If you are a newbie, all the types of markers out there will knock you over.

If this is your first time buying a paintball marker, I would suggest not spending more than 300 dollars. If it is over 300 dollars, it's probably not a gun for you.

The reason for this is that the higher level tournament paintball markers require extra care, cleaning and maintenance that you most likely lack the knowledge in.

Once you have reached the point where you are knowledgeable about paintball markers and their care, you can start looking at the higher-level tournament guns. These guns can cost from $300 and up.

If you are just starting out, I recommend a Tippmann Custom 98 Marker. This is a great gun to start out with, but if this marker doesn't meet your needs, there are many brand name makers of paintball guns. Among them are Smart Parts, PMI, Kingman, Raven and Tippman just to name a few.

There are various designs to let you do various things

There are paintball guns specifically made for woods play and extreme play. These guns have different features, where a woods player would have a miserable time with a more extreme automatic gun. The same applies for the extreme player, who would not enjoy the action of the "woods" gun.

A final consideration to make when choosing one of the various paintball guns available is what style of game you play.

If you play in the woods, extreme style guns, even if you tend to be an extreme style player, will only tend to get you hit and out of the game before the game has truly begun. Buy the gun that fits the most common game you play. That will assure you get the most of your paintball gun.