From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Stock paintball
Stock paintball
Stockclass paintball is a paintball game variant, in which provided that a 12-gram power source and horizontal
players are restricted to use the most basic paintball feed tube are utilized.
markers to tag opponents with. As paintball gained in popularity, other manufactur-
ers began to produce equipment for the sport. Around
The rules the year 1983, the Splatmaster marker was introduced by
National Survival Game, a new company at the time. The
Stock paintball players must adhere to the following Splatmaster was a single-tube marker but used a differ-
rules, in regards to usable paintball markers. ent operating system than the Nelson marker which re-
• The marker must have a horizontal paintball feed - quired the user to push in a round button that protruded
the marker must be tilted (rocked) forward or from the back of the marker in order to cock it and load a
backward to feed the next shot. paintball. In this design, the 12-gram cartridge is housed
• The marker may not be semi-automatic - it requires within the pistol grip of the marker much like the ear-
pumping or cocking prior to each shot being fired (in ly Nelson pistols. This marker is considered to be stock
other words "rock and cock"). class.
• The marker must be powered by a single 12 gram Most stock class marker designs today are a copy or
powerlet - limiting the number of shots to 15-40 combination of one or more of the above systems.
depending on the efficiency of the marker. The term ’stock class’ originated in the late 1980s as
• The marker may only hold a maximum of 20 a way to differentiate markers that were used in their
paintballs in it.[1] factory condition from markers which were modified to
include additional, often home-built features. The most
History common upgrades to a marker at the time were a con-
stant air source and a direct-feed hopper for the purpose
The Nelspot 007, originally a tree and cattle marking pis- of increasing the number of shots a player could take be-
tol, is generally accepted to be the first paintball marker. fore reloading. Stock class play began as a way to limit
While the Nelson Paint Company no longer directly man- the performance of markers so as to limit the advantage
ufactures or commissions markers intended for use in one player could gain over another through high-perfor-
the sport of paintball, the Nelson design is still utilized in mance equipment.
both original and slightly modified forms in more mod- Today, stock markers can be found in several differ-
ern markers. The Phantom, Buzzard, Line SI Bushmaster, ent designs and are often purchased in a stock class for-
Traccer/Maverick and other markers utilize a Nelson- mat or else modified to conform to the generally accept-
style operating system which is easily identified as hav- ed regulations.
ing a hammer and bolt housed within a single-tube body.
So long as a 12-gram power source and a horizontal feed
tube are present, these markers are generally considered Rationale
to be stock class. Stock class aims to retain the way paintball was at its
Benjamin-Sheridan had been producing airguns for birth: before electronic markers, high rates of fire, and
some time before paintball was introduced and they were overshooting. Players often play stock class for different
able to easily adapt their pistol designs to fire a paintball reasons: some grew up playing paintball this way and
instead of a .177-caliber pellet by changing the barrel don’t like the direction the industry has taken the sport,
and making a few minor modifications. The Sheridan de- some play this way to save money, and some simply en-
sign utilizes a multiple-tube body that places the bolt joy the challenge of not being able to rely on a fast mark-
above the hammer and is distinctively different than the er to get eliminations. The common theme among all
monotube design of the Nelson system. Benjamin-Sheri- stock players, however, is a desire to play in a limited
dan began producing markers for Pursuit Marketing, Inc. fashion. That is, to intentionally put oneself at a disad-
around 1982 with the introduction of the bolt-action PG vantage in relation to other players on the field.
pistol which soon evolved into the PGP through the addi- Limited play has many forms aside from pure stock
tion of a pump handle. Sheridan-style design is still uti- class. Modified stock class, as mentioned above, uses se-
lized in the present-day iteration of the PGP 2k1 and in lected elements of stock class play to limit a player.
other markers such as the WGP Sniper and clones. This "Limited Paint" is another form of limited play where any
design is also considered to be suitable for stock class type of equipment is permissible with the exception that
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Stock paintball
each player may only carry a set number of rounds with markers have a maximum limit of 285 ft/s. In certain sit-
him or her. A commonly accepted limit is 40 rounds per uations, this higher velocity limit gives a pump player a
person per game, though this may vary depending on lo- significant advantage over an adversary using a semi-au-
cation, type of play, the number of participants and other tomatic. In light of conflicts with insurance regulations
factors. A common variant of Limited Paint play is what and field-specific "house rules," such variations are not
is known as "Hopperball" in which competitors may uti- always permitted at every event. Players should be care-
lize any equipment they wish but their paint capacity is ful to always learn and obey the rule variations in effect
limited to the volume which may be placed into their during the events they participate in.
hoppers before the beginning of the game - that is, they Stock markers may also have an additional advantage
are not permitted to carry additional paint or to reload in that they are generally simpler in function than a
during the game. Other types of limited play can include semi-automatic and almost never use electronic compo-
the wear of identifying or brightly-colored clothing (thus nents in their design. Mechanically, this can make a stock
negating the effectiveness of camouflage), allowing one or modified stock marker easier to repair and maintain
team to compete with more players than another or forc- which can lead to more consistent and reliable perfor-
ing selected players to fire their markers with their non- mance on the field. Depending on the event, these attrib-
dominant hands. Because of the variety of limited play utes may or may not correspond to a tangible advantage.
styles, Stock Class play is usually identified as separate Conversely, given the relatively low popularity or discon-
and unique from other styles in an attempt to eliminate tinued status of some stock markers, it may prove diffi-
ambiguity. cult to find spare parts when needed.
Regardless of title or definition, there are in fact some Lastly, there are numerous psychological effects of
tangible benefits to using stock class equipment. Princi- the use of stock class equipment. Because of the inherent
pally, stock markers are generally lighter in weight and rate of fire limitation, many stock class players put signif-
smaller in size than semi-automatic markers because icant effort and emphasis on the development of marks-
they lack a large air tank and hopper. Many stock players manship skills. While this is not an advantage restricted
also carry less extra paint than average which further to any specific style of play, it is worth noting that many
helps to reduce the amount and mass of gear they must stock players consider their style of play to be conducive
carry in a game. By carrying less gear, many players find to the development of such skills. Another significant
it easier to move more quickly and to play "tighter" - that psychological factor associated with stock class play is
is, to present a smaller target profile to the opposition that of being a relative underdog compared to other play-
when peering around cover, bunkers or other obstruc- ers on the field. When a player is at an equipment dis-
tions. Most notably, the lack of a hopper significantly re- advantage, they may tend to be more alert and cautious
duces a stock player’s profile when shooting from cover. than they would otherwise. These factors vary widely
Additionally, many modern stock markers have per- from person to person, of course, but they are all fairly
formance characteristics which are comparable to high- common reasons players give as to why they play stock
quality semi-automatics. For example, a stock marker class.
with excellent accuracy, velocity consistency and er-
gonomic design limits a player only in terms of their rate
of fire. For this reason, a common misconception among
References
paintball players is that stock markers are in fact more ac- [1] "Tournament Guidelines".
curate than any other type of marker. In reality, a stock http://www.phantomonline.com/stockclass/
marker presents little to no accuracy advantage (or dis- tournament.html. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
advantage) over a comparable semi-automatic. Consider-
ing that markers are always limited to a maximum fir-
ing velocity, there is no advantage or disadvantage of a
External links
stock marker compared to a semi- in terms of the effec- • Carter Machine
tive range. • Component Concepts, Inc.
Pump markers are occasionally permitted to fire at a • M.Carter Brown Site devoted to old and rare
higher velocity than semi-automatics. This is most com- paintball guns including stock class
monly seen in Rattlesnake Productions’ scenario games • Palmers Pursuit Shop
where pump markers are permitted to fire up to a maxi- • Stock Class Paintball Site devoted to expanding Stock
mum limit of 300 feet per second (ft/s) whereas all other Class play.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stock_paintball&oldid=427112659"
Categories:
• Paintball equipment
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Stock paintball
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