We get asked alot about Sniper Paintball Rifles. People want to know if they want to be a Paintball Sniper, which sniper paintball rifle should they buy. What other Sniper Paintball equipment do they need?
Let's start by talking about the sniper paintball rifle. If you look at "real" guns, you will see that there are guns like AK's, or M16's and there are paintball guns that look like those guns. When playing scenario paintball games, people want to look the part and play the part. Some guys will be infantry, some snipers, etc. The problem is paintball guns shoot paintballs. With a real sniper rifle, it will have a long, finely machined barrel, a high power scope, and shoot a very precise projectile. It is because of this a good sniper can hit a target at several hundred yards or more. And even when shooting a piece of lead, traveling faster than the speed of sound, you have to take into account the drop, wind, etc.
But with your sniper paintball gun, you are shooting a paintball. It does not have the aerodynamic properties of a bullet. Paintballs are not perfect. Some are rounder than others, the fill may have a little air bubble in it, the seams may not be perfect. Paintballs are made in two halves, and one half, the shell can be slightly thicker than the other half making it un-balanced. If you roll a dozen paintballs on a table, how many will roll perfectly straight??
And a paintball sniper rifle is shooting a paintball at about 260 - 300 feet per second. A fraction of what a bullet is traveling. And since a real bullet is aerodynamic, we can "rifle" the barrel, it will grab the bullet and get is spinning to add a gyroscopic balance to it as it flies. You can't do that with a paintball... it does not have an aerodynamic shape... it's just a cheap, out of round ball.
With all these variables, you could have the best sniper paintball rifle in the world, and hitting a target at 50 yards consistantly will be almost impossible. So really, most sniper paintball guns, are just made to look like a sniper rifle, but realistically, their accuracy will not be really much different than any other paintball gun. And the distance of a paintball flying, just like a real bullet, will be determined by the speed at which it leaves the barrel. So if they leave the barrel at 260 feet per second, it does not matter if it left a small pistol, or a 22 inch sniper rifle barrel, they are going to travel the same distance.
The only exception to this is there are some barrels like the BT Apeks or the Tippmann Flatline barrels that can put a spin on the paintball as it leaves the barrel, and like putting a back spin on a golf ball, or tennis ball, this can affect the path of the paintball. By putting a spin, you can increase the distance, but remember, when you increase distance, your accuracy will drop off a bit as well.
So is there anything to the sniper paintball rifle?? Well, most will have a long barrel. And while having a long barrel on a sniper paintball rifle will not help with distance or accuracy, (really anything past 14 inches is not needed...) it does help you poke the barrel out through the bush you are hiding behind so the paintball does not hit some leaves or twiggs on the way out.
So really, for most cases, for accuracy, the difference in the quality of the paintball is much more important than the gun. Have a decent gun, and then camoflage yourself so you can get close enough to the target without them spotting you. With any gun, and any paintball, it's hard to miss from 10 feet away!
Warning - About Camoflage on your Sniper Paintball Rifle!!
We sell camoflage wrap - it's like that stuff you put on your ankle when you sprain it. It sticks to itself, but not the gun - so there is no sticky mess. It is sold for hunters to cover their guns - but be very careful trying to camoflage your sniper paintball rifle. If you look at all paintball barrels, you will see there are holes in the barrel near the end. These holes are to let the pressurized air escape before it pops out the end of the barrel which could put an unwanted spin on the paintball and wreck what little accuracy you have in your sniper paintball rifle to begin with.
