Paintball Guns
A paintball marker or paintball gun is the primary device used in the game of paintball to mark an opposing player with paint. It uses a rapidly expanding gas (usually CO2 or Air) to force a paintball through a barrel with a muzzle velocity of approximately 300 ft/s (91 m/s). This velocity is sufficient for most paintballs to break upon impact at a distance, but not fast enough to cause tissue damage beyond mild bruising. Nearly every commercial field has, and strictly enforces, a rule limiting the muzzle velocity of a paintball to 300 ft/s or less. Because being hit in an eye by a paintball can result in permanent blindness or visual impairment, it is important that players always wear proper eye and face protection when around a paintball marker and nearly every commercial paintball field has, and strictly enforces, a rule requiring certified eye and face protection while on the field.
A marker consists of four main components. These are:
* Body
* Hopper
* Tank
* Barrel
More Paintball Gun Info
The vast majority of modern paintball markers have the previous
components. There is, however, a strong following of stock-class
players who use markers with a purposely low rate of fire and ammo
capacity. Stock-class guns are usually pump-action paintball guns
powered by either 12-gram CO2 cartridges or small CO2 tanks. Also
note the trend in using the term "marker" instead of "gun": this is
to lessen the public view of paintball as a dangerous sport and
paintball markers as weapons. The term "marker" came from their
original use: marking trees and wandering cattle. Markers were
designed so that farmers and foresters could more convienently mark
trees and cattle, such as from moving vehicles and across rivers.
Hopper
Hoppers (also known as loaders) hold paintballs for the marker to
fire. There are many different variations, but the primary types are
gravity feed, agitating, and force feed.
While agitating and force feed hoppers result in a higher possible
rate of fire, they may fail due to dead batteries and contact with
moisture, which keeps many woodsball players away from them.
An exception to this is the Q-Loader which uses a helical spring
system to feed the marker.
One common problem to all hoppers is ball breaks. When a paintball
leaks its contents into the hopper from either a break in the hopper
or from a previous container, the leaked material (which is usually
water based) causes the gelatin shells of the balls to deteriorate
and sometimes stick together.
Gravity feed
The simplest and cheapest form, gravity feed hoppers consist of a
large container and a feed tube molded into the bottom. Paintballs
roll down the sloped sides into the tube.
Gravity feed hoppers are very inexpensive, since they are made of
only a shell and a lid, but can become jammed easily as paintballs
pile up above the tube. Occassionally, rocking the marker and hopper
can keep the paintballs from jamming at the feed neck.
Stick feed
Primarily used on pump- and stock-class markers, these are simple
tubes that hold 10-20 paintballs in a line.
Usually, a stick feed is parallel to the barrel and requires the
player to tip (or rock) the marker to load the next paintball. Some
stick feeds are vertical, or at an incline to facilitate gravity
feeding, but this contravenes accepted stock-class guidelines.
Agitating
Agitating hoppers use a propeller to agitate, or stir up, the
paintballs. This prevents them from jamming at the feed neck and
feeding more rapidly than equivalent gravity feeds.
Most tournament-level hoppers are of the agitating type, since the
higher rate of fire requires a more advanced and
consistently-loading hopper.
Force-feed
Force-feed hoppers can use a propeller, spring-loaded, or belt-fed
system to force balls at an accelerated rate into a marker.
Popular force-fed hoppers are the Odyssey HALO B, Viewloader
EVLution II, and the Empire Reloader B usually for tournament use,
and the Q-Loader, Warp Feed,and Tippmann Cyclone Feed usually for
woodsball and scenario players.
A few markers use force-fed loaders shaped in imitation of firearms
magazines such as the Real Action Paintball RAP-4.
Force-fed loaders are used when a high rate-of-fire or low profile
is required, such as in speedball competition or woodsball 'sniper'
positions.
This type of loader is used by many professional teams and can reach
speeds over 30 balls-per-second.
Some also include other features, which may include information
about how many balls are remaining in your hopper, how many balls
per second are being fired, and game timers.
Tank
The tank holds a compressed gas used to accelerate the paintballs
through the marker barrel. The tank is usually filled with CO2 or
compressed air. High Pressure Air (HPA) is sometimes referred to as
"nitrogen", as air is 78% nitrogen. Due to the instabilities of CO2,
most players use HPA tanks as soon as they can afford them.
CO2
A CO2 tank is pressurized at roughly 800-850 psi, and measured in
terms of the amount of liquid it can store (in Ounces). At this
pressure, CO2 tends to form a liquid. When it is released, only a
portion of the CO2 is stored as gas, and the rest must boil into a
gas before it can be used. This process leads to some commonly-known
problems such as inconsistent velocity and freezing. It especially
has problems in cold weather, which slows evaporation and increases
the chance for liquid CO2 to be drawn into the marker. Liquid CO2 is
very cold, and can damage the internals of a marker.
Anti-siphon tanks have a tube installed inside the cylinder which is
bent to prevent liquid CO2 from being drawn in. They must be screwed
in so that the tube faces upwards to function properly.
Stock-class markers use 12-gram CO2 cartridges.
High Pressure Air
High Pressure Air (HPA) is stored in the tank as a gas, bypassing
the evaporating issue. Air is stored in the tank at a very high
pressure, typically 3000-5000 psi, and output is controlled with an
attached regulator, this regulates the pressure from 450 psi to
around 800 psi depending on the type of tank. This results in a much
more consistent velocity than with CO2. HPA tanks have two
measurements: PSI and In3.
HPA tanks are more expensive, since they must be rated for a much
higher pressure, and are typically made from more expensive
materials. Tanks can be purchased that are steel or aluminum, but
the most widely used is wrapped carbon-fiber bottles, due to their
light weight.
Barrels
A barrel serves to direct the paintball and control the release of
the air pocket behind it. Several different bore sizes are
available, to best fit different sizes of paintball, and there are
many different lengths and styles.
Length
Generally, barrels are between 10 and 20 inches. Some custom barrels
exist which may reach up to 48 inches. Recent tests have suggested
that no accuracy nor efficiency benefit can be gained for barrels
beyond eight inches long, as a paintball only requires about six to
eight inches to stabilize. Longer barrels generally make less noise
than shorter barrels by allowing excess gas to escape more slowly
from porting along the sides. Longer barrels can allow players to
"sight in" faster than they would with shorter barrels and thus give
the perception that longer barrels are more accurate, however a good
set of sights is more accurate. The barrel choice commonly used by
professionals is 12-14", as it keeps the balls shooting straight,
but the marker is still light and manuverable.
Barrels longer than 18 inches require more propellant to keep the
paintball from slowing down due to friction and gas vacuum, and can
produce a noticeable decrease in gas efficiency. Barrels are
important, and one should always be used or else the paintball will
only travel about 10 feet.
Porting
Most barrels are ported (or vented), which means that holes are
drilled into the front of the barrel allowing the propellant to
dissipate slowly, decreasing the sound signature of the marker.
There has been a considerable amount of marketing hype surrounding
barrel porting, but there appears to be no basis for claims of the
benefits of porting (such as that it decreases "turbulence",
increasing accuracy), other than the decrease in sound signature.
It should be noted that excessive porting can vastly decrease a
marker's gas efficiency since the porting will allow the propellant
to escape easily, reducing the effective length of the barrel. For
example, if a 16 inch barrel has large porting that starts six
inches past the threads then it has an effective barrel length of
only six inches. At that point, the ball has to travel the other 10
inches on its own momentum. As the friction within the barrel is not
insignificant, overcoming this requires a larger burst of gas,
decreasing efficiency.
Threading
Most modern paintball markers have barrels that screw into the front
receiver, as opposed to some older types which slide a barrel on and
screw it in place. Barrel threading must be matched to that of the
marker. Common threads are Angel, Autococker, Impulse/Ion, Shocker,
Spyder, A-5, and Model 98.
Bore
The bore is the interior diameter of the barrel. Two and three-piece
barrels allow the barrel bore to be matched to the paint diameter
without entirely new barrels. Paint to barrel matching is important
in closed-bolt markers (as ball detents in such markers serve to
prevent double-feeding, not to prevent roll-outs,) such as
Autocockers, because small paint in a large barrel can roll out the
front of barrel.
Construction
Barrels are manufactured in three types: one piece, two piece, and
three piece.
One piece
One piece barrels are machined from a single piece of material,
usually aluminum. Paintballs can range from .669 to .695 caliber,
and barrels are honed to match these diameters. Many one piece
barrels have a stepped bore that increases from their rated bore
size to around .70 caliber after eight inches.
Two piece
Two piece barrels consist of a front and back. The back attaches to
the marker and is machined with a pre-specified bore between .682
and .695 caliber. The front makes up the rest of the length of the
barrel and contains the porting. Fronts usually have the same bore
as the largest back the manufacturer offers.
Three piece
Three-piece barrels, instead of having multiple backs each with a
different bore, have only a single back. A series of inserts, or
sleeves, with differing bores are inserted into the back. The front
is then screwed on to keep the sleeve in place. Sleeves are
generally offered in either aluminum or stainless steel. This type
offers the most flexibility in that the user needs only one set of
sleeves and a back for each marker they own. They can also select
front sections to make the barrel length they prefer. This type also
generally offers the widest selection of barrel diameters, usually
.680, .681, .682, .683, and so on up to .696 caliber.
Other
The Flatline barrel, manufactured by Tippmann is designed to
decrease the parabolic travel of fired paint. The barrel is curved
such that accelerating paint contacts the top of the barrel,
imparting backspin. This backspin generates lift (known as the
"Magnus Effect"), resulting in a flatter arc and longer range. This
is especially beneficial in woodsball or scenario paintball where
overhanging branches limit the range of traditional barrels. It is
available for the Tippmann Model 98 and A-5. There are conversion
kits to allow the use of the flatline barrels on some other markers,
as well.
The Apex barrel, manufactured by Ben Tippmann Paintball Design also
imparts spin to the ball. Unlike the flatline barrel, the Apex can
impart back, top, or sidespin (this allows balls to arc around some
obstacles, or have them drop over bunkers). The magnitude of spin
can also be varied, allowing for a gentle curve or a sudden hook. It
is available with threads for most markers.
Firing Modes
Pump Action
Pump action markers must be manually recocked, much like a shotgun.
This manual action is slower than other configurations, but is
preferred by many people over semi-automatic markers as a challenge
to themselves to learn how to play with less firepower.
Semi-Auto
Semi-auto markers use a variety of designs to automatically cycle a
bolt and load a new paintball into the chamber automatically, with
each trigger pull. This frees the player from manually pumping the
marker, increasing rate-of-fire.
Full-Auto
The Tippmann SMG 60 was the first fully-automatic paintball marker.
As the name indicates, the marker will continue to fire
automatically so long as the trigger is held down.
Ramping modes
Since the advent of semi-automatic markers in the early 1990's, both
insurance and competitive rules have specified that markers used in
paintball must be semi-auto only; specifically, that only one
paintball may be fired per trigger pull. While this was a perfectly
clear definition when markers were all based on mechanical/pneumatic
designs, the introduction of electronically controlled markers in
the late 1990's brought technology beyond the rule. Electronic
markers are often controlled by a programmable microcontroller, on
which any software might be installed, including software that may
add more than one shot per trigger pull in various ways. This effect
is generally referred to as "shot ramping" (as opposed to velocity
ramping): an electronic firing mode where a consistent
full-automatic rate-of-fire will be triggered as long as the player
maintains a certain, lower trigger-pulls-per-second.
Ramping can be difficult to detect, both because it may not be
consistent or easily observable by a human. Ramping modes can also
be hidden in the software, such that a marker will fire in legal
semi-auto mode when being tested, but in an illegal ramping mode by
the player. To counter the problems with enforcing semi-auto rules,
some leagues have begun allowing a specific ramping mode. The rule
specifies a minimum time between shots of 66 milliseconds (approx.
15 shots per second), and that no more than one shot may be fired
for the first three trigger pulls. The rate of fire is enforced
using a device called a PACT Timer, a standard firearms timing
device that measures the time between shots.
Stock Class
Stock Class is a set of commonly agreed upon but unofficial rules
for paintball markers:
* The marker must have a horizontal paintball feed, which means that
the marker must be tilted (rocked) forward or backward to feed the
next shot.
* The marker may not be semi-automatic, which means that it requires
pumping or cocking prior to each shot being fired (in other words
"rock and cock").
* The marker must be powered by a single 12 gram powerlet, which
limits the amount of shots to 15-30 depending on the efficiency of
the marker.
* The marker may only hold a maximum of 20 paintballs in it.
* The marker may not have porting on the barrel.
* The marker may not have sights.
Auto-trigger markers are also not acceptable (able to shoot
paintballs by holding trigger down and only actuating the pump).
This rule is often overlooked as auto-triggering is almost
impossible with a horizontal feed tube.
Very few fields or tournaments require full stock class compliance
and instead use what is commonly called "Modified Stock Class"
rules. These rules usually allow constant air (CO2 or high pressure
air) instead of 12 grams, feed tubes that hold more than 20
paintballs (horizontal or inclined) or even hoppers, and allow
porting on the barrel. The only requirement is that markers be pump
action only, and that no sights may be used. Different fields can
allow or not allow rules as they see fit.
Arguably the most popular stock class marker is the Phantom made by
CCI, and can been seen here.
Why stock class?
Stock class aims to retain the way paintball was at its birth:
before electronic markers, high rates of fire, and overshooting.
Players often play stock class for different reasons: some grew up
playing paintball this way and don't like the direction the industry
has taken the sport, some play this way to save money, and some
simply enjoy the challenge of not being able to rely on a fast
marker to get eliminations.
Fringe or Mainstream?
Stock class was the way paintball started, and as the technology
evolved, so did the players. As stock class faded from memories,
players joining the sport knew that a fast marker was the only way
to compete. But as time drew on, stock class players could be found
playing speedball against the high-end markers. This brought stock
class back into the minds of the older players and introduced it to
a new generation of players. The popularity of stock class play has
been steadily increasing for the past few years, as seen in
increased demand in sales and trades on popular forums.