Needed: Ultimate Paintball Explanation

[TroyKrum]

Can someone please explain to me the difference in the different paintball makers?

What makes one paintball better than the other? How do I know what to choose? For example, RPS has many different paintballs they sale, Stingers, Rampage, Premium, Marballizer, Allstar, Evil, Polar Ice. And they all have different costs... what makes them different?

[papaintballer15]

Company reputation. Quality of shell (hard,brittle,thick,thin)Fill quality (watery,dull,bright,medium,thick,wipeable,non-wipeable).

PMI/RPS is probably the top maker in paintballs, and have some of the best from the cheaper and more affordable rec/practice to the more expensive tournament grade paint.
Marballizers I think are the best, and probably always will be, but some people will argue other paint is better.

[-Evilordie-]

well its the make, some will have harder shell, but the main differance is how the ball is shaped with cheap paint they will be oval shaped. (not noticcable) But with the more expenciv they will be near a perfectly circul, therefore having better accuracy.

[slaminator3323]

Yeh usually better quality paint has a thinner shell, example xball gold, I only had to drop one from 3 feet and it broke.

[reneirwolf878]

A thin, brittle shell, thick fill, consistant size, and invisible seem are the ideal qualities of a paintball.

Some companies are very good at making all of those things happen and others are not.

PMI/RPS for instance sells premiums for $45/case at the shop near me, but I don't get the same thin shell as I do for the $55 marbs. Granted, if I'm rec balling I don't care about bounces too much. I'll save the $10 and get premiums.

[NcicHit]

A thin, brittle shell, thick fill, consistant size, and invisible seem are the ideal qualities of a paintball.

Some companies are very good at making all of those things happen and others are not.

PMI/RPS for instance sells premiums for $45/case at the shop near me, but I don't get the same thin shell as I do for the $55 marbs. Granted, if I'm rec balling I don't care about bounces too much. I'll save the $10 and get premiums.
That's a good point about the bounces. I once shot a Diablo paintball against a rock and it bounced off. It either had a hard shell or the rock was pretty soft.

[cheddarbob]

Just to be curious......why is it that when you buy paint...some of the paintballs are stored in a bag with a bit of oil in it (mostly the cheap kinds ex: MonsterBalls, Jt Tactical Paintballs, etc.) while some other cheap, higher quality, or tournament grade paint (Perfection, Big Balls, Marballizer, etc.) are stored in a bag dry with no oil? Whats the purpose in the oil (diff gel shells or something)? Would it affect the balls if the next time when I buy me a bag of paint thats stored in oil to just wipe off all the oil that its covered in and store it dry like the other tournament/higher/lower quality paint or is the whole oil thing some kind of...improper packaging? Makes sense to me to have em dry so it doesnt screw with your accuracy....but yeah what is the deal with the oil?

[reneirwolf878]

They all have a little oil, it's to keep the balls from sticking to one an other. It's not necessary to wipe them totally free of oil since it's so time consuming. It's up to you to decide when there's is too much.

[jester_s1]

On the whole thin/brittle shell being a good thing, I have to disagree. When a ball breaks from only falling 3 or 4 feet onto a concrete floor, that's a ball that will probably break in my barrel or hopper. I know that some tournament players who have markers that are very gentle on balls want them that brittle, but the generally accepted ideal is a ball that breaks after 4-5 drops from 5 feet or so. That's tough enough to never break in the marker unless there's a chop, but thin enough to usually break on target with a good hit.

[NcicHit]

They all have a little oil, it's to keep the balls from sticking to one an other. It's not necessary to wipe them totally free of oil since it's so time consuming. It's up to you to decide when there's is too much.
I looked, I looked.:D

[slaminator3323]

On the whole thin/brittle shell being a good thing, I have to disagree. When a ball breaks from only falling 3 or 4 feet onto a concrete floor, that's a ball that will probably break in my barrel or hopper. I know that some tournament players who have markers that are very gentle on balls want them that brittle, but the generally accepted ideal is a ball that breaks after 4-5 drops from 5 feet or so. That's tough enough to never break in the marker unless there's a chop, but thin enough to usually break on target with a good hit.
Actually we were shooting it out of a model 98 no chop, or breaks, so the drop test sucks now. Now there are thin shelled paint that sucks take wild streak for instance its shell sucks, xball gold has a very thin shell also yet it doesn't suck.