Who doesn’t want the biggest and bad-est paintball gun?  You know, the ultimate weapon that will pulverize your enemies into submission.  The Breda M37 8mm Machine Gun replica by Real Action Paintball certainly qualifies…if you’ve got $5,000 to spare.  But the Breda does point out an important aspect to selecting the best paintball gun.  It’s going to cost you.

Many people will argue the case for best inexpensive gun, best automatic, best single shot, best mid-priced gun…etc.  Certainly there is no problem with that kind of thinking but what would you buy if money was not an object.  A Breda M37?  To be honest I can’t imagine having fun on the paintball field while hunkered down in a machine gun nest.

So, let’s do a little dreaming and pretend for a moment that we have all the money we want for buying the best ever paintball gun.  What’s that?  It hasn’t been built yet?  You’re probably right.  Technology keeps getting better and better.

Since this site’s focus is on Tippmann products it’s only fair to see where they fit into this “best paintball gun” scenario.  The Tippmann A-5 has a bunch of fans.  With its cyclone system you can fire as fast as you can wiggle your trigger finger. And you can dismantle it and then put it back together in 60 seconds without a single tool, all while on the battlefield.  No, it’s not the most expensive.  Not even close.  But it gets the job done over and over again.  However, it could not be classified as the best paintball gun.

Angel guns are awesome.  They certainly come with a price tag to prove it.  For about a thousand bucks you can get an amazing gun but is it really the best?  “For sure, one of the best…but not THE best.”

The Bob Long G6R Gen 6 Intimidator Paintball Marker is a winner.  It’s similarly priced to the Angel.  For about half as much the Empire AXE gets high marks as does the Planet Eclipse Etek 3 LT Paintball Gun, and the Proto Reflex Rail.  The Rap4 T68 T-68 M4 Gen7 Paintball Marker Gun is also worthy of mention as is the Tiberius Arms T9.1 CQB FS Paintball Gun Rifle.

Somewhere on that list we have probably arrived at something that you would love to buy.  Surely there are some paintball guns that I haven’t mentioned that would be on your wish list.  But have we really arrived at the ultimate “best paintball gun?”

When I was growing up my dad collected guns.  He kept his prized trophies in a gun cabinet.  Occasionally he would take them out and clean them and tuck them away for safe keeping.  Once in a while he would actually take a gun out and shoot it.  His hobby was more about having than using guns.

I remember one time I asked him, “Dad, which gun is best?”  His reply, “this one, this one, and this one over here.”  So, I tried again.  “Dad, which gun is your favorite?”  He smiled and reached for a simple single shot 22.  “This one,” he said.  “It has soul!”

So maybe that’s the key.  Maybe the best paintball gun is the one to which you have a very personal attachment.  You can’t really explain why accept to say, “It has soul.”