This article contains a guide on How Do Paintball Grenades Work? Paintball grenades are nefarious tiny paintball guns that give you an unfair advantage over your opponents. They’re also useful if you need to get out of a sticky situation unscathed. But how do the ingenious paintball grenades function?
[Updated] How Do Paintball Grenades Work? | 2022 | The Complete Guide
Paintball grenades are small devices that, when thrown at an opponent, explode and spray paint, smoke, or flash. They carry a small charge with a short fuse that explodes on impact, distracting, disorienting, or splattering paint on opposing team members.
While paintball grenades are useful, they must be used correctly and at the appropriate time to reap their full benefits. Read on to learn everything there is to know about paintball grenades and how to use them properly.
What Are Paintball Grenades?
Paintball grenades are a type of paintball pyrotechnics that are used to spice up the game and provide the user an unfair edge.
Color balls filled with paint to color balls equipped with pyrotechnic charge and a short fuse that ignites when the pin is pulled are among the grenades available. Paintball grenades, unlike its military counterparts, kill opponents by splattering paint on them rather than impaling them with shrapnel.
Paintball grenades aren’t allowed in tournaments, but they’re very popular in woodsball, scenario, and leisure games.
Non-Explosive Paintball Grenades
These are the most basic paintball grenades, and they’re frequently created at home. In terms of function, they’re more akin to water balloons than a genuine grenade. They are made up of a rubber tubing that is sealed on one end and then filled with paint. An arming pin is used to secure the opposite end.
The pressurised filled paint is roughly 100 ml (3.38 oz) in the rubber tubing. The loose end unravels when the arming pin is pulled and the grenade is thrown against a hard surface. As a result, the paint spills and splatters across a huge area. Any players that get caught in the bomb zone are out of the game.
Explosive Paintball Grenades
They look like military combat grenades and contain a modest amount of explosive black powder. To regulate the explosion and dispersion of the content, they utilize a short fuse.
The paint is wrapped around the banger with the fuse in a little plastic bag, and the complete assembly is housed in a breakable fiber box.
A friction-sensitive substance attached to a firing pin protrudes from the top of the casing, completing the fuse. A safety cap protects the grenade and serves as a safety catch.
Remove the cap and pull the ring to activate the grenade. This sets off the fuse, which in three to five seconds burns down to the densely packed black powder core, causing the grenade to explode.
A paintball grenade, like a combat grenade, explodes with a loud noise and scatters paint in a set radius. Any opponent caught in the blast zone is removed from the game immediately.
How Do Paintball Grenades Works
Paintball grenades are convenient guns to have because they are simple to use. All you have to do now is pull the pin and lob them at your foes.
Remove the safety cap before using explosive paintball grenades. When the cap is removed, the firing pin is seen, which is coupled to a small charge tied to a delay fuse.
Pulling the pin sets off the delay fuse, which then sets off the charge, resulting in the grenade exploding. A paintball grenade’s fuse burns for 3 to 5 seconds, depending on the model, before exploding.
Paintball Grenade Safety – How Do Paintball Grenades Work
Making paint grenades a part of your team’s gameplay strategy requires proper management. To do so, you must first understand how to properly handle these paint incendiaries. You must practice everything from handling to hurling a grenade from a confined location.
Gripping a Paintball Grenade
The importance of properly gripping a paint grenade cannot be overstated, as it is the key to unleashing its full potential on your opponents. You can have problems arming the grenade if you don’t have a good hold.
- Grip the paint grenade between your thumb and index finger with your fingers so that the part with the safety cap protrudes between them.
- For a right-handed throw, hold the grenade upright with your right hand and remove the safety cap with your left hand to gain access to the pin.
- With your left hand’s index or middle finger, grasp the pin.
- Pull the pin out of the grenade with vigor, pulling straight up, then toss it toward your opponent.
- Hold the missile in your left hand for a left-handed throw, and remove the safety cap and pin with your right hand.
Throwing a Paintball Grenade
While accuracy is the most important factor to consider while throwing a paintball grenade, there are a few tactics that can assist you in accomplishing that aim. Depending on your fighting circumstances, you can throw grenades from a variety of positions.
Standing Position
When tossing a grenade, this is the most desirable and useful position because it gives you the most throwing distance. When you’re shielded by a towering barrier or a tree, you can use this posture. For the most successful toss, follow these steps:
- Estimate the throwing distance by looking at the target.
- To handle and arm the grenade, use the right grip.
- Stand with your weight evenly spread between your two feet.
- Raise the grenade to shoulder height and extend the non-throwing hand, fingers and thumb united and extended, towards the target.
- In a smooth, strong motion, hurl the grenade and retire behind your cover.
Kneeling Position
Kneeling shortens your throwing distance, especially if you’re only protected by a shallow ditch or a low wall. Here’s how to get the most out of your throw:
- While arming the grenade, keep an eye on your opponents and the space between them.
- Raise the grenade to shoulder height and place it firmly on the ground by bending the knee of your front leg.
- Maintain a straight and locked rear leg, with both feet planted firmly on the ground.
- Move your body so that you’re facing your opponent’s position from the side.
- Extend the non-throwing hand in front of you, fingers and thumb united, pointing towards the target.
- For extra strength, throw the grenade with a smooth, strong motion while pushing off with your back leg.
- If you need to move, duck for cover and come off fire immediately the grenade bursts. Otherwise, hold your ground and take out your opponents as they flee the exploding paint.
Alternate Prone Position
Alternate prone (laying face up) is a disadvantageous position in which your throwing distance and accuracy are both reduced. It’s useful when opposing fire pins you down and you can’t get up to engage in combat. How to throw from this position is as follows:
- Lay down on your back with your body parallel to the grenade’s flight path.
- Remove the safety cap and pull the pin while holding the grenade at chest or chin level.
- Bend your throwing leg 45 degrees and lay it on the knee of your other leg, keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground.
- Raise the paint grenade 4 to 6 inches (10.2 to 15.2 cm) behind your head, ready to throw, with your arm cocked.
- With your non-throwing hand, grab anything that can help you gain leverage and extend your throwing distance. To add to the force, push off with the bent leg. If you try to raise your head or body, you’ll almost certainly be tagged.
- You can yell “incoming grenade” at this point to inform your opponents and send them fleeing.
- As you flee for better cover after the explosion goes off, start snap firing.
- Until the grenade goes off, hide behind cover away from your opponent’s line of fire.
- If you need to move to greater cover or pick off your opponents as they run to safety, turn off the fire.
Using Paintball Grenades – How Do Paintball Grenades Work
During a paintball game, paintball grenades are utilized for both attacking and defense objectives.
Attacking Objectives
When you need to quickly clear out opponents holed down in a bunker, paintball grenades come in handy. While the primary purpose of carrying a grenade is to remove numerous opponents at the same time, this rarely happens.
As a result, when lobbying a paintball grenade, have your marker handy. Remove the safety cap from the grenade, pull the pin, and fling it into the bunker.
If you’re a long way from the bunker, have your allies set up cover fire to keep the opponents at bay. To avoid being tagged, sneak up to the bunker and hide behind the available cover. When it’s safe, light the grenade and throw it into the bunker.
In ideal circumstances, a paintball grenade explodes inside the bunker, soaking everyone within with paint and effectively eliminating them.
Opponents may be able to notice the grenade approaching and flee before it explodes. In such situations, having your marker’s sight pointed on the bunker is critical. It enables you to eliminate opponents one by one as they flee for safety.
Defensive Objective
Paintball grenades can also be used for defense and can assist your team get out of a sticky position. If you’re encircled and pinned down by your opponents, throwing a grenade at them will provide you time to maneuver or withdraw to a safe place.
A non-explosive grenade’s spraying function and an explosive grenade’s blast radius make them dangerous guns. When you need to distract your opponents and cover your movement, this is a great gun to use.
Never make it too evident that a grenade is ready to be thrown. This removes any element of surprise by giving your opponents plenty of time to react.
When you’re pinned down, the most effective approach to employ a grenade is to launch a torrent of fire intense enough to make your opponents duck their heads.
As soon as the opponents duck beneath to evade the paintball assault, lob the paintball grenade. If your aim is good, the grenade will detonate just as they raise their heads. They’ll be covered in paint by then, and it’ll be too late for them to flee.
If they’re lucky enough to spot the flying missile, they’ll flee to safety to dodge the missile’s deadly cargo. They’ll cease firing for long enough for you and your teammates to shift to a safer, more strategic location. When you need to cover your escape or retreat, smoke grenades come in helpful.
Is It Worth It to Cook a Paintball Grenade?
As seen in action movies on TV, cooking a paint grenade is not a good idea. When a protagonist takes out a grenade, yanks out the pin, and holds the grenade for two or three seconds before flinging it towards the adversaries, this is known as cooking a grenade.
While it may seem like a good idea to ensure that the projectile explodes in mid-air, doing so puts your teammates in danger. Waiting a few seconds after igniting the fuse before lobbing a paint grenade enhances the likelihood of the explosive going off in your hands or over your heads and covering all of you with the paint.
Pulling the pin on a paint grenade generates a 3 to 5 second slow burn of the fuse. The grenade will detonate after the fuse burns through and reaches the explosive charge, coating everyone in the blast radius in paint.
Taking your time to throw a paint grenade could put an end to your woodsball run. Cooking a grenade, on the other hand, has its merits. Paintball players have been known to pick up a paintball grenade and throw it back in the past.
According to the US Army’s field manual on pyrotechnics and grenades, fuse time can vary by up to two seconds. Given that most paint grenades have a 3 to 5 second fuse delay, hanging on to one with a burning fuse is a difficult task.
If you employ a paint grenade with a three-second fuse delay, but it’s two seconds off, you’ll only have a second to throw it at your opponents. There’s a chance the bomb will detonate in mid-air, catching you in its explosion radius.
Paintball Grenades: How to Use Them
Always have a precise route in mind.
For efficiency and safety, scout the path before tossing a paint grenade. The grenade could hit a tree branch in woodsball and bounce back into your location. It might get tangled in the branches and spray you with paint in some circumstances.
Neither of the possibilities that result will be beneficial to you. You and your colleagues could be covered in paint if the grenade explodes, and you’ll be eliminated.
You, on the other hand, see the errant rocket in time and flee, becoming a target in the process. You’ve just given your opponents a perfect opportunity to eliminate you one by one.
Warn Your Teammates
It’s best to alert your comrades about the coming explosion when utilizing explosive grenades. This allows them to brace themselves and, more critically, train their sights on the target bunker, allowing them to catch any escaping opponents.
Customizing your grenade incoming warning, like other coded paintball messages, provides your squad an advantage.
It ensures that you maintain the element of surprise and that your adversaries are unaware of your plans. When launching a paintball grenade to conceal your retreat or movement, this is critical.
When you have a whole bunker in your sights, say grenade approaching in plain English if you’re feeling sporty. This offers your opponents an opportunity to get out of the way of the flying missile by breaking cover. As they run away, you may light them up like a Christmas tree.
Keep Your Grenades Dry
Paintball grenades with an exploding charge have a small pyrotechnic charge that causes them to go boom. The explosive charge is only half a gram in weight for safety reasons. As a result, any moisture that gets within the grenade will render it worthless or lessen its effectiveness.
Fortunately, most paintball grenades are designed to survive weather and player damage. After prolonged exposure to moisture, the grenades become vulnerable.
Paint grenades have a pyrotechnic charge that causes them to explode; Although the charge is merely 0.5 grams, dampness will render the grenade unusable or slow down the charge. As they are built to withstand assault from paintball players and the outdoors, only extended exposure to moisture will cause damage.
Don’t Throw the Cap
Paintball players frequently throw the safety cap instead of the grenade at their opponents, which may surprise you. When you’re pinned down by a hail of paintballs, it’s easy to lose your cool and mix the two, which can lead to disaster.
If you don’t practice throwing paintball grenades with both hands, you’re bound to make a mistake. You might throw something in your dominant hand and then realize it’s the safety cap.
This is a rather common grenade blunder, believe it or not. It’s known as remaining ‘Cool Under Fire.’ Remember to ‘stay cool’ as paintballs are raining down, cracking and slapping the tree bark over your head.
1. Get your paint grenade ready.
2. Take off the cap
3. Light the fuse
4. Detonate the grenade!
This sequence of action has been documented on numerous occasions, however number 4 has culminated in the player tossing the cap at the enemy (scary!). You only have around 2 seconds remaining to recognize your error in judgment.
Don’t milk the grenade.
The term “milking” refers to the practice of lifting the ignition (spoon) slightly in preparation. Because an Enola Gaye paint grenade lacks a spoon, milking it isn’t really viable; nonetheless, we’ve heard of individuals setting the fuse and then waiting 3+ seconds for it to go off in the air! And certainly, there have been instances where gamers have over-milked it……again, amusing.
Always shout ‘grenade incoming!’
This not only allows you to ‘light them up like a Christmas tree’ by allowing your chosen foe to break from their cover, but it also alerts your teammates to the coming paint explosion. We advocate the use of the “grenade shout” at Enola Gaye because it allows the opponents time to prepare or flee.
Make sure that your throw has a clear route.
You won’t believe how many times we’ve seen paint grenades hit a branch and ricochet back onto the player tossing the grenade’s lap… it’s hilarious! You also don’t want the grenade to get stuck in the trees; the paint grenade will rain everyone from above!
Final Thought:
Paintball grenades aren’t authorized in speedball, but they’re useful in recreational and woodsball. They’re designed to detonate on impact and are modeled like combat grenades.
Paint grenades are divided into two categories: explosive and non-explosive. Paintball grenades have a modest charge and a short fuse that ignites when the pin is pulled.
A non-explosive paint grenade is made comprised of a small rubber tubing packed with pressurized paint that explodes when the safety pin is removed.
Oliver has been a paintball enthusiast since he first stepped on the field at just 11. He quickly joined clubs and teams all throughout New Hampshire! He started Paintball Hive to share his passion and knowledge with other paintball heads out there!