[rescue] OT: Stuffed Proliant?

Chad Fernandez rescue at sunhelp.org
Tue Dec 4 00:06:53 CST 2001


Kurt Huhn wrote:
> Naw, frozen paintballs would *hurt* but they couldn't penetrate steel.
> Average muzzle velocity is about 300ft/sec - most paintball guns can't
> exceed about 330ft/sec.  Try to crank up the velocity higher than that and
> you might blow the paintball (frozen or not) apart before it exits the
> barrel.

When I played last, they rental guy (who was really into it) was talking
about them penitrating steel rather easily.  Maybe he was just talking.

> 
> Aside from that, a frozen paintball would (very likely) not even fit down
> the barrel of a paintball marker.  The tolerances are pretty close, and
> since that paintball will expand as it freezes, the caliber of a frozen
> paintball would more than likely exceed the bore of the barrel.

I thought the barrels had to be oversize because of the balls changing
size with the weather?

> 
> Marbles from a paintball gun are an urban legend.  The diameter of a marble
> is far to small for the .68 caliber bore of a paintball gun's barrel.  That
> means, poor air seal around the marble and a very low muzzle velocity -
> somewhere around 175ft/sec according to the chrono in my garage (yes, I
> tried it :).  Add to that, the friction of the glass material

The way I understood it, they were marbles sized at the correct
caliber.  I've never tried to find any, However.

> 
> I suppose you could manufacture an acrylic or resin marble of appropriate
> caliber, but you'd never get a stock paintball gun to fire it at sufficient
> muzzle velocity to penetrate the steel skin of a car.  Shatter glass, yes,
> but not penetrate steel.  The mass*momentum simply wouldn't be sufficient to
> do the job.

Maybe I'll have to try shooting stuff...... sounds like fun :-)

Chad Fernandez
Michigan, USA



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