MyPaintballNation

Why do paintballs fall out of my barrel?

Paintball guns are finicky and unreliable. Some paintball guns can be used for years without any problems, while others may need to be checked and repaired from time to time. Many paintball gun users have experienced paintballs coming out of the barrel.

paintballs fall out of my barrel

Possible reasons:

There are just two reasons why paintballs fall out of your barrel. 

  • Either your paintball is too small to fit in your barrel, 
  • or your ball detent is broken. 

Both are possible causes.

Very small paintball

In the event that you’re employing a closed-bolt paintball gun, you may be over boring it. So why do your paintballs fall out of your barrel so easily?

Also Read: How to Build a Paintball Sniper Rifle the Correct Way

Your paintballs are too small to fit in your barrel, causing them to drop the moment you aim at the ground. Just make very sure you don’t point the rifle straight down when you overbore.

Ball detents:

There are two main reasons for paintball gun detent. Depending on whether you have an open or closed bolt weapon, these reasons apply.

Open bolt gun:

Ball detents in open bolt guns keep your paintballs secure when not in use.

Close bolt gun:

Detent balls are used in closed bolt weapons to ensure that the weapon does not fire more than one shot at the same time. It ensures that each of your paintballs is released one by one.

Ball detents are an essential feature of your paintball guns, but they also wear out.

In some cases, the ball detents can break, depending on the model of your pistol. If you want to swap them out, you can.

Depending on the gun model, the procedure for changing the ball detents may vary. The basic tenets remain the same, however. Check your paintball’s instruction handbook before doing this.

When you’re engaged in a ferocious battle, your paintballs may not be the only thing to go awry. On the battlefield, you’ll confront various difficulties.

Types of ball detents:

Rebuildable and replaceable ball detents are both available. The only difference between the two types of ball detents is that one is reusable and the other is disposable. Despite the fact that the names of the two types of ball detents clearly distinguish them, I’ll go into greater detail here to clarify the differences.

Rebuildable ball dents:

Ball detents that can be rebuilt are nothing but ball detents that aren’t likely to break or wear out with time. As a result, rebuildable ball detents are more costly than throwaway ones. You might just save money over the long term because you never have to repair a rebuildable ball detent (if you lose it).

Extendable ball detents:

Ball detents that may be removed and reused are called “expandable”. As a result, a new ball detent can be purchased at a low cost. Over time, the wear and tear on the ball detents might cause them to break or wear out. It’s inevitable if you keep firing your paintball pistol for an extended period of time.

The detent in your disposable device may appear to be in perfect condition, yet it may still be worn down. However, this could lead to duplicate feeding at certain times and ball detent working in other circumstances.

Paintball exploding in the barrel:

Paintballs exploding inside the barrel have four causes.

  • A terrible batch of balls
  • A shattered barrel
  • The breach has been broken.
  • slicing balls into smaller pieces

A terrible batch of balls:

It’s a good thing you can tell when your paintballs are no longer safe to use:

  • It’s no longer round (Oblong or egg-shaped)
  • If they break, try dropping them. If so, get rid of it.
  • There are parts of it that feel flimsy to the touch.
  • It’s covered in blemishes.
  • Your paintballs have been out for over a year.

Do not keep paintballs that have one or more of these warning signals in them.

Shattered barrel:

If your paintballs are regularly breaking, your paintball barrel may be damaged.

A cotton ball can be placed into your paintball gun’s barrel to see if it’s cracked. Snags and tears are signs that there is a flaw in your barrel. You can try to fix it, but a new barrel is needed in most cases.

Broken breach:

A broken breech is far easier to fix than a cracked barrel, and if you’re lucky, you won’t have to spend any money.

If your gun’s air pressure is higher, the breech could burst. If the pressure is too high, the paintball will rupture upon impact.

If you’re using a hydraulic paintball gun, you can lower the air pressure by lowering the settings. You’ll need to lower the speed if you have a backlash.

Dry paint caught in the breach might cause the breach to break. The problem is solved if you thoroughly clean your pistol.

Slicing balls into small pieces:

There are numerous reasons why your paintball gun’s paintballs get sliced up. Possible causes of your issue include:

  • loading and marking speeds that are not compatible
  • You crammed your paintball gun to the brim.
  • Breech-to-barrel air flow
  • Loading that was broken
  • Anti-chop eyes that haven’t been cleaned up

If you can’t figure out which of these caused your paintball to go off, you’ll need the assistance of a paintball gun specialist.

How to stop paintballs falling out of your barrel:

A worn-out ball detent or insufficiently sized paintballs are the most likely causes of your paintballs bouncing out of your gun’s barrel. Although paintballs can be found in a variety of calibers, the most common is 68 calibers. Paintballs falling out of the barrel can be avoided by using the proper paintball size.

Replace the ball detent and see if that makes a difference. The procedure is straightforward; however, you may find it helpful to consult the gun’s user handbook. Other paintball gun-related issues include double-firing, the air seeping down the barrel, and the paintball gun not recocking, among others.

Conclusion:

For closed-bolt paintball guns with paintballs that don’t fit in the barrel, you either have a damaged or missing ball detent, or you’re shooting too tiny of a caliber for your gun. You may either buy a new ball detent and replace it or check to see if you accidentally misplaced it when performing maintenance on your marker. 

Use a small bit of transparent nail polish on the end that screws into the marker to keep paintballs from rolling out of a closed-bolt paintball pistol as another alternative for preventing ball rollout. It’s possible to use a pump paintball gun and only press the trigger when you’re ready to shoot.