Using Paintballs as Ammo for Percussion Cap Pistols

I had an Armson rifled barrel for my Autococker back in the 90's. It worked great for about the first 30 yards- then the ball would have a sort of random "hitch" in it's flight. If you were inside 30 yards though- it could hit a golf ball at those distances.

My best barrel is a J&J hardchrome-over-brass smoothbore. With the right paint it's freakishly accurate. RPS gator-black or Zap tournament pink.

I used to play the "StoreWars" big games at Paintball Hill in Anguin CA back in the late 80's and early 90's. Those games were unreal, with 500-700 guys playing. One guy had an "RPG" that launched a styrofoam coffee cup full of paintballs in one shot, or a single paint grenade about the size of your fist. That was pretty intimidating to play against.

50 caliber paintballs might work in a percussion gun with a wad under the paintball. 50 paint is routinely hard, and hurts up close.

Whatever you're doing, please observe all the standard safety precautions- 285 feet per second, barrel socks, and paintball-specific eye protection.
 
Why not

Who ever said you would need a full powder charge? I would think more than one patch and maybe a 1/4 charge. I wouldn't use a gun you like much, or don't mind fully disassembling to clean.
 
The paint used is water based, and the shell is vitamin E. IF....stress IF it did work, the cheaper the paint the better. Most pro grade paintballs (diablo, sunrise, royal ect...) are made with thin shells (diablo especially) to be fired from low pressure markers and made to break easily. The cheap paint shell is normally quite a bit thicker. I haven't seen any caliber paint that wasn't .68-.71 caliber in stores in a Looong time unless it was the blowgun paint (not sure what caliber that is)



Hawg, you forgot one good point for Doc....the endless ability to customize :D:D:D i.e. sink money into the sport....I believe it could surpass C&B spending.
 
I've gotten .68 cal paintballs well over 600fps in a paintball gun. Never had one fail in the barrel, even with the velocity turned WAY up. I've maxed it out to the point there was a loud 'Ping' like an M1 Garand ejecting it's clip, every time you fired it, from the 'bolt' slamming against the frame so violently.

Also FWIW

The paint shouldn't do permanent damage. It's not spray paint. It's an oily paint, that literally takes months/years to dry, and can easily be wiped/rinsed off.

The 'paint' and paintball are not flammable either. This is relatively safe stuff we're dealing with. It's meant to shoot people with, get on their clothes, shoes, etc. and apart from taking a paintball, to a bad spot, (i.e. eyes, groin) you're not really in danger of breaking or hurting anything by using them.

If one breaks in the barrel then all it should take is a couple patches, maybe rinse with WD-40 or water, and dry.

Paintballs are launched at 260-300 fps. The most common is .68 which is 20 gauge.
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300fps is the limit at most ranges due to safety issues, with shooting other people with the paintballs. The velocity limit has nothing to do with the projectiles holding together. I've launched paintballs at over 600fps by turning the velocity screw up on my marker. It's not safe for shooting other players, which is why many ranges have a limit, and will often chronograph your marker to make sure you haven't increased the velocity.
 
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It'd probably explode in the chamber. Maybe cheap paint with harder shells could possibly stand a chance, but any quality paint is meant to break easily. I played tournament paintball in high school and all the higher-end guns ran on low air pressure. Most high pressure guns (cheap guns) will break good quality paint a lot of the times.
 
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