Paintball!!!

[Lord Loss]

I thought I'd start a thread to talk about the crazy awesome activity that is paintballing.

To get the ball rolling I'll share my experiences paintballing. I'm going Indoor Paintballing and Speedballing in October, and I've been outdoor paintballing once before, where I hit a grand total of zero people and spent the time hiding under a plant or behind a barricade, having bullets whizz over my head (or into my face) if I so much as lifted a hair over the barricade. It was epic. :smallbiggrin:

Any tips for indoor paintball or speedball? I'm going to do both with a large group of friends in a little under a moth.

[drakir_nosslin]

Paintball is fun for a while, but the short range and the very limited precision of the markers is a bit disappointing. Something similar but much more skill-rewarding is the MILES (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_Integrated_Laser_Engagement_System). Sadly it's only for army use, though I've been allowed to participate a few times as a reservist.

Another system that I tried out with my brother is wearing padded clothing and using guns loaded with soap (or something similar?) bullets. Short range, but much better accuracy than paintball markers.

However, for just a day off with a few friends and some fun, paintball can be awesome :smallbiggrin:

[Erloas]

I played paintball for the first time a month or two ago. Only 4 of us and we were using loaner gear (well other then the 1 person we were borrowing from). I was fun, but it would have been better if we had specific equipment to use. It also would have been better with more people so we could have varied some things up a lot more.
Overall it was good and I want to do it some more but not sure when that was going to happen.

In terms of accuracy, I think they seemed alright. Though some guns were better then others for sure. But I think having them not being super accurate makes things more fun because you have to get up and move more and can't just sit back and snipe.

[drakir_nosslin]

In terms of accuracy, I think they seemed alright. Though some guns were better then others for sure. But I think having them not being super accurate makes things more fun because you have to get up and move more and can't just sit back and snipe.

Problem with that is when you set up a nice ambush and get the drop on two or three opponents. Now, with a good gun that fires straight you can probably take out two from behind but with bullets that curve like ping-ping balls it's pretty much left to chance :/

[Erloas]

I'm not a great judge of distance but the ones we were using flew pretty true for probably 20-30 yards, which was probably 1/2 the area we had to play in. And at least where we were many encounters were probably less then 10 yards away because we had a decent amount of cover with only a few areas of wide open spaces.
Without good sites and a practical way to use them I couldn't see shots being taken at much farther range. We weren't shooting from the hip but most of the time you didn't have a chance to line up a perfect shot anyway. And having shot real guns plenty, the ranges of paintball guns wasn't much worse then what I would put the practical range of a real gun using open sites and not having a good position.
And of course the guns had something to do with it, the guy we borrowed the guns from specifically told us which ones were pretty accurate and which ones tended to be off, they were usually much shorter and more compact, but some were just old and worn. I could also see the quality of the ball having a big impact but we didn't have a lot to compare.

[Lord Loss]

From what I've heard, rental guns are generally not the most accurate, whilst the purchased ones tend to work like actual firearms (only what I've heard, mind you). The gun I used last time was borrowed from a friend who paintballs regularly and seemed quite accurate to me.

Also, how is Speedball?

Apparently, the best thing to do is to wait for everyone to stop firing like mad and, when people start reloading, take out as many as you can.

[IonDragon]

Problem with that is when you set up a nice ambush and get the drop on two or three opponents. Now, with a good gun that fires straight you can probably take out two from behind but with bullets that curve like ping-ping balls it's pretty much left to chance :/
You have wet paint in the barrel. Borrow a squeegee and clean it up. If your paint is whipping around like mad, something is wrong.

There are also pump markers that do not have an automatic load, which allows them to be much more accurate. These have much lower firing speed because they need to be pumped every shot. Kinda like a sniper rifle, I guess.

how is Speedball?

Apparently, the best thing to do is to wait for everyone to stop firing like mad and, when people start reloading, take out as many as you can.

Speedball is more like what pro paintballers play. IMO it's too expensive to waste that much paint, so I just wait a bit regardless. Half the time even if you hit them from all the way across the field the balls lose so much momentum they don't burst on impact, so it doesn't count as a kill.

Also, no two people are going to run out of paint at the same time. It depends on gear and exactly how fast they are firing.

And finally, owned gear usually gets taken care of better. Rental/loaner gear often gets used by little kids, dropped, people pick up swollen paint off the ground and try to fire it... etc.

[Kiren]

I play Woodsball during the winter, my main has usually been a Mil-sim Tippmann 98 Custom. By Mil-sim, I mean I put a top rail on it, mounted a red-dot, attached a bi-pod onto my Smartparts ported barrel and I had a folding stock until I stripped and broke it :smalltongue:. It looks enough like a Sniper Rifle to impress some people.

But it shoots every direction but straight. I once had a ball curve and hit our teams mission giver in their 'lower back'. True story, I didn't aim close to the guy.

But anyway, recently I started using my View Loader High Voltage more, it still curves though. Sounds like a Cannon firing really. Scares people.

[IonDragon]

But anyway, recently I started using my View Loader High Voltage more, it still curves though. Sounds like a Cannon firing really. Scares people.

If it sounds like cannon fire you may need to check your air speed. I have to check mine regularly through the day. I've got a 20 oz CO2 tank and it sometimes leaks liquid CO2 into the line which expands more than the desired ammount. It makes a similar sound and sometimes spits little white 'snow' when I fire.

And really, if your marker isn't shooting straight CLEAN IT. First thing. If a paintball bursts it leaves behind some oil and anything but a careful clean will leave behind a little residue. Enough to give the ball spin which pulls it off course.

[JuanCudz]

I used to play as regularly as I could.... about 20 years ago. :smallsmile:
Getting on a bit now and my SL68 Sabre is gathering dust in the attic. My local ranges closed and it was too much hassle going father afield.

The Sabre was unique for it's time as it had a port at the breech that allowed for the very efficient cleaning of a barrel after a burst by feeding the squeegie through.

But I miss the adrenalin, the stories and camraderie.

[Ricky S]

So much fun! I loved it. The paintballs whizzing across the battlefield. Taking cover just before a volley hits the area around you. Getting that lucky headshot across the battlefield.

I love the smell of paintballs in the morning.

The only problem is that my local paintball field is like 2 hrs away.