Dragun Barrel Guide

[DESTRO SFL]

**This is the first part in a series of posts I will be doing trying to cover as much info on Dragun parts/upgrades as I can. Please do not ask why I started with barrels ... I just did. Also, if you have anything to contribute to this thread I would ask that you please PM it to me to try and keep the thread free from clutter. Thanks.**

Barrel

If you are looking to improve the accuracy of your marker and prevent those curve balls that we all hate so much, then please remember the following statement. THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR IN DETERMINING THE ACCURACY OF YOUR SHOTS IS A GOOD PAINT TO BARREL MATCH. This means that either buying paint that fits the particular barrel that you have or, in the alternative, asking someone at your local field what bore the field paint is and buying a barrel based on that. You can reference the barrel chart on PBNation for the bore size of barrels and what paint works best with a particular barrel.

Both the Dragun T.E.S. and The One are Spyder threaded and will take any barrel threaded for Spyders or Spyder clones. There have been some instances where certain Spyder barrels do not fit properly in Draguns but I think a majority of those were Dye barrels. I have read several posts that it was due to a bad batch of barrels from Dye awhile back. I have also heard that barrels threaded specifically for Pirahnas may have 1 to 3 extra threads on it which would result in the barrel not screwing in completely.

Tip posted by pogo82 in a thread about barrels not fiting …

“anyways, i told this to 2 other guys who were having your problem and it worked for them. you need to take a knife or a nail or something and run it completely through the threads to clean everything out, (make sure you do this to the barrel and the gun) then take a rag and some alcohol and excessively clean the threads (remember to do both), then oil up the threads and try to connect them.”

The Dye UL, J&J Ceramic, Custom Products 1 piece, All American, or TearDrop barrels are all good barrels that will fit on the marker well and improve the performance both quieting your marker and causing more accurate shots (with a good paint to barrel match). If you have a little bit more money to spend and are looking to get more serious with your barrels, then a barrel kit may be right for you. There are several barrel kits out there ranging in price from 90 – 225 dollars but many of the higher end kits contain pieces that you will not need and probably will never use.

Empire 4 piece Barrel Kit
Price: $93 at www.pbn5.com
Type: Multi Back (no inserts)
Bore Sizes: .687, .689, .691
Tip: (please PM me if you know)
Colors: Chrome or in all black
Review:
(if someone could pm me a short review)

MacDev Matchstick
Price: $100 at www.bulldogpaintball.com
Type: Multi Back (no inserts)
Bore Sizes: .685, .689, .693
2 Tips: 12" and 14"
Colors: Silver backs w/ black tips
Review: (submitted by JDMOTO)
The Matchstik put together was about twice as heavy as the JJ, but I dont really care about weight. I slapped that bad boy on my gun and took some shots. Lets say I was very impressed on how close the grouping was. it was closer then my J&J ceramic. Using the .689 back. 150+ shots and no barrel breaks.. hmm.. now lets test the self cleaning... popped three balls inside before it broke. Then shot two balls ... first shot was off by close to 2 feet from the grouping. The second shot only 6" from the grouping and the third shot was in the grouping. So about 2-3 shots and the bad boy is back in game ... so it passed my self cleaning. The barrel is very quiet. a lot quieter then the JJ ceramic! Now I’m thinking my reloader might have a hard time hearing the gun fire (gun @ 250psi).

Custom Products Base Barrel Kit
Price: $126 at www.criticalpaintball.com
Type: Multi Back (no inserts)
Bore Sizes: .682 .685 .689 .693 .696 (you choose 3)
Tips: 10”. 12”, 14”, 16” (You choose 1)
Colors: Front (black, nickel, blue, red, clear)
Back (black, clear, blue, green, red, pewter, purple)
Review:
I have this barrel kit and I love it. I have silver to gold Dragun and the clear anno matches the silver perfectly. I have also heard that the green matches the green to black draguns really well. The barrel is super light and the milling looks real nice. I chose the 3 middle bore sizes and the 12” tip. Both my choices have worked out nicely as I haven’t had any trouble matching paint at all, and I have played at about 4 different fields and probably used about 6 different brands of paint. The case is made out of nylon with the Custom Products logo on the outside. It has foam cutouts for all the pieces so you can add to the kit later on.

Empire 7 piece Barrel Kit
Price: $168 at www.pbn5.com
Type: Multi Back (no inserts)
Bore Sizes: .681, .684, .687, .690, .693, .696
Tip: 14”
Colors: Chrome or in all black
Review:
Could somebody who has used this please write a short review and PM it to me.

Evil Pipe Kit
Price: New $175 www.xpaintball.com
Bore Size: .683, .686, .689, .692, .695
Tip Color: All Black, and black/color fades
Available tip sizes: 12", 14", 16" (18" is also produced, but I have yet to see it for sale anywhere)
Review:
The annos on it match our guns great, never seen a problem with its threading not matching up. I love mine. Dead on balls accurate, the smoothest bore/honeing on the market, spiral porting allows for awesome self-cleaning in 3 shoots or less. Only cons to it are its quite loud. Which doesn't really matter to most, except SNIPERs who like to keep their position hidden . I also see the tips are more fragile then most, but I'v never had a bit of trouble with mine, not to mention if you do they now sell a more durable "Ultra Evil Pipe" front for it...

Smart Parts Freak Kit
Price: $178 at www.pbn5.com
Type: Inserts
Bore Sizes: .679, .682, .684, .687, .689, .691, .693
Tip: 8”, 10”, 12”, 14” in All American, Freak, Tear Drop
Tip Color: Black, Silver(+$5), Red(+$5), Purple(+$5), blue(+$5), Green(+$5)
Back: Aluminum (Black) or Stainless Steel (Silver +$20)
Review:
Everyone knows about the freak kit. It is very versatile so there are endless configurations that you can use on the barrel. Another positive is that if you decide to purchase a new marker you only need to buy a new back. The negatives are the cost, durability of the inserts, and some people don’t like smart parts.

Empire 10 piece Barrel Kit
Price: $188 at www.pbn5.com
Type: Multi Back (no inserts)
Bore Sizes: .687, .689, .691, .693, .695
Tip: 10”, 12”, 14”, 16”, 18”
Colors: Chrome or in all black
Review:
I have not heard very good things about this barrel kit. I have heard that it performs fairly well but that the paint begins to chip off pretty easily. (if someone could pm me a short review)

Powerlyte Scepter 5 insert System
Price: $199 at www.powerlyte.com
Type: Inserts
Bore Sizes: .684", .686", .688", .690" and .692
Tip: 12”, 14”, 16”
Tip Color: Black
Back: Aluminum or Stainless Steel (+$10)
There is also a 3 insert kit in which you can choose the inserts that you want that is $160.

Review:
Everyone seems to be in love with this kit so I am sure that somebody wants to PM me a short review.

**I did not shop around for the best price. I simply took the first link that showed up when I googled these items. Please search around for the best price and don’t rely on this price list.

As stated above, the most important thing is good paint to barrel match. These kits all function in generally the same way, but what you have to decide on is what bore sizes you want, the tip length, color (if important), quality, and how much you are willing to spend. Consider all of those factors before choosing a barrel kit for your Dragun.

[*Up Wind Shot*]

Great info! cant wait to see the next one!

[pbplaya69]

about the not fitting,

this only happens if the threadings on the barrel are messed up...or the threadings in ur gun are messed up...

if this happens to you just send it back to where you bought it from

destro please add that

[Pyr8]

The Hammerhead with Spider threads is a superb choice, provided you match paint to fin size.

[JDMOTO]

I did review on when i first got the kit. long time ago lol

Matchstik Kit (http://pbnation.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=450088&highlight=%2Bmacdev+%2Bmatchstik)

[jhyan]

i did a search on pbnation for this but couldnt find it... can you please add to your post what the bore size of a stock tes barrel is. it would be helpful in determining what paint to use.

[kangaroodent]

No one can tell you that, unless they took the time and money to buy a barrel gauge to see what bore their sheety stock barrel is. I'm guessing it's .689 if it's half decent. That's what most of the bore sizes are on stock barrels for higher end markers. But use some .689 paint to see if you can blow GENTLY and get the ball flying out the other end, that'll answer it too.

Here are the variables for accuracy:
-Spinning of paint (6000RPM is where crazy flying balls happen)
-Any abnormal friction
-Abnormal hinderance
-BORE TO PROJECTILE MATCH. This matters down to the thousandth of the inch (at least noticeably)
-Wind resistance
-Mass of projectile
-Force behind projectile
-consitency of the force (consistant velocity)
-consistency of paint
-Gravity <<<< the major one :P
-And hundreds more

I should note that the perfect barrel makes the ball accellerate until the end of it. No porting, rifling, or backsping. Nero put this somewhere.

[jhyan]

Thanks for the help. BTW, this weekend i went out and shot Zap (some balls i bought at a sporting good store cuz it was half price)and it fired beautifully, until i had the burping issue. I didnt see if it would blow out, but if Zap works well for the .690/.692 bore sizes maybe the stock dragun is close to that. *shrug* I don't know, just making it up as i go along.

[Baz]

Thanks, good review on the barrel kits.
I found one barrel that won't fit, Armson stealth, fits a Phirana and a JT but not the TES, seems like the end is too big to fit even though it is a spider thread.
Don't know if it's the same with other Dragun markers.

[Paintball Ace]

theyre both obviously crappy matches. Ever seen any good paint .695? or .679? It was prolly crap both ways unless u had some really good paint. Yeah, quality counts.

[blank879]

whats the bore on the stock barrel

[Not a former member]

Originally posted by blank879
whats the bore on the stock barrel


not sure but ... BIG

well atleast the bore on my old Dragunfly was

[vikingshadow]

What about the J&J Edge kit - any reviews on that one?

I'm doing a retro review (already bought it - being shipped as we speak!) and found some decent reviews on another forum, but what do you guys think about it?

[vikingshadow]

Ok, since no one has bothered, or I may be the only one here with one - which I doubt! - I'll give a short review of the Edge kit.

Here is a statement on this kit from Actionvillage:

"Unquestionably the most technically advanced precision-machined barrel system ever designed. Every back half in the set is measured three times for accuracy and engineered to greatly increase the performance of your marker and game. This powerful combination promotes reduced friction and increase the accuracy level of your gun tremendously. "

Ok, my turn...

Edge kit comes in a hard plastic case that is somewhat difficult to open until you figure it out, and is packaged quite well inside with egg crate foam.

There are 4 backs and a front. The backs are .685, .688, .691 and .693. Rather odd numbers, but whatever. I hear that you can get additional backs, but haven't found any yet.

The front has A LOT of porting on it, which helps make this a quiet barrel. It's not the ceramic barrel kit, which for some reason was not an option when I bought it. They might not have the kits in ceramic, though.

I shopped around for price and got it for 99.00 (down from 150.00 the night before on the same kit). This was from Actionvillage.com.

The barrel with back is relatively light, seemingly fragile. But those of you with J&J barrels know this is a deceiving lightness. It's very sturdy.

I used this kit in my last tournament and for several target practice drills. Shot after shot in the same area - probably a 6 inch spread on a fence target with a few random balls flying out of this area - I think it has something to due with my paint (RPS Premiums) They may be a bit lopsided since it's a couple weeks old.

I was using the largest bore back. Haven't found any paint that was smaller than the .691 back, and only used the .693 to compensate for those sometimes larger balls that end up in every bag. I had one break using the larger bore back, but that was because I turned my eye off and it may have been a chop instead of a barrel break.

During the tournament, I played all day and used approximately a case and a half without a single break. The last game I had my eye off and promptly turned my barrel into soup. Can't blame the barrel kit for that though.

All in all, a great kit at an even better price. I wish it came with a couple more backs, preferably one higher than the highest size, but for the price, I won't complain.