Paintballs, also simply called "paint", are spherical gelatin capsules containing primarily polyethylene glycol, other non-toxic and water-soluble substances, and dye. Paintballs are made of materials found in food items, and are edible but taste disagreeable as they tend to dry up the mouth. The use of polyethylene glycol (a laxative) in the fill can also cause gastrointestinal distress in individuals who eat a number of paintballs; therefore, they should be kept out of reach of young children. Early paintballs were made of glass and filled with inedible oil-based paint, since they were made for marking trees and cattle, but modern paintballs should easily wash out of most clothing. The color of the shell does not necessarily indicate the color of the fill.
Most common paintballs and paintball markers are described as .68 caliber (17.3 mm), but many factors affect the exact dimensions. Paintballs and barrels vary in size from .67 caliber to .71 caliber (17 mm to 18 mm). In addition, paintballs are seldom perfectly round and are very sensitive to heat and moisture. A hot or humid day may result in paint swelling or becoming misshapen. Care should be taken to keep paintballs out of the sun and away from moisture. An insulated cooler works well for this on the field.
The gelatin shell of a paintball is designed to break upon impact, although ricochets or "bounces" may occur. There are many types of paintballs, including glow in the dark paintballs for use at night, scented paintballs, and formulations for winter play. When dropped on the ground, groundwater or condensation may swell the paintball, which could cause a jam in the barrel or rupture and foul the internal workings of the marker. Dropped ammunition is known as 'loose paint', and should not be used in paintball markers.
Generally speaking, paintballs of greater price are subjected to more stringent manufacturing processes, quality checks, and standards, making their size and shape more consistent. This is very important for accuracy. Better paintballs also tend to have thinner shells to improve the frequency of breaking on impact rather than bouncing, and thicker, more opaque fills that are more visible and harder to wipe off.
While it is theoretically possible to freeze a water based paintball, the polyethylene glycol additive drastically lowers the freezing point of the mixture, making it highly unlikely to actually freeze it into something harder than a regular paintball. When introduced to a very cold environment, the paintball's shell will most likely dimple (making it less accurate) and the shell will become brittle. In fact, some professional speedball teams will cool their paintballs in a freezer to make the paint more brittle.
U.S. SWAT teams often use paintball-like balls, also known as a pepper ball, filled with Oleoresin Capsicum, the active ingredient of pepper spray, as a non-lethal incapacitation method. However, pepperballs are shot at a higher velocity than is safe for paintball (above 350 ft/s (110 m/s)) and the shells are not made from gelatin, but rather a frangible plastic to make shots more painful for faster incapacitation. Pepperballs can be shot out of almost any paintball marker.
Recently, HydroTec has released a new paintball. It uses a corn based shell and a fill which is 98% water. The paintball shell tolerates temperatures up to 120 °F (49 °C). These features, along with a unique construction process, make for a much more consistent paintball.
Within Islam, the consumption or even touch of anything pork related is not allowed or considered not being haram (which means unclean). So there have been requirements for Muslim players to use paintballs which are "Halal" which means approved by Islam. These paintballs are made from beef gelatine. These are often called "Halal Paintballs".
Read more about this topic: Paintball Equipment