The future of paintball? from the past!

Its been brought up before.

Basically, its completley unfeasible.  In order to rotate to smaller rounds, barrels, hoppers, and guns have to be changed to accomidate smaller rounds.  This would be a major inconvinience for the player, as he would have to buy all new parts for his gun.  Even if you kept the old size around, it would still be terrible.  Companies would have to either pick a calibier to work with, or make products for both, which would make things very complicated.  And as for manufacturing the paintballs, the companies would either have to make one caliber or another, or both.  If they make both or smaller balls, they have to make new machinery, which costs money and would raise the price.

Another thing is the size of the splat.  Currently, the offical size of a splat that results in elimination is about the size of a quarter.  A smaller projectile would hold less paint, therefore making a smaller splat.  Tournaments would have to either pick a calibier for tournament play, or somehow work out a system where splats can be judged for both size balls.  The problem is even if such a system is developed, how do you know who shot it, and what calibier it was?  It would make things very complicated.

Also, have you ever been hit with paint filled BBs?  They dont break too well.  The smaller the ball, the les force is applied to it when it hits, making it harder to break.  The balls would break less frequently.

Along side all that, the balls would fly faster, which would mean a new chrono limit, and possibly new saftly gear.  New rules would have to be made and everything would be very complicated.

In a perfect world, I think it would work, but at the moment, I doubt it will.

The paintball would be affected (or is it effected, dang, wheres Admiral when you need him) by the wind more than the .68

it would be easier to wipe....smaller ball= smaller splatter

maroon out wrote: I say we just fill the paintballs with a flammable liquid that would burst into flames whenever broken. That way the refs would know to pull anyone screaming or ablaze.

I keep telling my friend that they need to make liquid nitrogen or mercury filled paintballs. then we can hunt the deadliest game of all... man.

skrip00 wrote: the trick is to make the balls smaller, but not as small as airsoft rounds...   .50cal is smaller, but still large enough to hold a good ammount of paint, almost the best of both worlds.   its possible.  all you need is a large (or small) company to force change... or a group of companies. If its done right, they will convince players that .50 cal is superior, and for many players, upgrading (and spending money) is something they do no matter the cost.

skrip00 wrote: current paintball guns shoot .68 cal rounds.  These are spherical and very similar to the rounds used by firearms over 150 years ago!   a simple solution: make balls smaller.  drop it down from .68 to .50 or .45 cal.  This leads to more balls per hopper and lighter weight/mass, smaller size (less resistance) leading to improved accuracy. Less mass= less inertia= less distance   just look at airsoft and how tiny balls used there are very accurate. Ever notice airsoft paintballs don't break after about 25 feet?   with the current technology behind ball-making being as advanced as it is, transitioning shouldnt be a problem. What technology? They still use a mold to make them.   this seems to be the next logical step in paintball since we have maxed out performance from the power source we use, to the guns, to the barrels.  Now all that needs to be changed is the ball.   there are major issues though.  The first is practicality.  No one has .50 cal paintballs yet, or paintball guns.    If a few companies get together and begine making kits for mainstream guns (like the tippmans and spyders) to modify them to fire smaller rounds.  For the M98C, a modified bolt and reciever attachment can be made, along with a new elbow, and a new smaller barrel.  This would be interesting to see since we dont really know how using smaller paint rounds can affect gameplay. KIT????? New barrel, new front bolt, new powertube, new body.   in speedball, where spamming paint everywhere is the name of the game, moving to a smaller round allows players to carry more balls.  In woodsball, smaller balls are less hindered by branches and cane travel further while being less susceptible to air resistance. once again, less distance less inertia.     Slinging paint isn't the name of the game. Ever notice that a good front player onmly carries a pod or 2? Only back players lay out the paint.   i dunno, this is an idea i was toying with.

Longhorn424 wrote: Again, nice to dream about but nearly impossible to make happen. Tippmann alone would have to spend about $250,000 in research.. $400,000 in delevolpment.. $30,000 in testing/prototypes.. $10,000,000 in new machinery to make the guns... $5,000 for new paintball molds.. Total: $10,685,000 a.k.a. WAYYY more than it's worth. (again that's only for Tippman/Werks alone)

Where did you get those prices from? Also why did The Guy post the same thing as Enos?

they should make .50 cal sized paintball pistols that way it would be more of a pistol and you could actually use it like one.

how about no