The Best Paintball Pistols

Whether a sidearm, a mag-fed powerhouse, a force-on-force training tool or a gunslinger's weapon of choice, these are the best paintball pistols!

The paintball pistol was how paintball started back in 1981. Twelve people rocked and cocked Nelspot 007 bolt-action paintball marking pistols loaded with oil-based paintballs and marched into the woods to see who could survive. For some time afterwards, paintball continued to be played with paintball pistols like the Splatmaster, the PMI PGP and the Nelson. While other designs passed the paintball pistol and modern paintball guns are now held with both hands, rifle-style, the paintball pistol has come back in a big way in recent years, thanks in no small part to the growth of mag-fed paintball and improvements in technology that make paintball pistols better than ever! Modern paintball pistols, while still kin to those earliest models, are now semi-automatic, available in various calibers and shoot both round paintballs and First Strike rounds! The best paintball pistols are marvels of technology and make paintball more fun than ever!

First Strike FSC Pistol

Caliber: .68 caliber Action: magazine-fed semi-automatic Air: 8 or 12gram CO2 cartridge

Players looking to shoot .68 caliber paintballs or First Strike rounds with a paintball pistol that manages to remain small and sleek need look no further than the First Strike FSC! The Compact First Strike paintball pistol offers players the ability to shoot hard-hitting, full-sized .68 caliber paintballs and First Strikes for added range and accuracy through a pistol that’s trimmed all the fat to stay as small as possible! Semi-automatic and fed paintballs and air through the magazine inserted into the pistol grip, the FSC holds 6 rounds. Perhaps the best feature of the First Strike FSC paintball pistol is its ability to be upgraded to suit any player’s desire or loadout requirements, with accessories like barrels, folding stocks and extended magazines to create a unique and capable paintball pistol that can even be swapped over to compressed air and a remote line. The most unique and capable .68 caliber paintball pistol on the market, the First Strike FSC pistol is a great choice for serious mag-fed and tactical paintball players!

First Strike Roscoe Revolver

Caliber: .50 caliber Action: Double or Single Action Paintball Revolver Air: 12gram CO2 cartridge

First Strike makes our list of best paintball pistols twice thanks to their newest release, the First Strike Roscoe paintball revolver! Unlike its semiauto stablemate the FSC, the First Strike Roscoe revolver is chambered for .50 caliber paintballs and, almost more importantly, .50 caliber First Strike rounds, giving paintball gunslingers a long range, extremely accurate sixgun that can truly influence the fight. Looking equal parts intimidating and rustic thanks to its classic lines and top-break reloading design, the First Strike Roscoe is powered by a 12gram CO2 cartridge, offers top and underlug accessory rails for sights, lights and lasers and the functional hammer can be cocked for those “do you feel lucky” moments!

Umarex TR50 Revolver

Caliber: .50 caliber Action: Double Action Paintball Revolver Air: 12gram CO2 Cartridge

It’s been a long time since the paintball world had so many options for something so unique as a paintball revolver! Umarex has thrown their hat into the .50 caliber paintball revolver ring with the unique and affordable TR50 paintball revolver! Valken also got in on the TR50 action by distributing their own “combat grey” color TR50 paintball revolver making the Umarex TR50 a one-two punch of paintball pistols! Unlike the First Strike Roscoe paintball revolver, the TR50 paintball revolver feeds from removable rotary clips holding 6 rounds each that can be quickly and easily replaced. The TR50 is powered by a 12gram CO2 cartridge in the grip and features a quick-pierce mechanism, top and underlug accessory rails for lights and lasers, and extra rotary clips are available for plenty of reloads. Whether the all-black Umarex TR50 or the Valken combat grey version, the TR50 looks a little more “Blade Runner” than the “Webley” look of the First Strike Roscoe so take your paintball pistol pick and retire some replicants!

Umarex T4E Walther PPQ

Caliber: .43 caliber Action: magazine-fed semi-automatic Air: 12gram CO2 cartridge

When it’s time to get practical with your tactical, there’s nothing like a paintball pistol that looks, feels and handles like the real thing, and Umarex has it with their T4E Walther PPQ paintball pistol! Looking and handling like its “real steel” brother the Walther PPQ pistol, the Umarex model stands for Training 4 Engagement and they’re definitely right about that – force on force training with paintball pistols like these definitely up the ante with a healthy dose of realism for law enforcement, the military or anyone looking to push their adrenaline limits. Chambered for .43 caliber paintballs and powered by a 12gram CO2 cartridge, the Umarex T4E Walther PPQ is a great choice for truly tactical paintball pistol games or any mag-fed or tactical player looking for the most real-steel-inspired paintball pistol they can find.

Paintball pistols have come a long way from the bolt-action Nelson pistols, Splatmasters and PGP pump pistols of the 80’s, but the thrill and enjoyment of shooting it out with a paintball pistol, especially in a game where that’s all everyone is using, is like nothing else in the world and probably the closest thing to what paintball’s founders must have felt when they stepped into the woods and kicked this thing off. Whether that’s what you’re after, or you’re looking for a paintball sidearm or training tool, these paintball pistols will give you everything you need to hit your target!