[Xdanisx]

What's the point of 2 part barrels? Dividing the barrel into two parts just adds weights and would decrease accuracy. Not by much, but why spend time designing something that will only cost more for a product that would be worse then a standard one piece barrel?

What is so good about 2 piece barrels?

[PistolPaul2]

You can get different backs so the bore of the barrel matches the paint size

[Xdanisx]

Why not just buy the same size paint?

[dblj44]

Paint size is effected by any number of manufacturing issue, heat, and humidity. So even buying the same paint doesn't guarantee a good match.

[dps093]

Yea, a barrel kit is a must to ensure your paint shoots accurately and doesn't chop

[private_silver]

Originally Posted by Xdanisx

What's the point of 2 part barrels? Dividing the barrel into two parts just adds weights and would decrease accuracy. Not by much, but why spend time designing something that will only cost more for a product that would be worse then a standard one piece barrel?

What is so good about 2 piece barrels?

I can see the bit about weight as they'd have to be able to have threading, but how in any way, shape, or form would it reduce accuracy? If anything, you have a much better chance at having great accuracy with a 2pc simply because of the reasons stated. Being able to get the right bore is essential to have good accuracy, and I personally would rather not have 6 seperate barrels for 1 marker just to bore match

Also, even a 1pc "bored" at .682 gradually increases from back to front to probably .685-.689, so most 1pc barrels really arent that different, it's simply a less sudden change in diameter.

[slayer0704]

Oh god...I haven't seen so much accuracy nonsense in a while!

Bore size doesn't effect accuracy, it effects efficiency, and consistency. Neither of which will impact accuracy (consistency isn't improved enough to make most markers more accurate)

The only use for barrel kits is changing color schemes. You can buy a .678 lurker barrel and shoot 98% of the paint that's being sold on the market absolutely beautifully.

[masterofTHUMBS]

yeah, two pieces are really only for if you want to get a kit. a standard one piece from a good manufacturer will result in decent consistency. just get an underbored/overbored one piece and you will be fine. lurker barrels are pretty nice.

[Soul06]

Originally Posted by Xdanisx

What's the point of 2 part barrels? Dividing the barrel into two parts just adds weights and would decrease accuracy. Not by much, but why spend time designing something that will only cost more for a product that would be worse then a standard one piece barrel?

What is so good about 2 piece barrels?

Originally Posted by Xdanisx

Why not just buy the same size paint?

A 2 piece barrel and a one piece barrel of the same length will basically weigh the same.

By your posts I'm assuming that you are very new to paintball. I don't mean that as a insult. It just seems that you are very misinformed. A 2-piece barrel is a better idea than a one piece. As many have pointed out, the ability to buy different bore size backs allows you to better match the various paint sizes you will encounter and result in better consistency.

[The_BOFH]

Originally Posted by slayer0704

Bore size doesn't effect accuracy, it effects efficiency, and consistency. Neither of which will impact accuracy (consistency isn't improved enough to make most markers more accurate)

I thought so, too. And then I swapped my Petrol Headhunter (similar to Lapco Bigshot Assault, and just as overbored) 14" barrel with a paint bore-match SuperFreak, carbon fiber tip. And the very first game I noticed a huge improvement in accuracy.

So, while theory says there should be no accuracy gain, in my personal case there is. Maybe it has to do with the likelihood of ball jitter in overbored barrels, I'm not sure. If that's the case, SuperFreak would be slightly more accurate than iFit. I'd love to test that theory...

[cpt_crunch]

Here's the thing. The most important factor to paintball barrels is bore size. Matching the bore of your barrel to the bore of your paint increases accuracy and efficiency.
Why not use the same bore and the same paint all the time? paint is affect (sometimes minutely sometimes not so minutely) by air pressure, temperature, and humidity. Atmospheric conditions can cause balls to swell or shrink. Also suppose you go play at a different field that requires field paint which is different from yours. For a person who plays in the same weather, with the same paint, all the time a two piece barrel is not needed. for someone who does not, multiple barrel bores are needed.
So instead of carrying 30 barrels with varying bores and lengths (10 bores and 3 lengths for each bore) you can make your barrels in two pieces, using the back to control bore and the front to control length. to get the same result you need 13 half barrels (10 backs and 3 fronts) much less material, much cheaper.

[cpt_crunch]

As for heavier and less accurate you are correct on the first, it does require a thickened section over the threads. As for less accurate you could in theory be correct, since it is impossible to align two elements perfectly it should be impossible to have a perfectly straight two piece barrel. However a machinist may not only tell you that they can be made so close to perfect that the affect is negligible, they may also tell you that a two piece barrel is EASIER to make straight. a shorter work piece with thickened areas deflects less in manufacturing and should come out truer than a longer, thinner work piece.

[Xdanisx]

What I mean by the accuracy is this:

If the end of the barrel has a larger bore then (depending on the size of the paint) either the ball would be squished before hitting the outer end, or it would fit snuggly until it hit the outer part and then not even touch the outer barrel at all. If the ball doesn't touch the outer bore, then there is really no point in having the outer barrel except for maybe noise reduction. That would make sense if not for the fact that most inner barrels I see are less then 8 inches. If the ball only touches the first barrel, then you are effectively left with a barrel that is less then 8 inches. I've read that some say a minimum of 8 inches is optimal for accuracy while others argue 12/14 is optimul. Neither parties argue that <8 inches is optimal.

And yes, Soul, I'm kinda new. No offense taken.

[Necrogen98]

In a two-part barrel the backs are whichever bore you want (say .687) and the front is a much larger bore like .698- .71. Basically what happens to a paintball in the barrel is this: in the breech it is hit with a burst of air which both deforms the ball slightly and propels it forward. It takes the paintball about 8-10 inches of barrel to get up to the correct speed at which point it COULD leave the barrel and be on its way, however if you were to play with just a barrel back you'd notice that your gun is both loud as hell and not very accurate. The tip provides extra guidance to the ball and allows for adequate porting to both quiet the shot and better the accuracy since air isn't trying to escape the barrel at the same time as the ball. You're correct that the inner surface of the tip is not meant to hug the edges of the ball however the overbore isn't so drastic that the ball is bouncing around in there or anything. As already stated most one-piece barrels taper to a larger bore at the end anyway.

[Fedo]

Everyone more or less covered why a 2 piece barrel exists.

[private_silver]

Originally Posted by Fedo

Everyone more or less covered why a 2 piece barrel exists.

Good summary, tell it once more? Maybe with a little extra flair?

Haha but seriously, if OP even looked back in here, he shouldn know by know the pro's of 2pc over 1pc in most situations.

AND, as to Slayers post, efficiency, on more so CONSISTENCY, is where accuracy in paintball is mostly derived. When thinking of paintball, you can't think of accuracy in the same way as you would a bullet because they just aren't remotely close If you could mount a marker and fire it without it moving a micron of a millimeter, with 2 balls that were as close as you could get to being exact replicas, they still would have a very small chance in hitting exactly where the other one did, barring out traditional problems such as wind/rain/etc. The ability to get them as close as possible is done through them being consistent, and therin lies your "accuracy".

[Fedo]

Oh don't tempt me

[cpt_crunch]

Originally Posted by Xdanisx

What I mean by the accuracy is this:

If the end of the barrel has a larger bore then (depending on the size of the paint) either the ball would be squished before hitting the outer end, or it would fit snuggly until it hit the outer part and then not even touch the outer barrel at all. If the ball doesn't touch the outer bore, then there is really no point in having the outer barrel except for maybe noise reduction. That would make sense if not for the fact that most inner barrels I see are less then 8 inches. If the ball only touches the first barrel, then you are effectively left with a barrel that is less then 8 inches. I've read that some say a minimum of 8 inches is optimal for accuracy while others argue 12/14 is optimul. Neither parties argue that <8 inches is optimal.

And yes, Soul, I'm kinda new. No offense taken.

You might be surprised at just how short the "control bore" section of a 1 piece barrel is. Most 1 piece barrels (at least nice ones) taper out. You really dont need more than a few inches of control bore. The remainder of the barrel is there to help guide and for its porting (the small holes in the side) porting allows the turbulent air behind the ball to drop more slowly and smoothly than all of it bursting out the end at once. When all of that air comes out of the barrel's end in one blast it can grab the ball and spin it. also it makes a very noticeable report. companies can use different arrays of ports to control how air moves down the barrel making the air pushing the ball more stable. also, even though the end is "overbored" it still has benefits in guiding the ball, small benefits, but they are there.

[doomsday57]

well although alot of people say bore to match has to do with the back, you could get the deadly wind barrel with the freak inserts and match paint although you may spend 100+, there may be others that are fixed one piece. the stock freak is 2 piece just to let ppl know

[Fedo]

Summary of this Thread:

2 piece barrels allows for better boring of paint.
Boring paint = better "accuracy" and consistency of shots as well as better efficiency.
2 Piece barrels add a fractional amount of weight, but is unnoticeable.
People have their favorite kits, research one you will like.

[mymutter]

Originally Posted by The_BOFH

I thought so, too. And then I swapped my Petrol Headhunter (similar to Lapco Bigshot Assault, and just as overbored) 14" barrel with a paint bore-match SuperFreak, carbon fiber tip. And the very first game I noticed a huge improvement in accuracy.

You noticed an improvement in consistancy.

Consistancy is ball on ball, every ball travels the same distance in the same trajectory.

Paintball markers cannot be accurate
however, a paintballer can be accurate with a paintball marker.