Flea Market and New Merchandise Update

While the fun and adrenaline is definitely in the game, it’s also fun to shop and put together your equipment list. Picking out an awesome tactical paintball gun and a camouflage outfit for a custom look to stand out on the field is exciting to most players who are totally into the sport. After choosing the right color fatigues, a tactical paintball vest is essential for finishing your look but also for the best performance on the field. The right tactical vest will not only help you carry your gear, but give you an identity in the game. Choose your tactical paintball vest to best suit the position you play in the game and the equipment you need to be successful. Customizing your tactical vest is also fun but it requires thinking ahead to what you might need it for during play.

Not only do tactical vests come in nearly every camouflage pattern to match your fatigues, but the pouches are as varied. If you play on the front lines of battle, using a paintball pistol for exhilarating close quarter fighting is a great idea. Pistols are great fun to use but can be cumbersome to carry. Most players use thigh holsters to house tactical paintball pistols but these take some getting used to and often create an unbalanced feel, slowing down quick movements that can hinder your play style. Choosing a tactical vest with a pistol holster on the front is the best way to carry these fun accessories, making them easier to move with and faster to draw when needed. If you play the mid or back field, choose a tactical vest that’s loaded with ammo pods. For scenario games played on a closed field, back field players are typically more stationary to provide cover fire so the front players can continue to move forward and accomplish the mission at hand. Because of this, back players can afford to use heavier paintball equipment and can carry lots of ammo. Mid field players are used to traveling back and forth, ready to take spots in the front or back of the field load their paintball vest with ammo pods and can provide extra paintballs to other players.

While a good vest is practically essential for carrying your gear, it’s not a bad idea to customize it for the type of marker you use. Nowadays if you play woodsball and you aren’t using a magazine fed paintball gun, you’re behind the times. These realistic markers are the latest innovation in scenario paintball and in some games you just aren’t playing if you don’t have one. The trade off with these guns is a replacement of the traditional clunky hopper for a realistic magazine, however dropping down from carrying 200 rounds to only 20. This means you will have to carry numerous 20 round magazines if you want to play longer than 10 minutes. If a magazine fed paintball gun is your tool of choice, a tactical vest loaded with magazine pouches is a necessary accessory.

Another fun scenario paintball weapon is a paintball grenade launcher. These realistic accessories attach to the bottom of your tactical marker and work like a shotgun, blasting a devastating spray of paintballs in an effective range of about 25-30 feet. Paintball grenade launchers operate using a paintball grenade shell that’s loaded with about 20 paintballs and powered by a hand held charger. Grenade launchers add a totally fun and exciting element to any game but players are limited to being able to carry the necessary accessories required to use them. If you use a paintball grenade launcher, a tactical vest is the best way to carry everything you need. A tactical vest equipped with pouches to carry paintball grenade shells, your hand held charger and extra CO2 is a must if you want to have fun with this unique accessory.

Tactical vests are also great to help with blending into your surroundings. Camouflage fatigues are definitely the appropriate apparel for scenario paintball. Whenever possible, it’s best to choose a camouflage pattern that matches the environment you’ll be playing in. For example, if your scenario game is a desert background, then tan, desert colored camouflage clothes are best; for woodsball, choose a woodland camo, DPM or digital camo. Fortunately, tactical vests are also available in nearly every type of camouflage pattern fatigues come in, so you can match this garment with your scenario outfit with ease. In fact, a camouflage paintball vest over top of the same colored camouflaged uniform offers a totally fierce look like a professional soldier would wear.

Besides invisibility and adding to your camouflaged look, another benefit of wearing a tactical vest is the added protection they bring to your torso. When all the pouches are fully loaded down with gear, this provides an impenetrable layer of hard items offering a complete barrier against incoming paintballs. While this won’t cause the balls to bounce off you, it will take all the pain out of being shot in the chest or anywhere in the upper torso. A tactical vest will also save you money by not having to purchase a paintball chest protector. Even if you wear your vest without anything in the pouches, it will still offer you an extra layer of material that will still greatly reduce or completely eliminate the sting of being shot. Some tactical vests also include a thin layer of padding underneath the top layer of material that adds a bit more weight to the vest but also more protection.

If you choose to add a tactical vest to your scenario paintball equipment closet, shopping is easy as these accessories are easy to find and there are tons to choose from. Basically, you can either choose a vest that’s already put together and adorned with pouches or you can start with an empty vest and build your own. Most players seem to go with paintball vests that are already built for convenience, however some prefer the fun of making their own creation. If you choose an already built tactical vest, make sure it has pouches that can be changed in case you want to customize it later. It’s also important to make sure there are numerous pouches available so you have plenty of choices for customization.

Should you choose to build your own tactical paintball vest, it’s best to go with a ‘MOLLE’ system. MOLLE vests feature a certain type of strap and snap system of adhering pouches to it. This easy attachment system makes MOLLE vests super easy to customize. This type of tactical vest is also used by military and law enforcement so pouches are easily found and cheap to buy. Blank MOLLE system vests are available in tan, black or olive and sell for ~$35. Then it’s up to you to choose which color pouches you want to customize your game. Overall, this is the best way to go as you can build up a collection of different pouches and easily change them out as needed to customize your vest for different occasions or scenarios you play in. A tactical vest that can be changed into different configurations to best equip you for the mission you’re going on is a valuable tool and worth the investment.

Shotgun sports have been around for centuries, dating back to the mid 1700’s in England, and are still some of the most popular events for international competition and recreational shooting alike. Trap shooting is the oldest of these sports, which involves shooting clay birds from five locations behind the trap house. The trap is an electromechanical device that randomly throws a bird in different directions, presenting a challenge for the participants. Typical events are based on 25 rounds per shooter, five at each of the five stations behind the trap house. While the concept is simple (shoot clay birds when it’s your turn), consistently hitting a moving target is another story. Here are three tips on how to improve your trap game (none of which involve buying more expensive equipment).

Lean into it

One of the most overlooked factors in trap shooting is your stance. Since the birds could be flying in a number of directions and trajectories, you need to be able to find your target, swing, aim ahead of the bird, and pull the trigger. With an improper stance, this will wind up being a jerky motion, and you won’t be able to consistently pick off birds. Your front foot should be facing the direction of the trap house, and your back foot should be about 45* off of that, shoulder width apart. Here’s the key: you want to be leaning forward putting most of your weight on the front foot. This allows you to swing laterally either direction in a controlled, fluid motion, giving you the best opportunity to hit the bird.

Never look down the barrel

This one is completely counterintuitive, but looking down the barrel will cause you to miss more often than not. Most people are accustomed to looking through a scope on their rifles, or aligning sights on their handguns, so naturally you want to aim the bead at the end of your shotgun barrel at the bird. There are two primary reasons why this is wrong. First, the bird is a moving target, and to hit a moving target, you have to shoot in front of it. If you pull the trigger when the bird is in your sights, you’re going to miss behind it. Second, the human eye is good at a lot of things, but focusing on two things (at different depths) at once is something that it struggles with. You should have both eyes open when trap shooting, and focusing on both the bird and the bead often winds up with your eyes not focusing well on either. The sooner you learn to track the bird and point your shotgun to hit the leading edge of the bird, the better off you’ll be.

Take your time

This tip is particularly for new shooters, but even seasoned marksmen will appreciate this as well. There is a fine line between waiting too long, and rushing your shot. As soon as a bird is released, a lot of new shooters will be trigger happy and wind up missing the bird before they even gave themselves a chance to point the shotgun near the bird. You want to hit the bird either while it’s on the rise or at its peak; if you wait until it’s falling, then you’ve waited too long. This is a fast action sport, and you obviously want to be quick, but take enough time to the extent that your hands point the shotgun where your eyes are telling you to shoot.

Firing a shotgun is simple, and the concept of trap shooting is very straightforward. As always, the devil is in the details, though, and the more disciplined you are at the details, the better a shooter you will become. Maintain a proper stance leaning forward, shoot in front of the bird without looking down the barrel, and take your time. Practice these tips and you’ll see improvements in no time. Stay safe and happy trapping!

Hunting requires the shooter to be alert and fast. Otherwise, the target can immediately escape with no chance of appearing again. Alertness can be achieved not only by having a good physique and healthy body, but also applying certain techniques and using tools that help in better aiming when hunting. Below are a few of the proven and tested tips.

#1 Carry the Correct Gun

Always carry 3 or 5 different types of airguns with you. Don’t just settle with your most favorite because you really don’t know what you’re gonna come across in the forest except if you are up for a certain target. But if not, then make sure to bring all the necessities to shoot animals of varying sizes in different distances.

#2 Bring Different Types of Pellet

If you and your friends plan to go hunting and compete as to whoever shoots the most number of mammals and birds you see along the way, it is always best to bring different pellets. Remember to bring a wadcutter pellet for shorter range shoots while for longer range aims carry the pointed tip pellet. For new hunters, it is highly recommended to use the pellet test pack to gain a better gauge as to what each pellet is capable of.

#3 Use a Hunting Gun Rest

Whether you will be using air rifles or those powered by spring piston, don’t just rest your barrel anywhere when hunting, especially on hard surfaces. Otherwise, when you shoot, you will feel a bit of recoil afterwards. And if this happens, you will definitely miss your game or hunt, which can be very frustrating. You think you’re aiming at the right point but then you don’t. To avoid untoward movements of your gun barrel, make sure to buy a good rest.

#4 Hold Your Breath When Shooting

Believe it or not, but this technique can make or break the potential of your shot especially when the mammal or bird is near you. Although this is easy to do and be learned in a few days of practice, some hunters fail to execute when they are in the moment. To improve your aim, always use this technique whether the game is near or yards away. You just simply breathe long and hold it before you shoot. Then exhale deep after. This will ensure that the barrel stays wherever it should be.

#5 Do the So-Called Artillery Hold

This technique is particularly helpful if you will use a spring-piston powered hunting gun, which new hunters can definitely try. As you know, when this air rifle is fired, the pellet only goes out as the spring pushes the piston. This in turn creates vibrations, which is known to cause recoil. When this happens, the target point is changed from the original.