ChoicePaintballGuns

It’s a good idea to freeze your CO2 tanks before re-filling.  If you don’t, the tank won’t get completely full.  That was a problem we we’re having for a long time before we figured it out.  We thought at first that there was something wrong with the tanks, but now since we know this maybe the tanks will get completely full instead of just half. The best explanation that I have heard of is the Ideal gas law(PV=T).  This is the physics law that says the pressure in a volume is equal to the temperature; lowering the temperature will allow for an increased volume.  Try it… it works!
Joey Withrow  Midwest Assassins Team Perryville, MO

In the heat of the summer, barrel breakage is rare.  Breakage on target could also be a problem as paintballs get soft from the heat and humidity.  So now we must keep the paint dry and cool.  Room air conditioning may be good enough for the player but air conditioned air still contains 70 to 80% relative humidity.  Keep the bags closed tight!  If you begin to get a lot of bouncers, chill the paint in the refrigerator (not the freezer!) for 30 to 60 minutes - NO LONGER!  The air in the refrigerator is cool and dry and will condition the paint for use on the field.  Between games, store your butt packs, loaders, and hopper in the air conditioned car (not in the trunk!).  Refill your loaders just prior to heading out to the field.  Keep in mind the exposure times mentioned above.  Also, keep the paint sealed in the bag.  If you cannot leave the car running, I would suggest keeping the paintballs in a cooler with a couple of ice packs.  (Don’t use ice cubes or blocks because the bags may leak and damage the carton.  Also, ice packs take up less room in the cooler allowing you to keep refreshments in the cooler as well.)  Deformation of a paintball can occur when a paintball has been exposed to high heat and humidity.  Oblong and odd-shaped paintballs will not return to their original round shape and should be discarded.

Paintballs become very brittle in the cold.  This is apt to cause breakage in the carton, loaders, hopper, barrel, and of course, on the target.  While break- age on the target is preferred, anywhere else can be a mess.  So keep the paint in a warm car while you are playing.  Between games, store your butt packs, loaders, and hopper in the car.  Refill your hoppers just prior to heading out to the field.  Keep in mind the exposure times mentioned above.  Also, keep the paintballs sealed in the bag.  If left in an open bag, the paint will dry out, adding insult to injury.  Some people report an above average number of balls rolling out the barrel when they play in cold temperatures.  This could be due to contraction if the paint is very cold.  Choose a barrel diameter to suit the day’s conditions.  Freezing temperatures and conditions will cause dimples to appear on paintballs.  Dimples will not come out of a paintball.  If you suspect paint has been frozen, throw it out.  Do not confuse dimples with flat spots.  Flat spots are often found at the bottom of case and do not adversely affect the performance of a paintball.  If you find flat spots on paintballs throughout the case, it may be an indication of exposure to high heat or humidity.

The shell of a paintball is made with gelatin and glycerin.  The shell contains very little water and is brittle.  Both the gelatin and glycerine will dissolve in water.  Since the shell contains so little water, it will absorb water like a sponge when it is humid.  Cold air is relatively dry and will pull water from a paintball shell.  Extreme hot and cold temperatures will adversely affect a paintball’s performance.  Throw in high humidity at high temperatures and a paintball will give you more difficultly than a burr in a barrel.  But the buck doesn’t stop at the shell.  The paint is also water soluble and interacts with its surrounding(s) - the shell.  The paint does not contain water either so when the shell starts to pick up extra water, the paint starts to draw in some of the extra moisture. When things start to dry up on the outside, the water in the paint goes out the proverbial window as well.  The whole situation adds up to a challenge for the most experienced heating and cooling technician - let alone a paintball player.  Considering all this, here are  some practical storage and handling tips for all weather conditions….
There are recommended storage conditions for most brands of paint.  Optimum temperatures range from 59 to 86 F (15 to 30 C) and 40 to 50% relative humidity. Temperatures and/or humidities beyond either end of those ranges will adversely affect the performance of a paintball.  The longer the exposure to these extreme conditions, the less reversible the effects.  How long is too long?  In very extreme conditions, 20 to 30 minutes exposure may be enough.  An exposure of 45 to 60 minutes in moderate conditions will be sufficient.  Humidity will have less effect if the paintballs are kept in the plastic bags and securely closed by twisting the bag and tightly sealing shut with the twist tie. 

 The latest buzz is all about barrels that have spiral threads/rifles inside of them that allow you to spin your paintball - giving you further distance and even letting you ‘direct’ or curve your shot.  Well there is actually is such an animal and it’s called the APEX Barrel.  This is a thread-on barrel, you can attach to the tip of all RAPTOR Barrels and the 7/8 RECON rifled barrel.  The APEX gives you the power, distance, accuracy and the performance of a rifled barrel with the ability of the Tippmann Flatline Barrel.  With the APEX and RAPTOR / RECON rifled barrel combination you are guaranteed to get more distant, accuracy and more elimination than ever before.  Here is how it works….. The APEX barrel has an adjusting switch that allows you to control how much curve to put on the ball.  You can turn the APEX barrel to curve up, down, left or right.  This allows you to have full control where the paintball will land.  With the APEX barrel you will able to shoot around an object at a curve to take out your opponent.  This is the biggest “cheat” advantage upgrade you can get for your paintball marker.  If straight shot does not do the job, you can take out your opponent hiding behind rocks, trees, bunkers or any other obstructing objects with a curve.  You can make impossible shots with this barrel!  The APEX Thread On Barrel is compatible with all Raptor Tactical Rifled Barrels, Tactical Barrels, Spyder MR1, MR2, MR3 7/8th inch Recon Barrels, and Tippmann X7 7/8th inch Recon Barrels.  You can find this awesome paintball gun upgrade at www.choicepaintballguns.com.

• Step 1:
  Prepare for sighting in your paintball marker. Check to see that your paintball gun barrel size and the size of the paintballs you’re using match each other. Find this out by taking the barrel off of your marker.  Slide a paintball into the end of the barrel that attaches to the marker.  Blow through it.  The paintball should have little resistance going down the barrel.
• Step 2:
  Check the velocity of your paintball marker as part of pre-sighting your gun in. Shoot your marker over a chronograph.  It should not exceed 300 feet per second. This is the maximum speed that is allowed in most paintball games and tournaments. If your paintball marker has erratic speeds, it will be difficult to sight-in the marker.
• Step 3:
  Sight-in a paintball marker efficiently by knowing the capability of your paintball marker. This can only be accomplished through practice. Most markers nowadays don’t have sights.  These markers are normally used in tournament play.  Sighting in and aiming them is normally done by looking down the side of the marker, keeping your eye in line with the barrel. Consistent practice will achieve your goal.
• Step 4:
  Aim a paintball marker that is equipped with sights by aligning the rear sight with the front sight.  Consistent velocity is critical on this type gun also.  If your gun is erratic and shooting all around where you’re aiming, check to make sure your barrel has no broken paintballs inside.  A dirty barrel will interfere with sight-in.

You’ve got to start somewhere.  Don’t treat the newbie on the field like he’s got some kind of disease!  Help him out, answer his questions, tell him the real deal about paintball and how to play.  You never know, the newbie next to you could be the next Bob Long.  If you meet someone on the field and it’s their first time…..

1) Treat the new player with the respect that you would any other player, nothing would make them feel more comfortable about paintball than if that one person was nice to them.
2) Make sure that they understand the safety requirements, because nothing is worse than a blind newbie (or a newbie blinding anyone else for that matter). 
3) Help them out with their paintball gun.  If their barrel comes off, don’t tell them that they should make a suicide run because their gun is broken, help them out a bit.
4) Squeegie their paintball gun barrel if they need it.  Don’t forget that a new player can eliminate any player, and a straight ball or a curved ball could mean the difference between winning a match or losing one. 
5) Answer their questions? TRUTHFULLY.  If they ask you if a paintball hurts, don’t tell the story about how Uncle Bob got hit in the ribcage with a paintball and nearly died, just say it only stings for a few seconds.
6) Explain things to them in a way they would understand. “Yeah, I got an RVA on my P68SC and I think that I might rig her up with some HPA after I buy my KP2?” WHAT!?!?!? Don’t expect a new player to understand that kind of talk.  Remember, they might not even know what a Stingray is, or what a burst mode is.
7) Help them on the field.  If they are in the same bunker as you and they say they want to go some other bunker, provide them with some cover fire. Don’t just shove them out of the bunker and take their spot.
Give them advice.  If they ask you to give them cover-fire to what you know is a death trap, then don’t just play along, tell them that another place is better, just try and prevent them from getting themselves eliminated.

It’s probably not a good idea to store your leftover paintballs from your last outing in the trunk of your car.  The best way to think of it is to compare paint to a person.  If you think an environment would make you uncomfortable, then it’s more than likely not good for paint either.  Excessive heat or cold will ruin paintballs within hours, while paint that’s properly stored in a cool, dry place like your room (assuming you can clear a space in there!) will last for months and months if properly rotated.  By rotating, we mean literally moving the bags of paintballs around to keep the fill from settling to one side and to prevent dimples from forming.  While the dimples on a golf ball help it fly better, on a paintball it just doesn’t work.  Other reasons your paintballs may not be shooting well are goop in your barrel and/or breech of your paintball marker.  Once again cleanliness is next to godliness, so make sure your marker and paintball gun barrel are clear of paint and clean your paintball marker often and thoroughly.

If you’re into scenario paintball, making your paintball gun a bit quieter may have it’s advantages. We already know that paintball gun silencers are more for looks and not actually functional. So how do you make your paintball marker more silent? Use a paintball barrel that’s Ported. So what exactly does porting do?  Well, barrel ports are basically holes drilled from the inside of the barrel to the outside.  Portings main role is to reduce overall noise levels by venting excess air pressure behind a paintball before the paintball leaves the barrel.  Well, I have no real way to test an accuracy difference with or without porting until I can get my hands on a custom made freak barrel tip with no porting in it.  However, as a general guideline, porting decreases gas efficiency as well as noise.  As air escapes through the ports, instead of continuing to push the ball down the barrel, it vents air to the outside increasing the amount of air needed to accelerate a paintball to 300fps, thus reducing gas efficiency. Having a barrel with lots of ports, as opposed to a non-ported barrel, can signifigantly reduce most guns noise.

Another way to increase the accuracy of your paintball marker is getting the best air system you can possibly find. Look for one with a high flow and recharge rate and a well built regulator.  The PSI (pounds per square inch) and CI (cubic inches) of the tank does not affect accuracy.  Check out the Crossfire Series of high or low pressure N2 tanks on ChoicePaintballGuns.com.  The final method to improving accuracy is to purchase a high-flow regulator, inline, bottomline, or sideline (along the side of the marker; a rare find these days).  Check out the AG1 Regulator found at ChoicePaintballGuns.com for a great example of this.  A high flow will significantly increase accuracy because it will allow more air to flow inside of the marker, increasing consistency, a major factor in accuracy.  A top of the line regulator is the Smart Parts Max-Flo Micro System.  Also keep in mind the effects of barrel length on range and accuracy.