The Angel A4, a paintball marker. There is a blue cover over the end of the barrel 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 (100 m/s). This velocity is sufficient for most paintballs to break upon impact, 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. Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 235 KB)The Angel, an electropneumatic paintball gun. ...
Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 235 KB)The Angel, an electropneumatic paintball gun. ...
Various types of equipment are used in the game of paintball. ...
Paintball is a sport whose participants use markers to shoot paintballs (roughly marble-sized, .68 caliber, gelatin capsules filled with colored polyethylene glycol) at other players. ...
Various types of equipment are used in the game of paintball. ...
Carbon dioxide is an atmospheric gas comprised of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. ...
High Pressure Air systems are used in paintball for powering the propulsion of paintballs. ...
A marker consists of four main components. These are:
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 purposefully 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 term started with speedball paintball in an effort to make it sound more like a game, and to separate paintball equipment from guns intended to injure or kill. Some hardcore woodsballers, however, scoff at the term "marker". Also Paintball Markers were originally used by tree surgeons to mark trees which they were going to cut down. The Angel A4, a paintball marker. ...
The Angel A4, a paintball marker. ...
The Angel A4, a paintball marker. ...
Paintball is a sport whose participants use markers to shoot paintballs (roughly marble-sized, .68 caliber, gelatin capsules filled with colored polyethylene glycol) at other players. ...
Paintball is a sport whose participants use markers to shoot paintballs (roughly marble-sized, .68 caliber, gelatin capsules filled with colored polyethylene glycol) at other players. ...
Body
Internals There are four major types of paintball marker firing systems.
Electro-pneumatic An electro-pneumatic firing system is controlled electronically. This allows the user marker to fire with very little effort, allowing for "mouse click" triggers. It also enables markers to have multiple firing modes, such as three-shot bursts, six-shot bursts or even fully automatic. However, virtually all tournaments and paintball fields only allow semiautomatic mode (one trigger pull, one shot). Because of this, some high-end markers ship with a control board only allowing semiautomatic, and for fully auto modes the board will need to be replaced. Others rely on LCD screens to indicate that a mode besides semiautomatic has been selected. Many newer electro-pneumatic markers incorporate anti-chop systems (ACS) which use springs to detect whether or not a paintball is in the breech when the trigger is pulled, in order to prevent ball chopping. The Angel A4, a modern electropneumatic paintball gun An electropneumatic paintball gun is any of a class of markers that utilizes a pneumatic solenoid to actuate the hammers movement. ...
Two digital voltmeters The field of electronics is the study and use of systems that operate by controlling the flow of electrons or other electrically charged particles in devices such as thermionic valves and semiconductors. ...
Reflective twisted nematic liquid crystal display. ...
Mechanical In these firing systems, the action is controlled solely through mechanical means. Many mechanical markers have a hammer which, when cocked, is held back by a catch connected to the trigger (trigger sear). These markers also have a spring whose purpose is to push the hammer forward. When the trigger is pulled, the catch is released and the hammer is allowed to slam into the valve. This diverts the flow of air from a tank, through the bolt and into the paintball, propelling it out the barrel. Excess air not used to propel the ball is then used to recock the hammer. This type of marker is called a blow-back design and is the most common approach used. Common examples of blow-back markers are the Kingman Spyder and Tippmann lines. The word mechanical can mean one of several things: A device or principle described as mechanical relates to a mechanism or machine, or the realm of Newtonian mechanics. ...
In a firearm, the sear is the component of the trigger group which resists pressure on the trigger. ...
Pump Pulling the trigger in these markers releases a blast of gas, propelling the paintball through its barrel. It is the player's responsibility, however, to pump the gun. This resets the hammer and allows a paintball to drop into the breach.
Electro-mechanical guns In these markers, a hybrid approach is used – the mechanical firing of the marker is driven by an electric coil. This allows for the short, light trigger associated with electronic markers on an otherwise mechanical marker. Common examples of this are Kingman markers with ESP triggers and the E-Mag by Airgun Designs.
Bolt Position While Firing
Open bolt "Open bolt" means the bolt is back when the marker is cocked, leaving the chamber open normally. The bolt is the internal part of the marker that the High Pressured Air, CO2 or N2 travels through to propel the ball.
The blow-back mechanism is the most common open bolt mechanism. On these blow-back markers, when the trigger is pulled the sear drops and allows the bolt/hammer assembly to move forward. At the bottom of the bolt is a hole allowing air to travel through it, so when the bolt is released the hammer spring will drive it and the hammer forward until the hammer strikes the valve. At this point a burst of gas is released upward from the valve through the hole in the bolt, firing the paintball. At the same time, the valve will also release a burst of gas backward into the hammer blowing it back and re-cocking the marker (hence the name blow-back). The majority of markers, high-end or low-end, work on this principle. The canonical example is Kingman Spyders. The Angel uses nearly this mechanism as well, replacing the hammer spring with an electronically controlled pneumatic ram. The Angel Electropneumatic paintball gun series is made by WDP. The Angel, along with Smart Parts Shocker, defined the high end of the sport when the debuted in the mid-1990s, with balls-per-second well into the double digits. ...
The other form of open bolt marker is the blow-forward, the most common example of which is Airgun Designs Automag.
Closed bolt Pumps and Autocockers are closed bolt markers. On these markers the bolt is forward, or closed, when cocked. Once a shot is fired the bolt moves back, allowing another ball to drop in the chamber, and then moves back to its closed position. In a pump marker this recocking process is done by hand. An autococker is very similar to a pump, but the autococker uses parts called the 3-way, the ram, and the LPR (low pressure regulator) to cock itself. This system is believed by some to improve the accuracy of each shot because the bolt does not move when the air is released. There have been numerous tests on the subject, but the most scientific ones that use machines to fire rounds instead of humans have shown that there is negligible, if any, improvement in the accuracy and consistency of shots. The Autococker is a closed-bolt semiautomatic paintball marker that is particularly notable for its popularity and customizability. ...
Hopper Hoppers, also known as loaders, hold paintballs for the marker to fire. There are many different variations, but the primary feed methods are gravity, agitating, and force-feed. While agitating and force-feed hoppers result in a higher possible rate of fire, they may fail. The most common causes of malfunction are dead batteries and contact with moisture. Four double-A batteries In science and technology, a battery is a device that stores energy and makes it available in an electrical form. ...
Gravity Gravity loaders are a simple plastic container with a hole at the bottom. The paint is simply pulled down by gravity. These loaders are especially popular with the Tippmann 98 and other less expensive mechanical markers.
Agitating Agitating hoppers use a propeller to encourage, or agitate the paintballs into loading. This helps increase the rate of fire.
The A-5, manufactured by Tippman uses an agitation device built into the marker itself. This agitator called the cyclone feed system is not electronic and runs purely on the same air that propels the paintball. Each time a shot is fired, the cyclone feed system rotates once allowing a paintball to drop into the spot where the last paintball fired was. This new advanced system will feed as fast as the player can shoot therefore eliminating chopped paintballs due to the hopper not being able to keep up. The Nanchang Q-5 (NATO reporting name Fantan), also known as the A-5 in its export versions, is a Chinese-built jet fighter bomber based on the Soviet MiG-19. ...
Force-feed Force-feed hoppers can use a propeller, spring, or belt loaded system to force balls at an accelerated rate into a marker. The most popular force-fed hoppers are the Odyssey HALO and Viewloader EVLution II. Force-fed loaders are used when a high rate-of-fire is required, such as in competition. This type of loader is used by all professional teams and can reach speeds over 20 balls-per-second.
Some also include other features, which may include information about how many balls are remaining in your hopper, or how many balls per second you can shoot. There are also clips similar to ones used on guns; these are more expensive, gun specific, and may hold fewer balls.
Another type of force-feed hopper is called the q-loader. This 'clip style' loader can hold up to one hundred rounds at a time and can unload them very quickly, allowing thirty-five balls per second. As a forced hopper, it allows the player to shoot with the marker upside down, sideways or from any other position. Unlike many other clip-based hoppers, it is not marker-specific.
Tank The tank holds a compressed gas used to accelerate the paintballs and, in the case of most semi-automatic markers, cock the marker. The tank is usually filled with liquid CO2 or compressed Air. Carbon dioxide is an atmospheric gas comprised of one carbon and two oxygen atoms. ...
High Pressure Air systems are used in paintball for powering the propulsion of paintballs. ...
A CO2 tank stores the gas in the tank as a liquid and when it is released 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 makes the boiling process slow down and increases the chance for liquid CO2 to get inside the marker and damage some part of it. CO2 tanks are measured in terms of the amount of liquid it can store (in Ounces). High Pressure Air (HPA) is stored in the tank as a gas, so the problems of CO2 needing to boil are not an issue. HPA uses a regulator to control the pressure that is released resulting in a consistent velocity. HPA tanks have two measurements: PSI and In3. Pounds-force per square inch (lbf/in²) is a non-SI unit of pressure. ...
A cubic inch is the volume of a cube which is one inch long on each edge. ...
Stock Class paintball markers must be fed using 12g CO2 cartridges.
Barrels
Specifications
Length Generally barrels are twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, or twenty inches. Some people have had custom barrels made which may reach up to forty-eight inches. There is no accuracy nor efficiency benefit for barrels beyond eleven inches long; however, longer barrels generally make less noise than shorter barrels by allowing excess gas to escape more slowly. Longer barrels cause players to "sight in" faster than they would with shorter barrels and thus give the perception that longer barrels are more accurate. Barrel lengths that exceed sixteen inches have no further reduction in sound nor any gain in accuracy. Barrels longer than this also require more propellant to keep the paintball at speed while traveling the length of the barrel after the initial acceleration, and can produce a noticeable decrease in gas efficiency.
Porting Most barrels are ported (or vented), which means that holes are drilled into the front of the barrel allowing the propellant to dissipate, decreasing the 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 excess porting can vastly decrease a marker's gas efficiency since the porting will allow the propellant to escape easily, and thus porting in a barrel reduces its effective length to the section without ports. For example, if a 16 inch barrel has porting that starts 6 inches past the threads then it has an effective barrel length of 6 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 necessitates releasing a larger burst of gas, decreasing efficiency.
Threading Most modern paintball markers have barrels that screw into the front receiver. Barrel threading must be matched to that of the marker. Common threads are Angel, Autococker, Impulse/Ion, Shocker, Spyder, and Tippman.
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. Paint to barrel matching is especially important in certain closed-bolt markers, especially autocockers, because small paint in a large barrel can roll out the front of barrel. For the geometric term, see diameter. ...
Construction Barrels are manufactured in three types: one piece, two piece, and three piece. The type of barrel is usually irrelevant because the quality of the barrel has a much greater impact on accuracy.
One piece One piece barrels are machined from a single piece of material, usually aluminum. The standard paintball size is .68 caliber and these barrels are honed to have an inner diameter anywhere from .68 caliber to .69 caliber. Most one piece barrels have a stepped bore after 8 inches that increases to around .70 caliber. The word calibre (British English) or caliber (American English) designates the interior diameter of a tube or the exterior diameter of a wire or rod, also common for handguns. ...
Two piece Two piece barrels, made from two pieces of machined material, 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. These barrels are machined with varying dimensions to better match the size of the barrel to the size of the paint being put through it. The front is usually has 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 rear 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, .684, and so on up to .696 caliber.
Other The Flatline barrel, manufactured by Tippmann Sports 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. 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. Tippmann Sports is primarily a manufacturer of paintball markers and accessories. ...
Lift consists of the sum of all the fluid dynamic forces on a body perpendicular to the direction of the external flow around that body. ...
Todays average recreational paintball game has been reduced to some variation of either elimination or capture the flag. ...
The Apex barrel, manufactured by Ben Tippmann Paintball Design also imparts spin to the ball. Unlike the flatline barrel, however, the Apex can impart spin at any degree and at several magnitudes. It's possible to 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 Early paintball markers were pump action. After each shot, the bolt must be manually pulled back, allowing a paintball to fall in front of it, and then manually pushed forward, bringing the paintball into the firing position. This manual action is both slower and less accurate than other modes of fire, but many paintball purists still regard pump-action markers as the only appropriate markers for paintball play.
Semi-Auto Semi-auto markers use a variety of designs so that the bolt moves, and loads a new paintball into the chamber, automatically with each trigger pull. This frees the player from manually pumping the marker, increasing both rate of fire and accuracy.
Full-Auto The Tippmann SMG 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 90'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 90'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). Ramping refers to any electronic firing mode, other than full auto, where more than one shot is fired per pull of the trigger.
While against competition rules, 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 12 gram powerlets, which limits the amount of shots to 15-30 depending on the efficiency of the marker. The paintball may only hold 10 paintballs in it, allowing the marker to hold a maximum of 11 paint balls at a time. The marker may not have porting on the barrel (porting is putting holes in the end of the barrel for decreasing the sound of firing).
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 15 paintballs, and allow porting on the barrel since porting was found to have a positive effect on the accuracy of the paintball. 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 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, 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. | 
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