Paintball Fit Questions and Idea

[hotrod]

I'm an occasional recball player, and I find choosing paint to be really frustrating. It seems like every time I buy paint it's a crap shoot picking a brand. I read the paint to barrel charts and supposedly PMI Prems are a good fit for my J&J ceramic (medium fits medium). But the case I just bought rolls right through. According to common teachings that is not a good fit. Then I check PBReview and every paint gets a bunch of tens and a few ones. The reviews usually talk about how the paint curves around trees. Is that the ball or the gun? PBReview is useless for picking paint.

Also, how does roundness affect performance? I just bought a case of Zap Rec that is more round than the PMI Prems. How do I barrel fit a ball that is .020 smaller across poles than at the seam?

If you have any thoughts on these problems, please enlighten me.

Now I have a proposal. What about making a paintball data base here? Just scientific data and a one or two sentence review on performance. Basically record brand, colors, surface finish, package, and maybe location of purchase. Take five balls from the new case. Measure diameter at the seam and at the pole (using calipers or micrometer). Then perform the six foot drop test. Note any oddities or problems when used on the field. Do this for each case, even if you already reviewed that brand three months ago.

The goal is to keep the data clean and simple, not loaded up with opinions and anecdotes. This way, you can see how a specific brand really measures up and how consistent production is. What do you think?

[deathstalker]

I think most, if not all, of the bore charts you'll find on the web nowadays are a bit outdated. PMI Premiums seemed to get smaller with the Advantage shell (they fit my AutoSpirit perfectly), while Marbalizers seemed to get larger (they fit my BigShot).

Part of the problem with a database like this is there is no guarantee that paint will be identical from case to case or batch to batch, or possibly even in the same case(!). When I used Severe at Shatnerball last year, one ball would roll through my AutoSpirit while the next one wouldn't even fit. Then you need to consider the source of said data. I'm sure there would be quite a few people posting when they can't accurately measure diameter or properly perform a drop test.

[trains are bad]

This is my system, and it works for me.

I have a handful of one piece barrels. All old and ugly. But they are different bore sizes. I use the one that fits my paint the best. I define 'best fit' as 'smallest bore the paint still falls through' (yes falls through).

To pick paint I go by roundness and consistency. I perform drop tests on concrete to get some idea of how breakable it is.

[hotrod]

Batch to batch differences are one of the things I want to see. I would like to know if marbs are always the same size, but all-stars are all over the place.

Accurate measurements do pose a challenge. I realize that most players don't own calipers. It would be nice if somebody made up a sizing gage with a bunch of different size holes.

[SeeK]

Batch to batch differences are one of the things I want to see. I would like to know if marbs are always the same size, but all-stars are all over the place.

Accurate measurements do pose a challenge. I realize that most players don't own calipers. It would be nice if somebody made up a sizing gage with a bunch of different size holes.

It'd be nicer if the size was printed on the container along with the date of manufacture.

Any decent paint manufacturer would run QA on their products per batch to see if it's within their target specs for size and weight. This would be necessary for them to know to determine if the machine needs repair.

Now that we know the data should be there who will put it out first?

[hotrod]

Yeah, seeing the quality data printed on boxes would be great. That would first require the manufacturers to solidify their tolerances and publish them. It seems hard to imagine that happening since it hasn't been done yet.

I'm curious what type of tolerances they can actually hold on their product. Back in the day, each manufacturer just had one product. You were either buying Zap or RPScherer or Nelspot, etc. Now every mfr has 5 ~ 10 grades each with vague applications. Personally, I think it's just a marketing thing so they can sell any garbage they make. Now, if I get a bad batch of Brand X paint I assume it's my fault because I didn't buy Brand X Super Premiums.

Seems like it would be more cost effective to just focus on making one quality brand of paint all the time. Then people would know that brand is reliable. Now if I get a bad batch of Brand X, I'm most likely going to switch to Brand Y instead of buying the Brand X Super Premiums.

Maybe we need a players union to drive change in the product suppliers. :rolleyes: