marker mayhem

[Billy No Mates]

no, the title is not refferance to the team.
in short i got my copy of What Paintball Gear throught the post today (which by the way arrived really quickly and is really useful), and have spent all day reading it.
i have come to a sound conclusion though, no-one wants to slam any of the guns!
i am intrested in buying a gun, and around the £300 mark, (including air/co2 system) but its hard to pick an exact marker with there being such fuzzy lines between the differances.
i have however, going on featured gizmos, and the "pretty good for its money" kind of speaches given in WPG, decided i might go for something like the Spyder Flash, or the Piranha TS G3.
can someone please be a bit more blunt with the facts please.

I live in the UK, so how easy is it to get either of these serviced, any must have add-ons, personal experiences, anything except for the "considering its price its good" lingo. Are they any good or not?

im a rec player (usually using Spyders down a lovely lovely Sparklies, between cookies ), who occasionally intends to play tourney, so i dont want to be completely outgunned on a tourney field, but cant afford the earth.
Would it be a hell of alot cleverer to just buy second hand and get something more amazing?? (impulse / shocker / angel???)

if the Flash / TS are the ones to go for, does anyone know any good distributers in the uk??

anyone who has any input feel free to do so. Creators of WPG? im not saying that the info you give is complete trash, and i know it doesnt look good to completely trash mouth a marker, but even just a "out of ten" rating would have been good, or a comparison sheet, with maybe "ideal first marker" "Top Choice" that kinda thing. Its had sometimes hard to tell whether you like a marker, are are just being polite about it.


Thankyou, for reading my rant, and again, anyone who can help me in my dilema please do so.

 

[cjohns]

By second hand

By a second hand marker. Make sure you shoot it first and have someone check it out before you buy it.

Why buy a new Fiat, when you can have a used Lotus for the same price

 

[Billy No Mates]

not quite a fair comparison, and i cant see a 19 year old getting insured on a lotus!
And whats the point in having a lotus if you only drove down 30mph roads?
im not a MEGA tourney player, ive played one, and may play a few more this year, but no massive plans. its mainly for an advantage on the recall field, so would a "lotus" not be wasted??

as a point, ive been playing casually for about 18 months, with a few one off games before. so this is a first marker, and being a student i can afford a £1500 ish things, with bells whisles and flashy LEDs.

 

[Billy No Mates]

now ive read that back it makes almost no sense oh well

 

[John C]

You will see very few tournament players using 'blowback' guns. This is because they kick like mules, tend to be inconsistent and worst of all your team can suffer penalty points if your gun goes hot (shoots at illegal velocity). This happened to me when i had a spyder and its not a good feeling believe me.
Also beware of guns which work like a blowback but have an electronic trigger, the only advantage of these is the acheivable rate of fire, which makes the gun very hard to hold still while firing and increase your paint bill.

A second hand gun which uses a better firing method such as a mag or cocker can be picked up for the same price and are usually just as reliable. Mags have some trouble in cold weather but are now being sold second hand for pennies. A cocker is a serious tourney gun, but if you buy an old one, be prepared to learn about how your gun works and what can go wrong.

True electro guns are all very good but you rarely find second hand ones for sale which are worth the money. Be ware of old angel LEDs as the first lot of LEDs was full of problems.

Best way to find a good cheap gun is to go and watch a tourney, there are usually loads of players willing to sell their old marker for very little money so they can buy an upgrade for their newer toy!

 

[cjohns]

Uhhh

Ummmm, I guess just buy what you want and ummmm yeah. You lost me.

 

[Billy No Mates]

30mph speedlimit = recball
i think was the point i was trying to make.

and the insurance thing was just a jelousy thing to all those who have a lotus

 

[John C]

There is no reason why you wouldnt benefit from the increased consistency and stability that a higher end gun gives you in rec ball, as much as tournament. Its just if your gun goes hot your team loses points.

 

[Billy No Mates]

how easily can a marker run hot? what can cause it?

 

[John C]

depeneds on the marker, CO2 may enter your gun as a liquid and further expand inside the gun. Causing it to run hot.