Paintball Buyer’s Blog

At World Cup I finally got to check out something I had been seeing in various paintball magazines. A few doors down from the Full Clip Paintball booth (whose products we will be carrying soon as well) was Airow Gun, probably the most original new product at the entire World Cup tradeshow. In a nutshell, Airow Gun markers are a barrel and compression chamber unit that mounts onto a low-powered compound bow… yes, as in archery. A piston is connected to the bow string so to fire it all you do is chamber a paintball into the breech via a breech knob, pull a full draw on the bow and release. Just like shooting an arrow back in summer camp but now there is .68 of gelatin-encased paint flying downrange.

Velocity is adjustable via a lockable setting and the barrel is Spyder threaded. I’d love to see it with a Smart Parts 20″ Tactical Barrel, I think the look would be perfect. A raised 7/8″ picatinny rail is standard to provide a point of reference or to allow you to mount a variety of sights. Included is a 10 round clear acrylic feedtube that nearly brought a tear to my eye… I never thought I’d see the day when a new paintslinger would come out of the box with a ten round stick feed! The machine and finish quality is great and all the necessary tools and spare seals are provided. The Airow Gun may look complicated but its really a beautifully simple concept when you examine it.

Company policy is that we never open any boxes until they are ready to be received…. however, since Brock our warehouse manager is an avid archer and bow-maker we decided that a little ‘quality assurance’ testing was necessary for the benefit of our customers. A quick read of the well-written owners manual and 5 minutes with the included tools and the Airow Gun was ready for a few test shots. The draw weight of the bow is about 50 pounds so it does take a little bit of muscle to pull the plunger back. Combine that with the strain of the holding the bow steady and you quickly realize that using an Airow bow is a workout on the arms. Being a compound bow the cams ease up at full draw . Chamber a ball, pull back and ’ssssssshooooop’…. the paint is on its way. It is surprising just how quiet they are, too, since the Airow Gun is basically a big blowgun.

The Airow Gun itself is just as accurate as any other quality paintball marker out there… just how accurate you are with it is a matter of personal skill and it takes a lot of practice. This is a whole new way of shooting a paintball and it is both fun and addictive! I plan on buying one and taking it out during the next big game, hooking up with a squad of players to provide cover fire while I pick away on the flanks, or go into ‘hunter’ mode, sneak off and try to ambush lone opponents.

The number one thing I hear players say is “Why?”…. well, why not? On several forums lots of young players just didn’t get it, saying that you’d get killed on a speedball field and there were so many other guns you could buy for the money. One thing I’ve noticed in the last few years with the rise of the rec/ scenario scene and pump play is the long-overdue return of playing paintball for the sake of… dare I say it… fun. Is the Airow Gun for everyone? Not really. Is it possibly the most original and fun way to try to shoot someone on the paintball field? Most definitely! Like a stockclass pump marker, this is the ultimate in proving just how good you are and just having the guts to step onto a paintball field with one is worthy of respect from any player. It will take more work and dedication than you ever imagined to score, but when you do it will all be worth it.

If you are that player who thinks an 800 ounce, 28 inch cam-and-wheel triggerpull sounds a lot more intriguing than a 1/32 inch, 4 ounce optical activated one, who believes that one perfect elimination is worth an entire hour of stalking and want to go down on your local field’s history like the English longbowmen of ancient reknown…. the Airow Gun was made for you.

We currently off the all black Cutter Airow Gun as a complete unit, or if you already have a bow we have just the Airow Gun Module to attach to your own.

(all photos courtesy of Airow Gun)