Written by Paintball enthusiasts will tell you the sport is all about combat strategy, teamwork and survival instincts. Let’s get real: it’s all about the paintball guns! Like most sports, paintball had humble beginnings. It was really an excuse for a couple of grown-ups to play war without actually killing each other. That first band of merry painterballers adapted the child’s game of capture the flag by adding the element of scoring “kills” with a paintball. Lucky for them, a rudimentary version of a paintball gun was already in use. A pistol form of a paintball gun was commonly used by farmers for marking their cows. Forrest rangers also used the paintball markers to designate certain trees in need of attention. This was a lot easier than carrying around a can of paint and brush. Some people still like to call their weapon a paintball marker, but they’re not really kidding anyone. You can’t play paintball without paintball guns.
Unlike normal guns which use gunpowder to propel a projectile (bullet), a paintball gun utilizes a form of expandable gas. The most common forms of the gas are compressed air or carbon dioxide. These blasts of gas allow for a very impressive muzzle speed. Think 300 feet per second. That translates into 200 miles per hour of power. This is the basic reason why protective gear quickly became common among those early players. In the early days of paintball, there was plenty of readily available protection that can be adapted from football and hockey uniforms. Today, there is an entire industry dedicated to the design and manufacture of paintball gear and equipment.
If you get smacked dead on by a paintball pellet without protection, it’s going to hurt. The intensity of the hit depends on the angle and distance of the shot coming your way. Paintball guns consist of four basic mechanisms:
The body: This is the essential frame of the gun that gives it a distinct look.
The hopper: This is the ammo containment unit. The hopper is often sold separately from the gun itself because there are some many variations on the ammo feed.
The gas system: This could be an air tank plugged into the body of the gun or the hopper. Again this item is often not included because of the needs of the individual shooter.
The barrel: This is the road the pellet takes to its target. Different barrels are used for distance or accuracy.
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