.50 Cal Low Impact Popularity Rising?

[Meleager7]

Hey Mods, can we get a .50 cal Paintball section? I am a big fan of .50 cal (for its potential to make Paintball more approachable to a wider range of New Players) and always up for a good discussion about it.....

A year or two ago, Tippmann released a .50 caliber version of their super popular TMC mag fed marker, which was a bit of a surprise.
Soon after, the Emek was released, and a .50 cal version of it was also offered, as well as a .50 cal version of their Etha electro. The GOG Enmey has been available in .50 cal longer than that.
A month ago, PE released an excellent quality agitating loader, the Speedster, that is also .50 cal compatible.

Does this activity mean there is a push now (or maybe pull is better term ie. consumer demand) for .50 cal marker ownership again? Or an increase in .50 cal popularity in general?

Are any of you seeing Fields allow for .50 cal gun owners to use their own equipment at their field, and play walk-on with their own .50 cal gun, if the other low impact players are renters?

Does the Low Impact nature of .50 cal reduce the disparity between gun owners and renters , that can be a problem in .68 cal regular paintball? Or is this still unknown territory?

[BenoitOWN]

It is offered but is separate from .68 players and would only count toward magfed game days not even on the bigger .68 events.

[Meleager7]

Yeah, I think it should remain separate from .68 cal games, the range advantage of .68 is just too great. I’m thinking more along the lines of younger players getting their own .50 cal markers , and being allowed to join in with .50 cal low impact rental groups.

[Toestr]

I haven't heard of any players going out and buying .50 cal guns other than to go out and play with new/younger friends/ family members.

I like the idea of .50 cal. I think the 'low impact' label deters the macho men I so loathe.

Only the bigger fields around me do .50 cal, and I'm not sure if they allow personal guns or not. One field refuses to breakup walkons based on skill, or even just numbers. The owner also told me that .50 cal guns aren't low impact because they shoot faster than .68 and therefore have the same kinetic energy, and the impact is over a smaller area. So that field is obviously never going to get it.

I'd be more likely to participate in .50 cal if the walkons had more adults playing.

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[Meleager7]

That field owner is just guessing and pulling numbers out his arse. A paintball yields about 11-12 joules of energy at 285 fps.
A .50 cal paintball firing at 400 fps yields around 9 joules.
So even cranking a .50 cal marker up to 400 fps is still technically lower impact than regular paintball! Hmmmmm, and that said maybe .50 cal can be played alongside .68 cal players.....

[Arthur]

Ive been shooting 50 cal lately and its a hoot inj the backyard.

[Trbo323]

.

I like the idea of .50 cal. I think the 'low impact' label deters the macho men I so loathe.

Idk that it's so much this but more that the 50 stuff is marketed towards the kids (and therefore moms) and that a lot of fields have lower or no (as long as the mask fits) age limits on playing 50 so for kids that are interested in paintball, 68 may not be an option at all depending on their age

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[Meleager7]

... and it’s a format where instead of just dropping the kids off, the Mom might even grab a .50 cal rental and join in the fun! Fields that don’t offer .50 cal , or limit it to pre-booked B-day parties are leaving money on the table, and missing an opportunity to grow the game!

[Foldadoom]

Since we were using .50 on some our commercial feilds since the mid 80s...its taken a long time to make a success

[glaman5266]

I personally don't care for it. However, there is indeed a market for it, and it seems to be growing (albeit slowly, at least around here). A few of the larger fields in WI offer it for private groups and youth events. They seem to be decent about it too. I mean, if you want the business you need to cater to it. I'll never play .50 cal myself unless it's a private group & I'm across the country w/none of my own gear or if it's the best way to get my kids into paintball. I can appreciate it for what it is though.

What bugs me about it most though is insurance companies. From what little I've read on the topic in years past they don't generally recognize the difference in physics between .50 and .68 cal. They seem to like a capped velocity for all projectiles. That strikes me as ignorant & plain stupid.

[foughtwolf]

I think it’s growing, and it makes sense honestly. Even putting aside the lower impact rating. It’s a much smaller package, I didn’t fully realize how small a .50 cal marker setup was until I got my hands on one, it’s a hell of a lot easier for a small child to run around with a .50 cal Spyder, pint sized gravity feed and a 13Ci tank than it was with a full size 98 custom and 16/20 oz tank.

[Meleager7]

and those little grav fed .50 cal hoppers hold a ton of paint for it's size, relative to .68

[The Inflicted]

Only one of the larger fields near me, Insane Paintball in Chattanooga, offers .50 Paintball, but it seems quite popular there. They began offering .50 rentals around 2015 or so and it's become the most popular format out there, though almost strictly with rentals. .68 is not allowed to mix in, which is the main reason I got into .50 revolvers.