The bolt is often critical to keeping your shots accurate.
Paintball guns fire small, soft projectiles that are gel pellets filled with paint. The bolt is the mechanism that allows a new paintball to drop into the breech to be fired--sort of like the slide-and-spring feed mechanism on a real firearm. If you have a Cure bolt, look for signs of wear.
Instructions
1. Put on your safety glasses and fill the feed with paintballs. Check that the gun's parts are tight and ready to work.
2. Fire several paintballs at a target. Shoot one at a time, aiming carefully. The first sign of a bolt problem is that your accuracy is off. The bolt allows the balls to be fired with as little deformation as possible under ideal circumstances. If it's wearing out, your accuracy will be one of the first casualties.
3. Shine your flashlight down the barrel of the paintball gun and examine the interior. Any burst paintballs may indicate pinching from a worn-out bolt. Alternatively, if the bolt isn't closing completely, you could lose pressure in your shots or have several paintballs in the barrel at once. If your distance is also down, and you find evidence of exploded paintballs in your barrel, your bolt may be the culprit.
Tags: several paintballs, your accuracy, your shots
