How useful is paintball gaming to firearms tactical training?

[Tristan]

@Quercus

This was a while ago, though, when paintball was fairly new, and I suspect there’s a definite culture now that sees it as a game in and of itself, rather than playing war.

Indeed. The popularization of Paintball has led to a marked “sportization” of the hobby, with teams now wearing colorful jerseys festooned with corporate sponsor logo’s diving and moving around on fields with inflateable barriers.

Now, there are probably still parks the specialize in mil-sim (military simulation), and certainly groups that do so, but they are now in the minority I am sure.

Disclosure: I was/am an Airsofter, and my experience with paintball is much more limited. I have also experienced a rather profound rivalry or dislike between the two camps, at least the one time we (airsofters) were playing at a paintball field that was also being used by paintballers at the time.

[control-z]

In close quarters combat I could see paintball being a fairly good simulation. At longer distances the paintballs just don’t have decent range and ballistic characteristics.