I receive a lot of emails asking about VM-68 sniper setups. Rather than typing the same basic email over and over again, I thought I would just put up this page explaining some of my ideas and observations about the topic. For a look at some custom VM sniper setups, check out the custom VM section.

Remember, a paintball sniper is a look and a playing style. 'Sniper' guns do not shoot farther and are not dead-on accurate just because they have a long barrel and/or a silencer. Sniping is about sneaking around the woods and stalking your opponents. Taking careful shots and staying concealed.

Barrels
A quality barrel is one of the key components to having a good sniper setup. You'll want to eliminate your targets with as few shots as possible. The more you shoot, the easier your opponents can pin point your location.

Matching paint to a barrel is a major component to accuracy. If a ball is to small for a barrel it will waste air and decrease accuracy. If a ball is two tight for a barrel you'll get a lot of breaks and roll outs. Paint size varies from batch to batch so what works one day might not work a week later. It helps to have a couple barrels in different IDs (internal diameter).

Palmer's Pursuit Shop makes high quality barrels up to 14" and in several IDs. I asked Glenn why they won't make longer barrels and he said, "I won't produce barrels longer because I don't want to rip my customers off and sell them a bad product. The way our barrels are made, 12" should be considered max for just about any paintgun."

There are many other quality barrels too. Lots of people like DYE, Lapco, Smart Parts, Armson, BOA (now out of business), and J & J barrels. If you can, try a barrel before you buy it and see what you like best.

Although a longer barrel is easier to aim with, it will decrease your air efficiency. The longer the barrel, the more air it takes to push the ball out the other end. Generally, 12-14" will give you a good mix between accuracy and efficiency. However, as a sniper, longer barrels do look kinda cool ;)

Longer barrels do not shoot farther and spiral porting does not increase accuracy! These are common myths in the paintball world even though they have been disproved over and over again. These myths are well rooted in the paintball world and it is hard to convince people otherwise.

Two other things to consider are the Lapco AutoCocker to VM adapter and customizing barrels. These days, VM barrels are kind of hard to find, so the Lapco adapter might be a good choice. And at about $15, you can't go wrong. There are tons of different AutoCocker barrels available and they'll always be around. If there is a barrel that hasn't been made for AutoCockers (not likely, but...), there is always a chance that it could be rethreaded for a VM. Palmer's, Punisher's Customs and Doc's Machine might be up to the job. It's always worth asking.

Note: You could ask 10 different people about their opinions on barrels and get 10 totally different responses. A big part of selecing a barrel seems to be personal preference.

Silencers
Silencers are commonly associated with snipers. However, a silencer may actually *decrease* accuracy. Another thing to keep in mind is that silencers may be illegal depending on how they are made. Food for thought. Anyway...

Silencers are pretty easy to build (no, I won't tell you how). Basically, they just muffle the air coming out the end of the barrel. Some PVC tubing and foam and you could have yourself a pretty crappy but somewhat effective silencer.

If you don't want to build one, Paintball Sniper Supplies sells them. They are very professional and work quite well.

Overall, I don't personally think a silencer is necessary for a sniper setup. I see them more as eye candy than anything else. A good ported barrel and a low pressure setup will seriously quiet down a VM.

Stocks
Stocks are used to stabilize the 'gun against your shoulder so that you can shoot more consistently. One of the great things about the VM is all the stocks that have been made for it over the years. There have been lots of VM only stocks like the Thompson, CAR-15, folding SKS, and Assault stocks. The down side is that most of these stocks are fairly hard to come by these days. The Assault stocks are the only ones I see on a regular basis and they generally go for about $30 on eBay.

If you want something custom, Doc's Machine and Punisher's Customs both make a wide variety of stocks. If you have something special in mind, they will give it a try (providing you have the money to pay for it). For example, the light weight stock pictured below was custom built by Doc for my Blazer and cost $75.

Even a tank coming off a bottom line will work.

Assualt Stock	CAR-15 Stock	Trigger Guard/Stock combo
Round Bar Stock		Custom Lightweight Stock

Bolts
Venturi/Starr Fire bolts are usually considered to increase accuracy and reduce ball breakage. Although a Venturi bolt won't increase your accuracy (really, it's pyshics at work), they might slightly reduce ball breakage with their concave bolt face. In my experiences, however, there usually wasn't much of a difference between a venturi bolt and a normal bolt. I've used both in a VM and never really saw much of a difference. If you have money to burn give 'em a try, otherwise I would recommend spending the money on something else.

One thing I would recommend are Delrin bolts. Delrin has a very low coefficient of friction so Delrin bolts don't need o-rings. With no o-rings that's one less thing that will wear out and need to be replaced. You might get more blowback if it's not made right, but IMHO, the lack of o-rings out weighs this negative. Another plus is that Delrin is light. Lighter internals means a faster cycle rate (i.e. you can shoot faster).

Hammer
To increase cycle rate, getting a lighter hammer (sometimes called a lower bolt or striker) will help drastically. And as a bonus it will also help with recoil, which is nice since the VM has the worst recoil I've ever seen in a paintball gun. The stock hammer is a massive chunk of stainless steel and weighs a ton (technically, 9 oz.). Anything lighter will help. Even drilling some holes in the stock bolt will help a little.

I've only used two after market hammers before. The first was polished stainless steel and the other was the one that came with the Pro-Comp v.3. The Pro-Comp v.3 hammer is by far the best VM hammer in existence. It's made of Delrin and brass which makes it light for an increased cycle rate and reduced recoil.

Cooper-T Maximizer Kit
Cooper-T makes a great kit that includes a delrin backspin bolt and an aluminum hammer. The backspin bolt is much like the Flatline barrel for Model 98s and 'Cockers. Cooper-T claims a 100' increase in range, however, realistically it adds about 30'-50'. To get this increase in range you must have a very big bore barrel. Something in the range of .698 - .702. The increase in range comes at a price though. Accuracy will actually decrease with the bolt, just like with the Flatline barrel.

Main Spring
The Pro-Shot kit by Armson is one of the only aftermarket kits I know of for replacing the main spring in the VM. Moving the main spring to the lower tube in the VM is also another way to reduce recoil. Reducing recoil will help you keep a target in your sights while you're doing your sniping.

Again, there are very few places that may carry these kits. However, they are easy to build. The main spring from an AutoMag will work for the spring.

Bolt Slot Covers
Pretty simple here: covering the bolt slots will make the 'gun a little more quiet. The less noise you make, the harder you are to spot.

These are pretty simple to make too. I've heard of people using double sided tape and pieces of a cut up pop can to make them. Not elegant, but whatever works...

Air Supply
To eliminate targets consistently, having a consistent air supply is very important. If you have access to a place that will fill HPA cylinders, that's a good start. But for those of us who can't get HPA refills, we'll have to stick to CO2.

An anti-siphon tank and a good regulator should provide some fairly consistent FPS's. I would recommend a bottom line kit too. You want to keep as much liquid CO2 out of your VM as possible to prevent spikes in your velocity. Ideally you should use dual regulators and an anti-syphon, but that gets expensive.

Sights and Scopes
To use a sight or scope on a VM you'll need a sight rail and possibly a raised sight rail (unless you have a VM Magnum or EXC-68 which comes with a sight rail standard).

I used to have an Adco Champ sight and it was pretty good (until the folks at the post office smashed it into a million pieces). A red dot sight super imposes a red dot over the object you are looking at. These should not be mistaken for laser sights. The red dot is contained within the sight and does not extend out of it.

Some people also use scopes. I've never felt the need to use one, but that's personal preference I guess. I would only suggest getting some of the cheaper scopes for BB guns and shotguns if that's what you want to use. If a paintball smacks the scope pretty good it could easily ruin it.

Misc. Stuff
I for one love the feel of .45 grips. A comfortable grip can make carring a heavy 'gun like the VM around nice and not a chore.

My VM has a brass trigger shoe on it and I rather like it. You could also get a double finger trigger shoe for a VM too. Having a big fat trigger might make it easier for some people to pull. AutoCocker trigger shoes will fit on the chrome VM triggers without a problem. The new style black VM triggers, however, will have to have the small lip of metal filed off before a trigger shoe will fit.

Some people have claimed to have gotten good results from a power feed. I've never seen any sort of improvement with mine though. I've heard good things and bad things about them so I guess it's another personal preference thing.

Although not vital to the overall performance of a VM, an expansion chamber can greatly improve a VM's air efficiency. When it comes to EC's, large multiple chamber ones are better. Small EC's like SkanLine's MicroBoost won't provide much of an increase in efficiency. Large EC's like the stock VM EXC's EC, Sub-Zero 6 or 8 chamber EC, and Air America's Black Rain (if you can find one) are some of the best. Lots of chambers and lots of internal surface area is what you want to look for.

Almost any EC that screws into a normal ASA will fit on a VM. There is no need to get a VM specific expansion chamber (which is good since there really aren't many).

I personally recommend against ECs. Although regulators are more expensive they are a better investment.

Another thing to consider is modifying your VM for low pressure. Some of the benefits of low pressure are that it will be quieter and have less recoil. Modifying your valve for higher flow is a good start.

I hope you've found this guide useful!

This Page Last Updated: 02/26/03