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Paintball Barrel Test.
This is a test that we did to try to answer some of the common questions today regarding "What barrel should I get, and what is the difference"
I would like to state up front that this test is completely 3rd party. I have no affiliations with any paintball barrel companies.
This test is also just MY opinion. All of the data here posted below was taken by myself, and the rest of the testing crew. I am by all means not trying to bash any company for its products.
Not everyone will agree with the data below, and that is OK. All I ask is that if someone has another opinion please back up your statements. Please don’t just say “Barrel xyz is teh awesomest barrelz in the worldzâ€
Why we did what we did.
So I am out playing woods ball one day, and all the sudden my gun goes down (IIRC my hopper was having problems). I stay on the field just running around, and tiring to get people to shoot at me, and revile them selves (after all I am not out, and have nothing to really loose). After running around for a little while I see my wife get eliminated. I ran over to her, and traded markers (both the same markers, but mine had a stainless barrel while hers had an alum barrel of the same make/model). I start playing with her marker, and realize that her marker does not shoot straight. After the game we start talking about why the two markers are not shooting the same. I take out her insert, and notice that the balls roll freely through the bore. This confused me as at the beginning of the day I determined what balls to use in my kit with the “blow thru testâ€, and gave her the same size insert. I checked my barrel again to find that I am using the right size insert. Now we are both using the same paint out of the same box so theoretically we should be able to use the same insert. We changed out her insert, and finished playing that day.
Later that week while cleaning out my gear I decided to grab the calipers, and compare the diameter of the bore to what was marked on the insert. I was sadly disappointed at what I had found. They were not what they said they were. This got me to thinking on what other barrels were off, and what was the difference on all the different barrel kits on the market today. After trying Google for a day I found that there was really not that much unbiased information available on all of the different kits. This is where it all began. After posting questions on nearly 20 different online forums we arrive where we are today. Posting the data. Here is the links to some of those other threads from those other forums.
PBN
http://www.pbnation....d.php?t=2088833
A little about the testing crew.
I am Josh Allis aka “Mannâ€. I am currently a senior in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Tennessee (GO VOLS). I have worked as an Engineer Tech for the past five years for a highly respected fortune 500 company. I have worked with engineers all over the United states, Canada, Japan, and England.
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Ashley (my wife). Also a student at UT & Evan (DJ’s brother). An engineering student at UT
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DJ. Also a senior in engineering at UT
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Brandon (left) & Nick (right) (both already graduated from UT)
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Date/Location/Conditions:
The test was completed in Knoxville, Tennessee on April 6(5am-12am), 7(12am-1am & 8am-11pm), 8(6am-4pm), 13(6pm-8pm), 14(8am-12am), 15(12am-3am & 10am-8pm), 20(5pm-11pm), 21(8am-12am), 22(12am-4am) 2007.
All the testing was preformed inside a building to insure that there were no external forces on the balls. The building was temperature controlled, and stayed between 68-74 degrees F. The humidity for each day stayed between 27-35%. The elevation for Knoxville, Tennessee is 1200 feet.
Setup:
The marker used was an AGD Xmag. The marker was secured to a drop forward, and the fore grip (battery pack) was placed in a vice to insure that the marker was unable to move. Both the drop forward and vice were screwed to the table. We also secured 3 scuba tanks to the table to insure that the table should not move.
(please note that the detent on the marker shown was not what was used. That was a side project that we were playing around with. It is a 8/32 barb fitting threaded into a detent to measure the pressure that is placed on the paintball while firing the marker)
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(setup in my basement)
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(the actual setup while we were using it)
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(A view from where I was working)
A Paintball Radar chronograph (the red one shown above) was placed in front of the marker so that it would allow all balls to clear the top of the chronograph by about one inch. A second chronograph made by RADARchron (the yellow handheld version) was used to insure the accuracy of the other unit. The marker was chronoed before recording any data upon every barrel change. Our desired velocity was 280 FPS.
The target plane was placed seventy feet from the breech of the marker. The outer parameter of the target was roughly 36†X 30â€. Paper targets were placed on the target to allow the recording of location of each shot.
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(our target)
A Tenma decibel meter was placed thirteen feet in front of the marker and off 22.6 degrees to the left for half the shots, and twelve feet perpendicular to the marker for the second half of the shots. The decibel meter has a built in calibration adjustment function, and was calibrated before testing each barrel.
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(Decibel meter location)
All barrels were washed with warm water and soap, rubbing alcohol, swabbed with a cotton swab ,and squeeged with a silicon squeegee before using them.
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("The cleaning table")
A 10% sample of each type of paintballs was taken upon opening each bag of paintballs. Those balls were measured for their diameter and weight. All scales are up to date on calibrations, and are NIST traceable.
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(taking samples)
A xxxxxx bore sight was used before taking any shots with the paintball marker to insure that we knew exactly where the barrel was pointing. After the laser dot was projected on the paper/target a sharpie was used to make a dot. This reference point is how we measure the location of all shots.
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(a target getting setup)
For every barrel kit we shot 25 balls from four different brands of paint through each bore. The target was changed when switching between the brands of paint.
All the barrel bores and fronts were measured to compare the actual diameter and stated diameter. This was preformed using a telescoping gague along side with a micrometer. The measurements were taken from roughly 2†inside of the barrel. Each bore was measured ~5 times, and an average was determined. All measurement equipment is up to date on calibrations, and is NIST traceable.
F.A.Q.
What is the most important factor in accuracy?
YOU. I can not stress this enough. Being confident and comfortable with your marker setup will provide the most drastic increase of eliminations you are able to make. I believe that paintball is 60% mental. When a player is confident other players pick up on it, and end up downplaying themselves. When a player is comfortable with his or her marker they usually know where they are shooting without really aiming.
Note: Please do not confuse being confident with being cocky. These are two completely different attributes.
Does a longer/shorter barrel increase accuracy?
No. We used a stainless steel Freak kit to compare the differences in the length of fronts. We shot six types of paintballs and reballs through each bore with a ten inch front. We then choose the top and bottom 2-3 ball/bore combinations, and shot each of those with ten, twelve, fourteen, and sixteen inch fronts. We did not see any increase or decrease in accuracy. The length difference is only personal prefrence. I prefer a 12 or 14 inch barrel.
Does a longer/shorter barrel increase the distance you can shoot?
Yes and No. A paintballs speed is measured at the tip of the barrel. If a 16 inch and a 10 inch barrel both are chronoed at 280 fps then the 16 inch barrel would allow the ball to travel 6 inches longer than the 10 inch barrel with respect to the markers breech.
What length barrel should I get?
It does not matter. Most players use 14". I usually use somewhere between 12-16 inches. Let me explain how I choose. I use a TI Longbow(ti version), and usually only use three of the backs. I own 3 fronts, and have randomly placed them on the bores. I usually just keep the front on the bore as I am too lazy to change them. That should tell you how much of a difference the length of the front actually makes.
Does an apex or flatline barrel increase the distance you can shoot?
Yes, well sorta. The theory/principal on the flatline/apex barrel is to put backspin/an angle on the ball when it is fired. This will cause the paintball to arc. This will allow you to shoot farther, but the velocity at the longer distances are usually not high enough to break a paintball. We did not test a flatline barrel, but did test an apex barrel.
Can rifling/spinning a paintball increase the distance you can shoot?
While performing the paintball barrel test we used a rifled Hammerhead barrel. The height of the placement of the paintballs at 70 feet were similar to those of non rifled barrels. This would lead me to believe that their velocity at 70 feet would be similar to non rifled barrels, which would mean that they do not increase the distance.
Can rifling/spinning a paintball increase accuracy?
No. While performing the paintball barrel test we wear able to compare rifled and non rifled barrels with the same bore and the same paint, and saw no increase in accuracy. In many cases the non rifled barrels were able to out preform the rifled barrels.
This has been a long debated topic in paintball, and has been researched by many of the leaders in the industry. You can find more info on their opinions on the "useful links post".
Is a one piece barrel more accurate than a multiple piece barrel?
No. Many 2 piece barrels use a front that has a larger diameter than the back or insert. This means that when the ball transfers from the back/insert to the front there is no external forces that are being placed on the ball, and the front will not cause the ball to change from its original flight path.
Does a one piece barrel "self clean" better than a multiple piece barrel?
No. We tested many one and two piece barrels with a break test. During this test the one piece barrels did not preform as well as some of the two piece barrels. We believe that there are many other factors that are more important in "self cleaning barrels" than how many pieces they have.
What allows a barrel to self clean?
We believe that the attribute that contributes most to a barrel being able to “self clean†is the smoothness of the bore. This along with matching paintballs to the correct size bore will allow paintballs after a break to basically squeegee out the broken paint, and return the barrel back to somewhat of a clean state. I will go into more detail in a later post where we post data from the break test.
Is a longer barrel quieter than a shorter barrel
Yes. A longer version of the same barrel will slightly reduce the sound of the marker being fired. The change is usually not enough to tell a difference. On my marker it is only ~ 1dB per 2 inches
What barrel is the best for my marker?
As far as accuracy is concerned the marker does not affect accuracy. All the marker is in the equation is basically an on/off valve that provides energy to allow the paintball to move. I know that everyone says that HP or LP markers are more accurate than each other, but this is not true. We did not test this theory with this test, but it has been a heavily debated topic in the past, and many highly respected people in the industry have proven that the marker has nothing to do with accuracy.
What paint is best for my barrel?
Unfortunately this is a very hard question to answer. The size of paint will usually vary depending on the atmospheric conditions, and will also change over time. Because of all of these variables Marballizer paint for a person in Florida using a .692 Dye UL will not have the same accuracy/performance as someone in Washington using Marballizer paint and a .692 Dye UL. I know it would be nice to determine the “best†paint for each barrel, but this would be near impossible as it would constantly be changing. The best way for a person to determine this is to buy the same paint from the same supplier, and use trial and error with their barrels/ barrel kits.
Will overboring hurt or help accuracy?
Let me first define what I consider overboring. My definition is using a bore that is more than .006 of an inch that is larger than the paint. As many paintballers know paint can usually vary in a bag or box +-.002 inches so using a barrel where the balls all just roll through the barrel is usually overboring.
This is a very hard question to answer, because even in our "perfect" environment we saw instances where overboring accuracy was equal to using the "correct†size bore. The majority of the results showed that overboring did reduce the accuracy of the barrel, and therefore I am going to say that it does hurt a barrel’s accuracy.
One advantage that we did notice with overboring is that the amount of barrel breaks were reduced drastically.
A huge disadvantage to overboring is that if there is a break in the breech or barrel the accuracy afterward is ruined. A barrel will not “self clean†if it is overbored.
Will underboring hurt or help accuracy?
How I choose what bore to use
Paint
We took a 10% sample of 2 cases of each brand/make paint. Below are only a fraction of the data to try to keep this as simple/"compact" as possible.
Weight
The weights below are all in grams.
Xball Gold - Diablo Heat - Monsterball - Recsport ---- Stinger ----- reball ----- marballizer
3.1488 ----- 3.0659 ----- 2.6532 ----- 3.1540 ----- 2.7956 ----- 2.6133 ----- 3.1152
3.1476 ----- 2.7141 ----- 2.5937 ----- 3.1477 ----- 2.8228 ----- 2.5946 ----- 3.0879
3.1529 ----- 3.0159 ----- 2.6738 ----- 3.1524 ----- 2.7945 ----- 2.6080 ----- 3.1143
3.1709 ----- 3.0934 ----- 2.6254 ----- 3.1679 ----- 2.8126 ----- 2.5974 ----- 3.1186
3.1491 ----- 3.1082 ----- 2.6542 ----- 3.1684 ----- 2.8139 ----- 2.6160 ----- 3.1235
3.1567 ----- 3.0868 ----- 2.5540 ----- 3.1538 ----- 2.8005 ----- 2.6068 ----- 3.1157
3.1618 ----- 3.0412 ----- 2.5691 ----- 3.1351 ----- 2.8183 ----- 2.6065 ----- 3.1197
3.1631 ----- 3.1224 ----- 2.5483 ----- 3.1568 ----- 2.8079 ----- 2.5953 ----- 3.1255
3.1473 ----- 2.9968 ----- 2.5669 ----- 3.1563 ----- 2.7696 ----- 2.5987 ----- 3.0953
3.1545 ----- 2.9988 ----- 2.5816 ----- 3.1680 ----- 2.8173 ----- 2.6068 ----- 3.0993
3.1576 ----- 3.1192 ----- 2.5988 ----- 3.1367 ----- 2.8123 ----- 2.6080 ----- 3.1065
3.1480 ----- 3.0520 ----- 2.5576 ----- 3.1501 ----- 2.7959 ----- 2.5923 ----- 3.1067
3.1480 ----- 3.0846 ----- 2.5624 ----- 3.1627 ----- 2.8148 ----- 2.6046 ----- 3.0985
3.1353 ----- 3.0492 ----- 2.6113 ----- 3.1741 ----- 2.8087 ----- 2.5963 ----- 3.1045
3.1547 ----- 3.0210 ----- 2.6122 ----- 3.1490 ----- 2.8205 ----- 2.6111 ----- 3.1070
3.1523 ----- 3.0221 ----- 2.6351 ----- 3.1567 ----- 2.8249 ----- 2.6116 ----- 3.1254
3.1362 ----- 3.1098 ----- 2.6132 ----- 3.1637 ----- 2.8017 ----- 2.6058 ----- 3.1176
3.1309 ----- 3.0042 ----- 2.5690 ----- 3.1622 ----- 2.8030 ----- 2.6117 ----- 3.1318
3.1491 ----- 3.0090 ----- 2.5879 ----- 3.1596 ----- 2.8003 ----- 2.5952 ----- 3.1114
3.1426 ----- 3.0947 ----- 2.6451 ----- 3.1463 ----- 2.8177 ----- 2.6124 ----- 3.1277
--------------------------------
3.1504 ----- 3.0405 ----- 2.6006 ----- 3.1561 ----- 2.8076 ----- 2.6046 ----- 3.1126 --Avg
For all of you who know/understand particle kinematics. You can calculate the distance the ball can travel depending on its mass. I believe that this is one reason that people argue that their barrel/marker shoots farther than someone elses.
Size
All sizes are in inches. All sizes are +- .001. As many of you know paintballs are not always consistant.
To determine the sizes we use the "paintball blow thru test" with ss freak inserts, sm1 backs, scepter, and JJ Edge backs. We also used the sizer that is available from Hammerhead.
Xball Gold----0.685
Diablo Heat-< 0.679
Recsport-----0.689
Stinger------0.683
Reball------<0. 679
Marballizer---0.691
Monsterball--?? LOL. This paint was ~6 months old, and from Wal-Mart. It had more dimples than a golf ball, and none of the balls were anywhere near spherical.
Barrel Info
Barrel Noise
Left reading.-----Left/Front reading-----Barrel. All units are dB.
77.53 -----75.06 Freak 10"
MIA Freak 12"
74.31 -----76.10 Freak 14"
73.84 -----75.78 Freak 16"
72.81 -----76.18 Matchstik
74.96 -----81.97 Dye Ul
74.69 -----87.64 JJ Edge
73.88 -----86.58 Empire Revolver
73.19 -----84.60 Custom Products
73.45 -----79.83 Empire 7pc
71.62 -----75.30 Kaner
70.93 -----72.91 PPS
73.12 -----74.86 Trilogy
72.42 -----74.92 SP Teardrop
72.84 -----73.75 Proto Stock
73.13 -----75.42 Xmag stock
74.97 -----80.90 RT Pro Stock (Made by J&J. Has different porting pattern as the other J&J)
84.38 -----91.68 misc (unported barrel)
80.47 -----89.17 Pipe
72.78 -----82.73 SM-1
74.84 -----76.36 Phat
74.92 -----89.36 TI Longbow
74.05 -----76.63 Un1Tec
74.33 -----80.73 Scepter
76.06 -----76.71 Hammerhead
74.53 -----81.81 Redz pepperstick
71.59 -----73.44 SLY
MIA Stiffi
MIA CCM
Barrel Weight
All units are in grams.
MIA = I have not measured it yet/ I am looking for the data sheet that has that info.
46.6 ----- 10" Front ----- JJ Edge
62.2 ----- 12" Front -----
82.0 ----- 14" Front -----
54.4 ----- 0.682 -----
53.6 ----- 0.685 -----
53.3 ----- 0.688 -----
52.7 ----- 0.691 -----
52.2 ----- 0.693 -----
----- -----
56.8 ----- 12" Front ----- ACI Phat
78.2 ----- 14" Front -----
92.1 ----- 16" Front -----
75.8 ----- 0.683 -----
75.2 ----- 0.686 -----
74.2 ----- 0.689 -----
72.9 ----- 0.692 -----
----- -----
89.9 ----- 14" Front ----- TI Longbow
76.8 ----- 12" Front ("quiet version")
MIA ----- 10" Front ("quiet version")
104.2 ----- 16" Front
59.4 ----- 0.681AL -----
58.7 ----- 0.684AL -----
57.6 ----- 0.687AL -----
57.4 ----- 0.690AL -----
93.5 ----- 0.684Ti -----
92.8 ----- 0.687Ti -----
91.3 ----- 0.690Ti
----- -----
69.5 ----- 14" Front ----- Scepter 2000
56.9 ----- Back -----
18.7 ----- 0.684 -----
18.4 ----- 0.686 -----
18.2 ----- 0.688 -----
17.5 ----- 0.690 -----
16.8 ----- 0.692 -----
----- -----
50.7 ----- 12" Front ----- Scepter 2004
57.2 ----- Back -----
19.0 ----- 0.684 -----
18.3 ----- 0.686 -----
17.7 ----- 0.688 -----
17.3 ----- 0.690 -----
17.0 ----- 0.692 -----
----- -----
69.9 ----- 14" Front ----- Empire Revolver / Scepter 2007
44.4 ----- Back -----
12.3 ----- 0.684 -----
11.1 ----- 0.688 -----
11.4 ----- 0.690 -----
11.0 ----- 0.692 -----
10.5 ----- 0.696 -----
----- -----
68.1 ----- 14" Front ----- Empire 7 pc
68.8 ----- 0.681 -----
69.3 ----- 0.684 -----
67.4 ----- 0.687 -----
67.1 ----- 0.690 -----
66.1 ----- 0.693 -----
65.8 ----- 0.696 -----
----- -----
69.2 ----- 14" Front ----- CP
56.2 ----- 0.682 -----
59.4 ----- 0.685 -----
57.6 ----- 0.689 -----
55.7 ----- 0.693 -----
56.7 ----- 0.696 -----
----- -----
190.2 ----- 10" 1 pc ----- Apex
----- -----
245.9 ----- 1 pc ----- 12" PPS Brass dual ported
----- -----
121.9 ----- 14" Front ----- Hammer Head
20.0 ----- 0.688 -----
19.9 ----- 0.690 -----
19.3 ----- 0.693 -----
----- -----
48.3 ----- 12" Front ----- Stiffi Switch
19.4 ----- 0.685 -----
19.3 ----- 0.687 -----
19.1 ----- 0.689 -----
18.9 ----- 0.691 -----
----- -----
69.0 ----- 14" Front ----- CCM
21.8 ----- 0.681 -----
21.5 ----- 0.684 -----
21.2 ----- 0.687 -----
21.1 ----- 0.690 -----
20.9 ----- 0.693 -----
----- -----
57.4 ----- 14" Front ----- Sly
66.5 ----- 16" Front -----
36.3 ----- 0.683 -----
36.0 ----- 0.686 -----
35.7 ----- 0.689 -----
35.5 ----- 0.692 -----
35.3 ----- 0.695 -----
----- -----
43.2 ----- 10" Freak front (black) ----- Smart Parts Freak
57.1 ----- 12" Freak front (black) -----
55.9 ----- 12" Freak front (red) -----
54.8 ----- 12" Freak front (purple) -----
54.2 ----- 12" AA front (purple) -----
70.6 ----- 14" Freak front (purple) -----
72.1 ----- 14" Freak front (black) -----
90.3 ----- 16" Freak front (purple) -----
15.4 ----- 0.679 Al -----
14.7 ----- 0.682 Al -----
14.0 ----- 0.684 Al -----
12.5 ----- 0.687 Al -----
12.7 ----- 0.689 Al -----
12.2 ----- 0.691 Al -----
11.8 ----- 0.693 Al -----
11.7 ----- 0.695 Al -----
43.0 ----- 0.682 ss -----
41.2 ----- 0.684 ss -----
39.0 ----- 0.687 ss -----
37.6 ----- 0.689 ss -----
35.8 ----- 0.691 ss -----
35.5 ----- 0.693 ss -----
34.3 ----- 0.695 ss -----
32.5 ----- 0.697 ss -----
----- -----
142.7 ----- 14" 1 pc ----- Smart Parts Progressive
----- -----
44.9 ----- 12" Front ----- Kaner
57.0 ----- 14" Front -----
72.0 ----- 16" Front -----
78.4 ----- 0.682 -----
77.6 ----- 0.684 -----
77.0 ----- 0.687 -----
76.5 ----- 0.689 -----
76.7 ----- 0.691 -----
----- -----
37.8 ----- Back ----- Lucky Un1Tec
77.6 ----- 85.000 -----
75.7 ----- 89.000 -----
72.5 ----- 93.000 -----
70.3 ----- 96.000 -----
----- -----
40.3 ----- 12" Front ----- Dye UL
56.1 ----- 14" Front Black -----
57.4 ----- 14" Front Blue -----
72.0 ----- Yellow Back -----
68.9 ----- White Back -----
74.7 ----- Red Back -----
72.2 ----- Blue Back -----
----- -----
270.4 ----- 14" 1 pc ----- Dye Boomstick
----- -----
130.9 ----- 12" 1 pc ----- Dye Xcel
----- -----
101.6 ----- 12" 1 pc ----- Proto
----- -----
45.0 ----- 14" Stiffi Front ----- Evil Pipe
65.4 ----- 14" Front -----
72.5 ----- 0.683 -----
71.5 ----- 0.686 -----
71.0 ----- 0.689 -----
69.9 ----- 0.692 -----
69.4 ----- 0.695 -----
----- -----
64.6 ----- 12" Front ----- Macdev Matchstik
82.8 ----- 14" Front -----
66.3 ----- 0.685 -----
65.3 ----- 0.689 -----
64.1 ----- 0.693 -----
----- -----
71.6 ----- 14" Front ----- Sanchez Machine SM 1
52.2 ----- Back -----
81.2 ----- 12" Race Front -----
34.1 ----- 0.679 -----
32.4 ----- 0.683 -----
31.4 ----- 0.686 -----
31.6 ----- 0.689 -----
31.6 ----- 0.691 -----
30.8 ----- 0.693 -----
29.6 ----- 0.695 -----
----- -----
53.3 ----- 14" Front ----- Redz Pepperstick
69.4 ----- 16" Front -----
78.0 ----- 0.687 -----
77.4 ----- 0.689 -----
76.2 ----- 0.691 -----
74.8 ----- 0.693 -----
----- -----
152.4 ----- 14" 1 pc ----- AC Trilogy stock
----- -----
98.8 ----- 12" 1 pc ----- X Mag Stock
----- -----
129.2 ----- 11" 1 pc ----- Misc.
Links
Barrel Tech/Info
Tom’s Tech Tips. Conducted by Tom Kaye/ Airgun Designs. Includes: Barrel Efficency, Bore Sizing, Spinning Paintballs, Testing the Quality of Paintballs, and Statistics Without Math
http://www.automags....ech/index.shtml
Paintball Spin Physics – Getting to the final Answer. Conducted by Tom Kaye/ Airgun Designs and many other members of the Automags.org Online community.
http://www.automags....ead.php?t=64669
AGD’s Offical Data Thread. Conducted by Tom Kaye/ Airgun Designs.
http://www.automags....ead.php?t=34429
The Physics of Paintball. Conducted by Gary Dyrkacz.
http://lennon.csufre...sa/physics.html
Paintball and barrel test of 2001. Conducted by Staff
http://www.paintball...1test/index.htm
APG – Flight of Paintballs. Conducted by Robert Judson/ Hammerhead paintball
http://www.actionpursuitgames.com/index.ph...0&Itemid=87
OtterSC Customs Barrels – F.A.Q. Conducted by Timothy Gochenauer.
Also see Paintball Size Chart & Barrel Bore Chart located at the bottom of the page.
http://www.ottersccu...om/barrels.html
The Different Diameter Conspiracy. Conducted by "Dirty Dan"
http://durtydan.paintballresource.org/www....r/diffdiam.html
Useful Information about Paint/barrels. Conducted by members of PBNation.
http://www.pbnation....ead.php?t=74599
The end all to "whats my barrel thread?"thread. Conducted by members of PBNation.
http://www.pbnation....d.php?t=1756861
Titanium Paintball’s Longbow Barrel. Conducted by Bill Mills
http://www.warpig.com/paintball/technical/...bow/index.shtml
SM1 Barrel System. Conducted by Bill Mills
http://www.warpig.com/paintball/technical/...sm1/index.shtml
Ronin Gear Katana Barrel. Conducted by Bill Mills (kinda a neat idea)
http://www.warpig.com/paintball/technical/...ana/index.shtml
Manufacturer's
Barrel ---------- Website
Smart Parts Freak ---------- www.smartparts.com
Hammerhead ---------- www.hammerheadpaintball.com
Empire Revolver ---------- www.empirepaintball.com
Empire 7 pc ---------- www.empirepaintball.com
Powerlite Scepter ---------- www.powerlyte.com
WGP Kaner ---------- www.armyoforr.com
Stiffi Switch ---------- www.sitemfg.com
Custom Products ---------- www.customproducts.us
Dye Ultralite ---------- www.dyeprecision.com
Redz Pepperstik ---------- www.redzcomfort.com
Apex ---------- www.btpaintball.com
CCM ---------- www.chipleymachine.com
Evil Pipe ---------- www.evil-paintball.com
JJ Edge ---------- www.jjperformance.com
Dye Xcel ---------- www.dyeprecision.com
Dye Boomstick ---------- www.dyeprecision.com
Lucky Un1tec ---------- www.luckyeurope.co.uk
Sanchez Machine SM1/Race ---------- www.sm1paintballbarrel.com
Macdev Matchstik ---------- www.macdev.net
Smart Parts Progressive ---------- www.smartparts.com
Xmag stock ---------- www.airgun.com
ACI Phat ---------- DNE / ??
Titanium Longbow (alum series) ---------- www.ti-paintball.com / www.sakworldpaintball.com
Sly ---------- www.slyequipment.com
Palmers brass ---------- www.palmer-pursuit.com
Proto stock ---------- www.protopaintball.com
Interpreting the Graph
The axis 0,0 is where the barrel was pointed based upon our bore sight. We just chose the middle of the axis to show the "bulls eye". The circles also may not be to scale as we just used the drawing tool in excel to make them. They are roughly 6, 12, 18, 24 inch diameters. Please look at the grouping of shots instead of what ball is in the middle circle. When observing each barrels performance you should be looking at how close the groupings are as opposed to where the grouping is located.
Accuracy after a break
Basically on this test we cut 2 slits in a paintball that were perpendicular to the equator. They went all the way across ~ 1/16" to the equator. (basically enough to keep the ball together. I loaded it ~ 1" into the barrel. We shot it out the barrel and into what we called the "paint catcher". This was followed with 3 blank shots (basically dry firing 3 times into the paint catcher). We then shot 4 more paintballs through the barrel, and caught them into the paint catcher. We then shot 20 shots, and recorded them the same way as we did on the regular barrel accuracy test.
We used Xball gold paint, and the bore that was .686 or the next lower one as the balls were ~ .685 when using the "blow through test", and were all good results when looking at the accuracy test results and that specific bore/ball combo.
Please remember that the target is 70 feet away from the breech of the marker. The results may be different when moving the target closer.
All barrels were chronoed to 280 +- 5 fps before shooting.
I will elaborate more on accuracy after a break later. I want to get more data up now. please check back later to this section.
TILongbowalumBreak.jpg (122.54K)
Number of downloads: 108
TI Longbow Alum Series 17/20 hits
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SLYBreak.jpg (125.82K)
Number of downloads: 38
SLY 6/20 hits
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ScepterBreak.jpg (119.98K)
Number of downloads: 52
Scepter (2000 series) 17/20 hits
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SanchezMachineBreak.jpg (121.08K)
Number of downloads: 14
Sanchez Machine SM1 7/20
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MIA
Redz Pepperstick 9/20 hits
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KanerBreak.jpg (116.14K)
Number of downloads: 14
Kaner 11/20 hits
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JJEdgeBreak.jpg (122.03K)
Number of downloads: 37
JJ Edge 10/20 hits
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HAMMERHEADBreak.jpg (122.51K)
Number of downloads: 38
Hammerhead 8/20 hits
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Empire7pcBreak.jpg (121.97K)
Number of downloads: 13
Empire 7pc kit 10/20 hits
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DyeULBreak.jpg (119.92K)
Number of downloads: 17
Dye UL 12/20
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CustomProductsBreak.jpg (118.63K)
Number of downloads: 15
Custom Products 10/20
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CCMBreak.jpg (123.06K)
Number of downloads: 4
CCM (Carbon fiber) 10/20
StiffiBreak.jpg (118.63K)
Number of downloads: 14
Stiffi 7/20
PPSBreak.jpg (122.03K)
Number of downloads: 35
Palmer's Pursuit Shop Brass 10/20
LuckyUn1TecBreak.jpg (128.57K)
Number of downloads: 32
Lucky Un1tec 4/20
MatchstikBreak.jpg (120.52K)
Number of downloads: 6
McDev Matchstik 9/20
FreakSSBreak.jpg (121.31K)
Number of downloads: 53
Smart Parts Freak SS 12/20
FreakAlBreak.jpg (119.14K)
Number of downloads: 12
Smart Parts Freak Al 10/20
EmpireRevolverBreak.jpg (124.34K)
Number of downloads: 6
Empire Revolver (2007 Scepter) 9/20
ACIPhatBreak.jpg (121.02K)
Number of downloads: 6
ACI Phat 12/20
EvilPipeBreak.jpg (224.45K)
Number of downloads: 19
Evil Pipe 10/20
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My .02 on what allows a barrel to shoot thru a break successfully. Again this is my opinion.
1) Barrel back fits into barrel front. This is when the back will sorta slide into the front. Not only will this force alignment I believe this cuts down on space for paint to "hide" and cause problems. Here are two examples
TILBdiagram.jpg (6.91K)
Number of downloads: 12
scepterdiagram.jpg (11.87K)
Number of downloads: 18
You will notice that with the scepter that the newer/2004 models are nothing like the old 2000 version. I am not sure why Powerlite decided to change the design, but I believe it was probably not a good idea.
Both of the above barrels (TI longbow, and Scepter) did very well in the "accuracy after a break test". This character was not noticed in any other barrel design that we tested (IIRC I dont have all of the barrels that we tested. Most were sold).
2) the smoothness of the bore. If I/we were able to cut a barrel in half and look at the surface with a microscope what would it look like? I believe that most barrels would look like sand paper. The smoother the bore the less paint that can hide in the little pores of the metal.
There are a couple of things that mfrgs have done to make very very smooth bores. Some say they are coated, others say they are "micro honed" or "honed to the highest standards", some claim that the material being used has the lowest coefficient of friction (ie carbon fiber, brass). Regardless what method is used the facts are that a smooth barrel will self clean.
I have not had any success with carbon fiber barrels. Many people state that they are the best with self cleaning, but I have not seen this. We used 2 sly kits, 1 ccm, and 1 stiffi kit. I have personally played a day with the stiffi, and was highly impressed until I broke a ball. Basically what I am saying is In My Opinion carbon fiber barrels that claim to "self clean" or "clean better than blah blah" are wrong.
I have researched the both the 2000 scepter and TI longbow. The Longbow states that it is "hard bored", and is apparently the boring is "harder and smoother" than any other process. I have not really gone into detail with how it works, but by the results we received I defiantly believe that it does work.
When looking for information on the 2000 scepter there was not much available. As many of you know a paintball product is usually dead after 7 years. I have looked down the bore of the insert, and it defiantly looks different than the 2004 version or really any other insert that I have. Whatever process is used on the inserts defiantly works well.
Accuracy Test
For the accuracy test we shot 25 balls of Marballizer, Recsport, Xball Gold, and Monsterball through each bore. We are only posting what bore preformed the best for each type of ball. We plan on later posting more results, but will have to find another location as we have over 600 targets. We have already decided what bores are the best, but still need to double check everything/add the velocity data for each bore/barrel.
These barrels are the empire version with the solid backs. Ie the 7, 9, 11 pc kits.
IMG_1731.jpg (125.98K)
Number of downloads: 17
Empire7p93rec.jpg (129.41K)
Number of downloads: 33
Empire 7pc 0.693 Rec Sport
Empire7p93marb.jpg (128.33K)
Number of downloads: 18
Empire 7pc 0.693 Marballizer
Empire7p87xball.jpg (132.19K)
Number of downloads: 11
Empire 7pc 0.687 Xball Gold
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Empire Revolver
I called powerlite, and asked them "is the revolver the same as the 2007 scepter". Their reply was that they were designed exactly the same, and are 100% interchangeable. Some people have stated that they are made by two companies which hold different QC levels and different honing standards, but I have no way to confirm this. It is my belief that they are probably made at one facility, and stamped with two different names.
IMG_1744.jpg (116.52K)
Number of downloads: 10
EmpireRevolver88marb.jpg (130.28K)
Number of downloads: 26
Empire Revolver (2007 Scepter) 0.688 Marballizer
EmpireRevolver84xball.jpg (132.15K)
Number of downloads: 5
Empire Revolver (2007 Scepter) 0.684 Xball Gold
EmpireRevolver92rec.jpg (130.05K)
Number of downloads: 10
Empire Revolver (2007 Scepter) 0.692 RecSport
There are three versions of scepter barrels that powerlite has produced to my knowledge. These are the 2000(tapered insert), 2004, and 2007 versions.
2000 version
pics to come
Scepter90marb.jpg (130.14K)
Number of downloads: 15
Scepter (2000 version) 0.690 Marballizer
Scepter90rec.jpg (129.19K)
Number of downloads: 16
Scepter (2000 version) 0.690 RecSport
Scepter86xball.jpg (129.72K)
Number of downloads: 9
Scepter (2000 version) 0.686 Xball Gold
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2004 version
IMG_1720.jpg (176.32K)
Number of downloads: 10
Titanium Longbow Alum version
IMG_1743.jpg (115.67K)
Number of downloads: 26
TILB84xball.jpg (129.43K)
Number of downloads: 25
Alum TI LB 0.684 Xball Gold
TILB87marb.jpg (132.97K)
Number of downloads: 23
Alum TI LB 0.687 Marballizer
TILB87rec.jpg (129.91K)
Number of downloads: 14
Alum TI LB 0.687 Rec Sport
Lucky Un1Tec
IMG_1735.jpg (128.52K)
Number of downloads: 7
un1tec85xball.jpg (129.7K)
Number of downloads: 3
Un1tec 14" 0.685 Xball Gold
un1tec93marb.jpg (127.59K)
Number of downloads: 8
Un1tec 14" 0.693 Marballizer
un1tec93rec.jpg (128.24K)
Number of downloads: 5
Un1tec 14" 0.693 Rec Sport
Smart Parts Freak
IMG_1733.jpg (157.86K)
Number of downloads: 19
IMG_1732.jpg (156.77K)
Number of downloads: 15
FreakAl82xball.jpg (129.92K)
Number of downloads: 27
Alum Freak 14" 0.682 Xball Gold
FreakAl89rec.jpg (128.53K)
Number of downloads: 12
Alum Freak 14" 0.689 Rec Sport
FreakAl93marb.jpg (129.1K)
Number of downloads: 32
Alum Freak 14" 0.693 Marballizer
IMG_1746.jpg (139.87K)
Number of downloads: 5
Dye Ultralite barrels
DyeULyellxball.jpg (129.36K)
Number of downloads: 16
Dye UL 0.688 Xball Gold
DyeULredrec.jpg (130.44K)
Number of downloads: 9
Dye UL 0.684 Rec Sport
DyeULbluemarb.jpg (129.64K)
Number of downloads: 13
Dye UL 0.692 Marballizer
Matchstik
IMG_1719.jpg (185.77K)
Number of downloads: 7
Matchstik93rec.jpg (132.2K)
Number of downloads: 13
Matchstik 0.693 Recsport
Matchstik93marb.jpg (128.79K)
Number of downloads: 8
Matchstik 0.693 Marballizer
Matchstik89xball.jpg (130.4K)
Number of downloads: 6
Matchstik 0.689 Xball Gold
Kaner kit
IMG_1736.jpg (132.43K)
Number of downloads: 8
CCM Carbon fiber
IMG_1748.jpg (119.22K)
Number of downloads: 9
Stiffi switch
IMG_1747.jpg (118.66K)
Number of downloads: 19
J & J Edge kit
IMG_1742.jpg (109.7K)
Number of downloads: 32
(note: we tested two of these kits. The other kit I do not have pics of. It also had more backs/fronts)
IMG_1738.jpg (110.53K)
Number of downloads: 21
IMG_1737.jpg (109.15K)
Number of downloads: 21
From top to bottom
Palmers Pursuit Shop (PPS) 12" dual ported brass barrel
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Misc unported barrel
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Trilogy stock (see WGP)
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Proto stock
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SP Progressive/tear drop
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RTP Stock (see J & J)
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Xmag stock (not pictured)
Evil Pipe kit
IMG_1739.jpg (129.11K)
Number of downloads: 15
Redz Pepperstick
IMG_1741.jpg (111.05K)
Number of downloads: 6
ACI Phat kit.
I do not have pics of this barrel kit. I borrowed this from a guy from AO.
Sanchez Machine SM1
IMG_1729.jpg (139.14K)
Number of downloads: 3
SM95marb.jpg (131.53K)
Number of downloads: 5
Sanchez Machine 0.695 Marballizer
SM91rec.jpg (129.69K)
Number of downloads: 5
Sanchez Machine 0.691 RecSport
SM83xball.jpg (129.62K)
Number of downloads: 3
Sanchez Machine 0.683 Xball Gold
Custom Products
IMG_1728.jpg (129.78K)
Number of downloads: 8
CP96Rec.jpg (132.4K)
Number of downloads: 7
Custom Products 0.696 RecSport
CP96Marb.jpg (130.87K)
Number of downloads: 5
Custom Products 0.696 Marballizer
CP85xball.jpg (131.19K)
Number of downloads: 8
Custom Products 0.685 Xball Gold
This post has been edited by Maj Tom: 05 August 2007 - 11:19 AM
Talk about extensive! (I'll have to look at the thread in detail later, busy now.)
