Why is one barrel better than another?

[Smakman]

Think about it. It's a round tube that is slick on the inside (unless it's a Tippmann). Is one barrel rounder than another? I doubt it. Other than porting, what how can one barrel be much better than another? It's the paint to barrel match, IMO, not the quality of the barrel. Matching the paint to the barrel is not as easy as you might think either. Paint varies from one batch to another regardless of what the manufactureres tell us. The quality of the ingredients in the paint isn't nearly as standard as they would like us to believe either? And then there are the different pigments required to produce the different colors. That also effects the integrity of the ball itself. What shell/fill combinations have you found to be the closest to the same in quality from batch to batch?

[Letchworth40]

yes barrels are rounder than others. take a spyder stock barrel or tippy barrel and measure the diameter through out the whole barrel. Its not perfectly round or polished that good. Then take a DYE Stainless thats triple honed and i bet you its the same diameter throughout the whole barrel.

[Smakman]

You are probably right about that. However, that would matter a whole lot more if you had PERFECTLY round paint and there is no such thing.