Upping dye dam velocity?

[LukeD]

Hi, I live in the woods and would like to use a paintball marker as a plinker as it is less of a fuss than using my 22lr, I don't want a firearms licence anymore. I can get a good price for the dye dam and find it very nice looking and the fact that it can fully auto is great. The problem I have with using it as a pinker is that at 280fps it is to slow to really do anything from any distance. I'm looking to up the velocity to the 400fps plus range. closing in on 500fps would be ideal. I'm looking at shooting firststrikes but am aware that and that velocity they might burst inside the barrel so will probably use practice balls. What would I need to change for the marker to be able to handle that kind of output pressure? Any help would be appreciated thanks.

 

[Tom]

Hi, I live in the woods and would like to use a paintball marker as a plinker as it is less of a fuss than using my 22lr, I don't want a firearms licence anymore. I can get a good price for the dye dam and find it very nice looking and the fact that it can fully auto is great. The problem I have with using it as a pinker is that at 280fps it is to slow to really do anything from any distance. I'm looking to up the velocity to the 400fps plus range. closing in on 500fps would be ideal. I'm looking at shooting firststrikes but am aware that and that velocity they might burst inside the barrel so will probably use practice balls. What would I need to change for the marker to be able to handle that kind of output pressure? Any help would be appreciated thanks.

Upping the velocity too high is not a good idea, under the firearms acts an 'air weapon' is unlicensed at 12ft lbs, which with a 'standard paintball' is somewhere around 320fps
Under case law a 300fps maximum was established for paintball

The Dam regulates its internal pressure in the bolt and cannot take too much pressure (it will leak). That doesn't mean it's not possible to get an excessive velocity, but less likely
With the original batches of Dams the bolt would leak and not be able to attain full 280fps velocity with some cylinder regulators that had high pressure outputs. This was fixed with a free upgrade bolt

280 to 300 fps is perfectly adequate for target plinking -- if you have the land that allows you to shoot at a sufficient distance from public highways and other property

Exceed 300fps and you would possibly be committing a firearms offence (if you got caught)

 

[Tom]

Please also note that the only currently legal projectiles from a paintball gun are paintballs and first strikes


At a given setting a first strike will fly faster than a paintball, and needs to be dialled down to maintain its legal velocity
(If by 'practice balls' you mean rubber reballs then these have sat below the radar and they lose paintballs 'frangibility' defence from the firearms act)

 

[Balls of Fury]

What does that mean for re balls, are they technically illegal but no ones cares due to lack of widespread usage?

 

[Tom]

What does that mean for re balls, are they technically illegal but no ones cares due to lack of widespread usage?

Reballs have sat under the radar and people have buried their heads in the sand.

But they do get used, and there have been or are 'reball centres'. So anyone could probably happily use reballs, but at the risk of getting caught out one day.

Paintball guns sit among various positions in firearms legislation, but with case law allowing a maximum 300fps instead of 6 or 12ft lbs of air weapons, and the 'frangible' nature of paintballs.
With first strike they were never banned but subject to the unknown question on their legal position. This was resolved when they were tested (at a cost of approx £2000)

One2one rounds were imported for a short while, then the retailer stopped it when they were highlighted

As the first strike testing has recently taken place then anything different from paintballs or first strikes could be looked upon badly by officials - as the user should be more aware of what's allowed.

It has been formally stated by UKPSF that the only recognized UK legal projectiles would now be paintball and first strike

 

[Balls of Fury]

Many thanks, those one2one balls look hilarious like a paintball in a tutu! How firm are they?

It's a strange thing to me that paintball has so many variations of ball now with such a small player base trying to support them all

 

[Tom]

Many thanks, those one2one balls look hilarious like a paintball in a tutu! How firm are they?

It's a strange thing to me that paintball has so many variations of ball now with such a small player base trying to support them all

I never got my hands on one to find out what they were like - a 0.50" caliber ball in a foam ring.
The history of paintball is full of attempts at variations on the basic ball design - people used to superglue fins on the back and then push the ball down the barrel.... and with 3D printing people have tried them again
0.43" found itself a niche market with realistic sized guns, and 0.50" eventually after many years and starts/stops found its place in punter sites with the selling factor of 'low impact' and logistics of transporting and storing smaller/lighter boxes