How brittle is too brittle?

[ghost flanker]

Regarding paint brittleness, how brittle is too brittle today for a tuned Level 10 mag? How do you conduct your drop tests and at what threshold do you draw the line?

Back in the day, the rule was to take a handful of paintballs and drop them one at a time onto flat concrete from a height of 6 feet and catch it on the bounce up (if it didn't break). Continue the "drop and catch" with the same paintball until it breaks.
A break after and average of;

1-2 drops = too brittle
3-5 drops = good
6 or more = too hard

Apparently this isn't the case anymore, at least not with tournament grade paint. Today, any high end paint that tends to not break after one 5 foot drop is considered way too hard, as demonstrated 1:59-3:02 in this video here:

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=Y9RoLy7i8Q4

So then what would be considered too brittle for you?

[Cyco-Dude]

does it break in my barrel? it's too brittle...lol. i had a bad batch of redemption once...it was even breaking in my geo 3.5.

[going_home]

Wait, Dye is selling paint again ?

That was some of the nicest paint I've shot in years.


EDIT: ok my bad, 3 year old vid

[Patron God of Pirates]

Shot a case of 4 star once that was breaking in my pods. Since then I won't even bother with the stuff.

[ghost flanker]

I guess what I meant to ask is, "What is your ideal/optimum brittleness? At what height does your favorite tournament paint start breaking in a drop test?"

[blackdeath1k]

My standard is brake on target and not in gun. If it doea that and shoots strait im happy.

[ghost flanker]

I've actually had rather good experiences with GI Spotz 4 star. The 5 star I've tried behaved like you described, though.

[going_home]

I've actually had rather good experiences with GI Spotz 4 star. The 5 star I've tried behaved like you described, though.

I've given up on anything from GI.

None of it breaks unless its a mask, gun, loader etc.

Local pro shop is stocking Valken and APX.

Seems to be ok stuff.

[JKR]

Old school zen...straight from the master. 6 bounce stuff was the good stuff!

http://www.automags.org/forums/showthread.php?16473-Tech-Tip-4-How-to-Test-Paintballs-and-Adjust-Breakage

[ghost flanker]

But is that post still relevant today? It's certainly in direct opposition to the video I linked in my first post where the youtuber expected the Dye paint to break on the first drop from 5 feet. The consensus in the comment section was also unanimous on this expectation. So are Level 10 mags gentle enough for paint that brittle even though TK recommended a maximum brittleness of 2-3 bounces from a 6 ft drop? Or are modern tournament-worthy electros really that much more gentle on paint than mags?

[JKR]

Just watched that video and have to say, that guy isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. I can guarantee that the Graffiti I shoot (which he says he shoots also) will not break on the first drop in a 6ft drop test. Even standard Redemption is harder than that. If you ask me, I would say that guy has some type of agenda other than a fair assessment of the Dye paint.

[ghost flanker]

You're totally right. Here's another video of him testing Valken Graffiti where he only gets 1 break out of 8 drops (pretty much the same result as his Dye CG drop test of 2 breaks out of 18 drops), yet he makes no mention of how unacceptably hard Graffiti is:

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=mTtgPhTefxA

And I found this extremely frustrating video of him going full retard where he does a 2nd drop test with Dye CG as an attempt to reaffirm his initial results. Soooo many things wrong with this drop test demonstration I could write a book addressing it all. He's clearly biased. The break to drop ratio from the first 2 handfuls was 1 to 5, by the way (I stopped counting after that for good reason), and he didn't even bother to drop test the bag of Valken Redemption he brought out for comparison, either. So yeah, this idiot.

https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=lVn2L07TZcY

[athomas]

I like the drop test and recommend anything under 5 bounces for general play. As a second test, you should be able to throw the paint at the ground (solid wood or concrete) and have it break every time. If it bounces, then its too hard. You have to reassess if paint breaks on first drop. You don't want something that is so brittle that it gets crushed in your pods or by the force of your hopper.

I like paint that is super brittle. I trust that my level 10 setup will shoot anything and I want the paint to break if it even comes close to my target. If the paint will make it out of my barrel, then it passes the "too brittle" test.

[paint magnet]

If it breaks on the first bounce, it's too brittle. Even if the gun can handle it I don't want to end up with a hopper full of soup after diving into the snake.

I think 2-3 bounces is about right for most guns. Last time I was at the field I shot a case of the GI 4 star stuff through my level 7 Mag and didn't break a single ball. I also watched shots bounce off plywood bunkers and 55 gallon plastic drums. I wouldn't buy that garbage again unless I wanted to trim trees.

[Sandman]

We shoot 4 star Hellfire out of RT ULE mags all the time no issues.
Breaks within a bounce or two...

You have to constantly test and try paint. All paint is susceptible to being made bad.

Graffiti is good marking paint, and runs well as high grade recreational paint. Graffiti is not all virgin shell though and can be tough.
Honestly Redemption is about the same, although it is supposed to always be virgin shell. Tends to bounce several times before a break.
Graffiti makes for excellent clip fed paint.

Premium, 3 star, etc... all bounce a few times before breaking but make great high rec or low end tournament.

Most mags, even older level 7's will shoot all of this paint as long as your detents are good.