Paintball Gun Maintenance

Maintenance of Paintball Guns: Take Care of Your Gun

Paintball equipment and especially paintball guns require at least a minimum of maintenance. Maintenance of paintball guns can be complex or simple, depending on your model, but it must be done. There are a few basic paintball gun maintenance tasks you need to do to keep your paintball markers in premium shape.

Hoppe's Deluxe Paintball Gun Cleaning Kit

Caring For Paintball Markers

First, it’s common sense, but many people don’t do it: read the owner’s manual. Manufacturers know their weapons better than most people, and they will tell you what to watch for, what paintball gun maintenance tasks to perform regularly, and what common problems you might expect. The manual will also tell you how to perform basic paintball gun maintenance tasks yourself, and how certain parts function in paintball guns.

Your second important maintenance task is regular oiling, if your paintball marker requires it. For simple oiling, remove the barrel and remove the paintballs from the chamber. Then remove the hopper and the elbow. (Oil on a pellet will cause it to curve, and if you’ve fouled your chamber with oil, all your pellets will curve.) Place one or two drops of oil onto the ASA adapter, where CO 2 and air attach. Spread the oil around with a toothpick or something similar so that the adapter is completely covered. Reassemble your weapon; without paint in the chamber, fire several shots to ensure the oil reaches all the important areas.

You should store paintball guns carefully, perhaps even investing in a gun case to carry it around. Many paintball guns, even the higher-end paintball guns, have surprisingly fragile parts. Though it’s not hard to replace most of them, it’s frustrating to get to a paintball game to find that there’s something wrong with your paintball marker. If you have space, carry your paintball gun disassembled, and packed in an organized manner.

Care for your paintball barrels as carefully as for the rest of the gun. If barrels get squished a little, they can be misshapen (though fine to the naked eye), causing misfires that can burst pellets and foul your entire gun; it could result in replacement of the whole gun.

Your paintball marker should not be exposed to extreme heat or cold, and certainly not stored in extreme temperatures. Paintball guns can be damaged by temperature extremes, and if a paintball is left in the chamber, it can burst when it freezes or gets too hot.

Always, always wipe down your goggle system and your paintball guns after playing. Paint is easy to wipe off while it’s still fresh, but it can be a little harder to remove after it dries. Once your paint is dry, you may find yourself in the position of needing to replace lenses or goggles just because of the paint film buildup. The same problem exists for paintball guns, though it’s generally just a cosmetic concern. Still, the cleaner your paintball guns are, the better they will perform.

Paint on the inside of your paintball gun can be much worse. If you have broken paintballs in play, be sure to squeegee the buildup out immediately; later, when you strip down your paintball marker, clean all the paint out properly. And thoroughly clean the insides of paintball guns after every match.

Once you get to know paintball guns well, you might want to bring along a first aid parts kit, to repair in the field any problems that might arise. Paintball guns can have critical problems at the worst times; with a good first aid parts kit, you can catch most of those problems right when they arise.

Invest a little time in your paintball gun maintenance and save yourself a lot of trouble and money!

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