Dye stainless
Smart Parts Freak Kit
Infinity Barrels
CP barrels
Marker Setup:
Racegun Halfblock
Palmer Micro Rock reg
Belsales 44 Magnum ram with Qev's
Mac Dev Gladiator inline reg
Mac Dev Conquest air system
SM-1 Barrel kit
Recommended Paintballs:
Pretty much any (any fairly round ones...)
Strengths:
Well machined
Very Light
Perfect inside bore transition (sleeve-front tip)
Weaknesses:
Reverse threading is a bit weird at first.
Review:
Paint-barrel match:
Being a barrel kit (7 different bore sleeves), covers all range of paint sizes. No more problems of paint to barrel match.
Weight:
I was used to 2 pieces barrel kits with a stainless back, which was a bit heavy. Certainly felt the difference with the SM1. This one is light.
Paint handling:
I've been using tournament, field and practice grade paint. All these vary in hardness - brittle. Also some of the paint I shoot in practice isn't top fresh (left overs from last practice/tournament). Either way only had a couple of barrel/breach breaks. From previous experience I was expecting a lot more.
Accuracy:
I can get a very good paint to barrel match. This is a must for accuracy. Some times i'm amazed by how true the paint flies at longer ranges(no kidding). Good shot groupings.
Self cleaning:
Like I said, only broke paint in practice once or twice. Took me around 10 balls to shoot straight again.
Looks/Finishing:
All pieces are very well machined, no defects I could find. All sleeves match perfectly into the front tip, and looking from the front, the two different bores (front and sleeve) are well centered (concentric) which means a smooth transition for the paint shooting down the barrel.
Front half of the tip comes with a mixed dust/glossy spiraled anodize, which I think looks great.
Good anodize without blemishes.
The reversed threading:
The only down side to this kit could be the reverse threading: The front tip screws into the sleeve anticlockwise and then the all barrel screws into the gun clockwise. It just takes time to get used to.
The kit comes with a wrench to help secure the barrel tightly into the gun, But i've noticed i can do it now without the wrench (no hassle of carrying the wrench into the field).
Conclusion:
If you're looking for a barrel kit, this is an option.
Justified all my expectations. I've stopped looking for other barrel kits :-).
Rating:
10 out of 10
Last edited on Saturday, November 12th, 2005 at 8:55 am PST
