[DocDriza]

I learned something by reading this thread, and I am going to have to agree with Mocking Da Bird. the only difference between barrels that are made is the the bore size. If you want a 24" barrel, then get one. Its just pointless to get one, because it looks ridiculous. If you are looking for accuracy, then you are going to want to get a barrel kit like the iFit to help control bore size. What i think Mocking Da Bird is saying is that you shouldnt buy a longer barrel if you think it is going to help with your accuracy. The only reason I switch from my 14" barrel to my 16" J&J barrel was because it was quieter.

[molybdenum]

Originally Posted by yoder916

I have always heard that the first three inches of a barrel are all that really matters. (No Pun Intended)

I think that will depend largely on operating pressure. If you're running 150psi, you will need a longer control bore than if you're running 700 psi.

[Macdman11]

Barrel length doesn't improve accuracy. Bore matching and self cleaning improves accuracy. A 16" barrel compared to a 24" barrel; the 24" barrel will only travel 8" further. I've done a lot research on this issue and found a study done by a couple engineers and that was the results; which make sense because of the shape of a paintball does not change on the ball but the spin matters that's why boring improves or regresses accuracy. Hope this helps. Also rifled or ceramic had minimal difference in these results.

[molybdenum]

Originally Posted by Macdman11

...that's why boring improves or regresses accuracy...

The data I have seen seems to indicate to the contrary.

I personally have always though bore matching to be the wrong idea due to the tolerance of the ball. If you bore match, and your balls have a variance of +/- .003 (which I'm under the impression is pretty tight for a paintball), you could go from an under bore to over bore between two consecutive balls. If you overbore or underbore, however, the balls will always be over or under bored, respectively.

[martix_agent]

Originally Posted by molybdenum

The data I have seen seems to indicate to the contrary.

I personally have always though bore matching to be the wrong idea due to the tolerance of the ball. If you bore match, and your balls have a variance of +/- .003 (which I'm under the impression is pretty tight for a paintball), you could go from an under bore to over bore between two consecutive balls. If you overbore or underbore, however, the balls will always be over or under bored, respectively.

please get us this data, i'm interested

Originally Posted by Macdman11

Also rifled or ceramic had minimal difference in these results.

J&J ceramics have NEVER tried to say the ceramic coating helps improve accuracy or distance; the ceramic is used as a slick inside so if you break paint, you can shoot ou the paint instead of having to run a barrel swap. It works great for that.

[molybdenum]

Originally Posted by martix_agent

please get us this data, i'm interested.

I'd link to it, but I don't know if I'm allowed to mention the site its on yet. That in itself should give you enough information to find it.

[Macdman11]

Since no one in this thread can find data to support their opinion here is the data I was talking about. Seriously took me 10 seconds to get.

[Spock]

If you don't know the answer to this question, chances are you probably shoot garbage paint, and use CO2. If either of those are true, your barrel is the least of your worries when it comes to accuracy.

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Macdman11

Since no one in this thread can find data to support their opinion here is the data I was talking about. Seriously took me 10 seconds to get.

That test doesn't really tell you anything about barrel length, because he was using Freak fronts, which don't affect the ball at all. The only part of the barrel that is fitted to the ball is the back, which is the same length no matter how long your front is.

[Macdman11]

Originally Posted by Spock

That test doesn't really tell you anything about barrel length, because he was using Freak fronts, which don't affect the ball at all. The only part of the barrel that is fitted to the ball is the back, which is the same length no matter how long your front is.

Did you even read it? He answers it in the second post second question.

Originally Posted by Mann

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 rifeled 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 reasearched by many of the leaders in the industry. You can find more info on their oppinions on the "usefull 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 basicly squegee 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

[CreesquePaintball]

Anything longer than 14" adds drag to the paintball, which impacts the markers overall accuracy.

[Spock]

Originally Posted by Macdman11

Did you even read it? He answers it in the second post second question.

Yes, I read it. It says right there that he used a Freak barrel, with different length fronts to supposedly test different length barrels. Which means that he wasn't really testing different length barrels.

Is there something else there that I missed?

[spartan117d7]

The longer the barrel length the more accurate but way less air efficient

[Smit]

14 or over is just a waste of metal doesnt affect performence at all

[DeadeyeDante]

Originally Posted by Mocking Da Bird

Nope, they actually hurt your gun if anything.

I want to go over a few things about barrels this forum fails to reflect on people:

1.) ALL BARRELS HAVE THE SAME ACCURACY! Holy ****, buying a Dye UL barrel will not shoot better than a Eigenbarrel! My god, I hate seeing posts like "Oh yeah, buy the Dye UL barrel, you'll get great accuracy. I love having sex with it and waffles. CP barrels suck." God damn shut up about accuracy. Want to shoot an accurate gun? Join the military. They're dead on accurate.

2. Any barrel over $50 is overpriced. I'm talking about Dye 2 pieces or whatever. They don't do anything. At all. They just shoot paint through it. You're buying the name. Efficiency will increase by like .001% if anything. If you bought a dye barrel or any barrel over $50, I'm happy to say you ****ed yourself.

To your second point,

Not entirely true, barrel kits with inserts may not improve accuracy persay, but they increase consistency which in turn increases efficiency a bit. It helps to bore match your paint. Paying 150 for a Freak Kit? Over priced, but paying 70 for one isn't that bad. Like what I did