History, How Paintball Got Started

In 1970, James Hale of Daisy Manufacturing invented, and patented, what would become the first paintball gun. This original paintball gun was made and used by farmers and ranchers for marking trees and their livestock.

In May 1981, paintball began in New Hampshire, U.S.A. the principal creators were Bob Gurnsey, a sporting goods retailer Hayes Noel, a stockbroker and Charles Gaines, a writer.

June 27, 1981 the first ever game was played. It involved 12 players playing against each other using Nel-spot 007s pistols. The game was capture the flag (a very well known, and fun, type of paintbll to play)The winner surprisingly captured all of the flags without firing a single shot!

In 1982 the first outdoor playing field was opened in Rochester, N.Y. Charles Gaines then marketed paintball as the National Survival Game (NSG). (outdoor paintball usually involves a scenerio game. These games are all outdoors and can last for 4 hours to 48 hours. There are no limits.) PMI (Pursuit Marketing Inc.), was founded to market and distribute paintball products.

1983, the first NSG National Championship was held with a $14 000 cash prize. The first outdoor paintball fields were also opened in Toronto, Canada.