Imagine hiding in a spot all alone, waiting patiently for your enemies to make a move, like a predator watching over its prey, and then silently taking them out from a distance. That is what paintball sniping is.
The paintball sniper needs to move stealthily to catch the enemy off guard. In order to provide maximum help to their team, the snipers have to shoot accurately at long distances. Here in this article, you will learn time-honoured tips that will improve your skills as a paintball sniper.
What is the Role of the Paintball Sniper?
Have you watched the “Enemy at the Gates” movie? If you haven’t, it’s about two rival snipers fighting each other in World War II. After watching the movie, I started fancying myself becoming a sniper one day, and paintball fulfilled that dream.
The role of the sniper in Paintball is to hide somewhere in the field, preferably where you can have a full view of the specific area. Then, eliminate opponents from a distance with accurate shooting.
Snipers are not only good with the paintball guns but also master how to hide and move stealthily. One of the most important roles of the sniper is to protect team members like a guardian angel. Plus, they help block the enemy’s advancement.
Sometimes, the sniper may sneak behind the enemy lines and start taking down opponents from there. It is undeniable that sniping is important for winning paintball games.
7 Handy Paintball Sniping Tips
Paintball sniping isn’t easy, especially for beginners. You need to consider many factors and practice a lot to get good at it. I have listed some useful tips that will help you improve your sniping technique and, hence, will boost your chances of winning.
Get the Right Paintball Gun
It is pretty challenging to shoot the paintball accurately from a distance. Unlike real bullets, paintball pellets are bigger in size and are prone to damage. So, it is imperative to have an accurate paintball gun that can easily shoot pellets from a distance and hit targets accurately.
I suggest getting a Magfed marker and then customizing it to make it more suitable for long-range shooting. For this, you can add the right scope, quality barrel, and good firing rate.
When it comes to using the scope, make sure don’t use the one with high magnification. Most often, beginners choose scopes with 3x zooming and try to shoot from that range. They forget that paintballs or even First Strike Rounds (FSR) can’t travel that far.
Also, at that zooming, it will be impossible to see targets at a closer distance. You better go for 1x magnification on your scopes that will give you a wider field of vision. You should also determine the engagement range on relief sights.
Use High-Graded Paintballs
It is common knowledge that you must exert more pressure behind the paintballs to propel them at a long distance. If you use low-quality pellets, they won’t tolerate the impact from the rear hammer and will either break in the chamber or mid-air. It gets worse – the paintball breaking jams the chamber, and you must clean it manually after every shot.
After guns, the other factor that affects the accuracy of the shot is the paintball quality you are using in your sniper gun. If the paintballs are heavy, have dents, and are stored in a bag containing moisture, it is impossible to get precision in your shooting.
So, the quality of the paintball is critical for sniping. I prefer FSR over any other paintball type. These are round, lighter, resistant to moisture and deformities, and can withstand pressure. Choose paintballs wisely and ensure the quality before the game.
Paintballs Must Match Barrels’ Bore
The next tip on our list is the paintball gun barrel. You may know by now that the quality of the barrel greatly influences the accuracy of your shots.
Most beginners use low-end guns that have overbore barrels– the bore of the barrel has a larger diameter as compared to the paintball. So, when you fire the pellet, it won’t get enough rotation force and will drop off mid-air.
My solution to this is to match the barrel bore size with the paintball size. Make sure it doesn’t fit too much or is loose enough to roll out easily. With a perfect match barrel size, you will boost your shooting accuracy.
Practice Shooting
Besides the weaponry, one thing that can help you become good at paintball sniping is practice. Whenever you get the chance, practice your shooting. This way, you will be able to hit the target more often.
You can further enhance the shot accuracy by firing at different ranges. It will help you find out the optimum engagement range for your shots.
Choose a Hiding Place Wisely
I should have mentioned earlier that paintball sniping is more effective in Woodsball as compared to Speedball or other forms of paintball games. Why? As in Woodsball, there will be more natural terrain– lots of trees, bushes, slopes, and ditches. So, you will find many hiding places as a sniper, and hence, will play a more effective role.
As soon as the game starts, get a quick overview of the map, and try to move to a place where you can easily hide. The best option is to sneak behind the bushes. By doing this, not only are you out of sight, but bushes will also conceal your gun.
Here is one thing worth remembering: leave the place if you don’t find any opponents while you are hiding there. This means it wasn’t a good strategic position from a sniper’s perspective. So, don’t waste time and look for another place.
Take Out the Right Targets
You will be presented with many opportunities to target various opponents. So, choose your enemy wisely. Give priority to those who are posing more challenges to your team.
Manage your Firearm
The ammo in paintball games is limited. Hence, you should avoid overusing paintballs by reducing their frequency of shooting. Fire only when the targets are within range. In my experience, don’t shoot faster– limit yourself to one shot per second. This will save the paintballs.
Conclusion
Paintball teams rely heavily on their sniper having one of the best sniper paintball gun. Also Having a skilled sniper can put the team at an advantage. This blog post discussed the tips and best practices to improve paintball sniping. I hope you’ll find this information helpful.