What is a paintball gun package?

When looking for a cheap paintball gun, you may come across gun packages (player kits). These are offered either by paintball gun manufacturers, or a paintball gun shops or dealers, and they purport to give you all you will need to get you onto the playing field.

Typically you might get the following in a paintball gun package: a paintball gun (known as a marker), a mask, an air tank, a hopper, a barrel plug and perhaps some accessories, o-rings, paintball gun oil, and some paint balls. On the face of it, this would be a pretty good looking paintball gun package.

Paintball gun package - advantages

The main advantage is value for money. Buying all the items in the package separately will definitely cost you more.

If you are on a very tight budget, and you are not overly choosey, then a paintball gun package might be your only way of getting all that you need. On the other hand, you may have budgeted to buy everything separately, and buying the package could now free up funds for other things (but see below on the perils of cutting corners).

The last advantage is convenience. You get all the buying over and done with in one go.

Paintball gun package - disadvantages

The main disadvantage with packages is that in most cases, you do not actually want all of the items that you are buying! For example, in most packages the hopper you will get will be a traditional gravity feed. With a traditional gravity feed hopper your gun will never be able to fire more than 11 balls per second (BPS). However, if you are buying a gun with a BPS of more than 11, then only an electro hopper will ensure a feed to take full advantage of the fast shooting rate. Using a gravity-fed hopper will just retard performance.

Similarly, the air tank offered in the package might typically be a small carbon dioxide (CO2) tank. If you are looking for a nitro or high pressure air (HPA) tank, or a bigger CO2 tank, then the package tank may not be of any use to you.

Packages represent compromise, and for some of us compromise is not easy to swallow. If you are one of those people, then maybe you should delay your purchase, find some more funds for the budget, and then go out and buy the products you really want. In the long run you will be happier, and we are all in paintball for the fun of it.

Further, I think there are two items over which you should not compromise: the mask and the paintball gun. A good cheap paintball gun should be durable, reliable, give good performance, and be easy to maintain. A good mask should be comfortable and non-fogging. These are crucial bits of equipment upon which you should not cut corners. Do thorough research and identify a good cheap paintball gun and mask, and if the mask and the gun in the package are not the products you want, then my advice would be not to buy the package.

The other disadvantage of packages is inflexibility. A packages sold by a manufacturer is sold as a single products - you either take it or leave it. However, there may be some flexibility in dealer packages, which are just the latest deal put together by a shop. You may be able to convince the dealer to swap some of the items in the package (though probably not all, unless you pay more) for gear you really do want. If you can get the gun and the mask you want, you might be prepared to put up with the other items. Or maybe you could offer to pay a little more for an upgraded package more to your choosing. A bit of 'dealer wheeling' is what is needed here. Then you could find that you are properly kitted out and on the paintball field at a bargain price.