If you don't, however, the worst it could do would be to improve your semi game.
Perhaps something about the spirit of playing pump, the zen, if you will of a limited ROF, the quintessential challenge of stealth, picking your shot and all those esoteric reasons we get such enjoyment out of playing pump....
Nice thread. I dont know much about paintballing (pretty much nothing about pump!) but you've helped me learn about it and now i want to try it! Thanks.
I really want to get a pump now that I've read this but i have a question. If I'm going to use a hopper should i get a gravity fed phantom or a stock class? Or does it matter? I like the way the stock class looks but i figured i would have to get a gravity fed anyway. Can anyone confirm my suspicions?
Ive never heard of anyone damaging a VA because of the size of their tank.
Around 15ish years ago, when bottomlines were not nearly as common, people used 20s to even 32ozers on their VAs. Ive seen the pictures.
Attention All San Francisco Bay Area Pump Paintball Players,
We have a new LOCAL PUMP CLUB!
We meet once a month at Paintball Jungle for pump only games with a private referee.
You can find our events page on Facebook by searching @StockPaintball or try searching google for Bay Area Pump &...
I live in the SF bay area and I can't for the life of me find any fields\groups\clubs...that do regular pump play. I take my pump to rec games to keep from blowing through a case of paint with my impy. If anybody knows where I might find a good pump game lemme know... :?
Hey guys! So I have started playing paintball recently and I really got into it and I was looking for my first gun.
I want to get a pump marker because I saw a few people playing it and it looked interesting, and, I'm on a budget and I don't want to waste a lot on paintballs. I was looking at...
Hey Im looking at getting a pump paintball marker but I am looking for a beginner one that is cheap but has good performance I know this is had to find a marker thats cheap and good but im just looking for any recommendations?
This is the new thread since blackstar is no longer able to manage the list. Enough with having special numbers. Those who got them can keep them. If you want to be added to the list, post in this thread and I will add you to the next open spot.
1.dsmalls
2.Wezzle
3.Spyder3188
4.BUBBASR...
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