Editing Stock-class paintball (section)

=== Origins ===

Stock-class paintball traces its equipment and playing style to the earliest organised paintball games.

The first recorded paintball game, held on 27 June 1981 in Henniker, New Hampshire, used [[Nelspot 007]] marking pistols. These were manually operated, used horizontal ammunition tubes and were powered by 12-gram CO2 cartridges.[1]

During the early 1980s, similar equipment was commonly used at [[National Survival Game]] fields and other recreational paintball venues.

As the sport developed, manufacturers introduced pump markers with larger gas supplies, gravity-fed loaders and improved firing mechanisms. Semi-automatic markers subsequently became increasingly common.

Players who preferred the limitations of earlier equipment began organising games in which these technological advantages were restricted.