[EasyEK]

Is the .68 caliber bore just an industry standard, why don't we use really tiny paint like size .35 bore. Wouldn't it be cheaper to manufacture? Couldn't we hold more paint per square inch. Wouldn't Paint be cheaper?

then again we would have to make paintball chambers and barrels smaller

[Nomahsib]

All of our gear would have gone to waste then and companies would have to manufacture different stuff.

[Cesar(TM)]

because .68(as well as some others, but .68 was most often used) was the caliber they used back in the good ol' days when paintballs were used for marking trees and cattle...and since they already had the molds for it...it became the industry standard...

[iday10]

Companies used to (and some still do) make .55 paintballs, the problem was that they were incredibly bouncy compared to normal paint.

[Dyoel182]

They make those tiny airsoft paintballs too. But it would be such a huge switch no one would support.

[EasyEK]

scientifically would it be viable? We could make the shells thinner to make up for the fact that they would be harder to break at a smaller bore

[Cesar(TM)]

i suppose...but then you would have problems with velocity, mask ASTM certification, ect...

[EasyEK]

granted we would have velocity and gun issues, but we could always change the bore of markers. The switch could be like going from vhs to dvds. Gun companies can start producing guns with the smaller bore, and paint companies cold produce both regular sized bore paint and the new size bore. In like 5 years most .68 caliber could be slowly phased out.

In regards to astm, wouldn't a smaller bore/weaker shell paintball not affect astm that much? Paintball goggles are rated at extremely high impacts relative to real world situations

[RygorMortis]

there are 2 main reasons I can think of as to why we use the size we do that have yet to be mentioned. 1 is that anything smaller would not hold enough paint to be used as a marking device thus making it rather pointless and 2 the mass of the ball is probably ideal for its us, anything lighter would be easily influenced by wind and such, anything larger and heavier would take to much force to propel

[Cesar(TM)]

Originally Posted by EasyEK

granted we would have velocity and gun issues, but we could always change the bore of markers. The switch could be like going from vhs to dvds. Gun companies can start producing guns with the smaller bore, and paint companies cold produce both regular sized bore paint and the new size bore. In like 5 years most .68 caliber could be slowly phased out.

In regards to astm, wouldn't a smaller bore/weaker shell paintball not affect astm that much? Paintball goggles are rated at extremely high impacts relative to real world situations

that would be like the US switching to metric...sure, we could do it, but it would be expensive and unnecessary. the current paintball system works just fine.

[EasyEK]

Originally Posted by RygorMortis

there are 2 main reasons I can think of as to why we use the size we do that have yet to be mentioned. 1 is that anything smaller would not hold enough paint to be used as a marking device thus making it rather pointless and 2 the mass of the ball is probably ideal for its us, anything lighter would be easily influenced by wind and such, anything larger and heavier would take to much force to propel

one point of yours makes sense, which is the marking ability, a smaller paintball would mark less effectively. In regards to physics if it is lighter, wind would not affect as long as the surface of the area of the paintball is reduced proportionaly. Lower surface area=less total force on the ball from wind.

The benefits of shooting small bore paint includes

1) Higher efficiency, less mass to move=less air needed to be released by the gun
2) cheaper paint per shot, less variable cost for paint since it is less materials per ball, btw paintballs are petrol based, which means as crude oil prices go up, so does the cost of making paintballs
3) Higher capacity for hoppers (granted the feedneck and drive cone are redesigned.
4) Smaller bore= smaller gun= lighter setup

[Cesar(TM)]

Originally Posted by EasyEK

one point of yours makes sense, which is the marking ability, a smaller paintball would mark less effectively. In regards to physics if it is lighter, wind would not affect as long as the surface of the area of the paintball is reduced proportionaly. Lower surface area=less total force on the ball from wind.

The benefits of shooting small bore paint includes

1) Higher efficiency, less mass to move=less air needed to be released by the gun
2) cheaper paint per shot, less variable cost for paint since it is less materials per ball, btw paintballs are petrol based, which means as crude oil prices go up, so does the cost of making paintballs
3) Higher capacity for hoppers (granted the feedneck and drive cone are redesigned.
4) Smaller bore= smaller gun= lighter setup

no they arent...paintballs are made from 100% food products.

[Kenny_McCormic (Banned)]

Because .68 is 11/16" meaning equipment is cheap to machine. Thats why .62 was discontinued, cost more to make everything.

[EasyEK]

Originally Posted by Cesar(TM)

no they arent...paintballs are made from 100% food products.

paintball fill is made from ethylene glycol, which is made from ethylene, which comes from hydrocarbon based raw materials. The shell is made of gelatin. Even if none of the paintball materials are petrol based, the fuel costs in manufacturing them is tremendous. Notice how paint prices have gone up lately?
http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=2520401

Originally Posted by Kenny_McCormic

Because .68 is 11/16" meaning equipment is cheap to machine. Thats why .62 was discontinued, cost more to make everything.

also why is 11/16" more expensive? is it because lots of machines are already set to 11/16" and investing in new machines means higher initial fixed costs? If that is the case, what about the machines used to make variable bore size barrels?

[Cesar(TM)]

Originally Posted by EasyEK

paintball fill is made from ethylene glycol, which is made from ethylene, which comes from hydrocarbon based raw materials. The shell is made of gelatin. Even if none of the paintball materials are petrol based, the fuel costs in manufacturing them is tremendous. Notice how paint prices have gone up lately?
http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=2520401

paint prices have gone up because the paint companies arent making any money...not because gas prices have risen...if it were due to rising oil prices then you would see an increase in prices throughout the whole industry not just paint.

[EasyEK]

Originally Posted by Cesar(TM)

paint prices have gone up because the paint companies arent making any money...not because gas prices have risen...if it were due to rising oil prices then you would see an increase in prices throughout the whole industry not just paint.

not that true, because paint has a massive amount of variable costs, therefore increases in oil prices have a bigger effect on paint manufacturers. Making a marker actually involves much more fixed costs, which is not affected AS MUCH as paint prices. You are right, paint companies aren't making a lot ofmoney, but thats because their margins are shrinking due to the rising costs of petroleum.

in other words paintballguns incur petroleum costs HOWEVER those costs are a smaller percentage in comparison to total costs (it has a lot more R/D costs, marketing costs, legals costs, and of course customer support is a huge cost for markers). a paintballs manufacturing cost is highly dependent on variable petroleum costs not so much on r/d, marketing, and customer support)

[Cesar(TM)]

you can make paint w/out using petroleum...

[EasyEK]

Originally Posted by Cesar(TM)

you can make paint w/out using petroleum...

you are 100% correct, however i never said we can avoid all petroleum costs. What I am saying is:

1) Paintballs are affected by petrol prices much more than other paintball products, such as paintball guns
2) Since paintball prices are so heavily reliant on variable petroleum costs, we can reduce the size of paintballs to reduce costs. Small paintball=less petrol needed=less cost. On top of that. Smaller paintballs will have a higher transport density, which means that you can transport more paintballs for at lower cost of transportation per case.

[boissupercoo]

this thread hurts my brain... can we please just use .68?

[Cesar(TM)]

Originally Posted by boissupercoo

this thread hurts my brain... can we please just use .68?

agreed, if you cant afford the paint...dont shoot so much.

[EasyEK]

well the point of this thread is to discuss the benefits of shooting small bore paint. Lower cost per shot is a factor; however there are other performance benefits that may exist as well. While there are pros, there are also cons, and I just want to get everyones opinion.