Hello MPN Staff,
I've been playing paintball for a little bit now. I have a question about your opinion on two different brands of paint. I currently have a custom made auto cocker. I have an SP smart parts barrel small and a taso eliminator medium bore. I have been tryin to find the best paint for the gun that isn't too expensive. I recently ordered a case of Diablo. Is this a good brand paint from your experience?. What paint do you think is best for these barrels? I would like your opinion. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Paintball Player
Hello Fellow Paintball Player,
In my experience with paintballs in the past, it's definitely quite a venture trying to find the right ball and the right barrel. Both of the barrels that you have a very nice barrels. When you mention medium bore, I would assume you are reffering to around .689.
Diablo and RP
I have shot Diablo paint and it is quite nice. It is fairly consistant, accurate, and breaks nice. The other thing I like about Diablo is that you can order different grades of ball which are ideal for just standard rec play, all the way up to tournament grade (which breaks much easier on impact). You can order different grades of RP as well (such as Marballizer, Premium Gold, etc.) I personally have been shooting just regular RP (I would recommend a solid color ball such as pink or yellow) for rec play and Premium Gold for tournaments.
Barrels
I use an OTP 2 piece (half aluminum & half Stainless) with the red sizer (which is approx .689) on my custom Autococker, which shoots both paints just fine. I also have a Smart Parts aluminum which also has no problems with both paints. The only thing with aluminum is that when you break a ball, your paint doesn't fly as accurate until you clean (which is why I prefer the S/S because it's a little more accurate in those conditions). In my opinion, most barrels will give you the same results if you have a good fit with your paint. The most obvious differences are lengths, appearance, and the way it sounds when you shoot.
What to look for in Paintballs
Most paints are fairly priced, and pretty much give you the same results (from my experience). As far as the main difference between RP and Diablo, try them both to see which shoots better for you. A few things you should take into consideration when trying different paint:
- Roundness - Roll it on a flat surface an see if it rolls or
wobbles.
- Accuracy - Shoot 10 balls and the same place and see if they
hook or fly straight. If they are hooking, make sure your barrel
isn't too tight, and that it is clean of debris and oils.
- Consistancy & Viscosity - How thick is the paint?
Is the seam of the ball smooth or do they have ridges?
- How well it breaks and marks - If the balls are bouncing off
a wood target at 285 FPS, you probably want to get a ball with a softer
shell. If you can't see it when you hit the target, (depending on
the color of the paint and your target) there is a good possibility your
opponent won't see it either when they are hit.
- Cost - Of course everyone is looking for the cheaper ball,
but it saving a few dollars means spending most of the time cleaning your
gun, you have to ask yourself if it was worth the savings.
Most stores that I know of will open the case and check for broken paintballs when you purchase them. If the store doesn't do it when you purchase it, you might want to ask them if they can. The main reason being that if their is a broken ball, they can see so for themselves before you walk out of the store.
Testing the paint - Sizing it to your barrel
Take the paintball and push it softly into the end which screws into your gun. If the paintball goes right through, the bore is too large. If won't go in unless you force it, the bore is too tight. If it pushes in smoothly, it's perfect. Paint which is too small will loose consistancy, accuracy, and FPS. Paintballs which are too large will either pinch in your breech, or will explode in the barrel. Most people that I talked to after hearing them complaining about the paintballs at the field, actually learned that it sometimes is the barrels which are causing the problems, not the paint.
Try it! - The next time you are at the field, try trading like 100 paintballs with someone else shooting another brand. It won't give you a completely accurate test (depending on how the other player stores their paintballs), but at least you can try something new to get a feel another brand.
The good news as a player is that there are alot of different brands of paintballs coming into the paintball industry. This gives you a large opprotunity to try many different brands at a lower cost. The other advantage is that the prices are being driven down so that different manufacturers can compete for your sales. Don't be afraid to try something new. One brand of paint my shoot better for you, than for someone else. You won't know until you try it.
Also, check out http://www.pevs.com/PCRI/specialedition4.htm. My staff members and I have read an excellent article on paintballs this month. Be sure to tell them that we sent you.
Hope this helps, feel free to write anytime when you have a paintball question.
Sean Takeda
MPN Columnist