Tippmann 98 stock barrel, other stock tippmann barrels, freak kit on an autococker.
Marker Setup:
Tippmann 98 w/ Red dot sight and flatline barrel
Recommended Paintballs:
I used afterburners
Strengths:
flat trajectory and range
Weaknesses:
not idiot proof
Review:
I bought this and put it on myself last week. Went on fairly easy for me atleast. I'm pretty good with mechanical things and I can see how the directions would confuse some people. I think there is one step that some people don't quite complete and that causes problems for them. You're suposed to pound the barrel into the adapter with a rubber mallet. I actually slammed the thing barrel down into the table (worked for me but I no responcible for what happens if you try it.) If you don't pound in the barrel all the way there is an edge of the barrel that can slice balls. I got mine in all the way and it does not chop.
Aligning the barrel wasn't nearly as hard as i thought it would be. I eye balled it to line it up right and it seemed to shoot fine. One thing that people may have a problem with is you have to hold it level to get it to shoot straight. I don't have this problem so I don't mind it at all.
Another thing is the barrel doesn't make up for inconsistant velocity all that much. No barrel does. So using a 9 ounce CO2 bottle (which I use) will not yield the "super acuracy" you hear about. I recomend atleast a 20 oz. I'm looking at getting a palmer reg, but that's going a bit above and beyond.
The reason I say it was the CO2 and not the barrel was becuase when I shot at a rate of about 1 ball per second my shots we in about a 3 inch grouping at 65 ft. (That's pretty fricken awsome). But when I stepped it up and shot as fast I could (8-10 balls per second) the spread was about 2 feet. Again, this was with a 9 ounce CO2, which is about as incosistant as you can get.
As for the barrel being a 'chipper shreader' when it comes to balls, I have yet to see any truth to this. I have not broken a ball in my barrel, let alone in my gun. I use afterburner paint. It's not premium, but it's also not budget paint either. I'm ok with not being able to use crappy cheap paint because I think it's worth the extra $5 a case to have zero breaks. Anyways, 90% of fields in my area require you to use field paint and their field paint is priemium quality. Currently, shooting medium quality paint, I have shot 2000 balls out of my gun without a single break. 300 of those were with my new flatline.
Conclusion:
If range and flat flight are important enough to you this barrel is worth the money. Don't listen to the rumors, they are just made by people who can't follow directions.
I'm looking at a flatline, and I've heard the rumors. You're right anyone who thinks that the flatline is impossible to put together just can't read the directions.
