Paintball Guns

With the huge increase in popularity of paintball as a sport or recreational activity, the sale of paintball guns has soared. Paintball guns are similar to the old fashioned BB guns, in terms of their machinations, but they fire small silicone balls that are filled with a water based paint instead of BBs or pellets.

Some users prefer to use the term "paintball marker" when referring to paintball guns, in an effort to dispel the notion that paintball is a dangerous or violent sport. Paintball guns use pump action and compressed gas to propel the small paintballs from the barrel. These guns are capable of shooting at speeds that can range up to 500 feet per second (fps), though the average range is more like 300-350 fps.

When the trigger is pulled, most paintball guns have a hammer mechanism that swings backward and presses a valve tube that subsequently releases pressurized gas and expels the paintball. Pump action paintball guns require that the trigger is pulled once for every paintball released. Auto cocking paintball guns can have automatic firing, where the paintballs continue to be released continuously during the entire time the trigger is held.

While traditional guns have chambers for the bullets, the large size of the paintballs requires that a hopper be used to hold them until they are fired. Hoppers can be gravity-based, dropping paintballs into place one at a time. They can also be automatic, with gears that keep the paintballs flowing at a steady pace.