In this article, I hope to review the Valken Gotcha.
Strengths of the Valken Gotcha
The Positive Aspects of the Valken Gotcha:
- Very Safe the Valken gotcha won’t cause any bruising or any paintball related injuries they are designed to be kids friendly
- Easy to clean Just put them under running water and then put them in the sun to dry. No electronic parts to damage.
- Easy to use simple design just load paintballs into the hopper then pump, aim and then fire.
- Doesn’t need batteries or compressed air. Most Paintball Guns need a source of Liquid CO2 or Compressed Air to work. The Valken Gotcha is purely Spring Powered.
- Light and easy to wield. Since the gun is made mostly of plastic, it is very light and easy to move around with.
- Affordable the Valken Gotcha is very budget-friendly roughly half the cost of a regular paintball gun. Click to see the current price of the Valken Gotcha on Amazon.
Drawbacks of the Valken Gotcha
Some Negative Aspects of the Valken Gotcha:
- Not Very Powerful In comparison to standard compressed air Paintball guns the Valken Gotcha is very meek. It would only shoot roughly 100-120 feet with an accuracy of 70-80 feet.
This lack of power was intentionally designed drawback from the Valken Company. The Valken Gotcha should be more akin to toys for kids than sports gear.
If you are looking for a more powerful Paintball Gun you can check out my article on the Best Paintball Gun for teens.
- Made partly of plastic so it won’t be the toughest Paintball gun.
- It Would last roughly a year and a half, depending on usage.
This is because the spring in the Valken Gotcha like all Spring powered paintball guns will get worn out with usage.
Spring Powered Paintball Guns
These Guns are powered by a Spring or mechanical action.
The Valken Gotcha is one of the latest types of Spring Powered Paintball Guns.
They are designed to be less powerful and very easy to use, making them ideal for kids ages 9 and up.
The Valken Gotchas are manufactured by the Valken Company, they are currently based in New Jersey.
Like all paintball companies that are based in and operate in the USA, all the Valken Products are heavily regulated and vetted by the Company and the Federal Government to ensure all their products are safe to use.
How Does the Valken Gotcha Works?
They work by mechanically pulling back on an internal spring, this is done by the pumping action of the gun.
This Pumping action adds energy to spring and also loads a paintball from the hopper into a barrel chamber and then by pulling the trigger the spring is released with the energy to launch the Paintball.
How to Load and Operate the Valken Gotcha?
The Valken Gotcha needs little or almost, in my opinion, no assembly it can be used right out of the box, once you have a hopper and paintballs
The first thing you need to know is that you are gonna need to buy a hopper which is a container that holds the paintballs on top of the paintball gun.
Currently, the hopper comes separately from the Paintball Gun, which I hope the company changes soon and start to sell it as a package with the hopper and gun.
Now once you have the hopper you can now attach it the top of the paintball gun using the hopper adapter that comes with the Valken gun. To do this all you need is to screw it on.
After you have attached the hopper ensures the safety on the side of the gun is turned off, now you can proceed to add the paintballs to the hopper. The hopper can hold 120 paintballs.
After the paintballs are in the hopper turn off the safety, pump the forend of the Valken Gun now aim and pull the trigger to fire.
Things you will need to Buy with the Valken Gotchas
- Hopper this is the Container that is on top of the gun, this holds the paintballs before it is fired. The Valken Gotcha’s Hopper can hold 120 paintballs.
The Valken Gotcha needs to have a hopper to work. Click to see the current price on Amazon for a Hopper.
- Paintballs the Valken Gotcha uses a .50 cal paintball round which is a smaller and safer paintball round than the standard .68 cal.
This is because the smaller the paintball round the less impact the Paintballs will have making it safer for kids.
You can check my recommended Nontoxic and easy to wash .50 cal Paintballs to go with the Valken Gotchas.
- Paintball Masks A mask is needed to protect our eyes. All Paintball fields mandate that mask be worn whilst playing paintball. I advocate that you stick with this rule.
You can check my article Best Paintball Mask for kids you can skip to the end part where I recommend a very Budget friendly Paintball mask.
Always wear a Paintball Mask or at least a goggles when playing with the Valken Gotcha or any other paintball gun.
Comparison of the JT Splatamaster and the Valken Gotcha
Similarities
- both are Spring Powered Paintball guns,
- both are designed to be perfectly safe for kids,
- I can and do recommend them to any parent interested in paintball for their kids.
Differences
- Valken Gotcha has more range and accuracy over the Splatmaster.
The Valken Gotchas are designed with a Hop-up System this helps to add a spin to their paintball this added spin causes the paintballs to go faster and further than paintballs fired from the Splatmaster. The Spin also helps with accuracy.
In my estimate, The Valken Gotcha has a range roughly 100-120 feet with an accuracy of 70-80 feet whilst the Splatmaster Shotgun has a range of 90 to 100 feet per second with an accuracy of 45 to 50 feet.
- Valken Gotcha can hold more Paintball rounds than The JT Splatmaster.
JT Shotgun can hold can hold fifteen (15) rounds of paintball ammo at a time whilst the Valken Gotcha can hold 120 rounds of paintball rounds at a time.
- JT Splatmaster Paintball Guns are a bit Cheaper than the Valken Gotchas.
The actual price of both guns is roughly the same, the only difference is that you have to buy the Hopper for the Valken Gotcha which is only a couple more dollars.
- Valken Gotcha seems to be of superior design with a metal barrel and stronger spring than the all-plastic body of the Splatmasters.
Which is better the JT Splatmaster or the Valken Gotcha?
After using both and comparing them I would have to say the Valken Gotcha edges out the JT Splatmasters.
The Valken Gotcha is a newer and more improved design, they copied and improved from the much older Splatmaster.
So if you asked me as of writing this article what Spring Powered Paintball Gun you should get for your kids I would say the Valken Gotcha.
Though the Splatmasters are more widespread I think if you give the Valkens more time, their superior design should win the day eventually.
What Age is Appropriate for the Valken Gotcha?
I would recommend that the Valken Gotcha be used by kids Ages 9 and up.
How Does Getting hit by a Valken Gotcha Feels like?
Getting hit by a Valken Gotcha feels kinda like getting hit by a Snowball with a sting.
It is almost impossible to cause any bruises.
Do Kids need Supervision when playing with the Valken Gotcha?
All honesty here I don’t supervise my kids when they are playing paintball, my kids have been playing paintball for quite some time now and I haven’t had any major trouble
I think the answer to this question depends on how responsible your kids are if you can trust your kids not to go shooting paintballs at the neighbor’s house then they should be fine.
What I advocate doing is laying down some basic rules and outline that they will be punished if they break these rules.
I told my sons if they didn’t follow the rules I would take away their paintball guns.
I outline some basic Paintball Rules in my article Is Paintball safe for kids?
Do Kids Need Protective Clothing when Playing with the Valken Gotcha?
No, I don’t think kids need protective clothing such as Padded shirts or Padded pants to use the Valken, my sons, don’t use any, a Paintball Mask is all you need.
Why
Most Padded clothing are used for Compressed Air Paintballs guns which are very powerful and can cause bruising so protective clothing is advised.
Though if you are interested you can check out my article on Does Paintball hurt with Armor? where I give my recommendations on Paintball Armor.
I hope this review has helped you to have a better understanding of the Valken Gotcha Paintball Gun.
