Paintball Glossary

[WILD4WAR]

This glossary will always be evolving as new terms come up or I forget one that someone else posts up back.

I know this isn't complete... please don't say "you forgot...." Just add stuff and I'll edit it back into the post when I can. Nobody has the time to sit forever listing every single term in paintball, but I'll do my best to keep this updated and as complete as possible.

The Paintball Glossary for the New Player

12-gram - a disposable cartridge containing an amount of compressed CO2. Usually used in stock class markers or in "pistol" design markers

"Agg" - literally short for "aggresive." It's a play style that's typically associated with a certain mindset in speedball or tourneyball. The connotation can be positive or negative depending on the user and the reason. As I am not an expert on the "agg" culture, I will allow a more informed individual to add on to this.

Agitated loader - a paintball loader or hopper that is battery powered to feed paintballs to the marker at a faster rate

Airball - A form of speedball where the bunkers are made of inflatable objects.

Anti-fog lens - a lens for a paintball mask that is designed to reduce the amount of fogging that occurs.

ASA - short for "air source adapter." The ASA refers to the threaded location where you attach your air source (CO2 or HPA).

Automatic (aka "auto" or "full auto") - a marker that continuously fires paintballs as long as the trigger is held down. Due to insurance reasons, this feature is usually prohibited at paintball fields

Autotrigger (AT) - a device found on pump markers, allowing the user to hold down the trigger and repeatedly pump. The marker will fire every time a round is fired. This enables a pump player to hit a higher BPS speed when and if it's needed.

BBD - Barrel Blocking Device. A safety device, usually a barrel sock/condom or plug used to prevent an unintentional firing of a paintball from leaving the barrel

Barrel Tag - a tactic in which a player taps an opponent with his barrel. The player tagged is eliminated. Some fields honor this rule, others do not. Check with your field owner before attempting.

Blow back - a design of paintball markers. The marker is open bolt, and a sear drops to allow the hammer and bolt to move forward, firing the marker. Excess gas "blows back" the hammer and bolt to the reset position, chambering the next ball. Examples include Tippmanns, Spyders, Piranhas, and most every other entry level marker. See: Stacked tube blow back and JABB

Bolt - A component that guides a paintball into the barrel. The gas used to propel the paintball moves through the bolt and to the paintball on firing your marker. In Tippmann designs, this component is often called the front bolt.

Bonus Ball - to shoot a player after the player is already eliminated. Also known as Bonusballing (or to be bonusballed, you received the extra hits). Bonusballing intentionally is considered poor form and can get you into trouble with field staff.

Bottomline - an air line and ASA connected to the gun at the base of the grip frame. This is one of the most common forms of air setup seen in paintball.

Bounce - when a paintball hits a player but does not break, thus leaving no mark. The player may continue play unless rules state otherwise

BPS - Balls Per Second. A term used to describe the rate of fire (ROF) of a paintball marker

Brick - a small, squarish airball bunker

Bunker (noun) - any hard cover (usually manmade) that a player can hide behind. Bunkers can consist of wood, cement, pipe, or inflatable bunkers (typically seen in speedball or tourneyball)

Bunker (verb) - to engage and eliminate a player at point blank range. This tactic is sometimes illegal, so it's always best to talk to your field owner or refs to know the rules before attempting this.

Bushball - another word for woodsball

BYOP - Bring Your Own Paint. A paintball event or field which allows you to bring paint other than paint sold at the field

C/A - Constant Air. Refers to the use of a CO2 tank or HPA tank to propel a paintball.

Chamber (verb) - to place a paintball in the position where it is ready to be fired

Chamber (noun) - the location just before the barrel where the paintball to be fired remains until the trigger is pulled

Chop - when a paintball is split or broken by the bolt of a marker inside the marker.

Chrono (verb) - to use a chronograph to measure the speed of a paintball marker. Sometimes "chrony" is used instead.

Chrono (noun) - short for chronograph, a device used at paintball fields to measure the velocity of a paintball traveling from a marker.

Clean - a paintball player that is not eliminated, usually after having received an impact that bounced

Closed bolt - a paintball marker where the bolt is forward at rest and does not move at the time of firing (though it will when it's time to chamber the next ball)

CO2 - Carbon Dioxide. In the paintball world, this gas is used in tanks to propel a paintball marker. CO2 isn't as clean or consistant as HPA, but the tanks cost significantly less.

Cover Fire - an action where a paintball player fires at a location with the purpose of keeping the opponents present from firing, usually to protect the movement of friendly forces to another location. Theoretically, not wanting to be hit by the cover fire, the opponents will duck down and thus be unable to shoot at the other players advancing/retreating.

Dorito - a form of airball bunker, taking the shape of a triangle pyramid. From any one side, it resembles a dorito chip.

Electro - electropneumatic. A paintball marker that uses a solenoid and electronics to operate. Most high end markers and many midgrade markers are of this type. ELECTRONIC GRIPS ON BLOW BACK GUNS ARE NOT ELECTROS (I hear people saying "electro" when they talk about their egripped Tippmann... that's not an electro)

Eliminated - a player who has been "hit" and is out of the game. An elimination is the noun used to describe this condition. To "score eliminations" is to have a count of the number of players you eliminated in that game

Eyes - the device in electronic markers that prevents the marker from cycling unless a paintball is properly in the chamber. This helps to reduce cases of chopping

Fill Nipple - the input on an HPA tank by which a player fills his air tank

Fill Station - a location at a paintball field where players may fill their CO2 or HPA tanks

Fog / Fogging - a term describing the condensation that can form on the side of a lens closer to a player that reduces visibility through the mask.

FPO - Field Paint Only. A paintball event or field which mandates that you purchase your paint you use there from the field itself.

FPS - Feet Per Second. The term used to describe the actual speed of a paintball leaving a marker. Most fields set a FPS limit (speed limit) of anywhere from 280-300 FPS (less if indoors)

JABB - Just Another Blow Back. Refers to the stacked tube design of paintball marker, like the spyder or piranha

"Gat" - a slang term referring to a paintball marker

Ghillie - a suit that either partially or fully conceals a player in a form of twine, brush, or other materials. Ghillie is designed to break up the shape of a human form in the eye of an opponent.

Gogg (verb) - to shoot a player such that the paint impacts on the player's goggles, usually the lens. The past tense form of "gogg" is "gogged"

Goggles/Mask - the protective gear a paintball player wears to protect their face and ears. Some are "full head" in design and protect the whole head.

Gravity feed - a hopper or loader that relies solely on gravity to feed paintballs into the marker

Hammer - the component that strikes the valve to release gas and propel the paintball. In Tippmann designs, this component is often called the rear bolt.

Hard cover - Solid objects like forts, bunkers, trees, or other hard objects a player can hide behind. Found in all forms of paintball.

HPA - High Pressure Air. Refers to air tanks that use compressed air or nitrogren to power a paintball. More consistant and much cleaner than CO2, but the tank costs significantly more.

"Hot" marker (aka "shooting hot" ) - a marker that is firing paintballs at a velocity higher than the field's posted FPS limit. Shooting markers that are "hot" is often unsafe

Longball - to fire a paintball at significant (greater than 100 feet) distance.

Nelson-based - a pump paintball gun with a single tube, similar to the original nelspot. The most common form of Nelson-based markers is the CCI Phantom

Nitro - another term for HPA

Open bolt - a paintball marker where the bolt is at rest in the back and moves forward when the trigger is pulled

Outlaw ball - paintball that is not played on a public or official field. Outlaw ball is sometimes illegal, so check your local laws before proceeding with an outlaw game (and always remember, safety first)

Paint check - A means to determine if a player is eliminated or not. If a player feels an impact of a paintball but cannot visually verify that it broke, the player may call a paint check on himself. Usually, a ref will conduct a quick check to look for paint on the player. Players can have teammates or even opponents conduct the paint check if a ref is not available.

Palmerized - a term describing a paintball marker that has been modified by PPS, a company based in California

Playing On - an illegal technique where a paintball player attempts to continue play even though he has been eliminated.

Pump marker - any paintball marker that you must manually load the next paintball into (usually by the aid of a pump arm, though there are some "lever actions" and "bolt actions" named after the firearm action that it emulates)

QEV- Stands for "Quick Exhaust Valve." A QEV allows the air that is holding the bolt back to escape more quickly. This decreases the amount of time it takes for the bolt to fully cycle, allowing for a higher theoretical ROF

Ramping - a firing mode found in electronic markers that enable the user to shoot more shots than the number of times the player pulls the trigger. Ramping software works differently in differet forms of it, but typically if a player can acheive a certain BPS, the marker "ramps" up to fire a higher rate, usually around 15 BPS.

Recball - Recreational Paintball. Paintball that is played for fun and not for competition. Usually, the term applies to speedball games that are not played on an airball field, but use other forms of bunkers.

Ref - short for referee. Any field official that enforces fair play on the paintball field. Refs also conduct paint checks.

Reg - short for regulator. A device in a marker that limits the pressure of compressed gas that reaches the marker for firing

RT - short for response trigger, a device which uses excess gas to reset the trigger on a marker faster. Can be "sweetspotted" to acheive an automatic-like effect legally.

Safety - a device used to prevent accidental firings of a paintball marker. Safeties should NOT be relied on solely, but they are another device to help

Scenarioball - A form of paintball in which teams win by completing missions, not necessarily by eliminating the other team. Scenarioball takes on many forms and has many unique twists.

"Sear tripper" - a slang term referring to blow back operated markers that employ the use of a sear to allow the bolt and hammer to move forward

Semi - any marker where you can fire without performing any action other than pulling the trigger. One shot per trigger pull.

Sheridan-based - a pump paintball marker that is stacked tube and based off the original Sheridan guns. Most "old school brass" guns and Palmer products are Sheridan based.

Short stroke - when a paintball marker fails to completely cycle, usually resulting in the chopping of a paintball. This potential problem is exclusive to closed bolt markers.

Snake - a form of airball bunker formed by many bunkers laid down, usually across one side of a paintball field. Snakes are low in height and long in distance.

Soft cover - Things like leaves, brush, and twigs. This cover allows you to see your opponent (and possibly the other way around) without directly exposing yourself to fire. Soft cover works by breaking up paint in flight before it gets to your position, but shots can find holes in it and hit their target. Almost exclusively seen on woodsball or scenario fields.

Speedball - A game played with limited (or no) soft cover. The field is typically smaller than a woodsball field and has many bunkers to hide behind.

Squeegie - a term describing a device used to clean a barrel of paint that has broken inside the barrel or marker. Also called swabs (there is a technical difference, but usually the terms are used interchangably on the field)

Stacked-tube blow back: a blow back marker where the bolt is above the hammer and both move at the same time the sear is dropped. The spyder is the classic example of the stacked-tube design

Staging Area - the portion of a paintball field where masks can come off and players prepare for the next game

Stick feed - a tube containing paintballs that feed into a marker. Almost exclusively found on pump markers or "pistol" design markers.

Stock class - a form of pump marker. Stock class markers have stick feeds and are powered by 12 gram cartridges.

Suppression Fire - see entry "cover fire"

Tapeline - the boundary of a paintball field.

Tourneyball - Paintball played for competition. Usually, this takes place on an airball field or another form of speedball field.

Trigger - the mechanism that fires the paintball marker

Urbanball / Urban Terrain - a paintball field that has features similar to a city. these include mock buildings, roads, and other things one may find in a city

Valve - the component in a paintball marker that allows for the storage of a "charge" of air to use while firing a paintball

Wiping - An illegal act in paintball where a player attempts to wipe away or conceal a hit so as to continue play

Woodsball - a form of paintball played in wooded or other natural terrain
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