![]() ![]() Other paintball guns in the low-to-mid-level like the Spyder line needed gas CO2 to operate at their best. Guns like the Tippmann SMG60, Tippmann SL-68, Tippmann 68 Special and the Icon and Mega-Z models and a handful of other more low-tech semi-automatic paintball guns shot liquid C02 fine-but the high-end markers and the coming parade of electronic guns functioned on gas only. Nitrogen is a stable gas that for paintball applications cannot turn to liquid-and this is exactly what was needed for paintball gun technologies to advance. In 1991 that all began to change when Tom Kaye of Airgun Designs introduced the first Nitrogen systems for paintball guns. Some paintball guns ran on pure liquid CO2 while others preferred the gaseous form, and the change between the two that often occurred on the field during play caused velocity spikes, ball breakage and other issues. Early semiautomatic paintball guns like the 68 Automag, Minimag and Autococker shot much less consistently when liquid C02 entered the gun’s valve. C02 is not a stable gas in that it can change from gas to liquid depending on the ambient temperature and this made the more hi-tech guns susceptible to problems. But through the late 1980s and into the start of the 1990s paintball guns were becoming much more high-tech and a better air source was needed. This was a literal game-changer.Īs the 1980s came to an end larger C02 tanks, 20 and 24-ounce sizes, were readily available. With an air capacity measured in ounces instead of grams, paintball guns could now shoot hundreds of rounds before their air tanks needing refilling, as opposed to the 10-12 shots you would get from a 12-gram C02 cartridge, which always seemed to need changing at the most inopportune times during a paintball gunfight. Constant air systems consisted of a larger tank (seven, ten and twelve-ounce capacity back then) and a valve to turn them on. Gramps and Grizzly, also known as Lou “Gramps” Grubb and Mike “Grizzly” Grubb, a father and son team from southern California introduced the first “constant air” systems for paintball. But for the first four years of the game, 12gram C02 cartridges were the only power source for paintball-until 1985. ![]() ![]() The C02 cartridge-powered Nelspot was a very basic marker in that it held only 10 paintballs in a tubular magazine, had no cocking handle or pump arm (the paintball gun was single-shot bolt action) and used 12-gram C02 cartridges (sometimes called “powerlets”) instead of the larger C02 tanks or compressed air systems that would come later.įrom 1981 to 1985 paintball players had two choices of paintball guns to use-the Nelspot 007 and the PMI PGP, which was introduced in 1983. Each of the 12 players were equipped with a pair of shop goggles, 20 paintballs, a map of the playing field, a compass, several C02 cartridges and armed with a Nelspot 007-a paint marking gun used to mark cattle, sheep and livestock-as well as trees for excavation. The first game of paintball that was played in 1981 is legendary. Paintball air sources have come a long way since the first game in 1981! The Evolution of Paintball CO2 & Compressed Air ![]()
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