Biggest paintball gimmick of all time

[cfos00]

The closed bolt being more accurate thing actually came from a bit of truth in the mid-90's, but not for the reason that you may think. At the time, no one really thought/cared/knew about bore size and accuracy. The gear and sport just wasn't to the point where we really got why everything worked the way it did. The reason that closed bolt was more accurate was an accident. Closed bolt guns needed a good paint-barrel match because otherwise the ball would role out of the barrel. It wasn't a problem on mags/spyders/tippmans (the other popular guns at the time, but really any other open bolt like an illustrator or scorpion or piranha) had because they have ball detents. It was an accident, but many were more accurate because of that. Around the late-90's/2000's we got testing that showed why guns were actually accurate, and people realized that the firing mechanism itself had nothing to do with it.

I'd say ramrod, the magic box, and the market for low pressure chambers in the late 90's that sparked ridiculous claims of further shots and more accuracy.

[Newt]

Monsterball. Save $5 now, and you too can welt all your friends and their friends out of the sport on their first game!

[factoid]

Paintball is a dying sport. Can't tell you how often I hear that and how sad it is that so many veterans believe it.

[Target Practice]

My posting.

[dre1919]

I would say my list would be:

1. Venturi Bolts.
2. Angel Volumizers.
3. Long barrel = better range / accuracy.

[Mindflux]

Paintball is a dying sport. Can't tell you how often I hear that and how sad it is that so many veterans believe it.

I'll never believe it's a "sport" to begin with.

There's near zero athleticism needed.

If Paintball is a "sport", so is playing pinball.

[CatoRockwell]

I don't know who you are playing paintball with, but athleticism plays a big role in our games. Additionally it's a different set of skills. Like target shooting a recognized olympic sport.

[SOUP]

I'll never believe it's a "sport" to begin with.

There's near zero athleticism needed.

If Paintball is a "sport", so is playing pinball.

Have you ever played in any leagues? Divisional paintball takes a whole lot more athleticism than your everyday walk on experience. Playing psp events for example, your constantly on the move, sliding, snap shooting, running, diving, communicating, and etc. What happens when the game ends? You turn around and do it all over again... Its exhausting.

If it wasn't a sport we wouldn't have devisions with higher skill levels.

Just my $0.02

[caylegeorge]

If Paintball is a "sport", so is playing pinball.

Pinball is indeed, to some, a sport:

http://tiltwarning.com/blog/2010/08/world-pinball-championships-final-and-deciding-game/

[Ando]

Nascar is considered a sport and all they do is sit on their 6

[Flatliner333]

50 Cal

[Magmoormaster]

Closed bolt guns being more accurate, followed by bore-matching for making a gun more accurate. Both have been proven false.

[factoid]

Nascar is considered a sport and all they do is sit on their 6

I'm not a nascar fan, but i will say those guys are generally in very good shape and they take a lot of abuse on the track.

Taking a turn at 150+mph causes some pretty intense g-forces, plus those cars have minimal thermal protection between the engines and the cabin, so it's like a furnace in there. At the accelerator pedal it's so hot they have to wear thick fireproof boots otherwise their shoes would melt off.

Apparently a pretty common off-track training exercise for drivers is to wear a helmet with huge weights strapped to it, so they can strengthen their neck muscles to counter the g-forces on the turns.

I don't care for the sport from a spectator's point of view, but when I learned what those guys go through in the car I developed a newfound respect.

Not to mention the whole drive 200mph with 40 other guys in a close pack. Lose concentration at the wrong time and you can die.

[paintballbudd]

electronic paintball guns.

-buddo

[Frizzle Fry]

"Fast" hoppers (i.e. Rotor, Halo, Prophecy, etc)...

Functional? Yes. Necessary? No.

Most tournaments, leagues and fields don't allow an ROF higher than the feed rate offered by a $20 VL Revvy... If you absolutely "need" something force-fed, you can get a VL Force for $30, or a Velocity JR. or Warpfeed for about $60. Why in gods name does every kid with a <$300 marker think he needs a $125+ loader?


That said I love my Halos and my Pinokio, but I've got a pile 'o markers and I certainly didn't pay full price for any of my loaders.