Paintball is a sport that has grown - and is growing - significantly since it's humble beginnings in the seventies. Paintball markers (or guns) originated from gas-powered guns that the forestry industry used to mark trees and trails, or farmers used to mark cattle. These markers were redesigned for speed and safety, and began to be used for recreation.
Since then, it has developed into a highly competitive, professional sport that takes place outside, inside or in many other forms. According to insurance statistics, paintball is surprisingly one of the safest sports to choose from. In this article, we're going to be taking a brief look at paintball guns - their types, advantages, and where paintball guns are going technologically wise.
Paintball guns (known as 'markers' in many circles, but in this article we will refer to them as 'guns') began with the conventional pump action gun. These needed to be manually cocked, and provided a significantly slow game. Because rate-of-fire (speed and amount of paintballs released) became (and still is) important, and the need to progress into a faster game arose, paintball guns evolved from the pump action to auto-cocker guns, capable of delivering more paintballs at a greater speed.
Since then, the guns have evolved into automatic and semi-automatic categories, as well as Sniper rifles and electronic guns. The barrel of the guns have been significantly elongated, to allow for more accurate shooting. They also come in many different colors - either camouflage (for the purist) or various other colors.
Many paintball gun manufacturers have begun to manufacture military replica's - which is ideal for the real combat enthusiast. The gun's accuracy, weight, speed, rate of fire and gas usage are all necessary pointers to look at when purchasing a gun, and mostly depend on the kind of game you prefer, but these essentials are important in all kinds of paintball guns.
Semi-Automatic and Automatic paintball guns have highly sensitive triggers, and are mostly recommended for the more serious player. The speed of an automatic paintball gun is incredibly fast, and some are capable of releasing 20 balls a second. If you're just starting out, a cheaper gun with the capability for upgrades and cosmetic add-ons is the best choice.
Many of the paintball guns are capable of being upgraded - adding a double trigger, or a bigger 'hopper' (where the paintballs are loaded) or better gas-usage. You can also add some aiming cosmetics - a laser, or just better gun sights, to add to the accuracy of the gun. This is an inexpensive way of improving your gun while you improve, and discovering your game and the way in which you play best.
Paintball guns have begun to move into the electronic era now, with hair triggers, more accurate velocities, programmable firing modes and low gas pressure. Some guns even have LCD panels. These guns are for the serious, professional competitor. They are very expensive, but the advantages these guns bring to your game are exemplary. There are manufacturers which claim that their electronic guns are capable of releasing 30 balls a second - an unbeaten statistic.
When you play paintball you need something reliable, durable, and capable. From semi-automatic, to automatic, to electronic, you have a great choice of paintball guns to suit your level of play.
The rate of acceleration that a person's paintball travels is a very critical factor for this type of sport, as the slower moving paintballs can be dodged more easily by your opponents. There are basically two types of propellant tanks that are used; High Pressure Air / Carbon Dioxide or Nitrogen.
Type 1 - Carbon Dioxide Paintball Tanks
Carbon dioxide tanks utilize what is known as a liquid CO2 which then expands itself into a gas which then takes the paintball and propels it out the barrel. One of the side effects of using a carbon dioxide tank for extended periods of time is that crystals of ice can form on the tank itself. The primary cause of this is because the liquid CO2 expansion turning from a liquid to a gas requires heat energy, eventually this can result in the counter effect of the propellant tank becoming very cold. Combine this with long periods of use and you get the creation of ice.
When these carbon dioxide paintball tanks are used in a rapid fashion they can become unreliable for both distance and accuracy. This is mainly because the carbon dioxide requires time to expand out to a form that is gaseous and when your trigger pulls are too rapid the inner pressure might not form fully.
Tanks such as these can also have the tendency to leak because of erosion of the seals and o-rings, yet with some maintenance and care this typically can be prevented. Carbon dioxide paintball tanks should not be directly left in the rays of the sun for too long as there is some risk of the internal gas expanding to a level that would be unsafe.
Type 2 - High Pressure Air and Nitrogen Paintball Tanks
Nitrogen tanks and high pressure air function in a different manner compared to carbon dioxide tanks since they don't have to expand a liquid into a gas to result in the propellant effect; this is because the material is already formed in a gaseous state. Because of this process it augments both of the distance and accuracy over carbon dioxide paintball tank. These type of tanks will have a tendency to grow colder when used, nevertheless the overall effect is much less compared to carbon dioxide tanks.
Even though they are generally preferred over carbon dioxide paintball tanks, the nitrogen and high pressure types of air tanks do have some disadvantages. The weight of nitrogen and high pressure tanks are higher and they are also larger compared to CO2 tanks, since the propellant is already in a form that is gaseous. There are smaller tanks that are produced but will typically not have enough gas to last out a long game. Nitrogen and high pressure paintball tank also are more expensive to buy, yet refilling them is much less costly then having to refill tanks
Both Alex Olson & Corbin Newlyn are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Alex Olson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Entertainment Guide, Massage and Fishing. Alex Olson is an experienced writer who wrote a number of articles about sport, its equipment, supplies, etc. She pays much attention to paintball and