C - Paintball Terms & Definitions

• CA. CA is an acronym for constant air. Constant Air systems are often used for semi-automatic and automatic paintball guns. CA allows markers to use bulk Co2 tanks rather than 12 gram cartridges.
  
  
• Caliber - The diameter of the bore of a marker or the diameter of a paintball. A .75 caliber paintball would be 75 hundredths of an inch. A 1.00 caliber paintball would be exactly 1 inch in diameter. There are 100 calibers to an inch.
  
  
  
  
• California Style - a shooting system consisting of a marker and an L-shaped shoulder stock with a 7 to 10 ounce constant air tank on the bottom. The California style shooting system has a thermal on/off valve in the shoulder stock's tank holder and a hose that connects the tank to the marker.
  
  
• Camouflage - Camouflage is also referred to as Camo, and it consists of a blend of color and patterns that players wear or use to blend into his natural surroundings. For BDU patterns camouflage comes in many different pattern and color combinations. Some camouflage patterns include woodland, desert, tiger stripes, and most recently digital.
  
  
• Cannon - the cannon is a novelty item that is used for scenario games or a Big Game scenario. The Cannon is a homemade paintball gun that fires multiple paintballs simultaneously from a single barrel. The cannon is developed with the nearly same technology of a potato gun, the cannon fires many paintballs at a target at once. Most cannons are constructed with PVC piping and plumbing valves.
  
  
• Capture the flag - Capture the Flag is a style of play that is used in various tournament circuits nationally and internationally. In this game format, two teams have flags that they must protect the other team from capturing to win the game. Other game variations include Siege, Assault, Overnight Game, Alamo, and Street Fighter.
  
  
• Carbon dioxide - Carbon Dioxide is a molecule that is abundant in the atmosphere and is the most common source of air power for paintball markers. Co2 for paintball guns are stored in tanks, where it exists in a liquid state. In a paintball tank, liquid Co2 is used to partially fill an athlete's tank. Some of the Co2 liquid in the tank boils off as gas, and that gas is used to power the gun.
  
  
• Center flag - Center Flag was the format of one of the first paintball games ever played. While the classic capture the flag features two team flags on opposite ends of the fields, in Center Flag there is a single flag hung in the center of the field. At the start of the game, two teams make their way towards the center flag from their home base at opposite sides of the field. The team that manages to take the flag and carry it towards their home base wins the game.
  
  
• Check valve - a check valve allows the propellant to flow in only one direction.
  
  
• Chop - when a paintball is broken in the breach of your marker. When paint breaks inside the breach, the gelatin shell and paint residue can diminish the performance of your paintball marker.