I've owned over a hundred paintball guns in my life and I can still probably remember just about each and every one from my first Spyder TL to the new Empire Trracer pump to countless guns in between.  Despite owning so many guns, there is one that stands out to me as the one that changed the sport for me - a Smart Parts Shocker Sport.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the original shocker affectionately known as the Shoebox Shocker, it's one of the very first electropneumatic paintball guns and operates with two solenoids and a closed bolt system.  I bough the gun and immediately went out to shoot it and see how it performed and I was absolutely blown away by the accuracy, consistency and lack of recoil when I fired.  I played with that gun for most of a summer before moving on to other guns, but owning it changed my perception of what a paintball gun could be.  I had owned accurate paintball guns before, but nothing that matched the ball on ball accuracy that the Shocker provided.

That Shocker eventually ended up on a shelf and sat unused for several years before I eventually sold it but shortly before saying goodbye I pulled it out and fired it one more time for old time's sake.  Despite its low rate of fire (about 8-9 bps on full auto), massive length, heavy weight and extreme difficulty in disassembling, I was reminded why the gun changed paintball for me as I was once again able to put ball after ball in the exact same spot.  To this day I haven't owned a gun that has quite been able to max the accuracy of that big, old Shocker Sport.

The Shocker changed paintball for me because it showed me how accurate, consistent and reliable a paintball gun can be.  When I was shooting that gun it felt less like a piece of equipment and more like an extension of my arm as I reached out and tried to touch someone across the field.  Owning the Shocker permanently changed how I played the sport up to this day.

Each person has their own story about a paintball gun that most affected their view of the sport.  Feel free to share your story in the comments below.

The old Shocker shortly before it was sold.

Americans take it for granted that a 12-year old can play at most paintball fields and even younger kids can play paintball in their backyards.  In Australia, though, players must be 16 or even 18 to play.  In New South Wales, there is discussion about lowering the legal age of paintball from 16 to 12. It will be interesting to see what happens.

This raises the question about what age is too young to play paintball?  I've seen children well under 10 play the game which I don't recommend, but I also don't think it is necessarily the government's job to set the age to take up the sport.  What are your thoughts on the matter?

Just before the start of 2010 I made some predictions about paintball for this year.  It's time to go back and see how I did.

1. A new high-end ($1000+) gun from a new manufacturer. Verdict: incorrect.  No new gun manufacturer that I'm aware of  made any guns approaching $1000.

2. 68 caliber will still be the standard. Verdict: correct.  50 caliber is still a long ways from being the standard and may never even catch on among any crowd.

3. A major community will ban paintball. Verdict: incorrect.  I know of no community that has banned paintball this year after Germany gave up its attempt to ban the sport.

4.  No monthly or semi-monthly paintball print magazines will remain.  Verdict: incorrect.  Action Pursuit Games is still plugging away for now.

5. Paintballs will cost about the same.  Verdict: correct.  Paintball prices at the stores I follow are still very comparable to last year.

Overall: 2/5.  It looks like my predictions weren't the most accurate, but at least we are still using our 68 caliber guns and paying about the same price for paintballs.  I look forward to next year to see how the industry and sport continually evolve.

The trend in business these days is definitely to go towards larger, consolidated corporations that provide multiple services and products under one corporate umbrella.  This trend is very true in the paintball industry with many companies being acquired by larger ones.  The most recent consolidation involves Tippmann purchasing NXe.  NXe has built its reputation by building quality soft goods such as harnesses, apparel and bags and it appears that Tippmann is ready to expand its business from paintball guns to a more varied assortment of paintball gear.

While I do appreciate the smaller paintball companies that have been the mainstay of paintball for the past few decades, it makes sense to consolidate so that management, marketing and development efficiencies can be obtained.  With the lower profit margins in the industry, I'm sure that it's just going to continue to be the trend where paintball companies will only thrive if they pool resources and become larger companies.