1 for HPA and 1 for CO2 or one gun that runs on both?

[Visith]

After a four year hiatus I'm going to get back into paintball and I'd like some help getting setup. I might play paintball about 3 times a month in the woods or at a scenario game.

I want to be able to use HPA when I can and CO2 when I have to. Should I buy an Automag for HPA, and a Automag Classic or minimag for CO2, or could I setup a gun to do both well? I am leaning toward buying a new 'mag' for HPA and used 'mag' for CO2 but I don't know if that would be cost effective if I had to replace all the internal parts.

I would probably want to upgrade in the future but I don't know if I would get the most out of upgrade parts if I have to use both types of gas for one gun.

Any tips on how to setup these guns/a gun is appreciated.

[punkncat]

Well, the easy thing would be to use one gun and two valves, if you were thinking of going mag. Just get a classic valve and slap it on when you had to use co2.

[michbich]

Well, the easy thing would be to use one gun and two valves, if you were thinking of going mag. Just get a classic valve and slap it on when you had to use co2.

Punkncat speaks the truth. There really isn't a big difference between a CO2 and an HPA mag. The only thing different would be to get a good expansion chamber (CO2) and the valve (HPA) if you choose to go that way. So the main difference is the valve, all retro valves (RT, X...) only accept HPA. So by only changing valves on one marker, you can use both HPA and CO2 as long as you have a decent volume to let the CO2 expand. The extra volume won't affect the HPA.

[rawbutter]

You could even just use a classic valve all the time and switch between HPA and CO2. A classic valve is a tad heavier than an X-valve, and it's not as fast, but it can still do 8-10 bps, especially with HPA. Like mich said, though, make sure you're using an expansion chamber or a Palmer's stablizer when you're using CO2.

[athomas]

If you had a quick disconnect on the forgrip and also on an expansion chamber, you could interchange between a forgrip for HPA and an expansion chamber for CO2 when you change valves. If you aren't concerned with the rt kick of the retro valve, just use a classic valve all the time. You can even use a retro on-off assembly to keep the trigger pull down to 4lbs, the same as the retro valve. The classic valve can keep up to your trigger pull speed as long as you don't short stroke. The retro valve handles short stroking better, due to its faster recharge.