Many of you out there would like to know how far their paintball guns can shoot. It is easy to determine, but then again, the shooting range and performance depends on some factors like the barrel type, paintball gun, and the ammunition type and quality used in that gun.
Here, we are going over some of the aspects and questions regarding the shooting range and how far can your paintball gun shoot. Paintball guns are fun to play with for recreational purposes or some little sport both outdoor and indoor.
And, there are different types of guns which can shoot both whether specific range or far from it. So, generally, you might want to know how far it can shoot.
Shooting Range
To make it simple, the shooting range of a paintball gun can be divided and differentiated into three types.
Effective Range
The first thing you want to look out for is the distance up to which a paintball can go. Paintballs are hard and have a gelatin structure which is quite sturdy when they are shot out of the gun but does break on the impact on the target.
As the paintball moves very quickly after it is shot out, it does not break without meeting the certain speed for it. So, if the paintball is shot from quite far away, it will eventually slow down. When you shoot a gun, the speed of the bullet is very important here.
And if you shoot at far-away targets, it won’t break on impact. That’s because the speed is slowed down at the furthest object. And thus, the range of the paintball gun depends on the ammunition type, object type, and how far it is. Paintballs generally can go up to 100 ft.
Safe Range
Shooting from a paintball gun towards the target can land you a hit. But, if the shots are very fast, that can be dangerous as well as lethal. Most venues, tournaments, fields have their own rules specifying the shot speed of the paintball guns.
So, when you’re on an official and registered field or playground, be sure to look out for the rules indicating the specified speed of your shot. In general, the speed limit is usually around 2.8miles per minute (about 168-170 miles per hour).
Now, at this speed, if you shoot paintballs at a slight angle upwards, your shot can go as far as 100 yards.
Absolute Range
Okay, let’s assume that you don’t care about hitting someone or shooting at a target where the paintballs break on impact. You just want to test how far can a paintball gun shoot. And to do this, you need the hardest paintball and maximize the gun’s velocity.
The harder the paintball is, the greater is the speed of the shot from the gun. But this won’t work as the paintball guns are capped to shoot at certain speeds. Different guns come with different shooting speeds. These can shoot both very fast and slow as well.
Some can shoot as far as 150 yards, but the reason is that these guns have a shorter maximum shooting speed. This maximum shooting speed is defined by FPS [Frames Per Second] which explains how fast and powerful the shot coming from the gun can be.
And, of course, the traveling distance of the shots of paintball can vary from gun to gun. But provided that some guns do fire up to 150 yards.
Increasing the Shooting Distance
Here are some ways that you can change the distance of your shot assuming that you have a paintball gun in your possession. Either you can make the ball rotate more or change the shape of the ball. Shooting further requires you to change how the paintball spins that is.
This is also called Rifling. You can do that by putting some grooves in the barrel of it which can force the bullet to spin and shoot accurately and travel further.
Paintball manufacturers have tried changing the shape of it as a rifle but, that wasn’t very promising. The paintballs would break apart inside the barrel before even reaching the target because of the deep grooves.
And after that, Paintball producers came up with the Flatline and Apex Barrels, which makes the paintball rotate horizontally. These give the paintballs a backspin to increase the chances of how far the paintball guns can shoot that is.
This can be done by another method where it can shoot at a longer distance by changing the ball’s shape. When you change the shape, it can go for a long time and distance. Making the nose of it more brittle can help you to break the paintball when it hits on target on impact.
Adding slight fins can also allow it to move faster, for more durability, you can put a protective cover on it. Nonetheless, the method of converting a rifle to an automatic one requires some extra bucks out of your pocket.
How To Fire A Paintball Gun Fast?
Conclusion
This article has been made as a resource for those of you who wanted to know and are curious about how far the paintball guns can shoot and how much can you expect it to do and the workarounds with it.
There is no definite answer to these questions as the range and capabilities vary from gun to gun and depend on the factors stated above regarding the quality, speed, and the type of ammunition used within it.