No more air tanks for paintball?

[Hooptie]

March 2022 Issue Of Paintball Media Magazine Is Live & Free - Paintball Media

On Page 10 of paintball.media, it mentions "Though we hear rumors this might change sometime in the not-too-distant future, for now we all need air tanks to play paintball"

Does this mean we can expect a paintball marker with airsoft "AEG" design? Would it be for paintball-soft play, recreational play, or tournament play?

We are seeing Jelly-ball/Gel-ball markers that fire mini-gelatin balls with "AEG" design. And modern paintball spool design operate under 140 psi, which is about where airsoft green-gas and airsoft HPA regulators operating pressure. So if it works with airsoft, does this mean it will work with paintball?

I guess I must cave into the future of EV cars. Everything is going to be electric.

Do you have any thoughts or predictions on a paintball marker that doesn't need an air tank?

[Arthur]

Mayve for .43 cal but I can't imagine it working well with 50 or especially 68.

[Meleager7]

Liquid CO2 is clearly on its way back!

[Alexndl]

With the poor quality of paint and their not perfect shape I dont see how it would work...

[BenoitOWN]

It been a concept for quite some time now if I recall.

[Bow]

Considering how unreliable airsoft markers are, I doubt it'll be a thing for a long time.

I can't tell you how many times I had to take apart and clean the airsoft rental guns... What a massive waste of time. Gears that strip after a few outings, pistons that strip or crack, the fact you need to shim the gears because production quality is trash. This was on some higher end G&G rifles too. The valkens we're easier to disassembly but worse quality and needed more maintenance.

Plus battery life can suck...

Way over complicated, and under preforming in my honest opinion. That's why a majority of the airsoft guys have HPA internals locally.

I won't be buying one. But I encourage anyone who like the idea to go ahead and do it.

[Pyrate Jim]

It's an ad, they're selling tanks. A standard tactic at that. Create a fear then capitalize on it.
"Oh, noes !!! You may not have something in the future so buy one now! Have we got a deal for you!"
Not buying into the hype.

When batteries are cheaper than air, then they might have a point.
Or they have really good lobbyists influencing the folks upstairs.

[Olsson]

As far as I know, the airsoft community was impressed out of their mind, when HPA was introduced as the superior option, compared to their previous battery driven guns. This is generally speaking of course, but fact remains - HPA was widely regarded as the far superior propellant.

So even if battery powered propellant was introduced as the next great thing for paintball, it for sure would only be the next snake oil shenanigan in the already loooooong line of snake oil shenanigans in paintball.

[Trbo323]

....I can't even figure out how to get to page 10....


No way in hell anytime soon

1) the energy requirements to launch a paintball are huge. A paintball weighs roughly 12x as much as an airsoft bb.

2) which means, 12x larger battery to get roughly the same number of shots as an airsoft gun (idk what that number is) and

3) waaaaaay larger/stiffer main drive spring and

4) waaaaaay larger dump/charge chamber

Anyone feel like running around with a 15lb setup that is huge and awkward just so you can say you are using electricity? No?

For the most part, airsofters want the HPA setups, they are seen as higher performance but they are also much more expensive.

Sent from my motorola edge 5G UW (2021) using Tapatalk

[Grendel]

I couldn't figure it out either, assumed Paintball Media is just another click bait site and moved on. Even if it is a legitimate article, no way this is an urgent topic on my priority list.

[Cheddar Bob]

If anyone remembers "Tokyo Marui man" you can see why the sewing machine aeg engine was a good alternative to gas. Fast forward 15-30 years compressed air has gotten smaller & possibly more affordable / accessable.

[Fubarius]

NPS EVolt. A demo model of it surfaced at the 2005 Shot show. Supposed to shoot 300 fps, 6 bps, and 500 shots per battery pack charge.

Never got released. Of course this was at the height of the old BPS wars, and 6 bps was considered basically unusable. Plus HPA tanks kept getting cheaper and cheaper.

https://madpaintballer.com/nps_evolt.php

[BenoitOWN]

That the one I was referencing! Let’s hit up Gino what his plan lol

[Cheddar Bob]

That would be a sweet curiosity

[Agglet]

Battery technology is way better now so it might even work if anyone cared enough to bring the idea back.

[Hp_lovecraft]

Battery technology is way better now so it might even work if anyone cared enough to bring the idea back.

It has not really improved much. The main difference is economy of scale- The high quality batteries like lithium-ion, have been around for 50 years.
The only difference today is that they have become much more popular, so they can be produced much more cheaper.

Guns like the Evolt won't be viable unless there is another push to go to 50 or 43 caliber. Those require much less energy

[Seajay]

It's interesting, but how freaking heavy would that be? I imagine it takes a good bit of juice to cycle that machinery, which means a big battery. Batteries are heavy no matter what type.

Also... a venting HPA tank is annoying... an exploding battery will hurt you, ruin your gun, and be potential field fire. With big batteries you need protections for those batteries so that they don't explode... which means even more weight.