Holding Back 50 Caliber Evolution

Communicating lately with various field owners, some who are already offering 50 caliber as part of their services and some who would like to but have not taken the leap yet, I’m hearing more and more complaints about the lack of a decent mechanical semi-auto that is reliable enough for rental use.  Most seem to be using Kingmann’s Spyder Opus as it seems to be the best of the bad.  The biggest complaint, like most Spyders, is that when a ball breaks, the gun will stop functioning to the point where it will not fire without being torn apart, cleaned and then reassembled.  If a ball breaks in a Tippmann for instance, at least it will still fire and the renter can finish the game.  Thirty seconds of cleaning and it’s usually good to for the rest of the day.  After the day is over, if sufficiently dirty, it will need to be stripped and cleaned properly, but at least that can be done during a time when it’s not keeping a customer from playing a game.

There seems to be a clear Demand for a reliable 50 caliber rental, but at this time, there is no Supply available.  Have the manufacturers forgotten about the basic rules of economics.  Would it not be easier to fulfill a Demand that already exists and is not being Supplied than trying to add another bell or whistle onto markers that there are already more than enough choices of out there?  The market is flooded with mid-high end electros.  The market is bare of simple, reliable, mechanical, rental worthy 50 caliber markers.

It’s in the best interest of manufacturers to expand paintball’s attraction to a wider demographic.  Here’s an ideal way to do so, yet everyone seems to be asleep at the switch.  Let’s get on it.