Paintball gun: device and purpose

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:48

A paintball gun is a variant of an airgun that is loaded not with bullets, but with paintballs. This is the main equipment used in paintball. The marker is not a weapon, and the permissible speed of the ball fired from it must not exceed 91 m/s. Speeds above the set speed are considered unsafe for players.

History

Opinions differ about when paintball first appeared. There is a version according to which a paint-shooting weapon appeared as early as 1878. In France, it was widely used in military exercises. Postav Reclus was the name of the French inventor who invented the first paintball pistol, which, in fact, was just a pneumatic syringe, but later became similar to modern paintball weapons.

There is also a "farm" version. In America, guns that shoot paint were used to mark trees and livestock, by the way, this is where the modern name of the paintball weapon came from - "marker". Comic skirmishes with such markers led to the emergence of paintball in the nineties of the last century.

And the third version says that in 1981, three friends who worked as brokers on the stock exchange bought markers. As lovers of war games, they,of course, they immediately put them into action and fought a battle with paint ammunition. However, the oil paint used then spoiled the clothes, so three years later, in 1984, it was replaced with gelatin balls. The paintball gun itself was later modified.

Marker device

There are three mechanisms of action of a paintball gun. The first type: the so-called pump-action, or mechanical, pistol. He throws up his hands. The device mainly uses carbon dioxide cartridges, as they can be small.

Second type - semi-automatic markers. Platoon occurs under the action of gas. And the third is electronic. The last two types use compressed air (nitrogen) instead of carbon dioxide. This is due to the fact that such cylinders are easier to maintain, their operating temperature range is wider, and self-refueling is also possible. A compressed air paintball gun is more stable in operation and virtually eliminates overspeed.

Cylinders also come in several types. Carbon dioxide is stored in aluminum cylinders. They do not have a pressure gauge, so due to the inability to know what the remaining gas is, such cylinders usually run out unexpectedly. For the other two types, in addition to aluminum, Kevlar cylinders are used.

Mechanical markers with aluminum cans are the most budget-friendly option for paintball guns, but they also allow you to play military field games without any problems.

The difference between paintball and hardballand airsoft

The main difference in these types of sports games is the weapons. If in paintball it is a marker with paint, then in the other two it is an air gun that shoots bullets made of steel or lead. Hardball and airsoft are more expensive than paintball. The gun for airsoft and hardball is a pneumatic copy of a real gun, repeating, among other things, its size and weight. Therefore, serious protective clothing is required here, special attention should be paid to protecting the head, especially the eyes. Hitting a lead bullet in sensitive parts of the body, such as the neck or groin, can be very painful.

Paintball in Russia

In our country, this type of recreation appeared in the early nineties and was rapidly spreading. Paintball clubs and associations appeared in large cities, and in 1996 the State Committee for Tourism and Physical Education included paintball in the list of sports recommended for development. And after a few years, paintball in Russia went to the masses and ceased to be elitist.

Paintball guns have appeared as a type of weapon even in some games. Now paintball is more popular than ever. For example, in the game "Terraria". A paintball gun, although not a weapon, can be dangerous to a person without protection. Contact with the ball in the eyes, ears or nose can cause serious injury. Many clubs offer their services to people, and it is no longer necessary to buy equipment - it can be easily rented. But even here it is necessary to monitor the quality of equipment,especially protection, and choose the best.