The paintball gun is a variant of the pneumatic weapon, which is loaded not with bullets, but with balls of paint. This is the main equipment used in paintball. The marker is not a weapon, and the permissible speed of the ball released from it should not exceed 91 m / s. Speed above the set is considered unsafe for players.
History
Opinions about when paintball appeared disagree. There is a version according to which paint-firing weapons appeared in 1878. In France, it was widely used in military exercises. Putting Reclus - that was the name of the French inventor, who invented the first paintball gun, which, in fact, was just a pneumatic syringe, but later became similar to modern paintball weapons.
There is also a "farmer" version. In America, paint guns were used to mark trees and livestock, by the way, from here came the modern name for paintball weapons - “marker”. Comic skirmishes with such markers led to the appearance of paintball in the nineties of the last century.
And the third version says that in 1981, three friends who worked as brokers on the exchange bought tokens. As lovers of war games, they, of course, immediately put them into action and fought a battle with coloring ammunition. However, the oil paint used then spoiled the clothes, so three years later, in 1984, it was replaced with gelatin balls. The paintball gun itself was later modified.
Marker device
There are three mechanisms of action for a paintball gun. The first type: the so-called pump-action, or mechanical, pistol. He cocked his hands. The device uses mainly carbon dioxide cans, as they can be small in size.
The second type is semi-automatic markers. The platoon takes place under the influence of gas. And the third is electronic. In the last two types, instead of carbon dioxide, compressed air (nitrogen) is used. This is due to the fact that such cylinders are easier to maintain, their operating temperature range is wider, and self-refueling is also possible. A paintball gun with compressed air is more stable in operation and virtually eliminates exceeding the allowable speed of the ball.
Cylinders also come in several forms. Carbon dioxide is stored in aluminum cylinders. They do not have a manometer, so because of the inability to find out what is the remainder of the gas, such cylinders usually end unexpectedly. For the other two types, in addition to aluminum, Kevlar cylinders are used.
Mechanical markers with aluminum cylinders are the most low-cost option for paintball weapons, but they also allow you to conduct field games without any problems.
The difference between paintball and hardball and airsoft
The main difference in these types of sports is the weapon. If in paintball it is a marker with paint, then in the other two it is a pneumatic weapon firing with steel or lead bullets. Hardball and airsoft are more expensive than paintball. Weapons for airsoft and hardball are a pneumatic copy of a real weapon, including its size and weight. Therefore, serious protective clothing is required here, special attention should be paid to protecting the head, especially the eye. Lead bulbs entering sensitive parts of the body, such as the neck or groin, can be very painful.
Paintball in Russia
In our country, this type of recreation appeared in the early nineties and gained rapid distribution. In big cities, paintball clubs and associations appeared, and in 1996, the State Committee for Tourism and Physical Education added paintball to the list of recommended sports for development. And after a few years, paintball in Russia went to the masses and ceased to be elitist.
Paintball gun markers appeared as a type of weapon even in some games. Now paintball is more popular than ever. For example, in the game "Terraria". Although a paintball gun is not a weapon, it can be dangerous to humans without protection. Contact with the ball in the eyes, ears or nose can result in serious injury. Many clubs offer their services to people, and it is no longer necessary to buy equipment - you can easily rent it. But here it is necessary to monitor the quality of equipment, and especially protection, and choose the best.