Hoppers And Loaders
Not all hoppers and loaders work with all paintball markers and anot all operate as efficiently as the next model. Make sure you get the right hopper or loader for your paintball marker and make sure you get it at a steep discount by buying it on eBay by clicking on any of the links below.
 Java Gravity Fed Paintball Hopper Loader Black  US $.99
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 INDIAN SPRING MAXI LOADER US $7.00
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 NEW Ultrasoft Virtue Crown Speed Feed EMPIRE Prophecy BLUE US $15.95
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 Magna Clutch Upgrade Kit US $17.50
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 Custom Halo Invert TOO Suicide Paintball Gun Shell Black Rubber Coating US $23.00
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 VL200 Viewloader Paintball Hopper Loader US $7.99
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 Loader Hopper Paintball Replacement Shell Body US $.99
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 Java Gravity Fed Paintball Hopper Loader clear US $.99
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 Dye ROTOR Paintball Loader hopper US $143.49
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 Lot of 3 paintball loaders 2 Halo B and 1 Reloader B2 no lids US $12.50
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 paintball gun hopper US $12.50
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 Viewloader VL Revolution FORCE Paintball Loader US $30.00
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How To Choose The Rigth Loader/Hopper for your Paintball Marker
Any mechanical gun, no matter how short the trigger pull is, will not outshoot a gravity feed loader (Rev, Rico, Reloader, or TSA). So, if you don't plan on upgrading to an electro (or getting an electro frame for that matter) within the next year, one of these hoppers is right for you. Deciding which is also up to you, as you need to weigh which features you need, as well as how much you have to spend.
Electronic gripped Spyder/Pirhanas/Tippmanns, R/T Tippmann 98s, and Classic valved, E-Framed Automags fall into the middle. Some of these guns are capped at 13 bps, and if yours is, you don't need an Evo or Halo unless you plan on unlocking the board, making it capable of shooting faster. However, if your board is capped higher, a Halo B or Evo may be a good investment. Deciding which hopper you should buy is once again, a decision you need to make. Do you need the super fast 22 bps of the Halo, or will 17-19 do fine for your gun? Also, do you have the extra $40-50 to buy the Halo?
Fully electronic guns, as well as R/T + E-Framed Automags, E-Mags, X-Mags, and Electronic Autocockers (Raceframe, E-Blade, Worrblade), are probably looking at the forcefed hoppers, like the Evo or Halo. These guns can all physically outshoot the gravity feed loaders, and the same decision making process as above applies. Of note though, is most of these high end guns have some sort of chop protection system, whether it be an Eye/other form of ACE, Level 10/other Anti-Chop bolt, or have a low cocking pressure so the bolt will stop on the ball ('Cocker).
However, there is another step to deciding: The player. No matter how fast your gun is, if you can't shoot more than 12-13 bps (on semi), you don't need more than a gravity fed loader, although a forcefeeder may be a good investment for when you get more trigger practice, and are able to shoot faster. Another consideration is the position; your typical frontman uses a gravity fed loader because he doesn't shoot the long strings of paint that a backman does, so he doesn't need super high bps hoppers. That said, a backman is supposed to shoot lanes, etc, meaning he'll be shooting long strings of paint at high speeds. Also, look at how much money you have to spend to play; a slower hopper means you'll shoot less bps, which probably means less paint in a game. Less paint is less money.
Choosing a hopper is all about your needs, your abilities, and your marker's abilities. Choosing a hopper like a Halo for a mechanical Spyder is overkill, but using a Rev on an Impulse may or may not be too little.
Hopper/ Loader Reviews By Users
Revolution
The Revolution was groundbreaking a few years ago. It was the first (mass produced) aggitating hopper. It make it possible to shoot long strings of paint at high speed, giving rise to our super-fast markers of today. The Revvy (as most paintballers call it) is a great product, but since Brass Eagle bought out Viewloader, the quality seemed to go down, most notably in the shells. Often times, you'll see people saying their feednecks broke. The Revvy uses an optical sensor to sense if there is no ball in the feedneck, and if it sees that, the paddles spin. The paddles move the balls around, stirring them so that some drop into the feedneck, relying on gravity. It does not spin on every shot, only when it senses a gap. There are a number of upgrades/modifications, such as the Intellifeed, which takes a signal from the marker, telling it a shot was fired, causing it to spin. There's also different impellers (the arms inside of the hopper) that give increased performance. As a side note, Rev's are available in a lot of colors, to match almost any marker.
Evolution II
The Evolution II is an oddly shaped hopper, taking the form of an egg. The lid is also wierd, as it opens down instead of up. This is supposed to make filling it with a pod easier, and it works. The Eggy doesn't work like the Rev does, as it's a force fed loader. This means it does not rely on gravity, but it uses a system to push down on the balls. This allows for a faster feed rate of 17-19 bps, opposed to the 13 bps maximum when using gravity (the gravity can't pull the balls any faster) However, the Egg doesn't keep pressure on the balls constantly, working a bit like the Rev. The Eggy is also an optical loader, sensing when there's a gap. The way the Evolution II sits on the gun is also different from most other hoppers, as its feedneck is up front, with the entire hopper behind it. This changes the weight distribution. Of note is that there are two different sets of electronics for the Evo II, the original and the Y-Board. The Y-board provides a faster feed rate than the original because of when it turns on the motor. It's easy to tell if the Evo has an original or Y-board; the original has a push button, and the Y-board has a flip switch. The feedneck comes thick, meaning the user has to sand it down for a correct fit to the marker, which is done intentionally; it allows for a personalized, matched to the marker, fit. It should be noted that a forcefed loader likt the Evo will be more consistent when tilted than a grav feed loader. Comes in black or clear.
Ricochet
The Ricochets are gravity fed loader like the Rev. There are two versions, the AK and 2K, with the 2K being the higher end model. The 2K has an LCD screen on it that has a ball counter [that can be pretty inaccurate at times] and a game timer, while the AK has a window used to see how much paint is still in the hopper. Both Ricos are the same outside of that, however. They work using basically the same type of system as the Rev, using paddles to stir the balls. However, unlike the Revvy, the Rico spins on every shot. It has a small switch that gets tripped each time a ball goes past it, meaning on every shot. This leads to greater consistency than the Revolution. Also, the shells on the Rico are engineered to deflect hopper hits, meaning less outs. That's always a good thing. Another design feature of note is that there are O-rings on the feed neck, meaning a very snug fit in the gun, meaning the hopper won't fall out, spilling all your paint. The Ricos are available in a bunch of colors. Customer support is supposed to be great, as is the quality of the product. People who have broken the shells on their Ricos have been able to call up and get new shells from the manufacturer, free of charge.
Reloader
The Empire Reloader looks nearly exactly the same as the Rev, as it uses nearly identical shells (the only difference is they say Empire instead of Viewloader). The Reloader is also a gravity fed loader, like the Rev and Rico. It has audio sensors (read: a microphone), that detect the sound of a paintball marker firing, causing the hopper to stir the paint inside of it. Like the Ricochet, it spins on every shot, making it more consistent. The plastic that the Reloader shells are made of is of higher quality than the Revvy shells, meaning there's less of a chance of breaking it. Another nice feature is auto-off; after 30 minutes of inactivity, the Reloader will turn itself off. The Reloader is available in black, clear, or smoke.
Halo B
Odyssey's Halo B is the fastest loader on the market today. It can feed at speeds of 22 bps, and Odyssey's website claims 50 bps in bursts. The Halo B is a belt driven force feed loader, that loads in another ball after every shot. It's got an optical sensor that sees if a ball passes by, meaning a shot was fired. Of note is that dark colored paint is supposed to give really bad results with the Halo-B. The Halo's 6 AA batteries are in front of the feedneck, moving weight distrobution to the front of the hopper, making the marker a bit more front heavy. The Halo B, like the Evolution II, has a thick feedneck that needs sanding, for the same reason as the Eggy. The chip inside the Halo can be programmed for more or less force, and motor activity duration. Also of note, the Halo can be sent in and have its software upgraded. As was mentioned before, force fed loader like the Halo B will be more consistent when tiled. The Halo shells are very durable, and come in a bunch of colors.
Halo TSA
The Halo TSA (Tilt Sound Activated) is Odyssey's take on a gravity fed loader, with a bunch of bells and whistles. It's sound activated, like the Reloader, and spins on each shot. One of it's main features is that it has a tilt sensor, and depending on if you tilt left or right, the motor spins to the right or left, which makes feeding a bit more consistent when the hopper isn't straight up and down. The TSA's can be had in either LCD or LED fashions, with the LCD packing a shot counter and a timer. The LCD can also be programmed to have different motor durations, sensitivity levels, different auto-off settings, along with motor speed levels (there's 3). The Halo TSA comes in two flavors, aside from the LCD and LED; the Backman and Frontman, which only differ in shot capacity. The Backman holds 220 paintballs, while the Frontman holds 180. The Halo TSA comes in black or clear, and sports the same quality shells as the Halo B.