Which Marker to Polish

[jokers]

I think maybe I need to clarify something, I am giving him a marker from my collection, I have many others that I have eliminated for various reasons, the autocockers while flashy and pretty would drive him mad with the tuning, the automags would be in the shop more then in his hands, the other Novas would work well except when they do not. There is no way I am giving him a pump unless it is to use for a game. I have way to many markers, these were the ones that I thought would be good for him to play with and learn on. There is a chance when he is more then toe deep in paintball I will give him something fancy and new (or super fancy and old) likely when he is graduating college. While I would love to go out and buy a new marker to give to him I worry that if he decides not to play that this marker will make it's way back into my collection and I have enough already.
I do not have an issue buying or adding parts for these markers. I could even see on one or two getting them powder coated or anodized if they need it, or even laser etching is not out of the question. In my mind that would be polishing a marker up to give to him. I do not see him enough right now to have him over to modify the markers so anything we do together would need to be during Supergame or a single trip to see him.
PM me if you would like a list of the collection and if you see something better I can give to him I am all ears.

[Number six]

Have you asked him? You could ahow him the options, tell him the pros and cons of each, and let him fondle them to see which feels best in his hands. All the while reminding him that a maintenance-intensive collector piece is a highly impractical first marker. Nobody ever let me shoot half a dozen before blindly guessing at which would be the most comfortable and/or effective. You'll miss the "surprise" factor, but he may be the better for it.

[jokers]

Number six I have not asked him I kinda want this to be a surprise. He has shot the Nova N2, the A5, an Ion, and a tricked out Tippman 98 Custom. If I am not mistaken he enjoyed the Nova N2 the most. I do not expect to have time to go through all of the ins and outs of the markers. But I think i can give him the basics on the one that he picks. I think having him shoot all of the markers first is a good idea and I will do that, but he lives in Southern California and I live in Idaho so the one time we get a chance to meet is at Supergame. I think it would be possible to surprise him and let him shoot the markers but I will not be able to polish the markers so I would have to do mostly stock on all of them and change what I can at the field.

[Number six]

That's awesome!

[Chaos]

Anyone that knows me knows what my vote will be before I even cast it 🤣
Nice VM-68 EXC you got there. Just for the record it's VM68 not PM68.... The VM stands for Virtual Machine

[jokers]

My apologies, I knew I was wrong but could not remember the right version.

[Chaos]

No worries man,just wanted to make sure you knew

[Cdn_Cuda]

For shooting the N4 would be my choice, but for learn how to work on a marker the A5. Easier to work on than an 98, but just as reliable. Easy to strip the old paint off and rattle can it something fun as a project.

[chrislognshot]

i say old nelson to make super shinny to play with.

[SignOfZeta]

My only confusion is why you seem to be primarily concerned with modification/customization which isn’t really about playing. If I wanted my kid to play paintball I’d give him a gun that needs nothing. Those very much exist. Then he’ll learn the value to getting the right thing in the first place and he’ll master using it instead of repairing it.

I know a lot of people here hate good guns that never break and love lightening hammers and testing out dozens of springs and wasting a case tuning a gun but…it’s 2024. My kid would think that’s a stupid waste of time. He doesn’t want to be told that, yeah, he pulled the trigger, but not *far* enough. He’d way rather have a perfected reliable gun like a Phantom or any space dildo currently in production.

Kids these days…they usually don’t mind the stick shift, they just don’t want to blow on NES cartridges like we did.