Don't Fear the Paintball Rental Guns.

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First, if you want to play with a quality rental paintball gun you will have to find a quality field. Some fields try to get by with the bear minimum and with the least amount of maintenance they can get away with. Most any gun can be a good rental gun as long as it is cared for.

Most fields today use either the Tippmann 98 or the Classic Piranha. Some try their hand at more exotic rentals, in some cases electronic guns, but for the most part the 98 and Piranha is the most dependable and reliable.

Don't expect to be "stylin" with your rental gun or mask. In most cases each will be banged up, dinged and scratched. The CO2 or HPA tank will not look much better either. Remember what they say - beauty is only skin deep. It's what's inside that counts and how you use it.

Never accept a mask that has a cracked lens. A good equipment manager will set out a bunch of masks for you to pick through rather than just toss you one with no choice. The lens should be clean. Pick through and find one with the least amount of scratches. If the lens appears hazy do not pick it. Hazy is a sign that the anti-fog coating is breaking down.

The first thing you want to check on your rental gun is if the grip frame is screwed securely to the body. If there is any wobble don't be afraid to point it out to the staff. If the first person you ask says, "It doesn't matter," you need to look for another staff member. If the second agrees with the first you will want to find another place to play. Check the ASA, the part the tank is screwed into. That should be tight and not wobbling, also.

Check your hopper before you put paint into it. Even the best field can let a wet hopper get past them. Make sure it is clean, particularly on the inside, and check for foreign objects that might block the paint. If the lid doesn't shut tightly you will need another hopper.

When you fill your hopper with paint watch to make sure it passes through the hopper neck and elbow. Point the gun toward the ground and shake it. If paint rolls out the barrel tell the staff. That shouldn't happen!

Your rental will probably already be chronographed. Most fields have a limit set at 280 feet per second. This will mean the busy staff checked them and set them and passed anything between 250 and 275. Asking the staff if you can check the velocity of your rental gun can be tricky. I know I don't like it when someone asks to have their rental checked. It usually sets off a chain reaction.. Suddenly everyone wants their rental checked and it slows the group up. If I were renting I would play dumb and pull a ref off to the side. Tell him you are going to buy your own gun soon and would he show you real quick how to chrono. If your rental chronos below 265 I would ask politely to have it turned up.

Good paint, under the right conditions, should not break in your barrel. Sometimes the field owner creates problems by selling bad paint. Sometimes conditions happen that the field owner has no control over. Playing on a cold day, particularly a cold day following a number of warm days will reek havoc on any paint.

Consider the conditions when and if you begin to break paint in your rental. If you are the only one having trouble there might be a problem with your rental. Or you might be holding the rental wrong, shooting while running and juggling the gun or more probably, shooting to fast. If a large majority of your group is having trouble it might be the paint.

And please keep this in mind. Whether you are using a rental or a $2000 dollar tournament gun, once you break paint in your hopper or your barrel nothing is going to get better until you get each cleaned. Broke paint in the hopper requires a complete over haul. Refs should have something to help you get your barrel some what clean even while the game is going on. Shooting the gun upside down with the hopper pointed down will blow air through the barrel and help clean it. Between games in the safe area have your refs do a quick field strip on your gun to get it really clean.

Like I tell my players - Paintball guns are not sniper rifles. You might see a ball tail off to the left or right at times. But if a ball comes out of your gun and does cork screws or 90 degree turns don't holler at the gun. Holler for a ref!

You can have fun with any clean, well maintained paintball gun. Even a rental.

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