Origin of paintball??

[LeadBasedPaint]

Hello

I have to write an explanitory paper about paintball and I need to find out info. How did it start, what was the first gun, that sort of stuff. Thanks.

[Muzikman]

A few issues back, APG had a pretty good write up about the history of paintball. Other than that, do a search on Warpig

[LeadBasedPaint]

What issue? Maybe I can find it at the library.

[Chris]

Like he said, check APG, but until then this may help.

Paintballs were first used to mark trees to be cut down. Some guys got the idea in the early eighties, maybe late seventies, to play a game of hide and seek with said paintball guns. The guns used for marking the trees were much like the PGP I believe. The all operated off of 12 grams, and had a few rounds in a tube. Anyways, It took off from there. Maybe a few other members can help a lot more, but that is a little bit from my foggy memory on the subject.

-Chris

[AkaEnder]

thats mostly right. they made their way from the logging forests to the farms where people used a heavy oil based paint to mark cattle while moving them around.
it didnt take too long for people to shoot them at each other after that.

[billmi]

If you want to know about how it first started, straight from the horse's mouth, check these links.

A brief timeline of major points in the development of the sport:

http://www.warpig.com/paintball/newbie/rspfaq.shtml#history

Short text, and a 12 minute speech in Real Audio with Hayes Noel, one of the players in the first organized game of paintball, and a part of National Survival Game (the company which franchised and spread the game)

http://www.warpig.com/paintball/articles/hayes/index.shtml

Bob Gurnsey, another participant in that first game and founder of National Survival Game in a half hour video interview with Debra Krishke (early employee of NSG, and present producer of International Amateur Open):

http://www.pigtv.net/01_summary/01_gurnsey.shtml

See you on the field,
-Bill Mills

[LeadBasedPaint]

Thanks!