A paintball gun or marker is arguably the most crucial piece of equipment you carry to the playground. If you are a paintball player, you must be aware of the fact that paintball guns can be pretty unpredictable. You can be carrying them around for months and all of a sudden they can start causing problems.
Taking them to a repair shop is not always a feasible solution. You don’t always have some extra time and money for that.
Fortunately, most of the problems your gun is facing can be diagnosed and solved at home. You just need to know your gun a little better and then you can troubleshoot all the problems with a little help from our side.
Remember that every paintball gun is different. The internal parts can vary from brand to brand but the main body works in more or less the same way. But it is always recommended to read the manual first before you go for troubleshooting. No one can tell you about your gun better than the manufacturer.
Here is a list of a few common issues along with the solutions your gun might be facing. And the amazing part is, you don’t need any fancy tools to fix most of the problems with your gun. In most cases, you do not need anything else other than a screwdriver and a few sizes of Hex keys, or you might call them Allen ranches.
1. Paintball Gun Not Shooting
If your paintball gun was working fine and all of a sudden it has stopped working or even if it has slowed down, you need to check the power sources.
Yes, it sounds like too easy a solution but more often than not this is the only problem your gun is facing and freaking you out. There can be two simple reasons your gun has stopped working:
- It has run out of batteries. If you are using an electronic gun, this can be the most common problem you might face. Even if you have just installed the new batteries, double-check their performance. You might have got them from a not-so-reliable source and they are causing issues before you were expecting them to expire. And never forget to keep a track of your usage of those batteries. No one wants to run out of their marker’s batteries in the middle of a game.
- Your tank can run out of gas. No matter whether you are using CO2 in your gas tank or it is HPA if you run out of air, your marker is not gonna shoot. So before you go to a repair shop, you better check that gas tank.
If your air tank is full, make sure it is working properly. You can also borrow one from your friend to diagnose the problem in the first place.
So before you go any further to find solutions, these are the first things to check.
2. Gas Leaking Issue
This is the most common problem with paintball guns. These guns use gas to operate. The gas provides pressure to shoot paintballs. And to prevent leakage, there are many O-rings fitted throughout your paintball gun.
If any of these O rings are damaged, your gun might start leaking. It is always advised to keep checking your O rings. With use, these rubber rings wear out. If you find them broken or swollen, you must replace them with new ones.
Or it can be a problem with the cup seal of your gun causing a problem. Follow these steps to locate and fix this problem.
- Take the front barrel off the gun to make things easier to handle.
- Detach the gas tank for the same reason.
- Look for the cup seal under the barrel. See if it is worn out or broken. If so, just replace it with a new one and you have resolved the issue.
- But if the cup seal is intact and fine, we need to go further troubleshooting that marker.
- Take a screwdriver and remove the trigger frame from the main body.
- Once you have detached both of these parts from each other, you will find a screw, usually a brass one, underneath the main body. This screw retains the gas valve in its perfect place. And, in order to perform its duty, this screw has to be in its optimal position: not too tight, not so loose, but in the middle of these points, in just the right position where it is just slightly tightened.
- After you have located the copper screw, you need to check if it is too tight or too loose. Bring to the right position and, most likely, you have resolved the issue of your gas leaking gun.
- But, if you are still unsure of your gun’s performance or if the screw was already in the right position, you will have to take a few steps further.
- Remove that brass screw from its place. Unscrew the bolt from your marker. Hold your main body vertically so that all the inner parts slide out of it. And lastly, remove the valve that the brass screw was holding in place. You may need something long like a flat head screwdriver to give it a little push and bring it out of its place.
- Now you must be holding a round valve in your hands that was causing the leakage problem in your gun.
- There can be further two reasons that were causing your gun gas leakage. Either the valve has accumulated dirt on it and you need to clean it off with an old toothbrush or something soft that can also reach all the narrow parts of it. Or you may find the problem lies with either of the two O rings wrapped around this valve.
- Change the broken or swollen O ring, and lubricate it, hopefully, you have done a great job.
- Put the valve back in its place, insert the bolt, and put the screws back.
- After you have attached the brass screw back to its place, attach the gas source to your gun and ensure that the gun is not leaking anymore.
- Reassemble the gun and get ready for a wholesome fight in the field.
3. Double Shooting Problem
If you pull the trigger once and your gun shoots more than one ball before it recocks, the problem is called double shooting or rapid firing. It can be pretty unsettling to have a gun with such an issue.
It wastes a lot of paintballs without reaching the aim, as the paintballs collide into each other midway and do not hit the target.
To resolve this issue, you need to check the ball detent of your gun. Ball detents are made to hold paintball rounds before the gun shoots them. If the gun is not holding a round properly, the problem might lie with the ball detent.
They can either be dirty and you might need to clean them. Or they must be worn out and you need to replace them.
There are different kinds of ball detents, used in different guns. It is always advisable to consult the manual of your gun before you start working on it.
The process may vary for different guns but here is the basic process of how you can replace a ball detent.
- Remove the barrel.
- Open the receiver half of the gun using a screwdriver.
- You will find a place where it looks like it is made to hold a ball. This is exactly where you will find a small piece usually made of plastic. Take it up for a closer look.
- If you find it dirty, you can clean it and put it back in from where you took it out.
- But it is better if you just replace it to avoid any further issues.
- Make sure you put it back in the same position you took it out from. See the picture for reference, because if you put it there the wrong way, your gun is not going to shoot at all. By the way, if you tried to open your gun and after reassembling it stopped shooting at all, this might be one of the reasons. You put that ball detent latch the wrong way and now it is preventing that gun from shooting.
- Put everything back and hopefully, you have resolved the issue.
4. Gun not Recocking
If you are pulling the trigger of your gun and it is making two or more shots before it recocks, the problem may lie in the sear spring.
The job of a sear spring is to hold the rear bolt in its place after the gun has fired. If it is malfunctioning, your gun will face issues with recocking. A bad sear can also cause double shooting.
Not only this but a worn out sear can also damage your bolt. So… you need to change that little piece who is the culprit of these problems. Most probably, changing the sear spring will resolve the issue. Here is what you will have to do.
- Open the receiver of your gun.
- You can locate the sear spring of your marker right above the trigger and below the rear bolt. In most cases, the sear spring is simply going to pop out of its place on its own. Just take it out, even if it does not.
- Check the rear bolt/ hammer of your gun. See signs of damage caused by the sear. It can be a scratch or roughness.
- It is advisable to replace the sear as well as the rear bolt to be extra cautious.
- Put everything back to its original place and you are good to go for the next game.
5. Paintball Rolling Down the Barrel
This is another common issue with paintball guns that the balls simply start to roll out of your barrel. This problem has one of the easiest solutions on our list.
First of all, you need to recheck the size of the paintballs you are feeding your gun. If you are using a size too small for your gun, they are obviously going to roll out of the barrel. Simply use the right size of paintballs.
Secondly, this issue too can be caused by worn out ball detents. As mentioned above, the purpose of a ball detent is to keep the ball from rolling out before the gun is fired. So if the ball detent is worn out, it will not hold the balls as it is supposed to.
Check the procedure above on how to replace ball detents, also called ball detent latches. Follow the procedure and you will resolve the issue.
If in case, you are worried about how much is it gonna cost you to get new paintball gun or equipment, make sure to check our costs guide here.
Pro Tips to Avoid Paintball Gun Troubles
A problematic gun is not an ideal thing to have. But, these things come with the package. If you own a gun, you will have to fix a few problems now and then. But here are a few tricks to eliminate these issues. Because, frankly speaking, troubleshooting all these issues is literally exhausting.
If you want to have a problem-free gun (obviously you do, because who does not), you must take care of it as a baby. You can avoid many big problems simply by taking care of a few things. These simple steps can save you a whole lot of trouble.
- Always, I repeat, always clean your gun after you have used it. Or, the torn paintballs will dry in there and cause problems later. You can either use a damp microfiber cloth to clean your gun or you can simply remove the dirtiest parts; like barrels and bolts, and wash them in lukewarm water with a mild soap.
- Keep an eye on the O-rings. There are several of those throughout your marker. Buy a kit of O-rings that have different sizes in it and keep replacing the worn-out ones.
- Do not forget to lubricate your O rings. And be careful about it. You don’t have to cover them in lubricant. Just a small amount is enough.
- Remember to keep track of your batteries. If you feel like they are about to expire, replace them before they cause you trouble in the middle of a game.
- Always keep your loaders clean and dry for the best performance.
- Do NEVER try to save a few pennies by collecting the fallen out paintballs from the ground and reusing them in your gun. The dirty and damp paintballs are going to ruin your marker.
