We may earn commissions for purchases made through links on our site. Learn more on our about us page.
This is a point-of-view dependent question; parents providing a paintball birthday party will want to make those last for months and should be able to.
While a professional or every weekend paintball enthusiast will likely use that bucket in one day, depending on the intensity of the competition and how trigger-happy the combatant is.
On average, a package of two hundred rounds will last about one or two hours, and using the same ratio for five hundred paint rounds should last upwards of four hours.
The elements that will change this are the number of players, game type and intensity, and player shooting habits.
How Long Can 500 Paintballs Last?
Again, there are different ways to manage a bucket of ammo; The selective shooter, all the way to the budget-conscious player, will sparingly shoot, even in the middle of an intense firefight.
Then you have the ‘spare no expense’ player who enjoys laying down suppressing fire, who will burn through that bucket in an hour.
This can only be answered in any situation when the paint is done flying, and a rough scientific estimate is made about how much ammo was used during the timed session.
Is This Too Much for a Day?
A bucket of five hundred daily rounds will cover just about every situation an amateur combatant will face on the field. If the bucket is for the entire group, just the one team or just the player having more than you need is better than not having enough.
To be quaint, purchasing an ammo bucket that big is perfect for planning a full day of paintball. Even if you do not end up using all the shots, you can store the excess and use them again for the next session.
How Many Paintballs Should You Waste per Hour?
The use of waste would be a relative term; some testers out there will waste hundreds of rounds to dial in a scope or new attachment for the marker. Depending on the intensity, a player will fire about one hundred to two hundred rounds per hour.
This is a general number that many sources concur on. Still, actual results will be unique to each combat athlete.
The best way to know is to count your shooting habits, keep track of time out on the field, and crunch the numbers yourself.
How Much Should You Pay for 500 Paintballs?
This will depend on the brand, shopping method, and paint quality. The average caliber-sized paint, in the sizes of five hundred rounds, will be relatively inexpensive and run about twenty-five dollars or so for a package of four total (two hundred dollars total).
Then there are options to purchase two thousand rounds for a whopping fifty to sixty dollars. Therefore, most paintball combatants will be able to afford ammunition, especially when the bill can be split between friends and colleagues.
On a side note, professional paint ammo will not be as affordable as the above prices.
Where Should You Buy it?
The matter of where you should buy it will have biased answers, and the unbiased answer would be to purchase your equipment from the fields you play in. Therefore, the money you spend will go into the facility you play at, which is good.
If this is not an option, look for a local paintball store and connect with the lifetime players found there. Otherwise, online store options allow players to buy paint from the same manufacturers producing markers.
The best thing to do is to find a Paintball company you support and buy your equipment from them.
Final Thoughts on How Long Should 500 Paintballs Last
When approaching the game of paintball, it is essential to remember the style of play you intend. For example, if you are a heavy shooter, purchasing two five-hundred-round buckets might make more sense than going with just one.
Going with a bucket of five hundred will work out if you are a sharpshooter or low-volume shooter. A thing to remember when buying your rounds is to think, ‘having too much ammo is better than not having enough.’
If you can afford to play this game, finding ways to procure ammo is not an issue; the more arduous task is finding facilities to play. Hopefully, that will change in the future.
