Paintball Myths Dispelled
by John Amodea From Anarchy's site

Paintball myths have been around since the first time a paintgun was fired, but since the internet became available to consumers, some of this stuff has become almost legendary. Join us as we dispel, in our own sarcastic way, some of the more common myths in paintball.

Myth #1 Some paintball Guns Shoot Farther Than Others

Ah, no. As much as we think paintball is special, it is still subject to the laws of nature. Ever heard of Physics? Well even paintball is not exempt to its laws. Here's the deal: If two different paintguns are fired at the same velocity, at the same trajectory, in the same weather conditions, with the same quality paintball-the distance will be exactly the same. The only exception to the rule is if backspin is put on the ball (like the Flatline barrel)

Myth #2 High Pressure Air is More Dangerous Than C02

We'll let Adam Gardner of Smart Parts answer this one. "High Pressure Air is NOT more dangerous than C02 because you do not have the expansion properties that C02 has. When C02 changes from a liquid to a gas it can create a tremendous amount of force. The danger lies in that people don't realize what C02 is capable of doing. With High pressure air, people are more conscientious."

Myth #3 The First Paintball Gun Made Was the Nelspot 007

Got you on a technicality with this one. The Nelsopt 007 (also known as the Splotchmarker) was the first marker made to fire paint, but the Splatmaster was the first marker designed specifically for paintball play. So it was the first "paintball" gun

Myth #4 The First Game of Paintball Ever Played Was June 27, 1981

It's generally accepted as fact that the first game of paintball ever played happened in the woods of Henniker, New Hampshire. You know the story-twelve men played on 100-plus acres using 12 flags, maps, Nelspot markers and each carrying a compass. The winner, Ritchie White captured all twelve flags and won the game without firing a single shot. It's a great story and it's 100-percent true-except is wasn't the first game played

Charles Gaines, one of the sport's founders was quoted at the 2004 IAO saying, "Before we even played that first game, Hayes (Noel) and I wrapped towels around our waists and shot each other to see how badly it would hurt. Hayes shot first and missed, then I turned and shot him in the butt." This was in May of 1981. So there you have it, the first game of paintball was actually played a month before the commonly credited first game

Myth #5 Paintball Will Be in the ESPN X-Games Soon

Forget this one. Paintball is a team sport and you may have noticed, there are no team sports in the X-Games. Factor in that all X-Game sports (stunts or sports?) are "judged" by panels of people and do not have games where points are scored in the field of play in a head to head manner. In simple terms, X-Games sports are all scored after the fact in a subjective manner. Paintball is scored on the field by achieving certain criteria (flag pulls, hangs,eliminations, etc.)

Myth #6 Bob Long Was a Great Captain But Not a Great Player

Most of you reading this probably never saw Bob Long play back in the old days of paintball, but we have. Although you'd never refer to Bob as "athletic," he just had a knack for finding players to shoot. Tom Cole recently said this about Bob, "He [Bob Long] was sneaky as hell. Somehow he was always there in the end cleaning up the leftover players."

Myth #7 Tournament Players Cheat More Than Scenario or Rec-Ballers

If you really believe this it's probably because you read it somewhere, or you've seen tournament players in videos not calling themselves out. That's what happens when there are cameras everywhere on the tournament fields. The real issue is that you can't film scenarios or rec-ball play in the same manner as tournament ball-the lighting is bad, the fields are big (and the action is spread out), and there is just not the volume of paint focused in a small area as tournaments. The result is you just don't see the cheating. "I remember playing in a big game in Sacramento, California one time and I was with these guys attacking a fort. Players were getting shot on our end everywhere but no one was leaving the field. Some guys had five or six hits on them and they wouldn't leave because there were no refs in the area," John Amodea talking about a Paintball Sam's Big Game

The fact of the matter is some people are cheats and some are not. It doesn't matter what type of paintball you play, you'll find both

Myth #8 Pro Players Are Not Necessarily Better Than Walk-On Players

How many times have you seen posts like this on the internet forums? "I'm not afraid to play against pros. It's not about the gun, it's about the player. I'll take out pro players with my Tippmann any day." Think about this: a real professional paintball player (many experienced players are referred to wrongly as pros) shoots hundreds of thousands of paintballs every year; they play every week, and sometimes more than once a week; they are always in the fire playing on small fields; and they have the best of the best gear. Your average Wednesday night bowling league guy will occasionally beat a pro bowler, but he's never going to be the best. That's exactly how it is in paintball

Myth #9 Low Pressure Guns Are More Gas Efficient

One again we have that little issue of physics. To fire a paintball at a specific feet per second it can be done in two different ways: 1) high pressure and low volume or 2) low pressure and higher volume. As you lower the working pressure in your marker's regulator or value, you need a higher volume of gas to power the paintball. Using a higher volume (amount) of gas uses more gas. Makes sense, right? So the fact is the lower pressure you use the more gas you need. Doesn't that suck?

Myth #10 It Doesn't Matter How Big, Old or Slow You Are, You Can Be the Best in Paintball if You Play Smart

See Bob Long. You can be a great player no matter what your physical condition, but you'd be even better if you were smaller, quicker, and more athletic. This one's a no-brainer folks

Myth #11 Long Barrels Shoot Farther Than Short Barrels

Nope. See Myth #1

Myth #12 Navarone Is the Best Team in Tournament Paintball History

Navarone (also called The Guns of Navarone) was one of the most successful tournament paintball teams in the history of the sport. That said, you'd have to rank them behind at least one team (and probably others): Dynasty. Consider what Dynasty has accomplished. They won 18 straight Millennium Series events, four of five NPPL events in 2003, two NPPL events in 2004, four of five NPPL evens in 2005 and four of five PSP events in 2005. That kiddies, is by far the best three year showing in tournament history

Myth #13 The First NPPL Event Ever Was Held in San Diego, California

The first NPPL event ever was scheduled for San Diego, California, February 5-7, 1993, but three weeks of rainstorms forced the event to be canceled. The next scheduled tournament was Reno, Nevada (March 26-28) and that became the first NPPL event ever. The significance of this is that it was the first tournament that had a professional and amateur division delineation

Myth #14 Bad Company is Not the Most Successful Paintball Team Ever

Okay, got you on another technicality. We meant successful after the fact and off the field. Bet you didn't know this about these former Bad Company members: Tom Cole holds a management position at Kingman; our own John Amodea is Executive Editor of PB2X; Mike Peverill owns Pev's Paintball; Lee Draper owns Outdoor Adventures, one of the most successful paintball fields on the east coast; Chris Grantham worked for National Paintball Supply/Archon; Oh Pawlak owns/owned Paintball Sam's, another great paintball field; and Chuck Hendsch is in a management position with K2. So there it is in black and white-Bad Company is the most successful paintball team ever

Myth #15 Jerry Braun Brought ESPN to Paintball

He did, but it was almost a year after PCRI Magazine introduced the sports channel to paintball at the NPPL DC Cup in April of 1994. How about those apples?

Myth #16 Pump Guns Are More Accurate Than Semiautos

A paintgun is a paintgun. If it's well made it will be accurate. If not… not. Think about this though: If you have to pump a gun each time you fire it, could it possibly be as accurate as a gun that you simply hold and squeeze the trigger on? Of course not. Oh, and while we're at it, closed bolt guns are not inherently more accurate than open bolt guns either

Myth #17 Professional Paintball Players Are Arrogant Snobs

We'll let a couple of pros take this one

"Anyone can be an arrogant snob if the want to be. Being a Pro Paintball player has nothing to do with it. I think that most Pro's are more than willing to share their time and give back. I think the arrogant snobs are more likely to come in the form of the player who thinks he is a pro but isn't." --Adam Gardner, Smart Parts and former All American

"Some pro players are actually shy and may come across as arrogant and snobby but if you get to know those players, you'll find that they are more than willing to take the time to chat and give help when asked. Paintball is such a small community that we really do enjoy making new friends -- whether it's at our local field or at national events." --Richard Garcia, Detroit Strange

Myth #18 Paintball Guns Are Legal Everywhere in the U.S.

That's true except for the places they are NOT legal. Places like New York City and other places that have no-paintball-marker ordinances

Myth #19 Paintball 2Xtremes is Not the Best Magazine in Paintball

PB2X is the only paintball magazine with certified circulation numbers, a two year 26 episode television show, a website updated every day, and the biggest and best MySpace site in paintball. Oh, and the magazine is pretty good too

Myth #20 The Previous 19 Myths Were Not Dispelled

Do you understand English? Should we type slower?

Other Odds and Sods Myths Dispelled: Pev didn't invent paintball, didn't start PCRI, and he puts his pants on one leg at a time. The Autococker doesn't shoot with a different trajectory than other markers. The Automag was not an "automatic." The Satco 700 didn't really have 700 parts (but it was close). Rifled barrels don't really put spin on a paintball. The Autococker is not a semiautomatic (it's an auto-cocking marker). Paintball is NOT really safer than bowling. The PSP owners don't really send each other Christmas cards. The European teams HAVE caught up to the Americans. Paintball won't be in the Olympics either. Yes, this really the end of the article