Special Ops Paintball: A5 Air Efficiency and Velocity Consistency Tests - Special Ops Paintball

I performed 6 different tests to check the air efficiency and velocity consistency between different A5 setups.
Method of testing:
I built a shooting table for paintball guns. The gun sits in a rest and shoots over a chronograph and into a 4" PVC pipe that has a 90 degree turn to take the paint into a 5 gal. bucket.
I used my polished A5 for all the tests except the test of the NEW A5 out of the box unpolished. I used a Pure energy 68/3000 tank for all tests.
I used Draxxus Blaze paint for all the tests. Just a little over 6000 rounds total.
I used the Stock A5 barrel on all tests.
I filled the HPA to 2800 psi and shot it down to 1800 psi. refilled to 2800 psi and repeated. I did this 3 times for each setup. I recorded the velocities of each shot for the 1st 225 shots (the NEW A5 I tested differently. Explained below.)
I did the testing in my basement to be sure the temp and humidity stayed constant during the few weeks it took me to do all the testing.
In testing the NEW A5, the 1st group is the 1st 15 balls the gun ever fired, 2nd group is after 75 shots, 3rd after 275 shots, 4th after 375 shots, and groups 5 - 15 were after 475 shots.
Between each different setup all parts were cleaned and oiled.
The setups I tested were as follows:
1) New Unpolished A5 right out of the box - 312 Shots per 1000 psi or 31.2 Shots per 100 psi
2) My polished A5 - 315 per 1000 / 31.5 per 100
3) My polished A5 w/ a JCS RVA - 364 per 1000 / 36.4 per 100
4) My polished A5 w/ a LPK installed - 384 per 1000 / 38.4 per 100
5) My polished A5 w/ a just the lightned bolt from the LPK - 328 per 1000 / 32.8 per 100
6) My polished A5 w/ a Response trigger - 315 per 1000 / 31.5 per 100

These #'s don’t mean you will get [Example: 312 x 3 (for a 3000psi tank) = 936 shots ] for setup #1 because your gun wont have enough pressure to operate long before you use up all 3000 psi. BUT, the LPK will shoot more of the tanks air than a non-lpk A5 so not only do you get more balls per 1000 psi w/ LPK but you get to use more of the tanks air for even more balls per tank.
Notice the response trigger didn’t use any more air then the stock trigger. Some people belive the response takes more air but the tests proved it doesn't.
A BIG THANKS to Spec. Ops for supplying the Paint, Air, NEW A5, and LPK
The Velocity consistency may have been better with a better ball to barrel match but the difference between the different setups still would
have been the same. The ball to barrel match using Blaze and the stock barrel was pretty good. It could have been a bit better but not much.
The object of this testing was to find out the differences between the different setups, not to find the best ball to barrel match or the best
velocity consistency. I would assume a test to find the best ball to barrel match would also give you the best velocity consistency.
NOTE: After this testing I pulled out my hammer spring and stretched it a bit and it increased my shots per 1000 with my polished A5 from 315 shots per 1000 psi to 338 shots per 1000 psi. Same results you would get from a stronger spring or a RVA. So, if you ever get in a tight spot and just cant get those last few desired FPS out of your A5, you can always try stretching the spring a little (don’t over stretch it though).

For full test results go to A5 Air Efficiency and Velocity Consistency Tests (Using HPA)

Just to let you know.. this is AWESOME information to have on hand... I mean... really awesome.

This kind of testing takes ALOT of work and is information that is very usefull when considering upgrades such as what size of tank to buy, and a couple other upgrades. Plus you can carry the right amount of paint w/out running out of air!

Very cool... suprized none of you have made any remarks or given Shadow Warrior props.

Thanks for sharing rodney.. we will sticky this

Props to SW! =D

Strong tests. Keep up the good testing, all. And Rory, thanks for footing the bill!

Very good work! well planned and organized. what did you shoot at in your basement....The wall?

Shadow Warrior, on Nov 29 2004, 04:54 PM, said:

Thanks for the props.
FYI 6000+ paintballs just about filled the 5 gal bucket to the top. About 4 inches or so from the top.

I was very tempted to get a paint strainer and save the paint for grnades or something but since I have no grenades or a way to fill them......my gravel RV parking spot has a BIG pile of yellow/white shells in it.

OH snap G! mad props.

THIS THREAD IS SGT.ARGARG! APPROVED.

IT'S GOOD TO HAVE A 'CPA' BEHIND THE BARREL,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, GREAT WORK, LOOKING FORWARD TO UPDATES AND OTHER TESTING,,,,,,,,,,,,, SHOESHINEBOY777

nice job man!

Glad to know I'm not the only person who cares about poop like this. Fantastic job.

question about the air efficifency tests.. when shooting, did you do 1 shot, wait a moment then shot again? or did you for example, load up test like 25 shots then shoot at an excelled rate to see air performance? i think that would be an interesting test to do.. for example with the RT/ vs Stock trigger.. load up 25 shots, fire off as fast as possible with both and see if the air effic matches the same numbers are your original test..

Do you give me the permission to post your study on my site (a local forum in montreal region) with quote and link?

My site:
http://www.paintballmontreal.com/

This post has been edited by paintballmontreal: 17 May 2005 - 10:19 AM

Awesome job,Great imfor. Keep it up the infor. is priceless!

Yep this stuff helped me out to know when to refill my tanks thanks loads man!

what is an LPK?