50 Cal Prevalence In The UK

[Rdav]

So, long story short, I've been out of the game since ol rona' hit,
And I'm starting to get back into the scene,

So I'm in east UK, after hitting up 4 of my local 5 fields all of them messaged me back saying that they were 50 cal only sites now?

I don't personally mind, 50cal tends to have some advantages, especially for magfed my field cuisine of choice, (I'm not going to go to that old chestnut don't worry), and I think its possibly because theres been a bit of a rental boom in the area.
Seems a lot of the big 'chain' paintball places (like delta force) adopted it and all the other sites seemed to have followed suit,

Any other UK ballers see this pattern emerging or is it something exclusive to east UK?
Seems most scenario/tournament sites still do 68, but all the permanent rental fields that take walk ons are moving to 50 cal?

One thing it has meant is that I've had to re-gear my TMC to 50cal, and my T15 suddenly dropped a bit of resale value overnight.😡 but otherwise I'm 'generally' okay with it,

So yeah, anyone else seen this in the UK or the states? it kind of caught me off guard a little,

[Jordan]

Around here I believe it's sold as "low impact" for younger kids... it co-exists with .68 cal and airsoft at a number of local-ish fields.

(Yes, we have paintball in Canada, despite - or perhaps because of - our draconian firearm laws.)

[Toestr]

Are you sure those other fields aren't Delta Force affiliates? I know here in Canada they go by a bunch of different names for marketing (probably because they have been exposed for their less than honest marketing) but it's the same crap. They also grift off the goodwill of/confusion with other established fields (the local Delta Force opened literally around the corner from another field; also heard rumors of sales people claiming their tickets will work at different independent fields that aren't affiliated).

As Jordan said, the norm here is to offer .50 in addition to .68/airsoft/laser tag/nerf/gel blasters.

[The Hobbit]

I know the local field offers open play 50 cal significantly more often than 68cal. I don’t mind since the field is 15 minutes away. He said he just sees better turnout for 50. This is US by the way.

[Rdav]

Huh didn't realise it was as widespread as this, I'm surprised I always thought the states was very much a bastion of 68 unless it was a site marketed specifically towards kids,

You know, come to think of it, the fields near me could all be afflicted by the delta-force affiliate status, as there is a delta force within 1 mile of one of the sites, and they seem to offer similar 'packages' these days

Either way it seems like the future is definitely looking more 50 cal round here, this is definitely just giving me less willpower to resist buying a roscoe when I get the chance

[vijil]

Fields here in NZ that offer 50 cal typically find it's 90% of their business in short order, or so I've been told.

But converted field markers which are big and heavy for kids is mid.

We need some dedicated field 50s. Small and light and toolless. And magfed

[The Hobbit]

Fields here in NZ that offer 50 cal typically find it's 90% of their business in short order, or so I've been told.

But converted field markers which are big and heavy for kids is mid.

We need some dedicated field 50s. Small and light and toolless. And magfed

I’ll agree on everything but the Magfed. If a tippman is gawky and awkward for em, fumbling around with mags is gonna piss em off in short order.

Rdav I don’t know how prevalent 50 is outside of my little area. If it leads to more players and a healthier outlook I’m happy with it. Hopefully players transition into 68 as they progress.

[vijil]

Fair enough re. magfed - wouldn't be easy to design well for kids. For the growedups, could work if it was rugged enough (and had anti theft tags on the mags, and an instant brrrrrrdone fill system for staff)

A 50 cal rental designed to be as small and light as possible, while being field rugged, with a small 100 count hopper that uses PAL or primo style antijam would be the go. If the hopper was molded to the top of the marker so people could "sight" along the top of it, knowing rental players (I've run a field) that would be appreciated.

[dano_____]

You basically just described the .50cal emek with a weird sighting system, haha.