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It’s Fun, but Not Cheap

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Those thinking of spending their weekends playing paintball might want to check their bank accounts first.

A one-day trip to Ralph Covell’s paint ranch in Azusa costs $50 per person, $25 for use of the okace and $25 to rent the special air-powered pump rifle, goggles and enough paint to mess up a lot of people.

The serious paintballer could spend serious money, $400 to $500, for a full complement of gear, said John Robinson, manager of Skirmish Inc., a paintball equipment outlet in Reseda. That cost will buy an air-powered pump rifle, goggles and paint.

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Paint ammunition is $5 for 100 rounds or $85 for a cache of 2,500 rounds of plastic pellets. Carbon dioxide canisters, which give the rifles their power, can cost from $40 to $60.

“It’s about a nickel every time you pull the trigger,” said Eduardo Monge, 42, of Whittier.

Rifles range from $100 for a simple-pump version to $1,000 for a specially fitted and painted semiautomatic.

Mike Campbell of Monrovia has been playing paintball for nearly eight years and has spent between $5,000 and $6,000 for rifles and other equipment over that time, he said. “It all boils down to your preference,” he said.

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