The Bunkerkings CTRL Paintball Loader

 The Bunkerkings CTRL loader is confusing to some, and the answer for others. Boasting a lower profile and technology to help improve off the break shooting, the CTRL loader aims to be a top-of-the-line loader in the paintball industry.

     Having a loader on top of your paintball marker is nearly unavoidable, unless you use a Tippmann Stormer or other mag-fed paintball gun. For the rest of us using traditional hoppers that sit atop our markers, there’s a few criteria we like to have met. We want it to feed fast, not jam, have a means of fixing jams easily when they inevitably happen, be lightweight and finally, keep a low profile. All while holding around 200 paintballs, as has become somewhat standard for paintball hoppers.

     Bunkerkings put forth a concerted effort at making a light hopper with a low profile, and users truly do feel they see the benefits. The typical player found using the Bunkerkings CTRL is a front player looking to keep as small of a profile as possible. Some could argue that since the Bunkerkings CTRL is minimally shorter than its competitors isn’t worth sacrificing the space of 20-40 balls in your hopper. The counter argument, however, is that paintball is a game of inches, which is entirely true.

     In addition to its smaller profile, the Bunkerkings CTRL is made of a lighter plastic to keep your gun setup as easy as possible to maneuver. Again, this is of added importance for players in aggressive attacking positions, as the difference to winning a point can sometimes mean snapping back into a bunker faster than an opponent. Some have pointed out that the plastic top shell of the CTRL loader is “flimsy” due to it being thinner and more flexible, but as of yet we haven’t seen issues with the hopper breaking or seeing performance issues with regard to construction. The Bunkerkings CTRL functions on either three double-A batteries or is also compatible with the Virtue Paintball N charge battery system. One noticeable feature Bunkerkings paintball added to the Bunkerkings CTRL to reduce weight and increase feeding rate was removing half of the plastic from the drive cone of the hopper. It should be noted that this drive cone will fit into your Virtue Spire IV or Spire 3 perfectly fine!

     While making the Bunkerkings CTRL smaller and lighter than its close relative the Virtue Spire 4 is a far cry from calling it a different platform altogether, the angle indicator certainly helps distinguish the two products more definitively. The angle indicator of the Bunkerkings CTRL flashes a green light when the hopper is at the “ideal” angle to shoot a lane. The hopper comes pre-set to hit lanes from the back center but players can easily set a new angle of their choosing for training purposes or different layouts provided by different leagues such as the National Xball League (NXL), the Mid South Xball League (MSXL) and the West Coast Paintball Players League (WCPPL), to name a few.

     The Spire platform has a reputation for feeding consistently without jamming, but also for lacking speed. Bunkerkings wanted to address this and came out with enhanced proactive feeding logic for the CTRL loader. An easy way to see the change is to turn on a Spire 3 and a CTRL next to each other and let them spin at idle. The CTRL will be noticeably faster and ready to compete with the Dye LTR hopper and other fast competitors. We address the speed changes in the Spire platform in our latest YouTube video!

     The Bunkerkings CTRL hopper is a great addition to the Spire family and will make a great addition to your arsenal. It comes in an array of color choices you can find at Punishers Paintball, along with speed feeds and hopper cases galore. It should be noted that the Bunkerkings CTRL does NOT come with the feeding ramps like the Spire 4 does, but can be purchased separately! Pick a Bunkerkings CTRL up today and let us know what you think about it by finding us on Instagram!

***Based out of Mansfield, Ohio, Punishers Paintball is dedicated to delivering premium products and even higher quality customer service, every time. Growing paintball is our mission and we take pride as ambassadors to the sport.***