Back in the early days of paintball, the gravity-fed hopper was the most used option for most players. However, new technology has seen more impressive paintball hoppers come to the forefront and the electronic hopper is one of the latest iterations of modern paintball equipment.
Electronic Hoppers Vs Gravity Fed Hoppers – What’s The Difference? The gravity-fed hopper is the most common option and features a standard design, which feeds the paintball through the neck via gravity. The electronic hopper features spinning paddles, which are driven by batteries to feed the balls into the gun much faster.
Both these hoppers work well for paintball guns, but you might need to choose one or the other depending on your needs. In this article, we will explore the main differences between gravity-fed hoppers and electronic hoppers. We will look at which one might be the best option for your needs.
Gravity Fed Paintball Hoppers
The first and most common hoppers you find on most paintball guns are gravity-fed hoppers. These hoppers have no electronic components and they simply allow the balls to feed through the neck by using the power of gravity.
While they work as you would expect, they are limited when it comes to speed and most gravity-fed hoppers can only deliver between 10 and 12 paintballs each second. Having as many paintballs is more than enough for the casual player, but with the use of the hairpin trigger, players wishing to have more paintballs per second might need something else.
If you need more paintballs in your gun per second, you can shake the gun every couple of shots and this would loosen the order of the balls inside the hopper. It could allow one or two more balls to slip into the breech of the gun each second. Unfortunately, this is not sustainable for professional players.
Benefits
- Price: Since fewer tech elements are present, the gravity-fed hoppers tend to be a bit cheaper than the electronic versions.
- Less Maintenance: You don’t need to do constant maintenance or constantly change the batteries of these hoppers.
- Reasonable Speed: Having 10 or 12 paintballs in the hopper at any given time is more than enough for the average player and gun.
Drawbacks
- Feeding Limits: As you become better and you need more bullets, you might find that 10/12 paintballs per second are not enough.
- Jamming Is Possible: Due to the balls congregating near the bottom of the hopper, they might jam, causing them to get stuck.
Who Should Use Gravity Fed Hoppers?
The gravity-fed hoppers are reserved for amateurs. Upon renting a new paintball gun at your local paintball store, you are bound to notice the gravity-fed hopper being used. These work well with the most basic of paintball guns, but they are limited when it comes to professional competitions or more advanced players.
Electronic Hoppers
The electronic hoppers are slightly faster and instead of relying on gravity, these hoppers feature an internal spinning plate, which serves as paddles to bring the paintballs to the feeder. The paddles are powered by batteries, which enhance the speed at which the paintballs are fed into the breech of the gun.
Electronic hoppers will vary, with some having adjustment knobs, allowing you to choose how fast you want the paintballs to be fed into the gun. Some electronic paintball hoppers would feed between 15 and 20 paintballs into the gun per second, improving the rate at which you can pull the trigger and shoot.
Benefits
- Faster feeding rate: These hoppers can allow the hopper to feed up to 20 paintballs into the breech of the gun each second.
- Less jamming: With electronic paddles controlling the balls inside the hopper, the chances for jamming are reduced.
- More control: Some of the advanced hoppers will even allow you to adjust the rate at which balls are fed into the gun.
Drawbacks
- Requires Maintenance/Batteries: You will need to constantly have backup batteries present to ensure the hopper is working.
- Expensive: Due to the tech used in these hoppers, they tend to be a bit more expensive than gravity-fed hoppers.
Who Should Use Electronic Hoppers?
The electronic hopper is much faster and more advanced than the gravity-fed alternatives. However, they tend to work best for an advanced paintball gun. Paintball games like speedball would require the player to constantly tap the trigger and shoot. Due to the suppressing fire, players can shoot around 400 paintballs per hour, which makes the electronic hopper best for professional competitions.
Additional Paintball Hoppers To Lookout For
Paintball gear can be vast and ever-expanding with newer version making their way to market each year. While you will need to choose between gravity-fed and electronic hoppers, there are numerous other versions you might want to consider. Here are a few other hopper options to choose from:
Force-Fed Paintball Hoppers
The force-fed hopper is a belt-powered hopper, which forces paintball balls down the breech of the gun. Professional players often choose this hopper due to the consistency with which paintballs are fed into the gun. More advanced versions would even indicate the number of paintballs available to the user.
Agitating Paintball Hoppers
The agitating hopper might seem similar to the electronic hopper without the use of batteries or any electronics. They use a propeller, coupled with blades that force the balls into the breech. However, these hoppers often fail and could even jam on the playing field.
Stick-Feed Paintball Hoppers
If you have ever seen a pump action shotgun, the stick-feed hopper would remind you of these firearms. They often feature basic tubes that can hold up to 24 paintballs. The vertical version would feed paintballs into the chamber through gravity, while the horizontal version would also use the rocking marker to shift a paintball into the gun.
Wrap-Up
Paintball hoppers can make or break your game, and having the right hoppers would significantly improve your firing rate. If you need to choose between electronic and gravity-fed hoppers, the electronic hopper is more reliable. Let’s continue the discussion in the comment section below.