It is not the best gun out there, but in my opinion, it is the best for the money. It is very low maintenance and highly reliable and has a nice trigger. It feels great in your hands. This is a much improved gun over the previous tippmanns. This is an excellent starter/mid-level gun, however, I would recommend the custom which is the same but already comes with the necessary mods for the response trigger system if you wish to upgrade someday and does not effect on price at all. Also the stock barrel is the weakest link and would strongly urge to consider the flatline barrel or boomstick barrel as an immidiate upgrade as either of these will increase range by about 70 feet and highly increase accuracy. Talk to your local pro shop or field and they will tell you how reliable they are. Check out prices at thepaintballstore.com on gun only and package deals of the model 98. The Autococker and Automag are excellent guns, (I have a Minimag) but if you are just playing with friends on weekends and not in tournament play, you do not need to spend the extra cash.