Most paintball guns are powered by CO2; held in tanks attached to the handle of the gun.  CO2 cylinders come in various sizes ranging from small 12g disposable cartridges to a 20oz. Tank; the larger carrying more gas and thus offering the most shots.  To get the longest life and most use from your CO2 tank, knowing some of the properties of CO2 is helpful and proper care of your tank is essential.

The advantages of using CO2 cylinders is they are very cheap, easy to come by and fairly easy to get refilled.  Most players refill their CO2 tanks at commercial paintball fields, parks or stores, industrial air/CO2 tank companies, sporting goods stores and sometimes even RV sales lots.  Unfortunately, CO2 also has its disadvantages; this gas is very sensitive to temperature changes and this can affect your paintball gun’s performance.  CO2 reacts poorly in cold weather and can even become dangerous in high temperatures (never let a full CO2 cylinder bake in the hot sun!).  Rapid shooting of your paintball marker can cause your CO2 cylinder to become very cold and even start to freeze.  This can cause inconsistencies in pressure, allowing some shots to fall short, curve or your gun to misfire until the temperature of the tank warms back up.  You can correct this problem by adding an ‘expansion chamber’ to your gun if it doesn’t have one already.  This is an extra chamber that gives the CO2 a place to warm up/normalize it’s temperature before getting into the gun. 

Remember to take good care of your CO2 tanks with regular thorough inspection to insure there are no leaks.  Make sure O-rings are not cracked and dried out; replacing them with new ones is easy and cheap.  CO2 cylinders also have expiration dates; when the date has come, it’s time to buy a new one.  At ChoicePaintballGuns.com, safety always comes first!  That’s why we only sell brand new, top quality CO2 cylinders.  An air tank that leaks or is questionable may be dangerous and should be replaced with a new one.