Building a (cheap) Sniper/Carbine style marker

[Ahriman Wolf]

OK if anyone has any more advice or would just generally like to help then it is welcomed greatly as my budget was just cut sort so if anyone knows of ways to do this in a cheap way but with good results then please post them here...

 

[Tom]

For the 'sniping aspect' it depends on what you're after

It's the age old argument that 'snipers don't exist in paintball' and then someone says they now do because of first strike

Contrary to some public opinion a sniper isn't about long range but about the field craft skills of the sniper who originally earned the name by having the skills to stalk the snipe bird

But you've also referred to making a carbine which again is a different beast - a short rifle, and this is prior to bull pups which again shorten rifles by putting the action behind the trigger

As you're just making up your own the specifics will be relevant to your build, the general principles will apply whatever the design

Two ways:
Take a donor paintball gun and build a body / shroud around it.
Eg our team Barrett:

It's an opsgear shroud for a Tippmann a5 but adjusted to fit a PCS US5. You could equally build your own shroud/body kit
The body is ineffective to its function, its heavy and unwieldy, underneath its just a basic gun with a barrel that's too long. We could get the same effect and more efficiency with a shorter barrel



Next is to strip down a gun to the component parts and to build your custom body
The ion has been popular for this as it both swamped the market with an affordable eldctronic gun but also had a plastic body kit she'll that had no working function other than to hold together the working parts

Here we have it cut down to the bare minimum:




First the breach. This contains the only true moving part - the bolt and is fed the low pressure air
Next the regulator which reduces the air cylinders pressure to the operating level
Ignore the hoses layout with a valve. What's missing is the electronics, solenoid and trigger/switch

Something such as the ion stripped down allows you freedom to layout in a fully custom body of your choice

 

[Dusty]

Great post by @tommikka

he's pretty much nailed it. If you just want a "look" to play by then save yourself a load of money and heartache and buy something pre made, your wallet and sanity will thank me later.

If you want the challenge of building then don't expect it to be cheap, it won't be. You'll need access to a workshop of some kind, plenty of raw materials to get wrong and tinker with, someone with a good working knowledge of air systems etc etc.

Check out https://www.facebook.com/thehiddenhedgehog?ref=ts&fref=ts for some inspiration.

Personally my advice would be to spend your money on something reliable first and buy a cheap donor marker to work on behind the scenes, in your spare time. That way you still get to play even if your project isn't up and running and while you're playing you're learning, you're meeting people and chatting and who knows who you'll bump into who might be willing or able to help

 

[Ahriman Wolf]

View attachment 44682 For the 'sniping aspect' it depends on what you're after

It's the age old argument that 'snipers don't exist in paintball' and then someone says they now do because of first strike

Contrary to some public opinion a sniper isn't about long range but about the field craft skills of the sniper who originally earned the name by having the skills to stalk the snipe bird

But you've also referred to making a carbine which again is a different beast - a short rifle, and this is prior to bull pups which again shorten rifles by putting the action behind the trigger

As you're just making up your own the specifics will be relevant to your build, the general principles will apply whatever the design

Two ways:
Take a donor paintball gun and build a body / shroud around it.
Eg our team Barrett:
View attachment 44682
It's an opsgear shroud for a Tippmann a5 but adjusted to fit a PCS US5. You could equally build your own shroud/body kit
The body is ineffective to its function, its heavy and unwieldy, underneath its just a basic gun with a barrel that's too long. We could get the same effect and more efficiency with a shorter barrel

View attachment 44684

Next is to strip down a gun to the component parts and to build your custom body
The ion has been popular for this as it both swamped the market with an affordable eldctronic gun but also had a plastic body kit she'll that had no working function other than to hold together the working parts

Here we have it cut down to the bare minimum:

View attachment 44685

View attachment 44686
First the breach. This contains the only true moving part - the bolt and is fed the low pressure air
Next the regulator which reduces the air cylinders pressure to the operating level
Ignore the hoses layout with a valve. What's missing is the electronics, solenoid and trigger/switch

Something such as the ion stripped down allows you freedom to layout in a fully custom body of your choice

Great post by @tommikka

he's pretty much nailed it. If you just want a "look" to play by then save yourself a load of money and heartache and buy something pre made, your wallet and sanity will thank me later.

If you want the challenge of building then don't expect it to be cheap, it won't be. You'll need access to a workshop of some kind, plenty of raw materials to get wrong and tinker with, someone with a good working knowledge of air systems etc etc.

Check out https://www.facebook.com/thehiddenhedgehog?ref=ts&fref=ts for some inspiration.

Personally my advice would be to spend your money on something reliable first and buy a cheap donor marker to work on behind the scenes, in your spare time. That way you still get to play even if your project isn't up and running and while you're playing you're learning, you're meeting people and chatting and who knows who you'll bump into who might be willing or able to help

Thanks for the advice guys really appreciate it, just hoping to really get something out of this and the current advice given really helps alot, but as always any help or advice is welcome Ours won't look as good as some of the one's you guys have posted as your work is simply amazing, great job guys...

 

[JLMoore]

That looks awesome!

 

[Tom]

That looks awesome!

Thats the key point, its 99% looks.
Very accurate, but that is achievable with bore matching, fine tuning and practice.

A very basic, highly reliable mechanical blowback

Its big, cumbersome and heavy. Very impractical.
What it does have is the look factor and the intimidation factor.

 

[JLMoore]

Yes, look and fear factor are incredible with this! If you don't mind me asking how much did it cost you to convert?

 

[Tom]

Yes, look and fear factor are incredible with this! If you don't mind me asking how much did it cost you to convert?

Strictly speaking nothing!

All from existing items and an afternoon spent assemling and tweaking with a dremel.

PCS US5 - One of two bought as old stock. £25 each
Shroud - Bought at a scenario event years before at a discount price and was used on an A5. (I think it was 'Ultimate Force' branded) Put to this build as the A5 was being sold. Probably below £80

Barrel - My first 'aftermarket' barrel from eBay over 10 years ago
Riser - Spare part from the Spec Ops Longbow/QBow adaptor kit, (Because I used my existing tactical body bought the kit before they produced sets for the Ion)
Bipod - Spares
Sight - Already had it

 

[JLMoore]

Nice! Must have a fair old collection then!! I need to start my collection lol