Purpose: To determine whether firing method has any effect on the trajectory and drop of paintballs being shot.
Hypothesis: If the laws of physics are true, then there will be no effect on the trajectory, or drop of the paintballs.
Materials:
Two paintball guns, one using the open bolt method of firing and the other closed
A high grade barrel, one that is accurate, barrel kits could also be used but it would be best to just use one barrel that matches the paint
A sturdy bench mount capable of holding the gun without changing position between shots.
Laser level that can send a beam along a wall
Accurate chronograph
Good video camera, the higher the fps the better, also mounted in a constant position for each test to eliminate different points of view causing confusion
High grade paint
Reballs- the consistency of these should help eliminate some variables
A target with coordinates on it, that can be easily cleaned between shots
Laser pointer that is penlike(cylinder) and has a switch that allows it to stay on without being touched.
probably more stuff but i dont know, will add later
Procedure:
1. Indoors, set up the first gun in a vice. Aim it at the target with the coordinates on it and calibrate by setting the laser pointer in the barrel while its on and letting it settle in the barrel, providing its unobstructed it will align down the center of the barrel allowing the calibration of the gun to the center of the target. Then using the laser measure that can put a beam down a wall, center this so that it runs along the x axis of the gun, seperating the barrel evenly in two to assure that the gun is level, also checking that the height from the center of the barrel matches with the height at which the laser meets the wall with the target. Assuring that the gun is level is key to the accuracy of the experiment.
2. Set up the camera in a sturdy tripod or other type of mount. This will be perpendicular to the line of fire of the gun and should be kept in a constant position for trajectory determinations to eliminate the errors from different points of view. Zoom the camera in so it includes the gun and the target in the opposing edges of the field of view.
3. Now that the gun is level it is important that it is not disturbed, do not disturb the surface it is mounted on. All adjustments should now be made to the target itself. The target should have the x axis along the same level as the barrel, and the laser coming from the center of the barrel should hit at the origin of the target.
Procedure Part 2
Shooting:
1. The gun is now fully calibrated to the target and you can begin shooting using the high grade paintballs following this method.
2. The hopper could be gravity fed with a few balls being loaded at a time, making sure to make minimal hand contact with the paintballs, as not to affect them.
3. Using the accurate chronograph setup in the same position beneath the barrel to avoid giving different readings for velocity.
4. Start the camera recording.
5. With the paintball gun loaded with a paintball in the chamber, the first shot can be fired, it is imperative to record the velocity for every single shot, along with the coordinates on the target and then write them down in a table of some sort. Clean the paint off of the target after each shot. Having another person helping would be convenient at this point.
6. Repeat this for as many shots as you can endure writing, and cleaning, writing and cleaning. The more shots taken give a better average overall and will lead to your results being more credible. Stop filming when all testing has been completed, making sure that it records fully through to show that no tampering had taken place
7. You can then follow this procedure for the other gun, keeping the parameters as close as possible, and making absolutely sure that the barrel of the second gun is level.
Calculations: Now you should have a large amount of data with coordinates corresponding to different velocities. The important coordinate is the Y values correspond to each different velocity, which can be averaged or plotted, it would be wise to eliminate shots that have gone to the side, outside of the main grouping for the average because they were most likely influenced by spin and could give mixed results on the height. However, it is important, if plotting the data on a graph to have all the shots to show the overall accuracy of the gun, because a closer overall grouping adds to the credibility of the results. Also, the video footage can possibly be used to observe the trajectory and compared with shots at the same velocity with the other gun (this is why it’s important not to move the camera). With the two sets of data you can now conclude whether the average drop of the paintball at each different velocity is larger or smaller for each paintball gun. The experiment can not yield results that do not provide a valid conclusion, providing that the two guns were setup identically. There are three possible conclusions to be drawn:
1. One firing method shows a noticeable advantage over the other in the amount of drop for paintballs fired from each gun.
2. There is no discernable difference in the amount of drop for paintballs fired from each gun.
3. The paintballs were too inaccurate to draw any conclusive results between the amounts of drop for each gun, which leads to the conclusion that paintballs are inaccurate enough to void any effects provided by the firing method and it does not matter which method of firing your gun uses. (If this experiment is done with high quality paintballs this statement is further proven because it can be assumed that most paintballs used in real world situations are of lesser quality and thus suffer further from the effects of inaccuracy).
I spent hella days writing this.