Original gas powered BB guns, Pellet guns and Paintball guns all ran on 12g CO2 cartridges/powerlets, which were also common for seltzer charging bottles and self inflating life vests. This was the only available compressed gas source in the 1980s that sold in retail locations. Paintball pistols still use these 12g cartridges. Fun, unrelated fact, the original way to carry paintballs was in cigar tubes, which evolved into 10rnd plastic tubes. CO2 was a common industrial gas, but more important, gas suppliers already supplied single cylinder bulk tanks to every restaurant with a soda gun. That made it easy for paintball fields to get. In my days as a ref in the mid 90s we occasionally had to make runs to pick up CO2 tanks from restaurants when our gas supplier missed a shipment or was closed. While scuba filling would be common in coastal areas where diving was popular, a paintball field in Colorado, Kansas or Pennsylvania would find CO2 much more common than compressed air. Also, until recently air compressors that could charge a bulk fill cylinder to 3000+ PSI cost close to $10k, so it wasn't economical to buy a compressor until well after the year 2000.
CO2 tanks are cheaper. The entry cost for a compressor is very high. Now that the industry has matured, most fields have compressors, and so they are just paying for electricity. They have to buy co2, so in the long run, air is cheaper. Back in the day, small 4500psi tanks were just not available, and even scuba shops weren’t set up to fill them. Also markers were simpler and designed to shoot with co2. They didn’t work well in the cold though. Nowadays for a few hundred you can even get your own compressor as long as you are being safe. CO2 is fine to start with, but air is so much nicer to live with.
Just one extra point: CO2 tanks require you to take them off the gun to refill, but air tanks have a fill nipple so you can fill them while they're still on the gun. Not a huge deal, but it's WAY more convenient.
I tend to get more shots out of a 20oz CO2 tank, around 800, whereas I get around 600 with a 48/3000 HPA. CO2 tank is also lighter than an HPA. That being said, CO2 is much easier to obtain where I live (Northeastern PA), whereas the nearest place to fill HPA is about 1 hour away. I get better consistency with HPA though, and it runs cleaner through my gun.
DJ O you will always get more shots out of co2. But it will never be work better than hpa. The tanks are different sizes so no point in comparing weight and shot counts when co2 shouldnt be used. You know you could go to a scuba store or even some fire departments will fill up tanks. Almost all fields use hpa and unless you're playing at a private field or are just going into the woods, you should have hpa access.
I know this is old but it's great. Just bought both. 28 and 50$. Really depends where you live and how you're using it. My field is kind of far, but all the compressed air you want, when they're open. Fire extinguishing company is close and they'll fill co2. A bit of research taught me if you have scuba shops all over you're golden on compressed air. Co2 is a bit tougher 6 years after this video. Walmart and sports shops tend to not have people capable of running a cash register or dressing themselves so co2 gone there(again it will vary by area). Some homebrew beer shops and places that refill fire extinguishers are good for co2. Just call ahead and ask, if they don't do it they might point you in the right direction. Also just going to add on to that homebrew, a lot of brewers use co2 tanks for their kegs and are happy to point you in the right direction.
Where I live the nearest store to fill co2 is an hour away although it’s cheaper to buy I’d rather spend more money on a tank I can fill at home for free with an air compressor thank you for this video helped me out a lot
It's easy to modify a c02 tank to make it work allot better. Everyone had modified tanks back in the day where I played. You just unscrew the top of the tank. Screw it all the way into the gun. And solder a small copper tube that bends upwards. You put it back in the tank and you'll never get liquid into the gun. It makes a big difference.
One question that I have as an old guy who only uses paintball to chase possum and deer away from my wife's flowers and cat food is: Are the tanks interchangeable ...can a CO2 tank hold compressed air at some pressure, or, can a compressed air tank hold CO2 at some pressure? My rather low end gun uses 90g CO2 cartridges or compressed air, so there is an adapter. I don't see the compressed air tank I bought(and a cheap Chinese compressor to charge it) has any rating for CO2, but it seems that it could be a possibility.
in south Africa our price for gas is R1 a oz thats R20 for 20oz which is under 2 dollars , finding places that do compressed air is hard ,the places that do it its normal free but the only place to fill tanks for home is diving shops
If you play enough to warrant filling your own tanks CO2 tends to be cheaper because you don't have to buy commercial grade compressors, a 5 pound CO2 tank cost around 60-80$ and usually comes pre-filled. A 5 pound tank is 4 20oz tank refills and it only costs about 6.50$ to refill your 5 pound tank. The hardware for filling tanks from a large CO2 storage tank run around 20$. Side benefit being you can also run a soda stream or beer tap with em too.
My local field charges $10 for all day air whether it is co2 or HPA. One thing I have noticed is co2 seems to work better with certain guns. On my Phantom and Pro-Carbine the markers are a little quieter with Co2 than it is with HPA. My autococker is setup to where I can switch between the 2. There is nothing noticeable between them.
beetleweight robowars robot for me, excellent video by the way. ~1000 shots for co2, vs ~500 shots for compressed air, was going ooh, so I'll get to fire the flipper more often in the fight if I use a c02 tank
Thanks for the upload. This was really helpful. I'm thinking of buying the Tipperman TCR for self defense with the Breaker Balls as it seems to be highly recommended (I'm a complete noob to paintballing in general besides bachelor parties). I've been told if the gun is rarely used it's best to use Co2 and a small pistol like the FSC but I'm not the best shooter so would like to fire more than 12 shots 😂. I live in the UK hence the alternative, any help would be appreciated 👍
I like the TCR/TiPX for defense. The best part is that you can leave the 12gram cartridge in the marker and on the first trigger pull the 12gram is punctured, that way you don't have to worry about a tank leaking or having to screw something on. Its always ready.
@@PaintballRuinedMyLife FSC every time. All you need is extra mags. The mags provide both power source _and_ ammo and can be switched out really quick. The CO2 in the TiPX is slow to switch out. The CO2 in the FSC can be pierced as you pick up the gun...takes no time at all.
and the hydro stuff is kind of annoying on the HPA tanks; you can just buy a new CO2 tank if the hydro date comes up (although you'll probably be broke from paying for CO2 refills) just a thought though; mostly for playing devil's advocate more than anything
Just go compressed air! I'm coming back I to paintball after 10 years and I went to the paintball shop I used to go to back then and I asked for a co2 tank which was $20 for a 20oz., So my guns leaked so I decided to go to another place for air but they told me the truth about co2 going obsolete, which I was kind of bothered the first store did not tell me, but I ended up buying a compressed air tank. I'm converting my Tippmann into magfed and from there I'll see what I buy, either a magfed pistol or speedball gun. Thanks to my niece for always getting my paintball guns off my desk and getting me into it again
I play speedball and magfed, I use co2 for magfed, I use compressed air for Speed ball. I realized when I was playing mag fed in a 80 degrees and my pressure in my tank went up high so always, go compressed air
clean it after you use it, get paint off to save the paint, if you break a ball clean it out, hot soapy water will clean off the paint residue from your gun, barrel and mask, etc
Max J-S I like to leave my barrels in warm soapy water for an hour then rinse and squeegee/ polish with a barrel swab. For the exterior of my gun/ hopper (don't let water inside, it could ruin the electronics) I use a spray bottle full of warm soapy water n spray a cloth to wipe it all down if it's already dry. If it's still wet I just use normal warm water (paintball gear is easiest to clean right after playing). Then wipe off thoroughly. As for clothes I lay em down on my lawn n hose off all the hits thoroughly n shake it out then hang dry before throwing in the washer. For my mask I just spray warm soapy water then water then I use lens cleaner. If you have a single pane lens you can just let it sit in warm soapy water before using lens cleaner but don't do this for any dual pane lens because water will get in between the plastic and ruin the lens. You can clean the eyes of your gun without uncovering them by wiping them with a towel then getting the rest with a qtip dipped in 50% rubbing alcohol it's important that you only use enough to clean the outside and that it doesn't drip into your board and short circuit it. The rubbing alcohol dries pretty fast if u only wipe it down. If your eyes are very dirty you can uncover and wipe with a moist cloth. For tanks just wipe off with a wet towel. Most guns and hoppers have a manual or video posted on how to thoroughly clean the hopper so just look em up! Hope this helped you because it sure as hell helps me lol. It's always good to bring a spray bottle of regular water n a few towels when you go out Paintballing btw. Have fun dude!
Thanks again for all your help. I’m brand new to this and have 20 ounce CO2 tanks. Can I use my CO2 tank, with the proper fittings as a compressed, air tank, also?
@@galaxyalien-yt7566 let me educate you CO2 is more denser than air as a result CO2 gives more FPS than compressed. CO2 and compressed air both have pros and cons I prefer CO2 since I only pay 4 bucks to fill up a big bottle in my location
Very smart interview. I enjoyed your knowledgeable expertise. I only use mine for tactical Home Security and your comparison of the dif between Air And Co2 was very interesting. I bought the small refillable x 2 Co2 tanks with an older foldable stock Ar looking Tippman. Antique I guess at 50mm cal.
No. Tippmann Pro-Carbine, Model 98 and later models are all designed for both CO2 and HPA. Back in the olden days you needed a separate gun mounted regulator, but now those regulators are part of the HPA valve. In fact we just refer to it as the regulator now and only call it a valve when its the old simple kind on a CO2 tank. I also want to add that before buying a tank you should find out where to get fills and ask what they fill. Many commercial fields are eliminating CO2 and only do HPA, BUT many sporting goods stores that cater to people who play on private land only supply CO2 (Dick's is an example of a national retailer that only supplies Co2).
This isn’t paintball. But have a question. There are show only nos setups for cars. Where it only does the purge action Im wondering. If the compressed air would make the same show as either the co2 or nitrous ???? The purge kit being used has the led on the valve to light up the purge..
Don't even have to watch the video. Air. It's cleaner, cheaper, better for your gun, doesn't freeze up the tank. It will even make your gun shoot more accurate because the pressure is not so up and down. Every tournament player uses air. If I owned a field I wouldn't even bother with CO2.
Paintball Ruined My Life VMax plus is a perfectly good entry hopper. it IS a bit bigger and lacks key features that high end hoppers have but vmax will feed perfectly.
Can't you also refill a compressed air tank yourself with an air compressor? My dad has one and he always used to just fill the tanks himself any time we would play in my friend's backyard.
Ik I'm a bit late but once your done with the game do u take out the compressed air tank from the paintball gun or do u leave it I there? I'm new to all this, pls help
Always disconnect the air from the gun when done with play. If the tank is aluminum, you wont need to store air inside of it. If it's carbon fiber leave between 500 to 100 psi inside the tank.
so which one will shoot more paint? u said 2 co2 tanks for a box and 4 compressed air per box? at the beginning it hought u said compressed air lasts longer?
Very good info! please let me know is it the same amount of pure air you can compressed as co2 ...is it last the same ..at the same thickness of the cylinder ?
I just purchased a 98 custom and bought 2 co2 tanks. This is not for paintball but for pepper ball and nylon balls. Am I able to fill these co2 tanks with air instead of co2?
I'm guessing you can't put co2 in an empty compressed air tank? Sorry new to this. My paintball field give free air but I don't think it's compressed air.
Please help! We’re 30 minutes south of Nashville and can’t find a local compressed air place (other than tournament fields) to fill our tanks. My sons birthday is in a couple weeks (12) and I’m trying to get everything set up in our back yard. Local sporting good stores don’t refill here anymore. Any advice is appreciated!
Paintball Ruined My Life y lie and say 3000 dolalrs for one lmao go on ebay or other places and find one for like 450 or 5 flat 😂and they hold 4500 psi
What if I want to shoot my markers at home, could I use a basic air compressor? To fill myself because most of the time I will probably just be shooting at home. Pls help I’m new to this!
If my gun comes with a refillable co2 tank, can I fill it with compressed air instead? Or do I need to fill only with co2?? Would I need to buy another tank to use compressed air?
