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Caliber: The diameter of a paintball or barrel, measured in fractions of an inch. Standard barrel bore sizes and paintballs are approximately 68 caliber.

Capture the flag: n. The classic paintball game format wherein both teams try to obtain the opposing team's flag and return to their own base with it.

Carbon Dioxide (CO2): n. A colorless, odorless gas used as a propellant. CO2 occurs in nature as a gas. In paintball applications liquid CO2 is used to partially fill the player's tank. Some of the liquid boils off to become a gas and that gas is used to power the gun. Each shot fired removes some CO2 gas from the tank and that is replaced by gas boiling from the liquid CO2 in the tank. While considered slightly inferior to high pressure air as a propellant, CO2 is still competitive, and the tanks are generally cheaper.

Center Flag: n. Another classic paintball game format wherein both team's objective is to capture a flag hung in the center of the field, and carry through the opposition to the opposing base.

Chopping: v. When a paintball doesn't doesn’t completely into the breech before the bolt tries to feed it, gets pinched between the bolt and the breech rim, and breaks. This is very messy and has a very detrimental effect on paintgun function, especially accuracy.

Chronograph: 1. n. A device that uses radar to measure the speed of a paintball as it is fired from the marker. This is an important piece of safety equipment, as paintball goggles are only rated to withstand impacts at up to 300 fps. 2. v. The process of using a chronograph to measure your paintgun’s muzzle velocity.

Chrony: n. (slang) Abbreviation for chronograph.

Clean: During a paintcheck, a call made by a ref stating there has been no ball breakage.

Closed Bolt: adj. When the marker's trigger is in a neutral (not-pulled) position, the bolt is forward leaving the breech closed and sealed with a paintball already sitting in front of the bolt. When the trigger is pulled, air propels the paintball. Then a mechanism pulls the bolt rearward, allowing a new paintball to enter the breech, and the bolt returns forward pushing the paintball into the barrel to wait for the next trigger pull. Contrast with open bolt.

CO2: n. See Carbon dioxide.

Cock: v. To properly position the hammer or other component of the firing mechanism of the paintgun such that, if the safety is off, the gun will fire when the trigger is pulled.

Cocker: n. (slang) A slang abbreviation for the autococker line of markers.

Compressed air: n. See high pressure air.

Count: An announcement to let players on one team know how many people are still alive on both teams

Cradle: n. An adjustable drop foward.

Cup Seal: n. This small part is used in blow-back semi's. The part of the valve system that seals the valve under spring pressure and sometimes by gas pressure. It is momentarily moved away from the hole it covers at the instant the marker is fired to allow the gas to exit the valve chamber and fire the paintball out of the marker. Almost ALL systems employ some type of cup seal.