which smart parts barrel on my Tippmann 98?

[wonsonchon]

I'm a starter, and need a barrel for my tippmann 98, I'm looking into smart parts barrels, tatical, progrossive, or linear.
which one should I get
I'm more like a sniper type of guy, and pinnpoint accuracy is very important for me
are smart parts barrels right for me
or do u have a better suggestion?

[Orpackrat]

I'm a starter, and need a barrel for my tippmann 98, I'm looking into smart parts barrels, tatical, progrossive, or linear.
which one should I get
I'm more like a sniper type of guy, and pinnpoint accuracy is very important for me
are smart parts barrels right for me
or do u have a better suggestion?

Hopefully by "sniper" you mean to wait and ambush them with pinpoint accuracy when their within the normal range of a paintball gun.

Accuracy comes from a good paintball and a good paintball to barrel match to where the paintball can be easily blown out of the barrel but not roll out or get stuck.

A barrel kit would the best option but it you can't afford one, the next best barrel is a Palmers Brass Barrel.

[bvdave]

Actually what barrel is best depends what paint you use more then anything, if you use a different paint every weekend then by all means get a kit, but if your like most people who use teh same paint almost exclusivly then find a one peice that fits your paint is best. expecially since most paintballs are made to be the same size now. a one peice barrel that matches your paint will be more accurate then a matched 2 peice barrel almost every time. remember with a 2 peice barrel everything past the insert or front needs to be at least as large as the largest insert / front, so most of your barrel is generally .696 or so which is just huge. ive in the past owned a freak, redz kit, empire kit and a j&j kit, in the end i got rid of every one because my one peice barrels were just as if not better performance for much less money. in fact in the past 3 years ive used over 10 barrels and i can say ill never again waste my money on a kit since all the paint I use fits a .689 barrel just fine.

Palmers brass barrels are fantastic, if you want the absolute best accuracy and are willing to pay the extra money then go for it, if you want a barrel thats almost as accurate for much less money then id suggest a J&J, flasc barrel, winforce or even a smart parts barrel which are more bang for your buck, if you go smart parts then go with what one you like the look / price of since they all shoot basically the same, also try to avoid getting anything over 16" with 9-12 being prime for accuracy and efficency.

[Corrupted355]

wonsonchon, the barrel you're looking for is the Palmer's Brass. It will be the best match to your current needs. It's a single piece barrel with options for venting (also called porting), length, external coating, and bore size. It's going to shoot prettymuch the same no matter what options you get, so that stuff's mostly personal preference.

I'm gonna have to disagree with bvdave here, which is a rare occurrance. I've found that a barrel kit is always more accurate than a single piece barrel. To find a single piece barrel that just happens to fit the paint you use on a regular basis is actually pretty difficult to do. No one seems to actually believe what .686 (or whatever the measurement happens to be) is. For example, I can size up a paintball with my Scepter kit with a .684 insert fitting perfectly, and then I can go over to my Freak, and using the same paintball, I'll get a best fit with a .687 insert. The point is: you can't order a barrel size for a certain size paint and expect it to match up. You have to get lucky.

Another thing to take into accout is paint variations. I mean case to case, not ball to ball. I play on a decent variety of fields, but I do frequent one more than most, and it's field paint only there. Using the single barrel theory, I should be able to match a barrel up to DraxXus Midnight (the field paint), and go to town. However, I've quite often used different inserts from week to week, simply because of the variation from case to case. You have to take into consideration what conditions the paint was stored in, what it was exposed to, and even manufacturing variables.

And since we both subscribe to the idea that a good paint to bore match is the key to accuracy, I submit that a single bore barrel can not be as accurate as a kit can on a regular basis. The kit will be able to adapt to any variations in paint, and the single bore just won't.

[wonsonchon]

I'm also thinking of getting the flatline barrel
and I'm willing to spend the money
I've heard good and bad comments about the faltline
does it fit my style of play?

[wonsonchon]

and of I'm getting the flatline, which paint fit the best?

[Corrupted355]

I'm also thinking of getting the flatline barrel
and I'm willing to spend the money
I've heard good and bad comments about the faltline
does it fit my style of play?

and of I'm getting the flatline, which paint fit the best?
First, we need to know how you play. Do you sit and wait for a target to come along, run up and be the first guy at the front of the assault, stay at the back and provide cover for the frontline assault, or do you kind of rove where you're needed?

If you end up with a Flatty (a mistake in my humble opinion), you'll want to get medium to small bore paint. The way the Flatline is designed, paintballs actually roll across the inner surface of the barrel, so the paint needs to be pretty small.

[Shadow Wolf1990]

I wouldn't get a flatline, go look at some of the other threads about the flatline, there are plenty of them of us flaming it down.

[FlamingoChavez]

I have a smartparts freak kit w/ apex ready front. Best of both worlds, imo. I've got a kit for accuracy as good as it gets, and a apex tip for a flatter trajectory when I need it.

[wonsonchon]

I'm usually a pretty good sharp shooter, I usually like to play long in the woods, flanking people, sniping them out in a distance, I have only the stock barrel for the T98 right now, I'm pretty good at it, but the only thing I hate is that you have to arc your gun to get a longer shot, but I usually aim right on the target, it's good for close range, but when it's too long, the paintballs hit the groud before hitting the target. That's why I'm thinking about getting the faltline, because I would really like the ball to go flat and far, having a rifle like feeling, which I think is what I need

[wonsonchon]

and I hate when people are just standing in the open from a far distance, and with my stock barrel, even if I arc the barrel, I still cant hit them

[Corrupted355]

and I hate when people are just standing in the open from a far distance, and with my stock barrel, even if I arc the barrel, I still cant hit them
I've got news for you. Even if you had an Apex, you still wouldn't hit them. Taunting players is something I like to do quite often. And occasionally, I'll get someone who can actually reach out to the distance where I'm standing. It doesn't ever bother me, though, because even if by some miracle it was accurate enough to hit me, the round takes so long to get there that it's easy to dodge.