Why do we have such big balls?

[Devrij]

I was talking to a mate and we were debating why we don't use smaller paintballs with a denser fill. With air friction being the biggest factor in a paintball's flight, reducing the surface area would seem like a logical step forwards. The only reason I could think of that would make this a bad idea would be that the momentum of the paintball would be distributed over a smaller area and may cause safety issues. I'm sure this has been thought out properly by smart people, so I thought I'd ask: Why don't we play with little balls?

 

[Skeet]

And it would be less likely to break.

 

[spangley_special]

and we would need new markers, hoppers and barrels

 

[Cook$]

And it'd be airsoft.

 

[Hawkins]

Cooks beat me to it : /

 

[Devrij]

And it'd be airsoft.

Touche salesman. I will concede that my idea is pants.

 

[Lucky]

Why don't we play with little balls?

We do!

GunsforMidgets.com

 

[onasilverbike]

It's all to do with the gel encapsulation technology that was already in place (bath beads basically) at the dawn of paintball, as the markers were produced to use the projectiles made using this process .69 caliber became the industry standard and has remained so.

 

[Lucky]

It's all to do with the gel encapsulation technology that was already in place (bath beads basically) at the dawn of paintball, as the markers were produced to use the projectiles made using this process .69 caliber became the industry standard and has remained so.

And the fact that .43 & .50 just don't break very well, so there's no point having them..........or is there

 

[evoonline]

Why do we have such big balls? gotta stop getting shot between the legs.!