Paintball Tips

• How To Store Paintballs
• Why Are Paintballs Breaking In My Gun?
• Cleaning Broken Paintballs

How to store paintballs

Store paintballs between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, in not more than 50 percent relative humidity. Humidity and moisture make paintballs swell up since both the gelatin shell and the paintball's fill are moisture-sensitive. Once they swell, they'll never be the same again. Since you cannot take the moisture back out, it is very important to keep paintballs in moisture-barrier bags of containers. You can use a plastic bag that is four mils or more thick, like a moisture-barrier freezer bag. Paintballs can be stored in tubes or pods that have snug- fitting caps. Keep the containers closed as much as you can, at home, during transport, and at the field. The more humid it is, the more important it is to protect your paint from the humidity. DO NOT store paint in your refrigerator.

Paintballs work well in most weather conditions, but they should be kept well protected from any temperature extremes. Keep them out of the heat and sun, or the raw cold. At the field, keep them sealed, shaded from the sun and protected from the cold. Too much heat can cause the gelatin shell of a paintball to soften, meaning the paintball might deform, bounce more, or stop feeding into the paintgun. Never leave your paint in the direct sun or in a hot trunk. In colder weather, when on the field, try to keep paintballs at 60 to 70 degrees. Paintballs that get too cold will eventually become deformed, and you cannot make them back into round paintballs.

The most common complaint about paintballs is that they don't fit in someone's gun. What you usually will find, especially in humid climates, is that the person did not take care of the paint. When you see bags or boxes of paint left open or left outside when it's hot or cold, don't be surprised to hear complaints about the paint.

Why are paintballs breaking in my gun?

Most often the breaking has to do with the paintballs and not with the gun, so check your paintballs first. Paintball guns that are sold today are usually heavily tested by the manufacturer for breaking paintballs. They are not released to the public unless they work great in this respect, so the problem is usually found in the paintballs or in the operation of the gun, not the design.
You should find the solution to your problem below:

• Poorly made paintballs. Not all paintballs are the same. Just because a company makes paintballs doesn't mean that they will work. Use only recognized names such as RP Scherer, ZAP and others. Stay away from Brass Eagle and other brands that are sold at a very low price.
• Paintballs get old. Paintballs have a shelf life: Even high quality paintballs don't perform well after sitting in warehouse or store for more than 3 months. You can't know how long a store has had the paintballs you are buying, but try to buy paintballs from a store that sells a lot of them so you have a better chance of getting "fresher" paintballs. If, after buying several times from the same place, you keep having problems and you have eliminated the other things on this list, chances are the paintballs are old.
• Cold temperatures or humidity will degrade paintballs. Paintballs subjected to periods of cold temperatures will develop invisible weak spots on their shell. Once degraded, there is nothing you can do, even if you warm them up. Sometimes paintballs are exposed to the cold in transit from the manufacturer to the distributor to the store and you will never know. Most reputable dealers, etc., will use heated trailers transport their paintballs in colder weather. When you go out to play in the cold, only take as many paintballs as you plan to use each game. Leave the rest in a warm place like a building or warm car. If you leave a case of paintballs in the staging area while you are playing a couple of games, chance are that the cold will degrade them. Keep you paintballs out of the humidity. Once you open a bag we recommend that you keep the remainder in a sealable bag or container (Rubbermaid works great).
• Paintball diameters vary. You may not be able to tell by looking but some paintballs are slightly fatter than others. In most cases this won't matter, but if you are using aftermarket barrels be careful not to buy one with a smaller bore size.
• Dirty breech or barrel. Any little broken piece of paintball or dirt in the barrel or breech will certainly cause each paintball that is shot to break.
• The velocity of your gun might be too high. Check the velocity with a chronograph: If you are shooting over 300 F.P.S., turn it down to about 280 F.P.S. If your velocity is too high you are shooting illegally and can hurt someone, and the higher velocity setting will break more paintballs.
• The gun's ball detent (anti-double feed) is missing or broken. This part keeps the gun from feeding two paintballs at a time. If it is missing or broken, a second paintball or part of one will land in the breach incompletely and cause a break.

Cleaning Broken Paintballs

Get a very large, old towel. If you see any broken paint that's easy to reach without spreading the paint around, gently pick those broken paintballs out of the bag. Gently roll the paint out of the bag and onto the towel. Pick out any other broken paintballs that you can. Now, slowly roll a small number of paintballs around on the towel using the flat of your palm. Don't push down on them too hard or they'll break. Grasp both ends of the towel so the paint is all inside the towel in a sort of pocket. Gently rock the towel so the paint rolls slowly back and forth. Next, and here's the tough part, use your ears. Section by section, roll the paint around in small handfuls, and listen to the sound as ball hits ball. A sharp "click" means good paint. A dull flat "cluck" means a cracked shell is stuck on a good ball. After you have repeatedly rolled, looked, listened, checked and re-checked, put the paint into a box gently, and turn the towel over. Put the paint back into the towel on the clean side and check some more. You have to work a bit and have patience to clean a case or bag of paint: If you rush things, you can easily miss a shell or broken ball. Finally, make sure the bag you put the paintballs back into is clean.