Back in the late 90s when I really began to get involved with paintball I remember that everybody I played with talked about upgrading to a double trigger. The whole concept of having TWO fingers on the trigger to fire the ball was revolutionary - you could fire it so fast. When my buddy Robby got one for his Model 98 (after sending it to the factory to get the frame modified - something Tippmann fixed with the 98 Custom) I remember shooting the gun and being amazed at how fast it could shoot. Though I doubt it really increased the rate of fire by any meaningful amount, it seemed like a big deal to us.
Jumping forward a decade, it's almost impossible to find anything other than a pump that doesn't come with a double trigger. From the cheapest blowback to the a high-end electro, all paintball guns come with a massive trigger that will fit sometimes three or four fingers. Now that the double trigger is the standard, I'm amazed at how "valuable" the single trigger has become. When I look at vintage guns being sold or trying to find parts, the single trigger frame is a valuable commodity and, rather than a liability, many purists view it as an asset.
At the end of the day, whether you shoot with a double trigger or a single trigger boils down to preference. I really don't prefer one over the other and I definitely am not going to pay a premium for one or the other, so I can understand why some people are willing to.
The part of the story that interests me is how the size of the trigger in paintball has come full circle with many avid players and it's back to what it was to begin with. Whether this is simply indicative of some people's yearning to get back to the game as they were introduced to it or whether it's more like fashion that keeps getting recycled, I can't say. But it is interesting to read through the forums and hear people argue about the superiority of the "original" paintball trigger. And remembering my interest in a double trigger and its supposed benefits definitely makes me smile.
Comments
I agree that it used to be personal preference whether you upgraded to the double trigger on your Tippmann, Spyder or Mag.
It is a cheap upgrade now for the tippmann guns as the triggers cost well under 10 bucks. It used to be between 30-100 depending on what mods had to be done.
To tell you the truth, I like them both. I play both woodsball and airball, and find one more suited then the other.
Woodsball: I use my Tippman USArmy Project Salvo and it has one trigger. When I play woodsball I don’t use as much paint and therefore don’t require a doubble teigger. In woodsball I like to go, shall we say, Delta Force on people. Which dosnt require me to lane.
Airball: I use my Angel A1 Fly and it has a doubble trigger. Right out of the break I want to send a devistating lane to the other team. The doubble trigger allowes me to do this.
So as you can see I have a place in my heart for both styles of triggers…