Need a gun that can keep up

I am going to start paintballing with a group of people on a regular basis.  I have never owned a gun but i am not a stranger to using one.  These guys get pretty serious and all pretty much have fully modded a-5 or custom 98.  My roomate has a 98 with e-bolt, flatline barrell, polished insides, halo hopper and i am unsure of what else but i know he has some money into it.  People are scared to get hit by it because it shoots so hard, and it shoots farther tahan the rest too.  I want to make sure i have a better gun.  I would ask him for help but i dont want him knowing what is done to the gun.  Money is not a huge concern, but i dont want to get stupid.  We mostly play in the woods, and they play all day long so i need something reliable, i think thats why they all went with tippmann. 

For what you want, I think a Palmer Blazer with a .45 frame and blade trigger would give you all the performance you could ask for Blazer

Clark Kent wrote: Prink wrote: People are scared to get hit by it because it shoots so hard,    I think your best investment would be a chrono.

I second that

Yeah, the Palmer is a bit pricey for a person just getting into the game. I say go with a A-5.

Well just a suggestion, keep them in mind if you ever want something with a little more extra goodness put into them.

I didnt see the blazer in the link until now.  That is not that bad in price.  How is their performance compared to a tippmann fully upgraded?  I am talking distance speed accuracy.  And how much stuff is available for upgrading them.

^^ Seriously. Hand held chronos are only around $80. Its better to spend $80 for a chrono then losing everything you own(and your parents if you are under 18) becasue someone gets hurt and they sue you. I know your saying "my friends would never sue me". Not true, when it comes to stuff like that, your friends aren't your friends. So take our advice, spend $80 and get a chrono, or risk losing everything you and/or your parents have.

Prink wrote: I didnt see the blazer in the link until now.  That is not that bad in price.  How is their performance compared to a tippmann fully upgraded?  I am talking distance speed accuracy.  And how much stuff is available for upgrading them.

Well they already come with the best pneumatics in the industry, this is not just opinion, but fact. Craig Palmer has proven mechanically that the Blazer can shot 20 bps in it's mech form, with the room to go faster, the electro version rips like nothing else. They are only limited to the users own ability. As for efficiency 80 shots per oz of CO2 and 13 shots per cubic inch with HPA on a 3000 psi fill. They are closed bolt (and I don't care what anyone says, I own tippmanns, Palmer guns, and cockers, and nothing shoots like a closed bolt gun) the trajectory is much flatter than a blowback, the Palmer brass barrels are extremely accurate. The one I sent you the link to comes without spiral porting, but you can request one with spiral porting or you can just buy a second barrel from them with porting, in the length and finish that you want. Their barrels come with wedgits in themm so balls will never roll out of the barrel like with a cocker. The bolt has a quick strip pin that allows you to pull the bolt out of the gun in just a second. Basically like a tippmann you only need to clean and oil the gun after play, that is the extent of their maintenance needs. The center feed comes with grip screws to hold your hopper firmly in place. They are feather light, it barely weighs 2lbs. You can run CO2 or HPA on them equally well. The Palmer Stabilizer is the indusrty leading regulator, mine keeps my welocity within +/- 2FPS....that is after the intial break in period, the break in usually takes about a case of paint to break the gun and reg in. I personaaly feel they have the best customer service in the industry. Compared to an A5, I would take the Blazer any day. The A5 is nice with the built in cyclone hopper, my cousin has one, and I have used it quite a bit and I really like it, for the price you can't beat the reliability and performance of the A5. If you think you are going to stick with the sport and want something will always deliver the accuracy, speed, and performance you want, without having to put more into upgrades, then by all means go for a blazer. If you find you want another barrel besides the Palmer brass, Palmers offers other barrels ready to use on the blazer, if they don't have it, then you can send them the barrel you want and turn it so it fits the blazer. If you have more questions please visit us on the POG here is the link Palmers Owners Group Feel free to ask all you want to about the Blazer there, browse our pic threads, Glenn Palmer and Craig Palmer also post and answer questions there daily. My name there and most other places is dstud2000. I encourage you though, if you have any interest in the Blazer sign up on the POG and there are more people with greater knowledge there that can answer your questions more precisely and thoroughly than I can.

Edited by mobius_1 - 28 April 2006 at 4:37pm

I like Palmer guns a lot, but I'll stand by my view that a complete rookie shouldn't buy one, any more than a complete rookie should buy an autococker, or perhaps even more so.

Your average complete rookie 14-year-old (like our poster here) who is worried about guns shooting "hard", will not read the manual, will short-stroke, will freak out about it, will not do meaningful maintenance, and will be completely unable to figure out anything if something goes wrong.  And since Palmer guns are relatively rare, many pro-shops will be unable to help if there is a problem.

Tippmann guns avoid most of those problems, which is why they are such great beginner guns. 

This guy doesn't sound like a 14 yr old...I didn't have a roommate till I was in college. How many 14 yr olds do you know have roommates besides their own siblings? Well everyone has their own opinion. In the 7 yrs I have had my Phoon I have never had to return it to PPS for work. So if the fella is up to giving a Blazer a try don't discourage. If he wants an A5, a 98 or a procarbine, don't discourage him with those either. My cousin who started playing at the age of 11 learned the Palmer trigger in 20 minutes, he is 15 and bought an A5 and loves it, but he can pick up my phoon and use it with no problems, I have lent the phoon to him before when he let a friend borrow his gun, he had a blast using the phoon. Prink asked for a gun that can keep up, I suggested the Blazer, because it can and always will deliver the expected performance he seems to be looking for. Now if we want to go about other guns, I have owned and used many guns, we'll start with the A5, it is a tank, a real work horse that has good performance and good upgradability for the price, but by the time you finish upgrading the gun where you want it you could have easily paid for the Blazer. The A5 has durability and reliability, but it is not the most air efficient gun in the field. Ion, for an electro at the price it is, it is not a bad deal. If you leave it alone and don't mess with the internals it should operate just fine, but I have a problem with the wiring and soldering that SP used on this gun (if you are a beginner or have no experience with electronics I would not suggest any repairs or maintenance by yourself), as for upgradeability, there are many options, decent air efficiency, and again by the time you sink all the money you put into upgrades in this gun, you could have bought the Blazer with money to spare. 98 Custom great gun, but the clam shell design can be a pain to take apart and clean sometimes, especially in a hurry. I sunk nearly 600 dollars into my 98 (ebolt, low pressure kit, flatline, J&J Edge kit, Many other barrels, and a bunch of milsim parts) and still it is no where at the same level of performance as the Typhoon. DM4, decent gun, they are decently quiet, have good accuracy, pretty good air efficiency, don't really need to ugrade it any unless you just want to, and Dye is a pretty good company customer serrvice wise.

And like everyone else said, invest in a chrono, it is worth the money, $80 for a chrono is better than the expense of losing an eye.