All paintball markers require a minimum amount of regular maintenance in order to give you years of faithful service. You owe it to yourself and your fellow paintball players to keep your paintball equipment in working order. The specifics vary according to what model marker you have, but there are some basics of marker maintenance that apply pretty much across the board.

The first task isn't that exciting, but you should do it anyway: read the owners manual for your paintball marker. It will tell you what paintball marker maintenance has to be done regularly, and how often it has to be done. You'll get a good, basic grounding in how your marker works and how to care for it properly.

Regular oiling is an important part of paintball marker maintenance for most models. To oil your marker, remove the tank and barrel and take the paintballs out of the chamber. You don't want to get oil on the pellets, because it affects their trajectory. Remove the marker's hopper and elbow and put a drop or two of oil onto the adapter where the CO2 cartridge or compressed air tank attaches. Spread the oil around to cover the adapter completely. Some people use a toothpick to do this. Put your paintball marker back together again, reinstall the tank, then, without paintballs in the chamber, fire it several times. This ensures that the oil reaches the parts that it needs to.

One part of proper paintball marker maintenance is a simple matter of proper storage. The marker and the paintballs should be stored separately, and you should have a decent case for carrying your paintball marker. Ideally, you should carry your marker disassembled but packed in an organized way so that it is easy to assemble once you get to your paintball match.

Be cautious with the barrel of your paintball marker because if it becomes even the slightest bit bent, it can cause a misfire that can make a pellet burst prematurely and potentially ruin your entire weapon. Keep it away from extreme temperatures, particularly for long term storage. If you were to leave a paintball in the chamber, it could burst when the temperature falls below freezing or when the temperature becomes too hot.

Remember that the sooner you wipe paint off your marker, the easier it will be. While the dried paint on the exterior of your marker is mostly just a cosmetic problem, cleaning burst paintballs from the inside of your marker is a crucial part of paintball marker maintenance.

You should do this after each time you play, thoroughly clean out the insides of your marker before storing it. After you have the routine of maintenance memorized, it's a good idea to assemble a small tool kit so that you can repair small problems as they happen and prevent small problems from becoming big problems.

Regular paintball marker maintenance is an investment of time more than anything, but it can save you plenty of time and money over the long haul.

About the Author

Doug Emery is an active outdoors person. His children and grandchildren play and enjoy the sport of paintball as much as he does.

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