dare u all to help this newbie!! (me)

[DerrickAK]

buckle up boys and girls.. this may take a minute of your time...can u help the newbies?
up here in alaska we dont have many places to choose from when it comes to paintball shops... there are a few local players but not like you guys have whereever u live.. so alot of our questions are left unanswered or the people we ask just dont have the knowledge.. so having said that..
(before u say it, ive looked online and found no answers.. and APG magazine didnt have em either)
we are looking into guns.. im trying to figure out whats the deal with the gas thru grip? expansion chamber? what do these things do? flatline barrels?
these are the guns we are looking at possibly getting:
Rebel (higher end)
Bob Long Millenium
Pro-carbine Spyder (higher end)
Piranha (higher end)
defender
GT 2000
illustrator
wiseguy 2
gt commando 2
inferno t3 ..and other guns of that cost and feature level..

we dont want to spend tons of money on upgrades... but we want to be able to make some if we so choose..
whats a gun listed above that comes ready to go with the most features? (barrel etc) ..

nitro vs compressed ? cost difference?

i have more questions.. but i will wait for u all to catch up (if anyone decides to help at all)..

ps: i will trade vast amounts of computer knowledge for answers :)

[Counterfeit]

You can find the answers to all your questions by doing a search of the forums for all your questions.

[DerrickAK]

dear mod god sir,
if i were to look in every thread (like i have been so far) i would be up all night long trying to locate my answers/help. i have however taken off from work today just to sit at home and look up paintball stuff (now thats dedication).. so perhaps throughout my day i will find my own answers.. but if someone helps me out along the way.. i appreciate it.

[Counterfeit]

Use the search button. Type in the key words to your question and you will find the answer. Do that for all your questions and you will find the answers you need.

[DerrickAK]

im ashamed to admit i overlooked this feature.

[MuckRaker]

Because I'm a nice guy, :D I'll try to help ya with some of these questions:

Originally posted by DerrickAK
whats the deal with the gas thru grip?
A gas-through-grip is just a fancy name for the forgrip. I allows gas to pass through it but does not act as an expansion chamber or other volumizer. On most guns, the grip can be removed and replaced with an expansion chamber or regulator.

Originally posted by DerrickAK expansion chamber? what do these things do?[/B]
An expansion chamber is used to allow liquid CO2 to convert to gas. It does this by providing some extra space in the gun. Besides that, it can also help keep velocity spikes down by helping keep the gas at a constant pressure. Expansion chambers can be fitted where the Gas-Through-Grip goes in your gun.

Originally posted by DerrickAK flatline barrels?[/B] This is a barrel made by Tippman Pneumatics, the company that makes the Model 98 and Pro Carbine. The barrel imparts "Backspin" on the paintball which increases it's range.

Originally posted by DerrickAK nitro vs compressed ? cost difference?[/B]
Nitro and Compressed air are the same thing, sure, some people will tell you differently, but there is no difference between a Compressed Air tank and a Nitro tank. The tanks cost more because they are built to hold a pressurized gas, unlike CO2 tanks which hold a liquid. Depending on how cold it stays in your neck of the woods, you probably want to go with Nitro/Compressed air tank. CO2 does not work well in cold weather.

I'm gonna avoid the gun question because it boils down to personal preference. If you have a group that's looking to buy some equipment, and you can buy it all at the same time, you'll probably get a nice discount.

My personal favorite Web store is
http://www.bbtpaintball.com.
Their toll free number is listed on the Web site, and if you see stuff you like, you should call them and ask about a bulk discount. I suggest them to you because they are located in California, which means you'd probably get your stuff quicker than if you ordered from a store in the Midwest or East Coast.

but, you may also want to try:
http://www.paintballgear.com
http://www.888paintball.com

also, just do a search on Yahoo or other major search engine for paintball stores, you'll find tons of them out there.

Good Luck.

[Phaelon Veritas]

mucky you're my hero :)

[MuckRaker]

Don't think of me as a hero, think of me as a guy who's got too much damn time on his hands :eek:

[Runnfox]

A suggestion for all newbies from a newbie. To avoid criticism for being a newbie and asking questions that annoy people do the following;
1) Go to Warpig online magazine warpig.com . Read everything in the Newbie section. Its pretty extensive and all good stuff.
2)Go to the Tech section and read about Open bolt vs closed bolt. Also look for info on low pressure there.
3) Find a good user group forum for your brand of gun. This great pbreview site has links to most user groups on the review page of the particular gun. I have a Syder Shutter and found a great Spyders owner group site on the review page for my gun. Also found a great Piranha user group for my son's gun. When you find a page go to the forum and look through the topics and read the threads that interest you.Also look at the links for other good sites.
4) look for the home page of your brand paintgun. Kingman has an excellent home page for Spyders with all sorts of FAQ's, trouble shooting tips, tech info and drawings.Plus E-mail and phone numbers for help.
5) look for other paintball magazines on line and read trhough them. You would be surprised how many there are. All with good info on them.
6) Look for paintball suppliers sites like ppaintballdiscounters.com . You can learn so much from supply sites also. And once you start to look you keep finding more and more.

After looking and reading through all that you should have a pretty good understanding of the guns and how they work.Then if you still have some questions you can post them here or on any of the user group forums and people will know you you have done some research already and dont sound like a newbie. And the questions you ask will likely be of the sort that even the more expirinced players will want to know.
And in faiirness to Muckracker and all the others that try to answer questions here and on other forums; people dont want to sit here and type pages of info to explain everything. And there is already a ton of well written stuff out there just waiting for you to read. And you want to get info from a variety of sources because some people will of nature be biased toward one gun or another. And some people have more expierince than others. So you cant just take one persons word as gospel for everything.
Thats been my experience so far. One Newbie to another, keep asking and reading and you will find the asnwer.

[Incube]

also to find out about your guns you want go to the gun reviews http://www.pbreviews.com (i am sure you know that and then click on semi or what ever gun you are looking for also try not to go to expensive with the guns if your starting out try like anything under 275 to start out with you dont want to waste money on a gun that you may not like. i bought a raptor silver eagle as my second gun for 175 and i have used it for 1 year now and i consider it my best gun

[ssgohan]

http://www.pbreview.com.......NOT http://www.pbreviews.com

[ssgohan]

http://www.pbreview.com sorry about the bad link

[Incube]

opps sorry for the s

[REDCELT]

Tippman Model 98's are bullet proof guns. You really have to work hard at it to mess em up. Muckrakers right about bbtpaintball.com. Good prices & service.

[PaintKiller]

Originally posted by DerrickAK
buckle up boys and girls.. this may take a minute of your time...can u help the newbies?
up here in alaska we dont have many places to choose from when it comes to paintball shops... there are a few local players but not like you guys have whereever u live.. so alot of our questions are left unanswered or the people we ask just dont have the knowledge.. so having said that..
(before u say it, ive looked online and found no answers.. and APG magazine didnt have em either)
we are looking into guns.. im trying to figure out whats the deal with the gas thru grip? expansion chamber? what do these things do? flatline barrels?
these are the guns we are looking at possibly getting:
Rebel (higher end)
Bob Long Millenium
Pro-carbine Spyder (higher end)
Piranha (higher end)
defender
GT 2000
illustrator
wiseguy 2
gt commando 2
inferno t3 ..and other guns of that cost and feature level..

we dont want to spend tons of money on upgrades... but we want to be able to make some if we so choose..
whats a gun listed above that comes ready to go with the most features? (barrel etc) ..

nitro vs compressed ? cost difference?

i have more questions.. but i will wait for u all to catch up (if anyone decides to help at all)..

ps: i will trade vast amounts of computer knowledge for answers :)

You said you have vast amounts of computer knowledge...Har har I probley know more bout computers then you.
I build my own...with some help from my dad I am still learning and I am 14 har har..LOL

[nosights]

I would start out with a Piranha STS or the PRO. Within a few weeks the Piranha line will change and Verticle feed will be availible on more guns. I sell equiptment and the Piranha is my #1 seller. This is because I push it. Don't get me wrong I shoot many guns my favorite being my 2001 Autococker STO. The Piranha is easy to clean and maintain and very easy to understand how it works.
If you start with compressed air then you will eliminate the question of exp. chamber vs. gas thru grip. The beauty of High Pressure Air is that it is not temperature dependant...a huge bonus in Alaska. The down side is that it is harder to find someone who can fill it (try scuba shops) though co2 will brobably just as hard in a non paintballing area (any welding shop should have co2)

The Piranha STS or PRO will come with a decent barrel though I still recommend an upgrade. I sell the PMI Razzor for $40 or less and I can work out a deal on a package if you wish.

The cost difference in tanks is huge, co2 is by far cheaper to purchase, $30 vs $200.

E-mail me with further questions
djvannette@yahoo.com