.50 cal ballistics data

[Gadget]

Blatantly ripped from PBN. "Painthappy" is the owner of the MCarterBrown forums.

100 rounds of sealed production paint was weighed and the average was 1.21 grams.

Lots of talk, little data. Trying to change that.

Here is a complete ballistics report comparing .50 to .68 caliber.

Most .68 caliber weigh roughly 3.0 grams to 3.2 grams. We used the 3.0 for these calculations shooting at 300 FPS

After weighing .50 caliber paint from Cup, the average weight was 1.21 grams. This also jives with the number from a .50 caliber beta tester that posted weight numbers on his blog.

The results in full can be found here:
http://mcarterbrown.com/50ballistics/
and here is the Google spreadsheet version can be see here (it's the same thing):
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AogvJmThiCeZdHFQVklxOXV4aTVBczJ3VlBuQnFfckE&hl=en

From the link, you can see I have posted the ballistics program used, the data input, etc. Don't just blindly trust folks, or even me... Run the data for yourself.

Images for the truly lazy:

I want to make sure credit is given to Incynr8 for starting the data and creating most of the data, my inside man for weighing the paint, and Bryce for giving me the online excel and graphing idea. Thanks!

Next is real world testing... Which we'll do and the video is coming in the next week or so, so keep an eye on my youtube channel for more on that (link is in the sig...)

More soon...

Someone asked me how fast does a .50 caliber ball need to be traveling to have the same performance... So I also ran the numbers shooting a .50 ball at 400 FPS and 450 FPS.

http://www.mcarterbrown.com/50ballistics/more.html

 

[Gadget]

I keep seeing people say "it's not the final production fill". And that bothers me somewhat. So we have a company making claims on a paint they haven't created yet?

I mean... What is this paint I have in these sealed plastic bags nicely labeled GIMilsim? The junk stuff?

So let's assume it's the cheaper stuff... Fine.

Paint varies roughly 10% in fill weights. .68 caliber paint I ran numbers at 3.0 grams, the real heavy tournament stuff weighs in at even MORE and is roughly 3.3 grams. That's a 10% increase. You can only make the paint weigh so much and still have it go splat on it's target. Any more and you're just shooting silly putty.

So let's add 10% to the current "production" fill. That brings us to 1.331 grams. Again, we can only go so high without making the cost either really expensive, or any higher and it won't be viscous enough to make a splat.

Here are those numbers:
http://www.mcarterbrown.com/50ballistics/10percentmore.html

...

 

[Gadget]

Figured we also might as well run the numbers on how the paint is affected by wind. The lighter the projectile the more affected it will be.

Throw a golf ball and a ping pong ball in a strong wind. Obviously the lighter ball will drift further off your original target than the golf ball would.

We have the same situation here.

Data:
http://www.mcarterbrown.com/50ballistics/wind.html

Using a 10 MPH wind, I figured the drift for a 3.0 gram .68 caliber ball, the current production 1.21 gram .50 caliber ball, and our theoretical (but not a reality yet if ever) heavier 1.331 gram .50 caliber ball.

The sooner the curve (at distance) the more affected the paint will be due to wind.

...

 

[Sid Sidgwick]

Nice to see some scientific data. Hmmmm does fly in the face of the hype (or drops off early) Nice to see what data is realsed against it.

 

[Gadget]

Validation of the paint weights from Jack Wood:

http://www.techpb.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=60518&view=findpost&p=748878

Hi,

Sorry I haven't been around for a while. Just been super-busy.

I have just weighed 2 differerent 0.50 brands of balls, each brand having 2 different batches (so 4 different balls altogether), and they all weigh in at exactly 1.2g

I have some of the "Tournament Grade" GI paint that I picked up at Cup in the truck on the way to RI to forward to me in the UK, and I will weigh that also. That would be Monday next week, I hope.

Jack

 

[blinket]

it dosnt look greatly promising for the fact that in speedball and also recball distance is a key factor. If paint isnt traveling as far it will make things different and more chalenging though.

The pros and cons of .50 realy ned to be weighed up:

Pros:

1)More shots in your hopper
2)More shots per fill of air
3)Possible cheapness

Cons:

1)Less Distance
2)Less Power
3)Possibly less visible marks left (debateable)
4)Could change the game in a negative way
5)Cost of conversion kits or new markers (however this could be balanced out with reduced paint prices)

 

[Gadget]

Needs to be said that all of these figures (except for the paint weights, which are real-world data) are based on theoretical modelling. Once we have real-world, unbiased test results, then we can start unpicking the hype......or not

 

[Sid Sidgwick]

Im looking forward to ssing what response is released to this data, its all theoretical after all.

it dosnt look greatly promising for the fact that in speedball and also recball distance is a key factor. If paint isnt traveling as far it will make things different and more chalenging though.

The pros and cons of .50 realy ned to be weighed up:

Pros:

1)More shots in your hopper-great as long as they reach the other end and have enough power to break
2)More shots per fill of air-Maybe in scenario this is an issue but in speedball ive never ever ran out of air in a game
3)Possible cheapness-now this is the biggy, if the saving outweighs the cost of changing kit then its ok, again only if the ball is any good.

Cons:

1)Less Distance-Mighty big problem, unless of course the ball is going to be changed before release
2)Less Power-If it still breaks this aint an issue
3)Possibly less visible marks left (debateable)-As you say debated already
4)Could change the game in a negative way-May stop movment and slow the game down, was this a point in changing? may also improve the game
5)Cost of conversion kits or new markers (however this could be balanced out with reduced paint prices)-bingo

 

[Gadget]

One other (unrelated and quite possibly incorrect) rumor mentioned on a number of other forums is that after Richmond Italia sold his stake in Procaps he was paid off, but part of that package was a 'non-competition' clause, preventing him from producing paint to compete with Procaps (i.e. standard .68 cal).....and now suddenly he's promoting .50.

<Insert conspiracy theory here>.

 

[Swampthing]

good posts Gadget