Paintball

[thewanderer]

Do you all ever think we'll see a resurgence of different caliber paintball guns? I know there's a new .43 caliber walther replica being sold; I i was thinking, it would kinda lend some more "realism" to the milsim guys' cause... it would definitely be neat to have guns with different ranges on the same playing field. And I can't help but think being overshot with a smaller caliber wouldn't hurt as good... maybe wrong though.

[A.C. Basbas]

Originally Posted by thewanderer

Do you all ever think we'll see a resurgence of different caliber paintball guns? I know there's a new .43 caliber walther replica being sold; I i was thinking, it would kinda lend some more "realism" to the milsim guys' cause... it would definitely be neat to have guns with different ranges on the same playing field. And I can't help but think being overshot with a smaller caliber wouldn't hurt as good... maybe wrong though.

Rap4 offers .43 caliber shell-ejecting guns of many kinds, but they're very expensive compared to their .68cal lines... The same question has arisen in Airsoft, with the most common size being 6mm, and companies like Marushin making higher quality 8mm guns...

While .50cal-.62cal is the ideal paintball round, you can't beat .68cal for it's legality (barrel-wise) and the marking ability... I think the .43 craze will be training-only in a few years.

[Chemical-X]

Nope not really.

There are way more working and servicable guns in .68 than there has ever been.

[A.C. Basbas]

Agreed. When it's gotten to the point that you can buy a plastic .68cal marker at Walmart or Toys R Us, I think that we've settled on a caliber.

[Chemical-X]

It is worth mentioning that there is a new move to 55 cal field rental guns. I dont think it will take off for the rest of the industry though.

[z1p101]

I thought that anything that was not .68 was dead 18 years ago but they are still around.

[A.C. Basbas]

There are a couple markers... Small double-action .55cals called the "XJ" series, and the Maxx55, a Kingman Spyder version of the Blackmaxx, but not availible in electro.

F4 sells them for $50 with a case of paint... The standard Blackmaxx is $65 without paint.

[MedicDVG]

I think that the field owners would be against this. It is hard enough keeping your inventory fresh, now divide that between all the different calibers and you have a good way to lose money. In this case I think it is better that standardization is better then diversification.

Oh... and getting hit with the smaller rounds still packs quite the sting... Simunition comes to mind... that can really sting.

[thewanderer]

awesome, from what i've read you can slap a spyder eframe on those xj 40s.

[idkfa]

I hope the industry stays at .68 cal for the time being. It turns out that any caliber other than .68 is illegal to import into Canada, and is considered a prohibited weapon. My knowledge of this stems from trying to import two Crosman 3357 revolvers into the country. They were seized by the CBSA, and I appealed it. They are now in the RCMP gun lab undergoing ballistic testing. I got the first letter stating they were seized in January...

They said 6-12 months until they make their decision, so I guess I should make another check up call.

It comes from the fact that replica firearms are illegal to own or import into Canada. Since the kinetic energy released from calibers other than .68 is significantly less (at the same velocity), they are not considered "unregulated firearms" (this is the designation of .68 cal markers in Canada), but instead considered replicas. It turns out that if they determine the 3357s to be dangerous, I can have them just as I can import a .68 cal marker, but if it is (relatively) harmless, I cannot.

Some .68 cal markers are prohibited as well, namely RAP products. The RAP68 shotgun is prohibited as the airlines and magazines are internal, and it is indistinguishable from an actual shotgun unless under close inspection.

Just my $0.02.