What Are Federal and State Restrictions On Paintball Guns?
I am an amateur inventor and engineer, and I'm designing a paintball gun assembly. I was wondering what the restrictions would be on my design (psi li...
I am an amateur inventor and engineer, and I’m designing a paintball gun assembly. I was wondering what the restrictions would be on my design (psi limits, aesthetic limits, etc), as well as marketability.
Anything over 500 feet per second is considered a firearm. As most markers max out (engineering wise) at about 360 fps, you should be fine. Paintball guns are not required to have an orange tip on their barrel (thank God) even though a good number of the markers out there today look like the real thing.
You will need to look at mechanism patents. Many of the marker manufacturers have multiple patents either confirmed or pending on the operation of their markers. Autococker’s bolt forward system and Smart Parts, shuttle valve being just two of many. Of course, much of these patents can be licensed for use.
I personally think that Smart Part’s spool valve is engineering genius, when it comes to mass, speed and cycling time. A lot of people dis the Ion internals but I’ve rocked more than a few games with my little stock marker.
As far as PSI restrictions, your limited by ASME ratings on the pressure vessels. A standard 48cui Steel tank is rated for 3000psi, that pressure is stepped down to around 100 psi in most markers. Of course this varies from marker to marker. As far as CO2 goes, you’ve got to allow for expansion of gas within the marker and have a fail safety point in regards to the O-Rings. Tippmann products might be used mostly with HPA these days but their markers are still made to take CO2, even in liquid form. Something that will kill damn near every electro.
Here in Canada, were restricted by CSA standards, which are a crock for the most part. If you’re in the US of course you’ll be dealing with UL certification. One work around is to use pre certified components in a body of your manufacture. This will allow you to jump a lot of the expensive testing for certification process if you ever want to go into production.
Good luck.