Assassin Paintball

Assassin Paintball Extreme Sports

Loader Hopper

Choose Your Hopper

The mechanism which holds your paintballs prior to firing is known as the hopper. Hoppers can be critical in whether or not your team or you as an individual are successful in your paintball missions. There are several types of hoppers, each with different mechanisms used to drop the ball and each with different capacities.

Gravity feed hoppers operate exactly as the name suggests, and are the original paintball hopper. The paintballs are stored in a compartment that consists only of a plastic holding container and a lid. The hopper is connected to the body of the gun by a feed tube, which is only wide enough to allow one ball at a time to drop down in front of the bolt. The sides of the hopper are all sloped so that balls naturally slide down to the area where the feeder tube is. Although the simple design and the cheap materials used for gravity feed hoppers make them the most inexpensive form of hopper out there, they do have several disadvantages. The first is that balls tend to get stuck in groups that jam up at the top of the tube. Although this problem can be taken care of by shaking the gun about, thus breaking up the group and allowing the ball to fall down the tube, it creates problems of its own. First of all, the shooter loses some valuable seconds trying to get a ball down. As all players know, this time is all that is needed for an opposing player to take you down or for you to miss an important shot. Shaking the balls around may also break them if the ball casement is weak, resulting in a jamming situation that might effect your whole gun, not to mention your usefulness in the rest of the match.

Stick Feed hoppers are located parallel to the barrel and the balls are held in a line. In order to load the balls, players need to rock the ball forward and then bring the sights to bear for the shot. A more useful model of stick feed is the vertical one, but these models can be outlawed at certain tournaments.

Force-feed hoppers are the most popular loaders among paintball hobbyists. Most of these pros have guns whose potential would be wasted if they were to use gravity as the primary loading mechanism (not to mention they themselves would be wasted by their opponents!). Force feeders have feed systems that will force balls into the gun, and grab the ball and load it instead of just mixing the balls up. Electronic models are especially useful as they can keep track of the number of rounds left in the hopper.

Agitating hoppers utilize a propeller to keep the balls from jamming up at the top of the feed tube. These hoppers still operate using gravity to bring the ball down, but the risk of having a jam is lessened. These were the first type of hoppers to be equipped with high-tech devices which would keep the shooter from firing without a ball in the chamber. This cuts down on battery usage as well as gas in older models.

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NEW Halo Invert TOO Paintball Loader & Hopper Review/Demo

The Main Paintball Gun Parts: Know Your Weapon

The Main Paintball Gun Parts: Know Your Weapon

If you are involved in the sport it is important to know about the main paintball gun parts. You need to understand the components of your marker to ensure its successful working and to facilitate its cleaning and upgrading. Beginners can be over whelmed by terms such as: bottom line adaptors, quick disconnect feed necks, CP micro drops and magic regulators. Essentially, most paintball gun parts will fall into one of the following main categories; body; hopper; tank or barrel.

The largest of the paintball gun parts is the main body of the marker. This comprises the bolt and the trigger frame. Bolts help to reduce the ammo breakage caused by a slow feed. The body parts can be detached from one another to incorporate upgrades and accessories. Best not to attempt this until you have become familiar with your weapon.

The body of the gun is fairly standard across the models. The main difference is in the placement of the trigger. The further forward the trigger is placed, the easier the marker is to handle with one hand and the lower the profile of the body. Guns with lower profiles are more successful in the field; markers with large bodies provide a bigger target.

The next of the main paintball gun parts is the hopper. The hopper, or loader on a marker stores and loads the ammo. Between 40 to 300 paintballs can be held by different hoppers. The speed, weight and reliability of the gun are greatly affected by the hopper type.

Stick feeds are generally used on pump action markers. They are the least sophisticated and reliable of the hopper types.

Gravity feeds are also a simple and cheap option. However, they are prone to jamming problems causing ball breakage or blockage in the hopper.

Agitating hoppers have a propeller inside the container which prevents the paintballs from jamming. They have a quicker firing pace than the previous loaders.

Force feed hoppers are used by professionals or tournament playing paintballers because they can keep up with the required loading speed. The device is spring loaded, or powered by a belt system. It captures the paintballs and forces them into the marker. They are the most sophisticated, reliable and expensive of the hopper types.

Another of the main paintball gun parts is the tank. Paintballs can be propelled in different ways and the tank contains the propellant. Markers typically use CO2 gas or high pressure air (HPA). The terms "nitrogen tank" and "HPA" tank mean the same thing.

CO2 gas was the original propulsion material. Early guns were powered by small CO2 cylinders which were good for about 15 shots. These evolved to 12 ounce CO2 tanks with a 200 shot capacity.

HPA tanks can be either high or low pressure. The regulator on the tank controls the output pressure. Some tanks have preset pressure outputs, others are adjustable. HPA is generally more reliable than CO2 and does not need an evaporation system in order to fire.

The last of the main paintball gun parts is the barrel. As the barrel determines the speed, distance and accuracy of the paintball, it is a crucial part of the marker. Barrels come in a variety of types distinguished by their length, bore and texture. Generally, the longer the barrel, the more accurate the shot as the paintball has more space to stabilize before leaving the barrel. Longer barrels will fire more quietly than shorter models, but they need a larger burst of air to propel the ball.

There are different barrels for different types of game scenarios. The sniper paintball gun is an example. It can be fitted with a scope to put the target in a clearer line of sight and a red dot laser light to add realism. Some guns allow you to change the barrels to change the whole make up of the gun.

The instruction booklet accompanying your gun will show you the different paintball gun parts and how to change and maintain them. Although paintball guns are durable, small working parts will have to be replaced occasionally. Paintball guns are designed to be upgraded so they can evolve with the abilities of the players using them. This saves the player having to buy a completely new gun as they become more accomplished. Paintball gun packages will include all of the essential paintball gun parts and accessory kits are also useful.

 

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Hawksbill Paintball
Hawksbill Sports was established by players, for players. Our goal is to give you the products you need to enjoy the sport of paintball. We have low prices and fast shipping and promise the best customer service you can find anywhere http://www.hawksbillpaintball.com

Hopper $12.38 Hopper

Loader Elbow $2.99 Connects hopper to gun. 7/8 is the default size for most markers.

Diablo Halo B Electronic Loader $108.08 The Diable Halo B electronic paintball marker loader boasts load speeds exceeding 20 balls per second. It's designed to work with almost any marker that uses a loader/hopper.

VL 200 Round Hopper $5.99 A premium 200 count feeder loader with spring loaded flip cap that features a two-half body that allows the user to completely disassemble the loader for more thorough cleaning.

Diablo Halo B with Rip Drive Electronic Loader $117.91 The Diable Halo B electronic paintball marker loader includes a Rip Drive feature that allows you to keep feeding even if your batteries let you down. It's designed to work with any marker that uses a loader/hopper.

CORE Tippmann A5 Offset Hopper Adapter $9.95 The CORE Tippmann A5 Offset Hopper Adapter moves your loader up and to the right you you can mount your favorite sight or scope and easily remove it for cleaning. It also adds an extra 50 paintballs to you ammo capacity!

BT Paintball Rip Clip Hopper Upgrade $72.5 Features *Uses patented HALO Technology *Includes Hopper & Drive System *Designed Exclusively for the BT 4 *Easy Installation *8000 Shot Battery Life *No Breach Eyes Needed *Loader Offset to the right for sighting down the barrel 1 year full parts and labor warranty through the manufacturer