There are two basic types of magazine available for paintball guns, and it's important to understand the differences between them. Mock magazines are more common, are available for most popular markers, and are mostly aesthetic. Functional mags can be loaded with paintballs like rounds in a conventional firearm.
Continued below.
The first type is the mock magazine. Mock mags (sometimes referred to as clips) are decorative, and will not allow the marker to load paintballs from the magazine. Some of these are designed to function as a foreword grip. Some are even built to provide a small amount of storage for allen wrenches and the like. The primary function of a mock magazine is to make your marker more closely simulate a military weapon.
Certain paintball guns can load rounds from a magazine. For these, extra magazines will allow you to quickly reload your marker, or replace a broken mag. Most magazine-fed markers are capable of shooting <a href="/Tiberius-First-Strike-Paintballs-0Y.aspx">First Strike</a> paintballs. Some guns can be changed to mag-fed with a conversion kit.
Some mag-fed markers allow for quickly switching between a hopper filled with regular paintballs and a clip filled with First Strikes. That means you can play the more typical style of paintball, while still being able to switch over to First Strikes for a shot that's both more accurate and will fly farther.
Mag-fed woodsball games are almost a sport unto themselves, and harken back to the early days of pump-only paintball. Most magazines hold between 10 and 20 paintballs, so you can't just pray and spray. It means even a decision to suppress an opponent with fire has to be undertaken strategically. Magazine-only paintball games enforce this more cerebral style of paintball, which means you aren't so much seeing who bought the best gear, but who's the better draw, with the better head on their shoulders, or, more succinctly, you play against the person, not their gear.
Ready to take the plunge with a magazine-fed paintball gun? Check out all our Mag Fed Paintball Markers.