Most of my shooting experience has to do with real bullets (.22 and .45 caliber) punching holes through paper. It probably doesn't matter so much with paintball guns, but with a real gun, the key to accuracy is being smooth on the trigger. When you're trying to line up a shot at 50 yards, being smooth is sometimes the difference between a 10 (inside a 3 inch diameter circle) and a miss (outside a 3 ft diameter circle).

In paintball, it's probably more important that you correctly judge the projectile's arc.

Quote from XCNuse :

dunno, i can't aim for crap to be honest out of all the guns i've shot (trust me i've shot a few), i guess i've never been told properly how to aim down the barrel, go to a local gun store and ask them, i bet they would be able to help tons more than anyone here can with words

If you're shooting iron sights, line up the front sight so that it's directly in the middle of the notch of the rear sight and the the tops of the front and rear sights are level. In other words, line up the front and rear sights both vertically and horizontally. Once you have that down, line up the top of the sight with the bottom* of the black circle on the target. This is called a 6 o'clock hold. However, DO NOT focus on the target. Instead, focus on the FRONT sight. Do the best you can to hold it there (the gun WILL wobble, there's nothing you can do about it) and smoothly squeeze the trigger straight to the rear with only the trigger finger until it goes off. Do everything right and you will be rewarded with a fairly accurate shot. If you're serious about becoming a good shooter, start with .22 for at least a few months before moving up to the larger calibers.

*The other option is called a center hold. As the name suggests, this involves aiming at the center of the black, rather than the bottom. On guns with adjustable sights, the shooter can decide whether he or she wants a center or 6 o'clock hold and adjust the sights accordingly. If the sights are fixed (non-adjustable), then chances are you'll just have to figure out where the shots hit, in which case the 6 o'clock hold is merely a starting point.

One of the more popular types of sights in competative pistol shooting is an electronic red dot sight. On the one I use, there is a tube on the top of the pistol, a little bit like a rifle scope (although shorter). Rather than crosshairs, there is a little red dot in the center of the sight. In this way, it's a little bit like a laser sight except that no image is projected on the target. There main advantages of this sight include: no need to line up the front and rear sights and easy sight and target acquisition. It is also (almost?) universally configured for a center hold and is therefore more intuitive to use than iron sights. Just put the dot in the center of the target and squeeze.

Quote from MAGGOT :

Depending on the weather and the arena itself, you should wear two layers. As a first time paintballer, you won't want to be worried about the pain of being shot. A sweat-shirt will block out just about all of the pain on your torso, a pair of pyjama pants underneath of your normal pants will block out 99% of the pain on your legs. Don't worry about your nether-regions; such shots are extremely rare and I find it not worth wearing a cup. They're too uncomfortable and a shot down there, while it may hurt a helluva lot (trust me!) it won't prevent you from making babies later in life.

When I went they gave coveralls, little padded hoods (not great padding mind you) and masks, I went with my jeans on a T-shirt and a hoody, so I threw on the coveralls put on the padded hood, then the mask and pulled the hood on my hoody over my head, I got shot all over, and it felt like someone jabbed me, but I had no marks after. The biggest mistake I made was buying fingerless gloves as I got shot sort of up the glove and couldn't use my index or middle finger for days.

Quote from Forbin :

Most of my shooting experience has to do with real bullets (.22 and .45 caliber) punching holes through paper. It probably doesn't matter so much with paintball guns, but with a real gun, the key to accuracy is being smooth on the trigger. When you're trying to line up a shot at 50 yards, being smooth is sometimes the difference between a 10 (inside a 3 inch diameter circle) and a miss (outside a 3 ft diameter circle).

In paintball, it's probably more important that you correctly judge the projectile's arc.

Same rules still apply, as the arc can be changed by bad trigger control, and your targets are too big, a 3inch 10 is a monster, I shoot with A5 sized targets. So much more fun.

If I had to lend a tip:

YOU WILL USE 10000x more paintballs then you ever imagined. The hopper may look big enough when compared to the amount of bullets you get in a real SMG, but unless you're really good you could end up near the end of a game with nothing.

Another tip:

For suppressive fire, turn the gun upside down and fire so you don't waste rounds. They'll still duck out the way trust me, because they bloody hurt

But that's half the fun. Laserquest just doesn't compare for the sheer fear and adrenaline rush.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

<snip>
Same rules still apply, as the arc can be changed by bad trigger control, and your targets are too big, a 3inch 10 is a monster, I shoot with A5 sized targets. So much more fun.

The A5 is an small bore rifle target that is placed out at 50ft with a black area that goes out to the 5 ring with a diameter of 1.5 inches. The 10 is merely a dot in the center.

The equivalent Bullseye Pistol target is the B2 50ft slow fire target. It has a black area that goes out to the 7 ring and is 3.0625" in diameter. IIRC, the 10 ring is about an inch across.

The target I was talking about earlier was a 50 yard target for pistol, for which both .22 and .45 caliber pistols are used. Also note that when shooting this type of pistol competition, only one hand is allowed. The other hand is usually placed in one's pocket.

Quote from Forbin :

The A5 is an small bore rifle target that is placed out at 50ft with a black area that goes out to the 5 ring with a diameter of 1.5 inches. The 10 is merely a dot in the center.

The equivalent Bullseye Pistol target is the B2 50ft slow fire target. It has a black area that goes out to the 7 ring and is 3.0625" in diameter. IIRC, the 10 ring is about an inch across.

The target I was talking about earlier was a 50 yard target for pistol, for which both .22 and .45 caliber pistols are used. Also note that when shooting this type of pistol competition, only one hand is allowed. The other hand is usually placed in one's pocket.

When I went last to the shooting range all we used was the A5 targets, and we was on a 100 meter (about 110yards) range at the time, wasn't easy but then where is the fun if it was.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

When I went last to the shooting range all we used was the A5 targets, and we was on a 100 meter (about 110yards) range at the time, wasn't easy but then where is the fun if it was.

Using small bore rifle though, correct?

Quote from Forbin :

Using small bore rifle though, correct?

For the most part yes, as over here one cannot buy more guns than the Army uses we generally have a very small range of rifles. I've used A5 with pistols (well Pistol, Sig Sauer P228 at around 20meters, give or take), but that was down to being too lazy to grab some bigger ones.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

For the most part yes, as over here one cannot buy more guns than the Army uses we generally have a very small range of rifles. I've used A5 with pistols (well Pistol, Sig Sauer P228 at around 20meters, give or take), but that was down to being too lazy to grab some bigger ones.

Is that supposed to be some kind of jab at Americans?

Personally, I own just 2 guns: my .22 target pistol (lightly modified Smith & Wesson Model 41), and my .45 target pistol (a custom Colt 1911-type gun). My father owns a few more.

Quote from Forbin :

Is that supposed to be some kind of jab at Americans?

Personally, I own just 2 guns: my .22 target pistol (lightly modified Smith & Wesson Model 41), and my .45 target pistol (a custom Colt 1911-type gun). My father owns a few more.

Yes, in response to this and other Americans who have a collection of guns that just really isn't needed, a hand gun or shotgun I can understand for home defence, maybe one or two for hunting or target ranges. But when you have more weapons in your house then most countries Army's, it just seems a tad silly.

There is something to be said for the different personalities of various guns, very much in the same way that cars have different personalities, and I don't mean just different calibers. Nothing wrong with owning an AR-15 AND an M1 Garand AND a bolt action hunting rifle. Shooting, when not in a combat situation, is supposed to be fun. You don't necessarily need a specific purpose for each individual gun.

O/T: 1000th post.

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

Yes, in response to this and other Americans who have a collection of guns that just really isn't needed, a hand gun or shotgun I can understand for home defence, maybe one or two for hunting or target ranges. But when you have more weapons in your house then most countries Army's, it just seems a tad silly.

Miniguns and stuff. Bowling for Columbine... though I must say that shooting with big guns is big fun... especially if it costs you nothing (in the army I mean) But that in the video is just sick.

Oh also, dont put your bullets in the fridge as some recommend. You want them to burst. Freezing your paintballs simply makes them harder which causes them to hurt a lot more - but it's only a 'kill' if it bursts.

So microwave/bake them so they burst AND burn?

Boomheadshot

Just get one of these

http://www.break.com/index/now_thats_a_paintball_gun.html

good if u got a gun torrent, otherwise you cant run with that, but nice video

Quote from efast :

its gonna be like a big CS game in life (CS wont help in this one)

Just Frag em' and scream: PwN3d n00B!!!111oneone

Tips for paintball that I learnt on the tourney circuit when I used to play a lot.

1) Forget the sights
Paintballs move slow, about 200ft/sec on tourney spec guns and far slower on site guns. When you fire, watch the ball travel and correct off that. It will let you get your aim in far quicker than trying to use any sight on the gun.

2) Fire slower
Unless you know the gun is setup to fire liquid gas do not fire at the full rate the gun will fire at. Also if the gun is a pump action don't use slamshots (Hold trigger in and pump to fire) but pump then fire then pump then fire. This will keep the gas temp more stable so the shots will be more consistent. 1-2 shots a secondd is fast enough and will also reduce the change of a ball break

3) A clean gun is a happy gun.
If a ball broke in the gun last game get it cleaned very well. Any trace paint will really effect you aim a lot. If this happens in a game use a barrel cleaner if you have one or call a ref to clean it if the site refs do this in game.

4) Agression pays of more then being timid.
If you know you are in a one on one situation and know you will not be under crossfire from others walk the person down. By this I mean keep firing at their cover to keep their head down while you walk towards them so you can close the angle. You will be shocked how well this works when you know what you are doing.

5) Paint balls bounce
When you are hit look at the contact point you were hit on or feel it for wet paint. If it bounced then call it clear and continue firing.

6) When you run out of ammo
DO NOT stop firing, the sound of a gun firing is enough to make people put their heads down so you can still help teammates in this way. Failing that ditch the gun and run like a madman at the flag. It is actually far harder to hit a fast moving target than you might think.

7) Head shots
Some places say headshots do not count. This means people put their head up knowing they are safe. Aim at the head anyway as a maskful of paint will kill their visibility and make that player next to useless.

Have fun

Almost forgot...

8) Dead mans walk
Normally when you are hit you raise your gun arm in the air and walk off the pitch. The dead mans walk is where you have not been hit, you DO NOT raise your gun arm BUT you walk towards the other team as though you have been hit and are making your way off field. When you reach a point where you can get a good shot open with all you have. Does not always work and normally only once in a day.

9) Players are ONLY dead when they say they are.
Unless someone has their gun arm up keep shooting at them and do not stop until they scream they are hit no matter how many time you hit them.

Woz, you could at least make your fakes even more convincing by raising your gun arm in the air and holding it with your left arm and then quickly switching round

just dont do stupid stuff like go out on open area without scouting it first - enemy could be anywhere
Have a good one

"cover me" does nothing if you sit and wait for the pot shot opportunity, to cover someone means shoot the barricade they are hiding behind so that they dont stick their head up in the first place That's what then enables your team mates to move when you are 'covering' them . You may need to explain that to your team mates too...

Quote from P5YcHoM4N :

The biggest mistake I made was buying fingerless gloves as I got shot sort of up the glove and couldn't use my index or middle finger for days.

I always wear fingerless gloves when I play; biking gloves, actually. They have a pad in the palm which helps with comfort issues I found. Plus, it keeps tree twigs from puncturing your hand when you go to grab onto a tree and there is a small twig sticking out that you don't see. That hurt like hell.

I actually found being shot in the fingers didn't hurt all that much, but I got two in the knuckles, not in the fingertips. The most painful hit I took, aside from the crotch-shot, was one that hit my hip; right at the tip on my left side. My buddy has a pretty powerful Tippman A5, though, and he has a tendancy to go full-auto on you. I swear that paintball curved around a tree to hit me...

Quote from MAGGOT :

I always wear fingerless gloves when I play; biking gloves, actually. They have a pad in the palm which helps with comfort issues I found. Plus, it keeps tree twigs from puncturing your hand when you go to grab onto a tree and there is a small twig sticking out that you don't see. That hurt like hell.

I have a scar where the ball kaploaded, and I spent 30 minutes digging out what looked like glass from my fingers, though I was told it was just plastic (just plastic, like that is going to make having blood leaking out of my hand hurt less), it still hurt like a bitch. After that I've not gone onto a field without full finger gloves. The fingerless gloves I picked up at the site I was at, and were really good at protection for most of the day, now I just wear a pair of Kevlar lined leather gloves.

Quote from duke_toaster :

Woz, you could at least make your fakes even more convincing by raising your gun arm in the air and holding it with your left arm and then quickly switching round

Gun in the air normally means out so you would put yourself out.