The ion paintball marker which is manufactured by Smart Parts is described as an electropneumatic paintball marker. It is highly credited for its good firing rate. It has become a breakthrough among paintball enthusiasts with limited budget for an electopneumatic marker.
Because of its more affordable pricing, it enabled more players to get the chance to have this type of paintball marker. Prior to ion paintball marker availability, electropneumatic paintball markers are generally out of reach among budget players.
The first and original ion paintball marker was launched way back in 2005 and although it was constantly getting negative reviews due to difficulty in disassembling, it became a popular choice among paintball players. Two years after, Smart Parts released the Ion XE paintball marker which is similar in concept with the original but offers ease in manipulation and it features a removable bolt on the back side. This model had successfully addressed the previous concerns encountered by the players with the original model of ion paintball marker.
The ion paintball marker can be customized depending upon the player's own preferences. It has a removable plastic exterior or shell that comes in many different colors. The shell or exterior can even be replaced with body kits which can actually change the physical appearance of the ion paintball marker, making it similar to other brands such as Tippmann A5 and many others. Other parts can also be replaced to change the look of the ion paintball marker, disguising it for another model.
The ion paintball marker has a spool-valve design, the same mechanism with that of the Shocker SFT or Dye Matrix. However, despite of the similarity in their mechanisms, the ion paintball marker is much easier and simpler to operate. A spool-valve design electropneumatic ion paintball marker usually has a firing rate of 17 balls per second.
There are other markers manufactured by Smart Parts. These are the Epiphany and the SP-8. Both of these marker models are based on ion paintball marker's spool-valve design. They also offer the same convenience and ease of operation with that of an ion paintball marker.