How long do balls last?

[Deerslayer]

I know that were you to load your marker, paint and clothes in the trunk of your dark green Aston Martin, and park in the sun for a couple of hours, your paint balls would likely be ruined by the heat. At the other end of the scale, some guy on ebay was selling all his gear and said he had several boxes of 3 (or more) year old paint that he would throw in for free (usability uncertain). I had some paint balls left over in the plastic bag that were leaching oil after a year and a half - they decorated my circular file.

So, how long does paint last. Let's assume it is stored in an air conditioned house or a cool dry basement. How long would you keep practice paint balls? How long would you keep paint you were going to use in a game?

[Grendel]

I have kept and used paintballs over 2 years old. I do store my paint in a dark closet in an air conditioned space and routinely rotate the paint to help keep from getting dimples. To get rid of excess oils I use a tumbler and some paper towels to absorb it. In general though I try to keep nothing beyond a year, usually give my excess paint to kids at the field.

[SignOfZeta]

For sure quality stuff will last a couple of years. At Monster Game this year I didn’t buy any paint because I still had bags of Graffiti from ‘22, ‘21, and 20. I shot all three colors and they seemed to fly just fine. I have a habit of rotating the paint in the box every month or so and these were all sealed bags with desiccant in them, indoors, no light, 71F or so.

[JeeperCreeper]

I probably have stuff over a year old sitting around. If it's rotated, and kept at a consistent dry temp, it will last a while. What you start with has a lot to do with it as well. If you have paintballs that are swimming in oil. They won't last very long.

Lately I've been giving the dimpled paintballs to my daughter to finger paint with. It's easier to clean up than Crayola kids paint, that's for sure.

[maggot]

I found a bag of 25 year old Proball in my closet at my parent's house a few years ago. Shot fine.

[ATBen]

For chrony/tinkering I've got up to a year. For softer targets I try to aim for no more than 2-3 months old if it's in the bag and rotated.

[Riot]

They’re bad out of the box, doesn’t matter.

[Olsson]

Reading through the comments, I agreed with them.

Then I came to this comment, and it made me sad - because I found myself agreeing with it.

[Riot]

Olsson - that sentiment applies to most of my life. ;p

[glaman5266]

I have stuff from 2-3 years ago, but I only use it for testing or farting around in the back yard. Most of it shoots ok-ish.

Along with cool & dry storage, paint quality & regularly flipping your bags/cases are important.

[Deerslayer]

I have stuff from 2-3 years ago, but I only use it for testing or farting around in the back yard. Most of it shoots ok-ish.

Along with cool & dry storage, paint quality & regularly flipping your bags/cases are important.

Someone else mentioned this. Do you simply turn the bag over? The guy who told me this in a post said (IIRC) he rotates the bag several times to distribute the paint so it is not all sitting on one side of the paintball. Maybe we should be spinning our markers on our finger like Steve McQueen and friends in The Magnificent Seven. Then take our shots....🤣

[glaman5266]

Hah.

If my paint is in a taped-up box I simply flip the box. For individual bags I flip the bag upside down. Leave them that way until you need to do it again. I think doing that every two weeks is best, but I probably average once a month. Keeps the paint from settling, thus helping to prevent zingers when shooting.

EDIT: Do not stack individual bags. That may lead to shell deformation.

[MrBarraclough]

Stored indoors in a climate controlled area and rotated every other week or more often, paint will easily last a few months without degradation, assuming it is in closed bags. It may even last several months and still perform well. By the year mark, even with careful storage, I might be a little reluctant to shoot it at people and would probably relegate it to backyard target shooting and marker testing.

Frankly I don't have much experience with long term paint storage. I usually play monthly and the longest I've gone without playing since returning to paintball 3 years ago was 2-3 months. Leftover paint gets stored in bags with twist ties and sits in a closet or under the bed. Every couple of weeks I pull it out and turn each bag over a few times. I make a point of shooting through any old paint first when I go to the field.

[Nish]

As others have said, stored properly I have seen paintballs last at least a year and be no worse than when they were originally purchased. Others don't seem to last long enough to get to the field that is selling them.

[William the Third]

About 80 years... unless you get cancer.

[DocsMachine]

Heh. I currently have a plastic jar full of about 400 glow-in-the-dark balls (no idea the manufacturer) that were left over from a local guy's "24 hour" game... in 1996.

They went to one of those flash-lamp accessories that clamped to your barrel like a silencer. Gave you a tracer-like effect. They still glow nicely (phosphorescent, not chemical like a glow-stick) and are round enough I wouldn't have a problem playing a game with them today.

I also have over a dozen nylon lab jars full of old paint that I use up occasionally to test markers. Some of it's probably '12.

And, back in '12, a local game got organized, and I used up my last case of Draxxus, that I know for a fact had been bought in 2004. Shooting it through a Bob Long Longshot in .687", on a mech LP 'Cocker, it was some of the most accurate paint I'd ever shot. I made a corner-to-corner cross-field hit that was probably 80+ yards.

On the other hand, last year I dug out some paint that was probably two years old, and had been stored indoors, in the original sealed bags. Opened the sealed case, pulled out a still sealed bag...



(Bottom-of-the-line Valken, as I recall.)

Doc.

[FredMnkyDad10]

I have had mine for 50yrs. Still going strong.

[Deerslayer]

I have had mine for 50yrs. Still going strong.

May they last you another 50 years!