Paintball range and accuracty

[Deerslayer]

This has to be a worn out topic - sort of like oil threads on motorcycle forums.

I've watched my marker fire my Empire Heat pballs at an oak tree about 75' away. One will hit the tree, the next curves to the right the third curves to the left. If a pitcher could throw a ball in MLB the way these paintballs curve, he would throw perfect games. From shooting I know this has to be due to out of round paintballs and the spherical shape of the ball.

What is the expected range of a marker with good paint balls?

I received my Empire Heat balls no more than 3 months ago, but I have no idea how long they sat on the dealer's shelf. Do higher end pbs give significantly better accuracy?

How does one match balls to the barrel? I thought the paintball should just be retained by the bore - so the gun can be pointed down and nothing rolls out. I'd call it a snug fit, but certainly not too tight or rupture might occur.

As I've said before, I use my marker to shoot at critters. It seems a waste to use tournament quality balls when it is the noise and visual incoming that gets them going.

Are some brands of higher end balls more consistent than other brands? Which ones? (This q has to be fraught with opinions - like which battery, tire, oil is best for my bike).

[Magageddon]

max range i've hit targets with a paintball and having it break was about 50-60 yards, but those shots were almost always on hard parts, ie: masks, hoppers, podpacks ect...

[XEMON]

M'y rule of thumb is 40-60 yards on round ball depending on quality, temperature, gun, gas, ... And 70-90 yard on FSR going up to 100-110 if I take the time to lay down and adjust the riser ...

If you're shooting semi/electro, you're gonna get in the habit of shooting 2 or 3 rounds at a time for those longer shot ... If you stick with pump, you'll be forced to be more strategic and move/place yourself at a better spot 😉

for critters, are you shooting to kill small still (mice and rat size) or scare/deter larger stuff (racoons, coyote, bobcat ... bear)?
I personally prefer my break action pellet for small stuff, no gas/leak to deal with ...

[Trbo323]

. If a pitcher could throw a ball in MLB the way these paintballs curve, he would throw perfect games.

Sure if you count the 5 batters in the hospital as not hitting but I get your point, it's all over the place

What is the expected range of a marker with good paint balls?

While shooting around 285fps which is what most fields use range is largely considered around 150ft

Understand, the paint will go further than that but 1) not more actually than "I can hit that house" and 2) it's lost so much energy that largely it won't break past 150. In a game where the target is to get eliminations this is pretty useless

Do higher end pbs give significantly better accuracy?

as a blanket statement yes, there are some factors though. Is GI 5 star better than 1 star? Yes, significantly? Depends on how you define significant. While shooting round ball it's never pin point accurate. You're shooting a liquid filled gelatin sphere with a seam that tumbles through the air, not the best aerodynamic properties.

How does one match balls to the barrel?

And here's a can of worms. Much like the oil in motorcycles, this is still debated but typically does boil down to 3 ideas so take your pick

1) overbore, put paintball in barrel, if it rolls through our even if you need a little shaking to get it out, overbore

2) "perfect fit" put paintball in barrel, it will not roll out but you can blow it out using your mouth

3) underbore. Basically find the perfect fit and go one size down from that. It will be very difficult if not impossible to blow out

Overbore
+Helps some consistency as there is extra space around each ball
+Low chance of breaking a ball due to squeezing it too much
-less efficient as you are wasting gas around each paintball
-arguably (I have not seen it proven) less accurate as you have less control with giving the paint more room to move around

Perfect fit
+Prevents roll outs in closed bolt markers
+More efficient than overbore
-less consistent than overbore as each paintball will seal in the barrel slightly differently
-any paint swelling through the day will effect this method more

Underbore
+Most efficient as there is very little gas getting around each ball
+Typically very consistent as each ball is being squeezed slightly so small differences in each ball are negated
-higher risk of breaking paint due to squeeze
-with today's super small paint you may not always be able to use this method if you don't have a fairly comprehensive barrel kit

As I've said before, I use my marker to shoot at critters. It seems a waste to use tournament quality balls when it is the noise and visual incoming that gets them going.

I have to echo others here. Pellet rifle or BB gun are typically better options for what you are doing

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[Deerslayer]

I have a pellet pistol, but there is a problem. Most decent air rifles or pistols will harm the critters. I'm not into that....leaving an animal with a pellet or bb under their skin. Deer are a different matter, (skin is probably tougher) but the same thing holds. We have been known to trap chipmunks in a havahart trap and relocate them to large wooded parks. So far I only watched one hail a uber and follow us home.

[Jonnydread]

I've done this with woodchucks at my property. I'm not trying to really hurt the critter, but if I scare the crap out of it it'll be less likely to invade my garden. Seemed to work. I don't think I actually even hit it, but the sound plus the paintballs hitting the ground near it seemed to be enough to make it not want to hang out in my yard anymore.

[MrBarraclough]

Put up some targets you can hit that make noise when struck, then you don't have to shoot directly at the animal.

When I was a kid (80s/early90s) I often got posted on the back patio guarding my grandparents' fig tree while my grandfather took his afternoon nap. I had a couple of BB guns at my disposal, but was instructed not to shoot the birds or squirrels themselves. My grandfather had hung some empty soda cans and a few old pie tins in the tree with fishing line. If a critter went after the figs, I simply shot a can or pie tin. Made plenty of racket to scare off the animal.

[XEMON]

I have a pellet pistol, but there is a problem. Most decent air rifles or pistols will harm the critters. I'm not into that....leaving an animal with a pellet or bb under their skin. Deer are a different matter, (skin is probably tougher) but the same thing holds. We have been known to trap chipmunks in a havahart trap and relocate them to large wooded parks. So far I only watched one hail a uber and follow us home.

then a BB gun is the way to go. If you go with a multipump style you can only do 2 or 3 pump for small stuff and shoot plastic BB; a few more pump if they are far.You won't harm them but it will be enough to scare them.

[Trbo323]

then a BB gun is the way to go. If you go with a multipump style you can only do 2 or 3 pump for small stuff and shoot plastic BB; a few more pump if they are far.You won't harm them but it will be enough to scare them.

Yeah I agree with this you're essentially looking for something that won't harm a chipmunk but will scare a deer just to get enough range out of a paintball marker you're getting into harming the Chipmunk territory.

Not to mention the BB gun is always going to work no problems with the ammunition. A paintball marker is not meant to sit ready to go long term so someday you're going to pick it up pull the trigger and just hear a click. Either that or the paintballs are going to sit for so long that we are back to your major league pitcher analogy which essentially will defeat the purpose of this entire venture anyway

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[uv_halo]

I'm a little surprised nobody referenced my science-based thread on paintball range.

The TLDR of it is: at Sea Level, in 70deg weather, and no wind, you'll get a max range of 94yds, with you angling up 26deg, and it will take the paintball 3.1 seconds to get out there.

As for accuracy, the TLDR is that paintballs suck. They're not dense, perfect spheres suck, imperfect spheres suck worse. They spread about 18 inches at 100 feet. This is backed up when you consider that in paintball matches, most engagements happen at 75ft.

First Strike rounds are more accurate but, you're looking at $0.40 a shot and you may still miss purely due to time of flight (1.3s for 90yds).

[martix_agent]

it took longer than I thought for first strikes to be brought up. They're the real answer, especially if the target is vermin and nuisance critters.

[Drcemento]

was Tom Kaye behind first strikes development?

[Chappy]

How are you storing your paint? How much do you use at a time and how are you storing the leftovers of the open bags? Do you rotate your paint before using it? I roll the sealed bag around in my hand for a bit before loading to make sure the fill is mixed and even.

[Deerslayer]

Good point. A 500 count bag lasts me a couple of months. It sits in the box it was shipped in in an air conditioned room. Per the suggestions above, from now on I'll buy paint at the field where they fill my tanks. Did not know to roll the bag gently to distribute the paint. Good idea - that's why I'm here. And I learned a lot about freak barrels in other threads. Great forum!

I really doubt it is possible to hit a chipmunk because they are so fast and skittish. The deer at 50' can jump aside and a perfectly aimed pb will whizz right by them. As I said, the noise and incoming are what frightens them.

[Deerslayer]

I'm a little surprised nobody referenced my science-based thread on paintball range.

Excellent thread. Wish I'd known you in '90 when you did it, and we lived closer together. I have a Chrono - used it in firearm load development for practical pistol shooting. My goals were consistency of speed and the lowest velocity (and thus lowest recoil) while remaining in the higher point range (so called low power vs high power) for my pistols.

[uv_halo]

was Tom Kaye behind first strikes development?

I'd say he was partially and indirectly responsible for them. The broader strokes of that are detailed here. Gary Gibson gave Tom an Early preview of them before release and, Tom was surprised how well they worked.

Excellent thread. Wish I'd known you in '90 when you did it, and we lived closer together. I have a Chrono - used it in firearm load development for practical pistol shooting. My goals were consistency of speed and the lowest velocity (and thus lowest recoil) while remaining in the higher point range (so called low power vs high power) for my pistols.

Sorry for the mislead- this science stuff didn't happen in 90. More like 2009. There's always been a plethora of optical Chronos but, the Punkworks team (Bryce and Cockerpunk) were the first (in paintball anyways) to have dual chronos and managed to shoot a bunch of paintballs through them, and publish their data. I just happened to have the ballistics knowledge to apply the data they gathered.

[Tarsun2]

get a pellet rifle and youll be set.
there are some inexpensive models that will go super sonic. Hell, thats quicker than my .22 subsonics and much quicker than my Aguila primer onlys.
the paintball is going to mess a squirrel up. probably break a few ribs even.

paint has also gotten smaller over the years. what worked back in the day will have a hard time with modern paint. the paint will be too small, the barrel will be too big, and the paint will be very inconsistent; especially if you are using the marker over a few days. ie, every day you want to use the marker for critter control, youll have to size the barrel to account for temp and humidity changes. (thats a little extreme though).

as far as relocating, what are you really doing... your dropping a living thing off in an area its never been, no nest, no known safe places, far away from its young, no known food source, and its going to die trying to get "home". or get eaten by an other animal.

if you got an air rifle and youre a good shot, just end it.

[NONOBLITUS]

Are you actually shooting said critters with a paintball marker ? Shoot the tree next to it that’s one thing but hurting something with a paintball marker is pretty lame. No need for that. If you want to kill them then do it not torture something or make it lame with a paintball.

[JeepDVLZ45]

Or grab a blunderbus from PBDNA and just dry fire it in the animal’s general direction. That thing will sound like a cannon and the critters (and more importantly, your neighbors) will run like hell.

[Deerslayer]

Are you actually shooting said critters with a paintball marker ? Shoot the tree next to it that’s one thing but hurting something with a paintball marker is pretty lame. No need for that. If you want to kill them then do it not torture something or make it lame with a paintball.

No. It's mostly to frighten the small critters. Deer are another story, and it is pretty hard to hit them. As I said, at 40 or 50' their reflexes are so good they can jump away from the paintball before it gets to them. The noise and incoming are what frightens the critters. In fact, shoot at squirrels two or three times, and whenever they see you they head for safer territory.

Read all the posts in this thread - I said earlier when some suggetsed air guns I'm not using BB's or pellet guns because of the possibility of wounding animals. The REAL pests (chipmunks) we trap and release in the woods a few miles away. I say they are the real pests because they get into the house walls and we hear them in the winter making noise behind the drywall....field mice are quiet.