I’m on a quest for 2008, to find the ultimate scenario marker. It’s looking like I’ll be playing 24-30 events this year, and with a packed schedule like that, I want to have a gun that functions as close to perfectly as a paintball gun can. If you’ve read my articles on paintball road trips, you’ve seen the gun collection I take to games. If I’m flying I’ll take a single marker, but if I have the luxury of the trunk of my ‘94 Civic, I’ll haul a stash of guns - a primary, a back up, and a pump. While I like all the guns I’m using now, I’d like to pick a new primary marker that meets all my personal criteria the best gun to shoot at a scenario game.

Those criteria are:

• Weight. If I’m going to lug something around for six hours straight, it needs to be light. I have owned some heavy guns, and while some of these are really fun for their mil-sim fantasy look, if I’m playing for an extended period, I want a gun that doesn’t weigh my arm down. I like hanging out in the camping area, but now when the game’s underway. That’s when I need to be on the field making things happen.
• Accuracy. Stick a good barrel on most high end guns and they’re accurate, but scenario games don’t always offer the best in paint choices. Sometimes you luck out with great paint (I’ve shot Russian Legion at a scenario!) and sometimes you get summer fill white box in the dead of winter. My ultimate scenario gun will handle crappy paint with reasonable accuracy, and when I put great paint through it, it’ll be dead on.
• Air Efficiency. Again, I don’t like coming off the field. When I’m eliminated, I head for the insertion zone to renegotiate the situation, and trips to the air fill station slow me down. The ultimate scenario gun is going to shoot close to a case of paint on a tank fill.
• Nimble. It’s hard to quantify, but the best paintball guns are nimble shooting machines that make gun fighting easy. Of course I would rather find angles and shoot everyone in the side, but too many times to get those angles it comes down to a one-on-one with the player who’s in the spot where I want to be. A great gun spits paint with speed (when that’s needed) and makes snap shooting a breeze.
• Reliability.  Simply put, the last thing I want to worry about on the field is whether I’m going to have to sit out and fix my gun.  Of course I carry a backup (and a backup for the backup), but the ultimate scenario gun isn’t going to let me down.

I’ve shot most everything out there, and I have a short list of possible contenders for the title. I’ll try a few out and make a decision in the next month or so, in time for the full slate of games I’m playing this year.

Why don’t you weigh in with your opinion? Give me some advice. What’s the ultimate scenario marker? You can assume any budget (although I’m as cheap as they come). Give me some feedback people.