Safety
1. The most important aspect of paintball.
For more information about Safety, see the Safety Section of Durty Dan's Paintball Information Services.
2. A mechanism that prevents the marker from being fired accidentally. The safety usually blocks the travel of the trigger, or the movement of the sear. In some semi-automatics the safety is simply a slot milled at right angles to the slot that allows the cocking handle to move back and forth with the bolt. The cocking handle simply slips into this "notch" to prevent the bolt from moving.
Schrader Core Valve
A C/A valve whose core is essentially installed by screwing it in like
a valve on an automobile tire. The Schrader cores have been reported to
have "failed", having unscrewed or having the threads trip. This makes a
tank, with any amount of CO2 into a dangerous projectile. Most C/A tanks
have the Tippmann valve, which is much safer.
Scope
The colloquial term for telescopic sight.
Sear
The sear holds the hammer in the cocked position. Trigger action
pivots or slides the sear and releases the hammer to fire the paintmarker.
The sear may be attached to the hammer itself or as part of the trigger
mechanism.
Semi-automatic
A popular paintmarker action that uses vented gas to operate the
mechanism every time the trigger is pulled. Some semi-automatic actions
require to be cocked for the first shot and then load, fire and re-cock with
a pull of the trigger. Semis can be open bolt, closed bolt or blow forward.
Sheridan Action
Originally the action of airguns, Benjamin/Sheridan soon adapted the
action for the purpose of firing paintballs. The Sheridan action is typified
by the fact that the bolt is not in line with the hammer and valve, but
placed above it. Any action designated as Sheridan-type, does not
necessarily indicate a parts compatibility with a Sheridan action but a
commonality of design.
Sheridan pump action.
Shooter
A player who is known for their consistent accuracy. A shooter uses little paint and rarely misses. In tournament play, this is defined as the exact opposite. A tourney shooter is a player who shoots vast amounts of paint.
Sight Rail
A rail that has small longitudinal grooves along its side to facilitate
the mounting of a dot sight or telescopic sight.
(L)Sight rail built on marker. (R)Typical slide-on sight rail.
Sights
That which is used to aid the shooter in aiming the marker.
Silencer
Improper term for a Suppressor.
Siphon Tube
A tube in a CO2 C/A tank that makes the tank feed liquid into the
valve system. Many of the older semi-automatics operate better on liquid
CO2. Liquid CO2 is also more efficient in colder weather than gaseous
CO2. However, when a marker draws liquid, its velocity increases.
Markers which work on liquid are not as efficient with the CO2 as one
which operate on gas alone.
Slide Check (valve)
Used on air fittings it allows the user to safely drain the remote system of gas before disconnecting the marker from the system.
The large collar is slid to one side to relase the gas.
Splash Anodizing
Anodizing that is done in two or three colours. A base coat is applied
and then is "splashed" with complementary or contrasting blotches and
streaks. While anodizing does serve to protect the surface of the
aluminum from corrosion, splash anodizing is more akin to personalized
vanity plates on automobile. Two colour splash anodizing is called "two-
base", three colour is called "three-base", etc. Many custom shops and
manufacturers have developed their own patterns.
Excellent examples of splash anodizing. All images copyright Anolaze.
A very detailed explanation can be found at Doc's Machine and Airsmith Services
Spring Feed
A feed system that replaces the pull of gravity with the push of a
spring to feed the paintballs. Due to the size of paintballs, most spring
loaded systems can only hold a finite number of paintballs. Innovators of
spring feeds often make up for this shortcoming by making the spring
loaded feeders easily reloaded, or pre-loadable and quick to change. Due
to their limited capacity, they have enjoyed limited success.
Spring Guide
This is a part (which essentially looks like a large nail) that fits in the centre of the spring. The guide performs two tasks. One; it prevents the spring from kinking when fully compressed and in some velocity adjusters, it rests against the adjusting screw instead of the end of the spring. Spring guides are mostly used for long springs.
A typical spring guide found in most markers with long hammer springs.
Squadbuster
See Paint Grenade
Squeegee
The device used to clean paint residue and shell fragments from
broken paintballs out of a marker's barrel. This is essential because a wet
inner surface will reduce accuracy to the point to where the paintmarker
is useless for the purposes of eliminating opponents from the game.
These devices come in four styles.
This is a squeegee which has a rigid or semi rigid shaft. On one end is an articulated disk that is of a larger diameter than the inner diameter of the bore of most markers. The disk is usually made of neoprene or can be an o-ring or two around a solid disk. The idea is that the articulated disk turns sideways when the squeegee is pushed down the barrel. The disk must move to the side, otherwise it would simply push all the paint and debris further into the barrel, which defeats the purpose. When the squeegee is pulled out, friction between the disk and the inner surface of the barrel orient the disk in the barrel so it plows all the paint and shell fragments out of the barrel. Many stick squeegees have some type of swab at one end or a slot the user can put a piece of cloth through. This is used to further clean the barrel after the disk is used.
The squeegee is essentially a wire cable with a small knob at one end and a rubber disk at the other. The knob is pushed into the barrel until it comes out the other end, it is grabbed and pulled, pulling the disk down the barrel. The "jerk" type of squeegee usually has three or four spaced rubber disks followed by a swab. This type is utilised with markers that have a special access hole, or have removable barrels.
A semi rigid tube that is essentially a stick squeegee that can be rolled up and put into a pocket. Most have a disk at one end and a swab at the other. The name is derived from the first of this design, from TASO, whose trademark mascot is an opossum.
Essentially a stick with a long swab on it. They are inexpensive and are designed to soak the paint up, rather than plow it out. Like all swabs on all squeegees equipped with them, they can be a "fuzzy" cotton or closed cell foam "plugs".
Step Tuning/Honing
The process of honing a barrel so the barrel has different interior
diameters along its length. The theory is simple. The inner diameters
near the chamber and muzzle are smaller then that of the centre of the
barrel. The barrel is tight at the chamber, to allow the energy of the
expanding gas to propel the paintball efficiently and without waste caused
by blow-by. The centre of the barrel is larger to allow room for the ball
to deform, while be driven be the expanding gas. The muzzle end is again
smaller so the ball can be restricted near the muzzle end, to allow for
more accuracy. Step tuning/honing will only work on markers whose
valves are properly tuned for this type of barrel.
Stick Feeder
The original bulk loader. It is a hollow tube, usually plastic ABS
plumbing pipe, that holds the paintballs in a row and feeds them into the
marker via the direct feed. They have a limited capacity as any capacity
over 20 paintballs makes the stick too long and very ungainly. They have
fallen out of favour since the advent of bulk feeding systems. Some
players still use them. Some stockguns have a variation of a stick feeder
inserted in the stock feed block.
Stock Class
A "low tech" version of paintball. For more information see the Stock Class article in Durty Dan's Paintball Information Services.
Stock Feed
A feed system which conforms to the restriction applied to stock
class markers. For more information see the Stock Class article in Durty Dan's Paintball Information Services.
Stock feeds in action! Top is a Nelson based and the bottom is a Sheridan based.
Stock Tubes
The original way players used to carry paintballs into a game. They
also provided an easy way to reload the marker and often times a tube
could be inserted into the marker to serve as a way to increase the
capacity of the number of paintballs the marker could hold. They are
capable of holding 10 paintballs in a row and have a small cap to keep the
paintballs in and moisture and dirt out. Originally simply called paint
tubes, they have been called stock tubes so as to alleviate confusion
between them and bulk loading tubes. The original tube were actually
recycled cigar tubes, and the brand of cigar, the tube formerly protected,
was a tongue-in-cheek display of status amongst some players.
Each tube holds ten balls.
Supergun
Often used to refer to markers which have a high rate of fire.
Suppressive Fire
Often confused with hosing. In my experience suppressive fire is used
to keep an opponent's head down to either prevent the opponent for moving
or to prevent the opponent for seeing someone attempting to advance on
him.
Suppressor
A device attached to the barrel of a marker that muffles the sound of the shot. MOst marker supressors are illegal according to BATF regulations.
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All of the articles in the "virtual book" Durty Dan's Paintball Information Services are free to use for webpages, school projects, reference and to promote paintball to players and the non-playing public. Credit for the source of the information should be included in the bibliography or references page.
© Durty Dan Enterprises 2000. All rights reserved. All works contained herein are under copyright of the author Durty Dan. While the Terms of Use are broad they do not include the right to republish this work in any publication (hardcopy or electronic) for the purposes of personal financial gain.
