Jamie Stewart
English 1100
Mr. Parker
September 29, 2013
Paintball’s ultimate Decision
A huge controversy over what is the best paintball gun to buy as an avid player, whether a poppet system or spool system. A big difference between both; in a poppet style gun the operator has to deal with minimal care but it still needs some to work, to perform at maximum efficiency. This system also has a small amount of O-rings and has recoil when it shoots, but they is an on field advantage that the poppet system has over the spool which is that has an open bolt action which always for a quick clean if a malfunction happens on the field. Now on to the spool system; which has quite a smooth shot with a quite burst but requires a lot more O-rings, and maintenance, to keep it performing a maximum proficiency, and also has a closed bolt system. These are the factors that interested buys need to keep in mind if they want to buy a gun that works to their standards and preferences. Major differences between poppet and spool valve marker gun involve how the bolt works and weather’s effect on the gun. Spool valve markers usually have fewer moving parts but have more rubber O-rings. Poppets, on the other hand, have few to no O-rings and moving parts in both parts of the gun because the poppet gun uses a stacked-tube design unlike spools, which have one single tube. Since the spool version uses more O-rings, these guns must be greased after every use to avoid the bolt sticking when firing. Keeping the O-rings on the bolt fitted correct is essential because a shooter does not want air leaks when the weather changes. Changes in weather can cause O-rings to compress or expand. A shooter using a gun with poppet valves faces two to three O-rings max. Once the shooter oils the bolt, he is good to go. A poppet shooter needs only to oil the bolt 8,000 shots or so. Weather has less impact on a poppet valve marker, For the fact that one has less O-rings to worry about .Both guns, if well maintained and adjusted, will shoot just fine in any weather condition. However, a spool valve gun requires much more routine maintenance than a poppet valve gun. Another difference between Poppet and spool valve markers is efficiency. Efficiency is measured by how many shots one can obtain off a normal sized air tank. A 68ci and 4500psi air pressure is the standard size tank that is normally used. A spool valve gun usually gets in the range of 1,100 shots per fill of a tank because the bolt uses much more air to move itself forward to make contact with the paintball. Poppets Valve’s usually get around 1,800 plus shots per fill of a tank because a player had a whole other tube which pushes the bolt forward and does not release air out of the back when shot. Now depending on where one plays on the field can determine how much paint a player will be shooting so efficiency may be higher priority to some over other people. Not to mention that games can last up to 10 minutes so one always want to be sure a player can shoot and hold them back with more shooting, Instead of having to be