Ever wonder why some people call a paintball gun a "marker" and others call it a "gun"? To answer this question we need to know a bit about the origins of the game. Let's dive into a little paintball history, which will take us back to the first paintball game ever played in 1981 and you'll learn why a paintball gun is called a "marker".

Why call a gun a marker?

Ever wonder why a paintball gun is called a paintball marker? If so, you've come to the right place! There's a reason it's called a paintball marker.

One question I hear asked regularly - especially from newer players - is, "Why do people refer to a paintball gun as a paintball marker and others as a paintball gun?" To answer this we have do dive into some paintball history. So, lets get our feet wet shall we?

Paintball History: Why a paintball gun is called a "Marker"

The sport of Paintball is relatively young. In fact, the first paintball game ever played was 30 years ago, in June of 1981. It took place near Sutton, New Hampshire and had 12 players ... but more about that later. The notion of shooting a projectile of paint (paintball) from a gun (marker) was first pondered back in the mid-1960's by Charles Nelson, the co-founder of the Nelson Paint Company.

Charles Nelson had patented a number of devices that foresters could use to mark timber for removal. One of these was a squirt gun that sprayed a jet of paint. A ball of paint (aka the paintball) was invented because the Nelson Paint Company was asked by the U.S. Forestry Service to come up with an efficient way to mark trees from a distance. The problem was that trees needing to be marked were located across streams or some distance away. The squirt-guns had a limited reach.

Another use for the newly invented paintball was for ranchers, so they could mark stray cattle from a distance. Charles Nelson developed and produced a pellet that could be shot from a gun, which he called a "marker". The pellet (paintball) was created by injecting paint into a gelatin capsule that was used at the time to encapsulate medicine for horses (a horse pill).

Paintball History: The First Paintball Markers

Charles Nelson approached the Crosman company to produce a marker gun that would shoot his paintball and they developed the Crosman 707. However, after a few years of poor sales, Crosman halted production, since they felt it was not a financially viable gun. Charles Nelson then spoke with Daisy, the airgun manufacturer, to produce a paintball pistol marker. (Because Nelson did not own rights to the design of the Crosman 707, he couldn't simply pass the design over to Daisy).

Daisy created the Daisy Splotchmarker in 1972, which eventually became known as the famous Nel-Spot 007. The encapsulated, oil-based paintballs for the Nel-Spot 007 marker was mass produced by RP Scherer.

Paintball History: The First Paintball Game Ever

The Daisy Nel-spot 007 marker is now a famous marker, since it was used in the very first paintball game ever played (June 1981). This game did not happen overnight. In fact, it was discussed for the first time in 1977, between two friends, over drinks. Hayes Noel (a Wall Street stockbroker) and Charles Gaines (a writer) thought it would be groovy to start some kind of stalking game, as a challenge to their friends. They pondered if survival in the woods is a product of environment or a deeply-buried instinct. In other words, does a successful business-owner, author or manufacturer have a chance of surviving in the woods against a hunter, soldier or outdoorsman? A friend had seen a Nel-spot 007 marker advertised in a farm catalogue and Bob Guernsey (a ski shop owner) wrote up the rules for this very first paintball game.

In May of 1981, in Henniker, New Hampshire, the principle creators: Bob Gurnsey, Hayes Noel and Charles Gaines discussed the idea of finally having their first paintball game. The Nel-spot 007 marker was purchased and subsequently tested on its first human - Shelby Gaines (Charles' son) who said, "It didn't hurt much!" The invitations to the first paintball game attracted 9 people (plus the original three made for a total of 12 players). The nine paid $175.00 each, which covered equipment costs, food and adult beverages.

Game-day was June 27, 1981. The 12 players were armed with Nel-spot 007 markers and played near Charles Gaines' house. Half were avid hunters and the other half consisted of a stock broker, a writer, surgeon, golden gloves boxer, venture capitalist and forester. Over drinks, the prediction the night before was that the hunters would fair well and the city boys wouldn't be worth the price of a case of beer.

The first paintball game played was "capture the flag" and played on an 80-acre cross-country ski area, which was filled with second growth forest. There were 4 flag stations, each with 12 flags of the same colour, one for each person playing. Each station had a referee, armed with a whistle, which they blew every fifteen minutes (for the city boys who were assumed to have poorer map skills). After many heated battles and exchanges - and even some moldy onion throwing - it was a man named Ritchie White (the New Hampshire forester) was victorious gathering all his flags first - and winning the first paintball game ever played.