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Splatter Happy
| 
Mark Heithoff| 
Paintball has crossed over. More than 7 million Americans will shoot foes with liquid food dye this year, making the war game as popular as snowboarding. The artillery has changed a lot since the 1980s, when players first blasted one another with hand-pumped guns designed for tagging trees and livestock. Today's models, built for the sport, are loaded with sophisticated electronics and can cost more than $2,000. Check out the coolest addition to the arsenal, the Angel iR3.
Gunning for the Masses The army of hardcore paintballers is growing. In 2001, the number of Americans who play 15 times or more a year rose to 1.4 million. Most battles are staged outdoors, but a handful of leagues are taking the game inside, complete with penalty boxes, time-outs, and spectators. Wherever it's played, paintball remains a testosterone-addled sport: The average player is 18, and 85 percent are male.
Squeeze Play Most high-end models have electronic triggers, which can fire off 20 balls a second, about twice as many rounds as mechanical versions. Sensors in the Angel prevent partially loaded balls from exploding in the barrel and jamming the gun – crucial for sneak attacks where it's paint or be painted. The Angel requires a motorized hopper; a standard one holds 180 to 200 balls.
Friendly Fire You can tweak the Angel's settings – from ball firing rate to attack reminders – using the onboard interface or beam instructions from a Palm. Better yet, zap them to other members of your team. The gun keeps track of how many balls it has fired, so you'll know when it's ready for maintenance.
Air Power Most of today's paintball guns use compressed air as a propellant. (The first relied on CO2 or pump action.) The Angel's standard compressed-air tank has enough juice to fire about 1,000 paintballs at up to 300 feet per second. Larger tanks can power up to 1,500 shots, but they add bulk to the standard 4-pound setup, making it even harder to storm that next hill.
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| Star Man
| Exploded View
| Holyware
