Have you ever played paintball and noticed that when you fired the gun, sometimes the paintball would curve to the left or the right? This can be very frustrating if you are a severe paintball player. When you play paintball, you want the ball to fly far and straight. However, sometimes this doesn’t happen.
Your paintball may curve due to a few various factors such as the size of the ball, the wind, and the quality of the paint. To avoid paintballs curving, its best to maintain and clean your paintball equipment routinely after each use.
If you didn’t know that paintballs come in different sizes, don’t worry. A lot of people don’t know this fact about paintballs. The balls do come in different sizes tho; some are bigger, and some are smaller. Which one you want to use depends on what you need out of the ball.
Different Kinds of Paintballs
A lot of people probably don’t realize it, but there are a few different kinds of paintballs that you can load into your paintball gun. Different types of paintballs will work better for certain types of guns. The two most popular types of paintballs are the .68 caliber and the .50 caliber paintball, the first one being considered the standard size.
When you hear the caliber of a paintball, it is referring to the diameter of the ball. So a .50 caliber paintball is .50 inches in diameter. A .68 caliber ball is .68 inches in diameter. These are two of the most popular sized paintballs. Some of the other sizes of paintballs are .40, .43, and .62 caliber. Which gun you use also plays a big part in what kind of paintball you should use.
Reasons Why Your Ball Might Curve
Paintballs aren’t very heavy, so the wind can play a big part in why your paintballs are curving. If you are planning to be playing paintball outside, you should use a higher caliber ball. When the paintball is a higher caliber, the diameter of the ball will be more significant. So this will help it travel better when it is windy.
If you upped the caliber of your balls, or if you are playing paintball indoors and you find that the paintballs are still curving, there is a perfect chance that it is not the wind. There are other reasons that could make your paintball curve.
- Paint Inside Your Hopper – A dirty hopper can cause your paintballs to curve. Many times when you play paintball, you will run around and jump around a lot. When this happens there is a perfect chance that at least one, or a few of your paintballs broke inside of your hopper. Paint inside of your hopper can spread onto other balls and then spread to your gun barrel. It is essential to clean your hopper and the barrel of your gun after every game.
- Old Paintballs – The shape of your paintballs and the shape of the paint inside the balls can affect how your paintballs shoot. If the balls inside of your hopper have paint on them, this could change the way that your balls fly. You should only shoot clean paintballs and discard the broken ones. Your paintballs should also be free of dirt or other grime. If your paintballs have dimples on them (kind of looks like a golfball) then you should throw those balls away and get new ones for your gun.
The quality of the balls you use in your paintball gun is essential. Everyone loves a great deal, but sometimes it is worth to pay a little more so that you get a better-made product. This is true for the paintballs that you use in your gun. You want to make sure you buy the paintballs that are very durable.
Trial and error is the only way to find out which balls work the best with your gun and the movements you make while playing unless you talk to a paintball professional. Just remember that even the most expensive balls can break while playing. So make sure that you clean the hopper and the gun very thoroughly.
Info: Even the small imperfections in the outer shell of a paintball would cause it to curve. Slightly more weight or not a perfectly round shape on the paintball and you might as well miss your target.
How to Clean Your Paintball Gun
Routine maintenance on your paintball gun is essential. This includes regular cleaning of the gun and the hopper. This will ensure that your paintball gun is working at its full potential. This will also help with the flight of your paintballs. Dirty or broken paintballs will sometimes curve when shot. And nobody wants to miss their target. Here are the simple steps to follow to clean your paintball gun.
- Remove The CO2 Tank – The first step in cleaning your paintball is a critical one. You want to make sure that the CO2 tank attached to your gun is empty (the tank doesn’t have to be empty, but this would make the cleaning process much safer) Most paintball guns have a degas button on them; this will bleed out the extra CO2 in our tank. Once this is done, it is ok to remove the tank from your gun carefully.
- Disassemble The Paintball Gun – The next step in the cleaning process is to carefully take apart your paintball gun if you have never done this before it is a good idea to have a professional help you or to read the instruction manual that came with the paintball gun. When taking apart the gun it is imperative to keep track of all the pieces and remembering where all the parts go.
- Clean The Gun Barrel – The next step is to clean the barrel of your paintball gun. You will need a rod and some small cloths to use on your barrel. Hot water can be used to remove the unwanted paint from inside your barrel. If the hot water doesn’t work, you can use some rubbing alcohol to remove the paint from the inside. This will ensure that your gun fires correctly. Once the barrel is clean, it is vital to make sure that the barrel is dry.
- Clean The Body of The Gun – After cleaning the barrel, you move on to the rest of the paintball gun. This cleaning can also be done by using hot water or alcohol if needed. You will need a tiny brush (a toothbrush works great) so that you can clean in the hard to reach areas. Once the cleaning is done, just like the barrel, the body of the gun must be dry.
- Oil and Reassemble The Paintball Gun- After the paintball gun is thoroughly cleaned and dried. The next step is to lubricate all of the components inside of the paintball gun. It is crucial that you use paintball oil to lubricate all the moving parts of the paintball gun. This will help keep the gun working correctly. You don’t want to use tons of oil. Just small amounts on the parts that need it. The instruction manual will help with this step. After you oil the gun, you will need to put it back together. It is important to reassemble the gun with all of the pieces. Moreover, to make sure that it is put back together correctly.
Cleaning your paintball gun after every match will help keep your paintball gun functioning properly. The hopper is one of the most important parts of the gun. A dirty hopper will cause the paint to spread down into the barrel, this will make your paintballs curve when fired. A clean paintball gun can make all the difference in the accuracy of your shots.
