Understanding the Different Types of Paintballs and their Characteristics

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Understanding the Different Types of Paintballs and their Characteristics

Paintballs come in various types depending on quality used by beginners for recreational games to tournament grade. Paintballs for everyday recreational use are standardized to fire through .68 and .50 caliber air guns.

There are three grade levels of paintballs which in the world of paintball players are just referred to as “paint”.

  • Recreational field and practice.
  • Middle grade for rental and custom markers.
  • High grade for tournament players using custom guns.

Paintball USA offers a middle range, affordable, paintball that beginners and advanced players can use in their custom guns without misfires. https://www.paintballusa.org/ 

Valken makes a good paintball. The shell is made of gelatin. The fill contains gelatin, polyethelene glycol, sorbitol, canola oil, starch, and coloring. Valken Infinity brand paintballs are made in the United States.

In general, paintballs are made of food items and are edible with a disgusting taste that causes dry mouth. Sometimes animals will enjoy eating paintballs. The paintballs won’t cause illness, but not the best idea to allow your pet to munch on paint.

The contents are water soluble in a spherical gelatin capsule using dye for the color. Paintballs are environmentally safe due to their nontoxic ingredients. Did you know there is no actual paint inside of a paintball?  The splat leaves a “paint” indicator due to the mix of polyethylene glycol and water-soluble material with dye used for the color. 

The outer layer or shell, consists of an elastic coating of gelatin with a liquid center. The process of producing a paintball is referred to as encapsulation which is the same technique used in the pharmaceutical industry when making medication enclosed in capsules that you can swallow.

Since paintballs are biodegradable, they break down into the ground naturally over time. Paintball parks will keep the playing fields and grounds clean by weekly raking of the shells. 

Cheaper paintballs found on some websites and super stores can be of lesser quality. Seconds, as the less expensive paintball is referred to, are sometimes filled with an oily substance that leaves the environment coated with a greasy film and causes excess debris that adheres to the inside of your marker’s barrel. https://www.paintballusa.org/pricing

Freezing paintballs.

Players assume that rock hard paintballs have been frozen, but that’s just a myth. The reason a paintball would become hardened is from improper storage or just being outdated. Storing paintballs in a dry, room temperature environment will keep your paint pliable and not brittle. 

If a paintball were actually frozen, it probably wouldn’t fit inside the gun’s barrel due to being misshapen and would probably break if you tried to shoot it. 

Smaller paintballs, such as the ones used in .50 caliber paintball soft markers are more environmentally friendly because the splat is tinier when they hit their target. In the same event, there is less impact using a smaller paintball, so younger kids would get more enjoyment from using them. 

Paintball USA uses HK Army mid-grade paintballs that shoot well in all types of weather. Some of the advantages in using this brand are.

  • Reliable, rounded shape without dimples.
  • Good performance shell.
  • 2,000 paintballs per case as opposed to 1,600 using other brands.
  • Hits target accurately.
  • Bright colors.
  • Friendly to the environment.

All of the paintballs from HK Army are made fresh weekly. Cases are opened and inspected at the factory to make sure there are no broken ones prior to shipping. Cases are placed in bubble wrap and in a box covered with packing paper. 

Paintball USA takes pride in making sure our players get the best paint at the lowest price. https://www.paintballusa.org/welcome-information