Paintball marker

A paintball marker, also known as a paintball gun, paint gun, or simply marker, is an air gun used in the shooting sport of paintball, and the main piece of paintball equipment. Paintball markers use compressed gas, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) or compressed air (HPA), to propel dye-filled gel capsules called paintballs through the barrel and quickly strike a target. The term "marker" is derived from its original use as a tool for forestry personnel to mark trees and ranchers to mark wandering cattle. The muzzle velocity of paintball markers is approximately ; most paintball fields restrict speed to 280–300 ft/s, and small indoor fields may further restrict it down to 250 ft/s. While greater muzzle velocity is possible, it has been ruled unsafe for use on most commercial paintball fields. Paintball markers fall into two main categories in terms of mechanism – mechanical and solenoid driven electropneumatic. Mechanically operated paintball markers operate using solely mechanical means, and as such do not use electro-pneumatic solenoids controlled by an electronic board to fire. There five main methods of mechanical operation: Pump or Bolt Action: the mechanism of the marker must be manually reset in between each shot, similar to pump-action shotguns and bolt-action rifles. Markers of this type are the oldest used in the sport as the first ever game of paintball was played using the bolt-action Nelspot pistol. There are two main patterns of internals upon which most pump- and bolt-action markers operate: Sheridan Valve: Named after the Sheridan series of markers which first employed this design, markers which employ this mechanism have the bolt which loads the paintball is located in a separate tube from the hammer and valve. To cock the mechanism, the bolt is pulled backwards thus opening the breech and loading a paintball. Doing so also pulls the hammer backwards against the main spring, which is then held back by a sear connected to the trigger. The bolt is then pushed forward, which loads the paintball into the barrel and the marker is ready to fire.