A paintball marker, also known as a paintball gun, is the main piece of equipment in the sport of paintball. Markers use an expanding gas, such as carbon dioxide (Co2)or compressed air, to propel paintballs through the barrel. Some paintball players refer to the piece of equipment as a "marker" rather than "gun".[1][2] The term is derived from its original use as a means for forestry personnel and ranchers to mark trees and wandering cattle.[3]
The muzzle velocity of paintball markers is approximately 300 ft/s (91 m/s). While greater muzzle velocity is possible due to fluctuating gas pressure or through the adjustment of internal spring tension, it has been ruled unsafe for use on most commercial paintball fields.[4] When paintballs hit an object at high speed they have potential to cause damage; a paintball colliding with human skin may cause bruising or further tissue damage. However, the damage depends entirely on the paintball's velocity, its angle of attack, and which part of the body it hits. Because of the potential for soft tissue damage, players must wear masks to protect the eyes, mouth, and ears when barrel blocking devices are not in place.
Most paintball markers have four main components: the body, hopper (usually not included with a gun unless bought in a package), gas system (or air tank; this is not included unless in a package), and barrel (almost always included).
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Most of the marker's functions and aesthetic features are contained in its body, which contains the main components of the firing mechanism: the trigger frame, bolt and valve. Most paintball marker bodies are constructed from aluminium to reduce the marker's weight, and feature custom milling and color anodizing.
The largest external and ergonomic difference in marker bodies is in the trigger and barrel position. Designers of expensive models attempt to position the trigger frame forward towards the center, or slightly forward of center of the body on speedball-oriented markers. This allows the HPA tank to be mounted in a position allowing compactness and balance without requiring any additional modifications that allow the tank to fall down and forwards. Such aftermarket "drop forwards," may create a larger gun profile, which can result in eliminations due to hopper hits. Users often modify less expensive markers to allow a similar mode of operation, albeit by sacrificing a low profile. Although this is not important in games where equipment hits are not counted, in most games, including woodsball games, hopper hits are counted as an elimination. Some markers mount the barrel farther back in the gun body to preserve a compact design, sacrificing the positioning of the trigger forward on the marker body.
Triggers are the player's primary means of interacting with the marker. The amount of force required to fire the marker, as well as the distance the trigger travels before actuating, called the throw, has a marked effect upon the player's ability to achieve high rates of fire. Many markers, especially higher priced markers, use electronic trigger frames with a variety of sensing methods, including microswitches, hall effect sensors or break-beam infra-red switches. These triggers have short throws, allowing a high rate of fire. Non-electronic markers sometimes use carefully set pneumatics to achieve a light and short trigger pull.
The trigger frame on non-electronic mechanical markers simply use a series of springs and levers to drop a sear, which propels the hammer in the body forward. On electronic markers, the trigger frame houses the electronics that control the solenoid, as well as features such as ball detection systems. Upgraded circuit boards that add improved features are available.
The bolt and valve assembly is the mechanism which fires the marker. The valve is a mechanical switch that controls whether or not the marker is firing. The bolt directs the flow of air and controls the entry of paintballs into the chamber. The bolt and valve may be separate components, as in many blowback and poppet-based electropneumatic markers. Alternatively, the valve may be built into the bolt, as in spool-valve electropneumatic markers.
Most modern markers have an open bolt design. When the marker is at rest, the bolt is in the "back" position, and the firing chamber is exposed to the stack of paintballs being fed by the loader. Some markers have closed bolt designs; in the rest position, the bolt, and paintball to be fired, are forward and the feed stack is closed off from the chamber. Closed bolt markers were thought to be more accurate because there is no reciprocating mass when the marker is fired. However, tests have shown that the position of the bolt has little effect on a marker’s accuracy.[5]
The majority of mechanical markers employ a simple blowback design utilizing a poppet valve (also known as a “pin valve”), which is opened when struck by a compression force, provided in the form of a hammer propelled by a spring. This type of marker generally uses a “stacked tube” design, in which the valve and hammer is contained in the lower tube, while the bolt, which is connected to the hammer, is in the upper tube.
When the hammer is pulled backwards the internal spring compresses, exerting exponential pressure against the hammer's continued backwards motion. As the hammer and spring mechanism reaches the far end of its backwards range of travel, it is caught and locked in place by a metal catching device known as the sear. The sear holds the hammer in place, allowing the kinetic energy of the bolt's forward motion to be released whenever the sear is depressed. As the trigger is pulled, the sear becomes depressed and allows the hammer to be propelled forward by the spring. The hammer collides with the valve releasing gas from the external pressurized tank into the internal bolt chamber. The ensuing burst of gas channels out the front end of the bolt, propelling the paintball down the barrel. The rest of the gas pushes backwards on the hammer, pushing both it and the bolt backwards until the mechanism is once again caught on the sear. Once caught, the hammer is ready to repeat the blowback process. In cases where the pressure from the storage vessel drops under the minimum required to complete the action's cycle, the marker may "runaway" firing rapidly without additional trigger pulls required.
Poppet valves are easy to replace and require little maintenance. The downside to this design, however, is its high operating pressure, which leads to a larger recoil and less accuracy. Some markers have a separate firing and recocking sequence, which decreases the recoil caused by the cycling of the hammer. Markers with a hammer have a firing delay when compared to a full electropneumatic.
Some markers are a hybrid of mechanical and electronic features. In these markers, the hammer and spring continues to activate the valve, but the hammer is released by a solenoid in an electronic trigger frame.
Instead of the spring and hammer used to actuate the valve and cycle the bolt assembly in mechanical markers, electropneumatic markers use the rerouting of air to different locations in the marker. This rerouting is controlled by a solenoid that is activated by the trigger. The two types of bolt and valve mechanisms in electropneumatic markers are the poppet-valve and spool-valve.
Poppet-valve-based electropneumatic markers are very similar to mechanical blowback markers. These have a stacked-tube construction, built around a poppet valve, that is opened when struck by a force. Whereas mechanical markers provide that force with a hammer propelled by a spring, the valve in poppet-valve markers are activated by a pneumatic ram. The bolt is connected to the ram. Poppet-valve markers have the same disadvantages as their mechanical counterparts: external moving parts, a reciprocating mass and a louder firing signature. However, they are also more gas efficient than spool-valve models because the poppet valve only releases the precise amount of air needed to fire the marker. Examples of markers that utilize this mechanism are the WDP Angel, Planet Eclipse Ego, Bob Long Intimidator, and Bushmaster.[6]
In Spool-valve-based electropneumatic markers, the bolt also acts as the valve. This eliminates the need for a stacked tube construction; spool valve markers have a more compact profile. Instead of a cycling hammer or ram that strikes a pin valve, the movement of the bolt is controlled by the routing of air into small chambers in front of or behind the bolt. An air reservoir behind the bolt contains the air that is to fire the paintball. When the marker is at rest, air is routed to the front of the bolt to prevent the air in the reservoir from escaping. In an "unbalanced spool valve" design, when the trigger is pulled, that air is exhausted from the marker, allowing the air in the reservoir to push the bolt forwards. In a “balanced spool valve” design, the air in the reservoir cannot force the bolt open; instead, the air from the front of the bolt is rerouted to a small chamber behind the bolt, separate from the reservoir, which then pushes the bolt forward. In either case, the movement of the bolt forward exposes pathways in the bolt or the marker that allow the air in the reservoir behind the bolt to surge forward and fire the paintball. Afterwards, airflow to the front of the bolt is restored, pushing the bolt back into its resting position.
A typical spool valve has at least one O-ring that undergoes a shear and compression duty cycle for every shot, leading to faster wear and less reliability. Additionally, the necessity of an air reservoir makes them less gas efficient than their poppet-valve counterparts. Since spool-valve markers have no reciprocating mass, other than the bolt, and require little pressure to operate, they have less recoil and are quiet. Examples of markers that utilize this mechanism are the Dye Matrix, Smart Parts Shocker, Smart Parts Ion, and the MacDev Clone.[7]
In mechanical and poppet-based electropneumatic markers, the valve is usually designed to accommodate a specific operating pressure. Low pressure valves provide quieter operation and increased gas efficiency when tuned properly. However, excessively low pressure can decrease gas efficiency as dramatically as excessively high pressure.
Additionally, the valve must be set to release enough air to fire the paintball. If the valve is not tuned properly, insufficient air to fire the paintball may reach the bolt. This phenomenon, known as “shoot-down,” causes fired paintballs to gradually lose range, and can also occur at high rates of fire. Some markers have integral or external chambers, called low-pressure chambers, which hold a large volume of gas behind the valve to prevent shoot-down.
Tuning can also prevent air blowing up the feed tube upon firing, which disrupts the feeding of paintballs into the marker.
Loaders, commonly known as hoppers, hold paintballs for the marker to fire. The main types are gravity feed, agitating and force-feed. Stick feeds are also used to hold paintballs, although they are not considered to be "hoppers".
While agitating and force-feed hoppers facilitate a higher rate of fire, they are subject to battery failure, if they use a battery, as well as contact with moisture. Ball breaks pose a problem for all hoppers, regardless of design. When a paintball leaks paint into the hopper from a break in the hopper, the gelatin shells of the paintballs can deteriorate, causing them to stick together.
Stick feeds are mainly used on pump and stock-class markers. They consist of simple tubes that hold between ten and twenty paintballs. Stick feeds are usually parallel to the barrel; player must tip the marker to load the next paintball. Some stick feeds are vertical, or at an incline to facilitate gravity feeding, though this contravenes accepted stock-class guidelines.
Gravity feed is the simplest and cheapest form of hopper available. Gravity feed hoppers consist of a large container and a feed tube molded into the bottom. Paintballs roll down the sloped sides, through the tube and into the marker. These hoppers have a maximum rate of eight balls per second. Gravity feed hoppers are very cheap, since they are made of only a shell and a lid, but can become jammed easily as paintballs accumulate above the tube. Rocking the marker (and hopper) occasionally can prevent the paintballs from jamming in the hopper.
This problem is exacerbated when using a fully electronic marker. Most mechanical markers use a blowback system for recocking, or other methods where a large reciprocating mass is involved. This will shake the balls in the hopper slightly, facilitating gravity feed. A marker with both electronically controlled recocking and firing may exhibit no shake whatsoever while operating. Because of this, small packs in the hopper are not broken up and feeding problems result.
Agitating hoppers use a propeller, spinning inside the container, to agitate the paintballs. This prevents them from jamming at the feed neck, allowing them to feed more rapidly than gravity feeds. Older tournament-level hoppers are of the agitating type, since the higher rate of fire requires a reliable hopper.
There are two types of agitating hoppers: those with sensors - called "eyes" - and those without. The eyes consist of a LED (light emitting diode) and a photodetector, typically a phototransistor or photodiode, inside the neck or tube of the hopper, to detect the presence of a ball. In a hopper, the eyes detect when a ball is absent, causing it to turn. Agitating hoppers without eyes will quickly deplete batteries and may bend or dent paintballs, causing a short, less air efficient, skew shot. Agitating hoppers with eyes will only spin in the absence of a ball, preventing damage and prolonging battery life.
A third type of agitating hopper, the Cyclone Feed System manufactured by Tippmann, re-routes gas to agitate the feeding mechanism. It does not need batteries to operate.
Force-feed hoppers use an impeller to capture paintballs and force them into the marker. The impeller is either spring-loaded or powered by a belt system, allowing it to maintain constant pressure on the stack of paintballs in the feed tube. This allows force-feed hoppers to feed paintballs at a rate exceeding 50 balls per second, since the mechanism does not rely on gravity. Force-feed hoppers are the dominant type used in tournaments, being the only type of loader capable of maintaining the high rate of fire of electropneumatic markers.
Some markers use force-fed loaders shaped as firearms magazines. These are preferred when a low profile is required, as in woodsball 'sniper' positions. Even more unusual are fully contained magazines, incorporating both a source of propellant gas and force-fed paintballs.
The newest type of force feed hoppers communicate wirelessly with the marker's electronics using radio frequency. This allows the hopper to begin feeding paintballs before the pneumatic system of the marker has begun cycling the next shot. This system almost totally eliminates mis-feeds and can increase the speed of the loader and the battery life because the loader is only in operation when the marker is preparing to fire.
The tank holds compressed gas, which is used to propel the paintballs through the marker barrel. The tank is usually filled with carbon dioxide or compressed air. High Pressure Air (HPA) is also known as "nitrogen", as air is 78% nitrogen, or because these systems can be filled with industrial nitrogen. Due to the instabilities of carbon dioxide, HPA tanks are required for consistent velocity. Other propulsion methods include the combustion of small quantities of propane or electromechanically operated spring-plunger combinations similar to that used in an airsoft gun.
CO2 Carbon dioxide is a common propellant used in paintball, especially in inexpensive markers. It is usually available in a 12 gram powerlet, mainly used in stock paintball and in paintball pistols, or a tank. The capacity of a carbon dioxide tank is measured in ounces of liquid and it is filled with liquid CO2, at room temperatures the vapour pressure is about 800[8]PSI. The CO2 liquid must vaporize into a gas before it can be used. This causes problems such as inconsistent velocity. Cold weather can cause problems with this system, reducing the vapour pressure and increasing the chance for liquefied gas to be drawn into the marker. The low-temperature liquid can damage the internal mechanisms. Anti-siphon tanks have a tube inside the cylinder, which is bent to prevent liquid carbon dioxide from being drawn into the gun.
High Pressure Air, compressed air or nitrogen is stored in the tank at a very high pressure, typically 3000-4500 psi. Output is controlled with an attached regulator, regulating the pressure from between 250 psi and 850 psi, depending on the type of tank. The advantage of using regulated HPA over Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is pressure consistency and temperature stability where CO2 reacts to temperature changes causing inaccuracy and freezing during heavy use. HPA tanks are measured in PSI and in3. The most popular tank size is 68 cubic inches at 4500 psi providing 800-1100 shots.
HPA tanks are more expensive because they must accommodate very high pressures. They are manufactured as steel, aluminum or wrapped carbon fiber tanks, the latter being the most expensive and most light weight. Most players with electronic markers use HPA because if CO2 is used, the marker's electronic Solenoid valve can be damaged if liquid CO2 enters it.
Users are warned not put any type of lubricant in the 'fill nipple' port of a HPA tank as petroleum may burn when subjected to highly compressed air causing an explosion.
Marker systems have a variety of regulator configurations, ranging from completely unregulated to high-end systems using four regulators, some with multiple stages.
The regulator system affects both the accuracy and the firing velocity. Carbon dioxide regulators must also prevent liquid gas from entering the marker and expanding, causing a dangerous surge in velocity. Regulators used with carbon dioxide often sacrifice throughput and accuracy to ensure the marker operates safely. HPA-only regulators tend to have an extremely high throughput and are designed to ensure uniform pressure between shots to ensure marker accuracy at high rates of fire.
Tournament markers usually are equipped with two regulators,and another on the tank, each with a specific function. The tank regulator decreases the pressure of air from between 3000 psi to 4500 psi to between 600-800 psi. A second regulator is used to further reduce this pressure to near the firing pressure. This reduction allows for greater consistency. The air is then supplied to a regulator on the marker body, where the final output pressure is selected. This can be between 800 psi for entirely unregulated carbon dioxide markers, to approximately 150 psi for extremely low pressure markers. After the firing pressure is decided, tournament-oriented markers use another regulator to supply gas to a separate pneumatic system, to power any other functions, such as bolt movement. This is an extremely low volume, extremely low pressure regulator, usually under 100 psi.
The marker's barrel directs the paintball and controls the release of the gas pocket behind it. Several different bore sizes are made, to fit different sizes of paintball, and there are many lengths and styles. Most modern paintball markers have barrels that screw into the front receiver. Older types slide the 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 98 Custom.
Barrels are manufactured in three basic configurations: one piece, two piece and three piece. A barrel with interchangeable bores, with either two or three piece, is called a barrel system, rather than a two-piece or three-piece barrel. This prevents confusion, as many two-piece barrel systems do not use an interchangeable bore system.
One piece barrels are machined from a single piece of material, usually aluminium, but stainless steel has historically been popular. Paintballs can range from .669 to .695 caliber, and barrels are made to match these diameters. Some one piece barrels have a stepped bore that increases from their rated bore size to around .70 caliber after eight inches (203 mm) . One-piece barrels are generally less expensive to produce and therefore to purchase, but if a different bore size is desired (for a closer fit to the size of a given brand or batch of paintballs) an entirely new barrel is required. The use of a single material for the entire barrel means that disadvantages of certain materials, such as durability (aluminum) or weight (stainless steel), cannot be mitigated.
Two piece barrels consist of a front and back. The back attaches to the marker and is machined with a specified bore between .682 and .695 caliber. The front makes up the rest of the length and contains the porting. Fronts usually have a larger bore than the back. The design of a two-piece barrel allows for the use of more than one back with a front, to change the effective bore size of the barrel without changing the entire barrel. It also allows for the back to be made of a different material, or be a different color, than the front, allowing aesthetic and performance customizations.
Three-piece barrels have a single back. A series of inserts, or sleeves, with differing bores are inserted into the back. The front is attached to keep the sleeve in place. Sleeves are generally offered in either aluminium or stainless steel. Aluminium sleeves can be dented or scratched easily; stainless steel versions are more resilient. The user needs only one set of sleeves and a back for each marker. Front sections, which adjust the length of the barrel, can be interchanged. This type offers the widest selection of barrel diameters, usually .680, .681, .682, .683, and up to .696 caliber.
Typical barrels are between three and 21 inches (530 mm) long, although custom barrels may be up to 36 inches (910 mm) long. Longer barrels are usually quieter than shorter barrels, allowing excess gas to escape slowly. Players usually choose a barrel length between 12 and 16 inches (410 mm), as a compromise between accuracy, range, and portability. Many players favor longer barrels as they permit them to push aside the large inflatable bunkers commonly used in paintball tournaments while still staying behind cover.
Most barrels are ported or vented, which means that holes are drilled into the front of the barrel allowing the propellant to dissipate slowly, making the marker quieter. Porting in the first eight inches of the barrel length decreases a marker's gas efficiency. For example, if a 16-inch (410 mm) barrel has large porting that starts six inches (152 mm) past the threads, it has an effective barrel length of 6 inches (150 mm). At that point, the ball must travel the other 10 inches (250 mm) on its own momentum. The friction within the barrel must be overcome with a larger burst of gas, decreasing efficiency. Porting in a barrel before the paintball has completely stabilized can dramatically increase noise, as the gas is still under a significant amount of pressure.
The accuracy of the longer barrel is much more effective than the shorter barrel if the markers compression is set to the right velocity setings. The momentum of the ball after all the compression has acted on it will not be as much leaving the barrel if you were using a 6 inches (150 mm), 12 inches (300 mm) or even 16 inches (410 mm) barrel. Balls that come from shorter barrels leave at a faster rate because the compression is acting on the ball throughout the barrel.
The bore is the interior diameter of the barrel. The bore must properly match the type of paint being fired, the most critical aspect of a barrel. A mismatched selection will result in velocity variations, which cause inaccuracy. Two and three-piece barrels let the barrel bore be matched to the paint diameter without needing new barrels. Correct matching is especially important in closed-bolt markers.
It has been proven that matching bore to paintball size is less accurate and less efficient. Underboring (barrel is bored smaller than paint diameter) results in good shot consistency, accuracy and efficiency. Overboring (barrel is bored bigger than paint diameter) results in good shot consistency but worse efficiency. Paint to barrel matching results in no increase in Shot consistency or efficiency.[9]/
Since the advent of semi-automatic markers in the early 1990s, both insurance and competitive rules have specified that markers must be semi-automatic only; only one paintball may be fired per trigger pull. While this was a perfectly clear definition when markers were all based on mechanical and pneumatic designs, the introduction of electronically controlled markers in the late 1990s meant that technology had exceeded this rule. Electronic markers are often controlled by a programmable microcontroller, on which any software might be installed. For example, software may allow the marker to fire more than once per trigger pull, called shot ramping.
Velocity ramping is an electronic firing mode where a consistent, fully automatic firing rate will be triggered as long as the player maintains a low rate of trigger pulls per second.
Pump action markers must be manually re-cocked after every shot, much like a pump action shotgun.
Semi-automatic markers use a variety of designs to automatically cycle a bolt and load a new paintball into the chamber with each trigger pull. This frees the player from manually pumping the marker, allowing him or her to increase the rate-of-fire. Semi-automatic modes can be used with a mechanical trigger or with electronic trigger frames. An electronic trigger frame has a lighter trigger pull and less space between the trigger and the pressure point, allowing the player to shoot at higher rates of fire. Such frames are commonly available as upgrades to fully mechanical markers, or are integrated into the design of electropneumatic markers.
With the popularity of electronic trigger frames allowing players with such frames to achieve very high rates of fire, tournament leagues began placing limits on the maximum rate of fire of electronic markers used in their events. Manufacturers also often place their own limit on the maximum rate of fire the marker will support, to ensure reliable cycling. Such limits are called caps; tournament caps generally range from 12 to 15 balls per second, while mechanical caps vary according to the design of the marker and the firmware used. If such a cap is enforced, the marker will prevent a ball being fired less than a certain time after the last one, the time delay resulting in the desired maximum rate of fire. A trigger pull occurring before this time has elapsed will be "queued", and the marker will fire again after the delay, but most markers will limit the number of shots that can be "queued" to avoid the marker firing a number of shots after the trigger was last pulled, a so-called "runaway marker".
Fully automatic markers fire continually when the trigger is pressed. The Tippmann SMG 60 was the first fully automatic paintball marker. Most electropneumatic paintball guns feature this mode. The fully automatic mode can be added to any electropneumatic marker by installing a customized logic board, or buying a completely new electronic trigger frame.
Similarly, markers can be equipped with burst modes. Ranging from between three and nine shot bursts, these modes allow the player to take accurate shots with a quick pull of the trigger, using more than one ball to increase their chances of hitting the target. In burst mode, the rate of fire can equal that of the fully automatic mode, which is useful in close range situations.
Ramping is a feature in some electronic markers that automatically changes the mode of fire from semi-automatic to fully automatic under certain conditions; normally upon a certain number of rapid shots being fired or a minimum rate of fire achieved and sustained. Ramping can be difficult to detect because ramping modes may be inconsistently used. Ramping modes can further be hidden in the software, ensuring that a marker will fire in a legal, semi-auto mode when being tested, but an illegal ramping mode may be engaged by the player under certain conditions.
Some leagues allow a specific ramping mode to prevent problems with enforcement, and to provide a more level playing field with regard to technical skill and marker quality (and price). The rule specifies a minimum time between shots resulting in a maximum rate of fire, and that a certain number of semi-automatic shots must be fired before ramping may engage. With players consistently using a standard ramping mode, players using a different mode are more easily detected.
The rate of fire is enforced by a "PACT" timer, a standard firearms timing device that measures the time between shots. The following are common league-specific ramping modes, preset in the marker's firmware:
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