ASTM Int'l to Develop Standard for Paintball, Equipment

October 12, 2007 // Published as a news service by IHS

In order to do that, the subcommittee began work in 2005 on a series of standards that would expand the scope of its standard ASTM F 1750 - Specification for Paintball Marker Threaded-Propellant Source Interface.

One standard that resulted from this work is ASTM F 2653 - Specification for Paintball Valve Male Threaded Connection for Use with Approved Cylinders.

According to Michael A. Lukas, vice president, supply chain, Kee Action Sports and vice chair of Subcommittee F08.24, the purpose of ASTM F 2653 is to define standards and testing parameters for the tank engagement portion of the valve described in ASTM F 1750.

"Products meeting the testing criteria in [ASTM] F 2653 will be far safer for any end user, from the novice to the expert, to use without danger of catastrophic failure, which in the past could have resulted in injury or loss of life," said Lukas.

Manufacturers, distributors and general users of paintball air systems will benefit from the use of ASTM F 2653, ASTM International said.

"One of these connections must be used on every paintball marker in order for it to be used in paintball activities," said Lukas, who said that annual sales of paintball air systems are estimated at just over 600,000 units.

Lukas said that the paintball subcommittee is looking for users, participants or general interest groups who are not considered paintball manufacturers.

In addition to the development of ASTM F 2653, Subcommittee F08.24's activities to expand the scope of ASTM F 1750 included a revision of ASTM F 1750 itself; the approval of ASTM F 2553 - Specification for Warnings on Refillable CO2 Cylinders Used in the Sport of Paintball, which was published in 2006; and proposed revisions to ASTM F 2030 - Specification for Paintball Cylinder Burst Disk Assemblies, currently on the ballot.

Source: ASTM International.