New size paintballs?

[Devrij]

Ses, any new ball will have to validated by the respective governing bodies of each country..and these governing bodies will be made up of federations and promoters .... but, you must realise, this then becomes a matter of politics, I think it pertinent at this point to ask yourself, what happened when XBall hit the world of paintball?

Richmond was the person behind that, he also has many friends in this industry and I think the main determinant in whether any new idea is validated or not is when people consider if that new idea is good for paintball as a whole.
If it feels that criterion then I think its adoption will be relatively seamless as was XBall.
I think you guys need to be looking at dragging positives out of this instead of pulling negatives from it.

There are lots of potential positives, as long as the ball breaks easily and reliably. That's the only real issue here. Until we find out if this will be the case, any discussion will just go in circles. If Richmond manages to make a good ball, rock on, but pulling positives out of something that's failed in the past is like being bent over a table by a big guy called molly and being told not to worry so I can understand the doubts that have been expressed. When are we expecting to see this stuff on sale or demo'd?

 

[Missy-Q]

Agreed. We should switch to basketball sized paintballs for TV though.

Oh, and Billy Ball? That term is new to me. Did I miss something in this thread?

Its a way for your gun to feel and appear broken without it actually being broken. You just get 20 people with this same mode and then you sit around and wait to see how long it takes them to shoot each other.
Voila - Billy-ball.

 

[Piper]

kingman .43 calibre god it gets worse

How?

 

[Buddha 3]

Its a way for your gun to feel and appear broken without it actually being broken. You just get 20 people with this same mode and then you sit around and wait to see how long it takes them to shoot each other.
Voila - Billy-ball.

So I take it that game times goes up from a few minutes to a few days?

 

[Missy-Q]

So I take it that game times goes up from a few minutes to a few days?

If you only half-fill peoples loaders, you may be able to limit each game to a days play...

Thing is, if you miss/bounce someone, especially at close range, you have to wait 2 full seconds until your gun will shoot another ball, or run away. I imagine those 2 seconds must sometimes feel like an eternity...

 

[tech]

I don't want to seem argumentative here,
But how can you have 2 different sized balls running alongside each other at the same event, especially if they both have different chrono limits.
This is one thing that i just can't get my head around.

Russ

Airsoft happily runs three different fps limits on the same field of play:
Automatic / Single action / Pistol.

Plus Airsoft happily runs with different weighted BBs and until recently i believe they had more than one .cal. (not 100% on that last one.......)

Though it is worth pointing out that airsoft AEG's are solely designed to be shot at targets and not at humans. Not that the airsoft community pays much attention to this mind you!

The advert page linked to earlier on in this thread is clearly depicting milsim / scenario players. They are after all the largest market in the paintball community.

Tournament players may like to think of themselves as the focus of the industry but they are solely used to get the brand names out there. The money is made in the woods! Money clearly does grow on trees.....

A couple of references have been made to why you would want a longer range shot etc. There are the flatline barrel system etc out there currently putting spin on the ball making the old .68 fly further. Alas they have no energy left when they reach the target and thus do not break.
With a .50 this could be rectified and that illusive long range elimination could be a more common occurrence.

The new wax shelled, golf ball dimpled, ball should in theory be easier to store and keep for longer. This would reduce costs as it would no longer require refrigeration to maintain its integrity.
With there intrinsic characteristics the ball should perform better ballistic..ally.

With the UK law saying anything under 12 foot pounds (excluding pistols) is a toy means that yes if the balls where light they could be fired at near 500 fps. Realistically firing at those fps limits would be unsafe so with a heavier fill the 12 foot pound limit could be reached at a more 'pain free' fps.

Yes with smaller calibre pellets you do now have a higher capacity in the same sized pots / hoppers but they will now have a much greater mass so your average 4+3 pack and 250 capacity rotor will weigh more.

The new powder fills is where I see issues.
Apparently the tests have shown that they do mark well.
I am more referring to getting shot in the grill and inhaling the fill. I do not think the insurance companies would be very keen on this.

Once again i can only speculate as i do not know facts. I have heard things on the grape vine but know no one actually involved.

The facts will emerge in time.

With the volume of current .68 equipment in circulation currently i do not see the death of the .68 ball for a few years. If there is demand for a product, the .68 ball, a supplier will deliver.

 

[Dark Warrior]

How?

0.68
0.50
0.43

looks like a size war is going to break out

Sadly I bet British and European Law will have minimal bearing on decisions being made
Could we be nearer to following following Germany

 

[Piper]

.43 cal has been around for years, so not real change there.

.50 cal will be an option for people to take if they want, anyone new site opening will save money in the long run any sites that change their equipment further down the raod they will have the option of .68 or .50

Personally I think this is a good thing as people now have an option almost like a car you want the standard package or the GTI super charged version

 

[Milky]

ok assuming all the mechanics of the balls and the guns are sorted out

i find it easy enough to lose a .68 hit as it is, surly it will be even easier to lose a .50 and a lot more difficult for the reffs to tell spray rub or hit ?

 

[Matski]

Personally I think this is a good thing as people now have an option almost like a car you want the standard package or the GTI super charged version

More like a 1.25 Fiesta or a 1.4 Fiesta.

Historically .50 cal has had its downsides. If they have worked some serious magic on this version then those may have gone. All we have seen so far is a press release. It's all very 'BetaMax vs VHS videotapes', and VHS (the poorer format) won that battle because on balance it did the best job. For this to take hold it has to be a .68 beater on all levels really or the benefits will be a trade off for players to debate, something that could either win you or cost you games. For starters, as Milky suggests above, there is no point having an accurate ball if your opponent can wipe it with ease and shoot you back with .68 orange Hellfire - we'll have to wait and see.