The History of Paintball Guns

Monday, November 2nd, 2009 No Comments

Paintball guns (also known as paintball markers) were originally used by the forestry and farming industries in order to mark trees and cattle. Early paintball guns were powered by CO2 cartridges but had poor range and were not the most accurate devices in the world.

The most famous model, and the one people first starting playing actual paintball games with, was the Nel-Spot 007 pistol. James Hale of Daisy Manufacturing invented the design back in 1970.
As the game of paintball evolved, the guns were modified in order to reduce their velocity. This measure was taken to prevent injury to players. The first paintball gun made specifically for paintball was the Splatmaster which was patented in 1985.

The original Splatmaster was a primitive pistol made entirely of plastic which had to be manually cocked before each shot. Further modifications included features like detachable barrels and pump-action cocking. The first semi-automatic paintball gun available for purchase was the SMG60 which was designed by Dennis Tippmann.

Before producing the SMG60, Tippmann Pneumatics was called the Tippmann Arms Company, and produced replicas of military weaponry for re-enactments. The successor to the SMG60 was the 68-Special, which featured the first hopper-like device for feeding paintballs into the gun.

Before producing the SMG60, Tippmann Pneumatics was called the Tippmann Arms Company, and produced replicas of military weaponry for re-enactments. The successor to the SMG60 was the 68-Special, which featured the first hopper-like device for feeding paintballs into the gun.

The evolution of paintball gun technology is focused on achieving greater speed, accuracy, and air efficiency. However, paintball guns have also got lighter and smaller over the years. This is probably due to the changing nature of the game as people are beginning to play more tournament-style paintball, where having a gun that is easily manoeuvred is very important.

Paintball guns will probably continue to evolve as new technologies are developed to make them ever smaller, lighter, more accurate, and more air-efficient. Source: www.paintball.about.com

Posted in Paintball Guns, Paintball History |

The History of Paintball

Monday, November 2nd, 2009 No Comments

It’s widely accepted that the first-ever game of paintball took place on 27th June 1981 in New Hampshire, USA, when 12 friends played a primitive version of ‘Capture the Flag’.

Legend has it that the winner captured all of the flags without firing a single shot. How times have changed!
Yet from those humble beginnings the game has now become a truly global leisure activity with paintball fields now found in places as far apart as England, New Zealand, Mexico and Korea.

In fact, describing paintball as a mere “leisure activity” does it something of a disservice because some players now actually play professionally for a living!

The game was born when its creators had the idea of using guns (or more correctly markers) designed for marking trees and cattle as weapons on each other.

Minor modifications were made to the markers to limit the power and so paintball came into existence. The actual balls themselves also changed and water-based liquid replaced the old oil-based paint in order to make it easier to wash off clothes.

Since then paintball has evolved at a rapid rate and diversified from a recreational game to a more organised tournament-style game.

Although the vast majority of enthusiasts will probably only ever play Rec Ball (short for recreational paintball), professional teams are being formed all the time (like the Harrogate Hustlers) and competing at national and international level.

Tournament play is fast and furious, with paintball fields standardised in order to provide a consistent game between sides competing in the same league. It’s not for everyone although that’s the beauty of paintball – whether it’s a romp in the woods or the thrill of speedball, the game provides something for players of all ages and abilities.

It’s thought the first tournament with a cash prize was held as early as 1983 which means competitive paintball is now well into its third decade.

Posted in Paintball History |