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paintballimpact.com / Glossary / Caliber
Caliber
.50 caliber paintballs. .68 caliber paintballs. We have heard the term before, but what does it mean? Caliber as a paintball terminology means length of the paintball at its diameter in inch units. If a paintball was 1.0 caliber it would be 1inches thick at its diameter. Most paintballs are .68 caliber paintballs. Caliber also refers to the diameter of a gun barrel in fractions of an inch. Like the ammo, most gun barrels are also .68 caliber. The interior size of the paint gun barrel is described as caliber size, and also bore size.
One thing that should be noted is that while a player made buy 10 different cases of .68 caliber paintballs, he may get paint that are actually 10 different sizes. While the box may say .68 caliber, the exact size may actually very slightly. Paintballs and barrels may actually vary in size from about .67 to .70 caliber. While these slight variations in diameter may seem insignificant, they can actually cause major inconsistencies in the way your paint shoots. These variations could cause paint to chop in your barrel, or to curve or misfire out of the barrel. Sometimes, it can take the player a while until he finds a reliable paint size that works perfectly with his marker and barrel. For often performance, players want to match up paintballs with barrel bores that are as close as possible in caliber size.
Besides the slight variations in size that can vary as a result of the individual manufacturer and manufacturing process, some subtle changes in size can come from the way the paintball are moved during the delivery process, or from the way they are stored at your house. There can even be some changes and caliber size as a result of the quality of the paintballs produced by the manufacturer. Some paintballs may become warped or dimpled as a result of the way you store your gear. Did you leave them out in the back of the car in the middle of the summer? Did you store them in a damp or musty basement? There is one way to find out if the paintball will work well with the barrel. Put the ball in one end of the barrel. If it rolls out by itself, it is too small. If the ball stays in the barrel, then pick up the barrel and try to blow it out yourself. If it blows out easily, then the two pieces of equipment are a good fit. If you have to really blow hard to push it through, then the paintball is too big, or the barrel is too small.
So now you have found the perfect paintballs to go with your paintball gun. You are all set, right. The answer is yes and no. There will be games where the local field owner requires you to buy paint from his store to use his fields. This seems crappy, but many field owners contend that they would not be able to stay in business without selling field paint. Also, many professional tournaments have one particular paintball that they use in their tournaments. Many of these pro tourneys have special contracts with manufacturers or sponsors that require all players to use the same paint. In cases like these, it helps to have several different barrels with different caliber sizes to make sure that you have the best match for the big game.
Some excellent barrels include the stealth barrel from Armson. Some great paint suppliers include Rip Paintballs from Karnage Paintballs.
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Paintball Guns 
