The term I'm going use here is Effective Range. Effective range would be the range that you can shoot and accomplish a goal. One could argue that the only goal in shooting a paintball gun is to eliminate a player on the opposite team but making them move or retreat might also be a goal that can be effective in an overall strategy. At longer ranges you might not have pin point accuracy. And, you might not be able to get a ball to break on a player at a long distance. But if you're able to put enough paint in a fairly concentrated area then that can cause the opposition to at least worry about getting hit and retreat to safety. Normal range in normal paintball play (no range extending barrels and not having to tilt your barrel up considerably for range) is 0 to 40 yards. This is where almost all of your fire fights and eliminations are going to happen. Anything over that is just "longballing' and you're hoping to get lucky. Being able to shoot up to this 40 yard mark is easy. Any one and any paintball gun can do it. All paintball guns have the same range. The difference is being able to shoot accurately at range. If we're standing 40 yards apart and you have a stock barrel with dirt in it and poor quality paint, and I have high quality paint with the size matched to my upgraded barrel bore that is perfectly clean . . . I'll be able to shoot you 9 times out of 10 (for arguments sake) and you'll be able to shoot me 1 in 100 if you're lucky. And lucky is exactly what it would be because you don't have any control at that range with that equipment. So I have more effective range than you. Notice thought that I didn't mention the gun in the factors that affected the Effective Range. Because the gun matters VERY LITTLE. All the paintball gun does is blindly push the paintball forward between 250 and 300 fps. The type of paint, barrel, and the match between the two are what determines how accurately the ball flies. Just to be clear. Effective range depends on the barrel and the paint, not the gun. Of course this is watered down a bit. There are differences in the guns that can make a difference in accuracy, trajectory, ball deformation, gentleness on the ball, etc. But these differences are minor in comparison to the paint and the barrel. Effective range could be broken down in to 50% paint, 40% barrel, and only 10% gun. So if your gun to shoot as accurately as gun xyz then don't worry. It can be done. Get a good barrel. Get good paint. Then practice your aim. 2 liter bottles hung on strings from trees at different distances make for a cheap and easy target range.
Choosing The Right Barrel
Choosing The Right Paint
Matching Your Paint to Your Barrel
Sniper Gun = Accuracy, Sound, Manueverability, Range, Accesorization (sight / scope), Color / Camo
(effective range increased by shooting a brittle ball- more likely to break)