How many paintballs come in a case of paint?

[NJPaint]

I was loading up pods and noticed that the case of Blaze that I was loading was umm, short a few balls...

The first bag I opened, I filled 4 pods full, but the last pod was only half full. Thats ~450 paintballs. I thought that it was a fluke so I tried another bag... I filled 4 tubes to the top, but my 5th tube was only 75% full. So ~475 in that bag. I thought wtf, something is wrong, let me check another case... So I opened a second case of blaze and did the same with another bag. It was about in the middle of the other two bags.

So lets theorize that each bag was about 33 paintballs short. That means that every case is 133 paintballs short of what they advertise. Makes me wonder that this month I probobly am missing almost half a case of paint. Has anyone else tried doing this? Or ever wondered if the paintball companies are actually giving you 2000 paintballs? I was really baffled.
[/end conspiracy theory]

okay, maybe I just have a bad set of cases, or maybe just a bad set of Blaze... I checked to make sure my tubes were 100rnd tubes and I rechecked the paint... I still haven't hand counted the paint, but I think I might, just to make sure that the rough *pod* method is somewhat accurate. If someone who has Blaze on hand could do an independant check, I'd greatly appreciate it.

I mean, its not like a few balls here and there is that big a deal, but this is almost 10% of the paint missing, thats pretty bad...

[TheTramp]

Well, to answer your question...2000 but I think you already knew that ;) .

If you want to see if you are really getting short-changed you should count the paint ball by ball. If it's really 10% off that's something to complain about. I would think +/- 10 balls (not %) per bag would be normal as the machine filling the bags isn't exactly counting but 10% missing in each bag shows (IMHO) a filling machine that's been intentionaly set low.

[cphilip]

Yea 2000, but heck I remember cases were 2500 per case for Nelson Splat back when it was pretty decent paint!

[langrage]

Did you make sure your pods only held 100 balls? May be your tubes hold 105 balls or 110? Granted the cases may have been off some but your tubes could be the problem as well

[NJPaint]

lol, I KNOW cases are marked 2000 rnds, having gone through dozens of them, I would hope that they were around there... But anyways, I filled up the tubes with the first bag (had them in a bucket) and hand counted the contents, 102, 101, 103, 99, 55 I'd say not bad... Came out to 460 exactly. I'm not out to sue anyone... I just was surprised (probobly first time I'm loading paint in my room instead of just shoving it into pods right next to the field...

[TheBigRaguPB4L]

I was thinking about this the other day when i bought a different brand of paint. I fill usually fill 3 tubes up with one bag and have a handful of paint left over with one bag of most draxxus(midnight, blaze). I bought a case of primer a few weeks back goign to a different field and noticed thati had more left over after the first bag. By the second bag, i had 7 pods by the end of the second bag. That ne3ver happened with any midnight case i have ever gotten. I'd be willing to bet they've been shorting the paint for quite a while to save a little bit of money.

[langrage]

You could always email these people to find out. but for some strange reason the guy likes rubbing things on his face:confused:

http://www.cockeyed.com/inside/howmuchinside.html

[-=Squid=-]

Thats odd, the stuff at my field, I believe, has more than 500 per bag, not marked that way though, because I can fill 3 pods and my halo to the brim and have a handful left over from one bag of marked 500...hmm :confused:

[shartley]

Paint size will also determine how many balls will fit in a pod. Even a small change in size can create the difference in the amount of balls a pod can hold. I suggest never using a pod to determine how many balls are in your case. I would suggest actually counting them if you are worried. Only use pods as a rough indicator.

I bet that if you purchased 10 cases of paint, it would all even out in the end…. Short VS Over.

[NJPaint]

Originally posted by shartley
Paint size will also determine how many balls will fit in a pod. Even a small change in size can create the difference in the amount of balls a pod can hold. I suggest never using a pod to determine how many balls are in your case. I would suggest actually counting them if you are worried. Only use pods as a rough indicator.

I bet that if you purchased 10 cases of paint, it would all even out in the end…. Short VS Over.

hehe, I know, I checked how many fit in a pod, see 4th post ;)

[shartley]

Originally posted by NJPaint


hehe, I know, I checked how many fit in a pod, see 4th post ;)
Yes, that was one bag. ;)

[hitech]

If you really want to easily count paintballs from a case get 10 of the old school tubes (they hold 10 paintballs each). Tape the 10 of them together in the shape of a "pod". Use that to count the paint (holds exactly 100 paintballs). It really doesn't take that long. :D

[shartley]

Originally posted by hitech
If you really want to easily count paintballs from a case get 10 of the old school tubes (they hold 10 paintballs each). Tape the 10 of them together in the shape of a "pod". Use that to count the paint (holds exactly 100 paintballs). It really doesn't take that long. :D
Yes, that would be one way… but I have a MUCH easier way……………

Dump out all the paintballs onto my living room carpet and then have my kids count them! :D

[hitech]

I thought about that, but then they would want to go in the backyard and shoot them all! They are not old enough to play, but love to shoot. :D Not to mention I'd be finding paintballs rolling around the house for a week. ;)

[deathstalker]

Originally posted by NJPaint
I mean, its not like a few balls here and there is that big a deal, but this is almost 10% of the paint missing, thats pretty bad...
Actually, it's closer to 5% than 10% (6.65% to be exact). Not quite as bad as you make it sound, IMO.:)

To begin, I will state quite clearly that I know absolutely nothing about how balls are "counted" when bagged. My guess is it's done by wieght and if I'm correct, there could be a number of variables causing paint shortages. Their scales might need to be calibrated, the fill might not be consistent in each ball, etc.

Each company might also have it's own QA standards and the issue you describe is still within normal parameters. I've never had a reason to doubt the paint I use, including Blaze, but I expect and get about 3.5 pods (140's) out of a bag of 500.

However, reminds me of the "factoids" tossed around every once in a while stating how much money an airline saved by removing one olive from each salad. There's even a commercial on TV now with the same concept.

[-=Squid=-]

Originally posted by hitech
If you really want to easily count paintballs from a case get 10 of the old school tubes (they hold 10 paintballs each). Tape the 10 of them together in the shape of a "pod". Use that to count the paint (holds exactly 100 paintballs). It really doesn't take that long. :D

Thats how my field counts out bags of 100 to sell. And Shartley, that was freakin hilarious. I almost died laughing! :D

[CrazyLad]

I shoot blaze all the time.. I would check but i only have one more bad left in my case and its already been opened...So ive already shot a few out of it.

[funkmunky56]

I've got 3.5 cases of blaze here, all from the same lot/batch... and I work for an industrial weights and measures company... meaning I have the equipment to do REALLY accurate piececounting quickly... I will do this for you, on all 14 bags of paint, and let you know what I find...

[Lopy-slopy]

some of you are saying 133 paintballs short isn't much. But i think is's alot. Think of feilds that sell paint mostly by the hundreds(ones with lots of noobs). They loose out on like 5-15 buck a case(My feild sells paint $15 a hundred, but it canadian and if you buy a membership it's only $5, but the membership is $200). That adds up. I think they should just put as many balls in the case as they put on the front. Bet you the machines fill them by wight, not the amount of balls, and I guess each ball isn't the same weight so it's never perfect. But 133 is quite a bit IMO.

[Riotz]

Well, since it's paint from National Paintball Supply, I would assume that they are jipping you. :D

[FalconGuy016]

Originally posted by funkmunky56
I've got 3.5 cases of blaze here, all from the same lot/batch... and I work for an industrial weights and measures company... meaning I have the equipment to do REALLY accurate piececounting quickly... I will do this for you, on all 14 bags of paint, and let you know what I find...

Cool! I cant wait

[funkmunky56]

I have completed my study... here is the results, with pictures:

Here is my 3.5 cases of paint, plus a partial bag (emptied into my hat) to be used for sampling purposes, and an empty bag, to be used as a zeroed-off tare (package) weight, so I don't have to open each bag of paintballs :-)

forget that... that pic didn't come out, for some reason... so, here's a pic of the piececounting scale I used, with a certified test weight on it, showing that it's in calibration!

[funkmunky56]

I used a 50-piece sample, as shown in the next picture, to account for any variance in paintball manufacture...

[funkmunky56]

then I cleared off the scale, placed an empty Blaze bag on there, and zeroed it off (sending the scale into a negative weight reading while empty, which will account for the weight of the bag in each count) If this doesn't make sense to you, please let me know. It's pretty standard procedure in sampling and piececounting, though.

[funkmunky56]

then I weighed each bag, like so...

[funkmunky56]

and kept track of the results on each box, like so...

[funkmunky56]

and here are the results:

case 1: 504 506 510 507 = 2027 balls
case 2: 503 506 504 503 = 2016 balls
case 3: 493 493 506 502 = 1994 balls
case 4: 503 492 xxx xxx = 995 balls

in my hat: 375 (partial bag that was emptied for sample/tare)

well, that's the numbers. Discuss. I'm going home. :D

[nerobro]

It would appear nobody is getting ripped off. The difference in the number of pods being filled can easily be explinaed by looking at the size of the paint.

[TheJester]

another thing w/ filling pods/hoppers to count, is the way they're stacked. if you don't have them perfectly stacked each time, you'll get a different count each time.

[Automaggin2]

Originally posted by cphilip
Yea 2000, but heck I remember cases were 2500 per case for Nelson Splat back when it was pretty decent paint!


Back in the day proball used to be 2500! I miss those days, that was the best paint around, though it did bounce alot. we called it Probounce

[RRfireblade]

My experience....
I play Midnite and Blaze almost exclusively.I have a number of used drink containers I use to store 'em in.(around 2 liters) I have one that I marked various amounts on to keep track of how much I shot.They're pretty accurate after many years of filling/emptying.USUALLY,I get more than 2000 per case.Anywhere from 10 to 40 extra.If not it's right at 2000.

Jay.

[Catch22]

paintballs individually can range from less than $00.17 a ball for seconds paint to more than $00.40 a ball for field paint. and if it's field paint than 15 of those $00.40 balls adds up to be 6 bucks. At 1 or 2 cases a weekend that can add up REALLY fast.

[deathstalker]

Originally posted by Catch22
paintballs individually can range from less than $00.17 a ball for seconds paint to more than $00.40 a ball for field paint. and if it's field paint than 15 of those $00.40 balls adds up to be 6 bucks. At 1 or 2 cases a weekend that can add up REALLY fast.
Where the heck do you play??? $0.40 per ball is an $800.00 case!!! I only want to know so I don't ever go there.:D

[ratmonkey]

no kidding. i used to exclusively shoot proball platinums, the only thing my pro-lite wouldn't break. 2500 a case, usually overfilled, those were the days.

[B00bzor]

a while back i used to get more paint in my cases
some pmi gold ones

[paintball8869]

Originally posted by deathstalker

Where the heck do you play??? $0.40 per ball is an $800.00 case!!! I only want to know so I don't ever go there.:D

I think someone might have screwed up on a decimal point. I think he means $.04 per ball, which would make an $80 case. It sounds right to me at least. Who knows, maybe he is paying $800 a case, man would i love to be selling him that paint :)

[funkmunky56]

soo, has my experiment cleared anything up? or sparked more controversy? I mean, except for the "floating decimal point" issue... I think it's fair to say that, like karma, paint will even itself out in the end. Well, 'cept I'm not into that weirdo new age voodoo hippie crap, so who knows. --Dave

[wyn1370]

Originally posted by funkmunky56
or sparked more controversy?
so does your work pay you overtime for these experiments?

[nippinout]

funk, how do we know your calibration was good? :D

I recommend flying to France and using the 0*C platinum cylinders for calibration.

Certainly is interesting that the ball count was off for the cases of paint. High speed filling devices have very good measurement of the filling material.

Maybe try measuring cereal boxes?

I know the paint can gain and lose weight due to moisture.

Can you maybe count the boxes of paint by hand to see for sure if moisture is a factor at all? In large quanitis a small amount of change in water per ball can amount to a few grams worth of paintballs.

You can get some PVC cut down to 10round size and load them in a bundle to count fast.

Good work!

[funkmunky56]

How about NO. But I'll set you up with a nice, dry, clean room for doing the hand counting, if ya wanna show up and do it...

of course I get paid overtime! anything for weights and measures...


and, I know that the scale is in calibration because that weight I used is traceable through the National Institute of Standards and Technology TO the Master Weights in Switzerland, which is what the French OIML weights are traceable to as well... SMARTASS. :D


besides which, technically, it wouldn't matter if the scale is in calibration, as long as it's linear in its error... because the sampling and piececounting were done on the same scale. So take THAT!

Last but definitely NOT least, having used a 50-piece representative sample, as opposed to a 5 or 10-piece, reduces the chance for variance error, because a larger sample tends to include more of the highs and lows in the manufacturing process, which then cancel each other out.

Gotta work now. Later kids. --Dave

[SIGSays]

1: 2005
2: 1993
3: 1985
4: 2001
5: 1994
6: 2020
7: 1979
8: 2014
9: 1983
10:2004

hope my sister can count.. i paid her to count them for me
haha

[Catch22]

I was right!! at $800.00 a case you really can't afford to get jipped!! My bad on the math.