Smart Parts has been well known for its production of high quality paintball guns. Actually, it has been acknowledged by several paintball players as one of the top paintball marker manufacturer worldwide. The company continually lives to its reputation of producing reliable and durable paintball markers at a fairly affordable price.

The Smart Parts Ion paintball gun is one of its well known products. It is a low cost electropneumatic marker, which at the time of release is too expensive for common players. This model lets the players enjoy a high rate of fire paintball markers.

Features. The design is relatively simple but you can modify or change its body shell. This is one feature that was introduced by this model - the interchangeable body. A player has the option to choose from the 4 available colors and color combinations. These are red and black, yellow and black, blue and black and just plain black. The marker is initially made from aluminum. The interchangeable bodies are made from high quality composite material which gives the gun a plastic look. Moreover, these shells provide protection from unwanted scratches and fading.

The Ion is quite light weighing only 2 lbs and 2 oz making it easier to control. Without the barrel, it has a length of 8.5 inches. Also, it comes with a 12-inch barrel, .45 grip, a two finger trigger, vertical feed and a low pressure regulator. You can choose from one of the four firing modes to suit your game play. These are the semiautomatic and rebound mode, which give a maximum firing rate of 17 bps, and the full automatic and three shot burst with 10 bps firing rate.

For its anti-chopping feature, it is equipped with a break-beam eyes which nearly prevents chopping. Furthermore, it can perform 1000-1400 shots with a 68 cubic inch 45000 psi tank of either HPA or CO2 with an operating pressure of 140 to 200 psi.

The Smart Parts Ion uses a 9 volt battery which is almost always available in the market. The package does not have its own battery charger so you can either buy one or buy several extra batteries. With this voltage, it enables the marker to shot of about 15,000.

What makes Ion paintball gun good? First, it is easy to control and maneuver because of its light weight. It is easy to handle and control which of course can enhance your performance in the battle field. Another good thing with the Ion is its stock barrel. It can be considered as one of the best stock barrels ever released. If you are planning to upgrade your Ion, this will be the last thing you need to change. Its break-beam is also good, as well as its regulator. Customizing your trigger is one of the best features introduced by the Ion. Most paintball gun triggers needs an experienced and skilled player to adjust it. In Ion, it is just a matter or turning a few screws. A low cost gun with an outstanding performance - that what makes this marker popular and worth investing.

Disadvantages. As the first model, there are also some downsides. The on/off button is quite difficult to push that sometimes you cannot even tell whether you have it on or not. Second, using CO2 is not recommended at all as it tends to freeze the gun that can damage its internals and electronics. For this gun, it is better to use compressed air. This gun also uses the o-rings rather than the clamping feed neck to secure the hopper, which is not versatile or effective at all. This model was introduced in the market in 2005. The Ion XE was later introduced on 2007, an improved version of the Ion to give paintball players more satisfaction.