Paintball is a fun, enthusiastic shooting game with many exciting things to learn. You learn many new things, be it new skills, basic information, and fun facts about the game and its gears. It would be best if you avoided dry firing with paintball guns so that they stay good.
Along with solving any technical problems related to the paintball equipment.
One of these is knowing whether dry firing is terrible for paintball guns or if it is just a myth before I talk about all the technicalities and how I came to know about dry firing.
The short answer is YES; dry firing is terrible for paintball guns. It could damage the O-rings or, even worse can, break the paintball marker.
Playing paintball requires proper handling of paintball markers or guns. You need to know how they work and their mechanism to use them, shoot with them and solve any unseen technical problem on the paintball field during a match.
You gain all this knowledge through playing, experiencing, and listening to your friend or family members’ paintball playing experience.
What happens when you Dry Fire paintball markers?
I used to do dry fire to save up on my paintball rounds. And once, while I was practising, a fellow paintball player came up to me and told me that it was unsuitable for my paintball marker and could easily ruin its O-rings.
And yes, like any other player, I immediately stopped doing that, but afterwards, I did my homework on what happens to paintball markers when you practice dry firing.
Dry firing is the practice of firing a paintball gun without any paintballs in the chamber. While dry firing is sometimes necessary to clear a jammed paintball gun, it can also cause problems with your gun. Dry firing can damage paintballs, ruin your gun’s barrel, and cause your gun to malfunction.
Let me explain the consequences of dry firing in detail:
One of the main issues with dry firing a paintball gun is that the pressure that is meant for paintballs to break falls upon the internal parts of the gun, thus damaging it and its O-rings.
When a paintball is shot, it is broken open by the force of the shot. If there is no paintball in the gun, the power of the image is directed at the gun itself. This can cause the gun to break or shatter, which is not something you want to happen.
O-rings are a rather sensitive internal part of the paintball gun since it is made of polyurethane (a type of plastic) that is easily worn out under tremendous pressure. However, you can fix this problem by replacing worn-out O-rings with new ones.
The following important part of the gun is a solenoid. It is a very crucial part of the shooting mechanism; once this is damaged, it is easy to fix.
Unlike O-rings, once this part is damaged, there is nothing you can do to fix it other than buy a new paintball marker. And let me tell you, getting new paintball guns again and again is not budget-friendly.
In addition, the seals in the gun can be damaged, which can cause air to leak out. This can severely affect the performance of the gun and can even render it unusable.
Why You Should Avoid Dry Firing Your Paintball Gun
Dry-firing a paintball gun repeatedly can cause serious problems, such as worn o-rings, cracked paintballs, and even a broken paintball gun.
Most paintball guns have a mechanism to prevent dry-firing, but this can sometimes be bypassed, leading to severe consequences.
If you are having issues with your paintball gun, it is best to consult a professional to avoid further damage. Some common injuries that dry firing can inflict on paintball guns are:
- Worn O-Rings
- Due to dry firing, jams and misfires often happen afterwards.
- Seals of the paintball markers are compromised and lead to air leakage.
- Dry firing voids the warranty of the paintball marker.
How to Avoid Dry Firing Issues with Your Paintball Gun_Tips
Most people who play paintball don’t think twice about shooting their paintball gun when not at a paintball field.
However, dry firing a paintball gun can cause severe damage to your gun and should be avoided.
So, how can you avoid dry firing your paintball gun? The best way is only to shoot your gun when you’re at a paintball field or event.
- Always use paintball rounds instead of dry firing using a laser aim for practice shots.
- One way is to ensure that your paintball gun is always loaded with paintballs.
- Another way is to use a ball detent, a small piece of plastic or metal that fits into the muzzle of the paintball gun and prevents a paintball from being fired without one being present.
- Finally, you can avoid pulling the trigger of your paintball gun when there are no paintballs in the chamber.
- Only dry-fire your paintball gun when necessary.
- Use an approved method for dry firing your paintball gun.
- Inspect your paintball gun regularly for any signs of damage from dry firing.
Following these simple tips, you can avoid dry firing your paintball gun and keep it in good condition for many years.
Is there a safe way to dry-fire your marker?
Yes and no! There are two methods that I will tell you about, but they only minimize the damage and are still not safe to do so.
There is no entirely fully proven safe way for dry firing. So I strongly advise you not to use it. But if you still want to know, then:
Create a blowback pressure by using a barrel cover at the end of the barrel or by shoving the squeegee inside the barrel.
Just make sure to leave a small opening for air to get out. These are two ways you can create blowback pressure, but I won’t recommend doing these because of the risk of all the damage related to dry firing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the definition of dry firing a paintball gun?
Dry firing a paintball gun means pulling the trigger with no paintballs. This could lead to malfunction and other damage to the paintball marker.
Thus compromising the reliability and life span of a paintball gun. Since paintball marker is the costliest
What are the consequences of dry firing a paintball gun?
There are potential consequences of dry firing a paintball gun, including ruined paintballs, breaking the paintball, and causing CO2 leaks.
Also, dry firing a paintball gun can void the gun’s warranty.
Dry Firing a Paintball Gun: Is it Bad for Your Gun?
Dry firing a paintball gun can be bad for your gun, as it can cause damage to the internal mechanism of the paintball gun. Additionally, dry firing can also cause issues with paintball guns, such as misfires and jams.
Although a few testing rounds of dry fire might do, it still depends on the quality and builds of the paintball gun. There are different views of paintball players on it.
But there is no denying that dry fire affects the paintball marker’s internal mechanism, not instantly, but with time.
Conclusion
Many beginners do the dry firing for many reasons, like saving up on paintball rounds, playing paintball can be expensive to be accurate, or doing this for practice reasons. Whatever the reason, dry firing is terrible for paintball guns.
Dry firing leads to lots of complications and damage to the paintball marker. To summarize, it could lead to worn-out O-rings, damaged internal parts, damaged barrels, leakage of CO2 gas, and so on.
To avoid such situations, you can use ball detent like me to prevent accident fires. It’s good to know your way around the paintball gear to increase the equipment’s life span and fully enjoy the action.
Through my experience, I no longer practice through dry firing but instead get an extra bag of paintball rounds with moderate quality for practising my aim. However, there are high-end paintball markers available in the market that have training modes in them.
These modes help you fire the paintball gun without using HPA or CO2. And are safest to use, knowing that they won’t do any damage or tear to the internal parts of your gun.
Though it might seem that a few rounds of dry fire won’t hurt, each time you make a dry fire, some tear or wear takes place, and with time, it leads to serious gun problems.
Based on my paintball experience, this is my personal view that dry firing is bad for the gun. You should research the maintenance and care of the paintball marker you bought according to its manual for a safe and fun game.
