FactsOfLife
03-14-2002, 03:59 PM
Here's what I found out about the stock barrel on my shutter java.
Suprise, it ain't that bad. I shot JT Maxims, and Diablo midnights with very good accuracy and NO breaks. Not bad for a supposedly crappy stock barrel. Makes me think that everyone who trashes the stock barrel either doesn't know how to judge accuracy, is a rep for the barrel industry, or just can't be caught dead with a stock barrel. Maybe it isn't cool? Any way I wanted to try a Dye Boomstick, had an extra 70 bucks layin around, found one on this forum, stuck it on there, and guess what? It ain't that much better than the stocker.
Now, before you aftermarket barrel lovers start flaming me, let me give you a little background on my other hobbies. I'm a national level archer, who has won more tournies, flinging arrows at quarter sized targets than I know what to do with. I know about accuracy and how to judge what is, and what isn't. I also shoot High Power rifle matches. Iron sight, center fire rifles. I shoot a Garand M1 that I received through the Civilian Marksmanship Program or CMP. I reload. Obssesively. Ask my wife. Or better, don't. It wouldn't be pretty.
Now so much for my Bona Fides. I benched both barrels off a sandbag at a 20 yard target, 60 feet. Indoors at my friends archery range so wind was not a factor. Same bag of JT maxims so lots were not a factor. 70F, 40% R.H. I fired 10 strings of 3 shots apiece through my Oehler chronograph. Runs about 1500 dollars, it's pretty accurate. The stock barrel was 12 inches long and the Dye is 14 inches. Accounting for the difference in length, the average velocities were adjusted to equalize them. The velocity was set at 280fps. My marker is double regulated and nicely strings shots with a standard deviation of 3fps +-. I shot at a standard NFAA Vegas 3 color target used for archery. It's easy to see hits, and it has a single bullseye in the center of approximately 1 inch in diameter. The outside diameter of the target is approximately 18 inches. Shooting 3 shots apiece with about 5 seconds between shots to prevent any shoot down, the stock barrel was able to average a group size of 3 inches. Not bad. The Dye barrel was installed and again the velocity was adjusted to 280fps through the Oehler chronograph. the same 3 shot string was fired with 10 groups total. The average for the Dye was 2.5 inches. Not much of a difference. Interestingly enough, the Dye was less consistent in the fps, fluctuating by nearly 5fps+- for the strings. I think this may be attributed to the better bore to paint match the stock barrel had with the JT maxims. However, and this is a biggie in my opinion, the Dye had noticeably less left to right variation than the stock barrel. Most of the group spread that was seen was due to speed fluctuation, and not any curvature of the paintball. In fact, I noticed as did my friend who was kind enough to let me spray paint in his archery range, that the Dye barrel shot several groups that were under one inch. Impressive.
So, what's my advice? If you have the extra cash laying around, go for it. You really aren't going to see that big a difference in the barrels. It seems to me, and there are numerous threads around this site that bear this out, that barrel to paint matching is far more important to consistent accuracy, along with good regulation. Me personally would spend the money double regulating my marker first, then the barrel second. Heresy? Let me tell you this. My Hoyt Prostar Carbon Plus target bow, I know long name, is the world's best target bow. Period. It shoots matched arrows through the chronograph with a standard deviation, that's how much difference there is between shots, of ZERO. It does the same thing every time. THAT is the key to accuracy. If your marker can do that, you're 99% of the way there. The rest is just window dressing.
Addendum, I'm going to repeat this test with different brands of paint. And I'm attempting to get my hands on several duplicates of the spyder barrel. Possibly I have a "ringer"?
Post your thoughts, I'd be interested in reading them.
Suprise, it ain't that bad. I shot JT Maxims, and Diablo midnights with very good accuracy and NO breaks. Not bad for a supposedly crappy stock barrel. Makes me think that everyone who trashes the stock barrel either doesn't know how to judge accuracy, is a rep for the barrel industry, or just can't be caught dead with a stock barrel. Maybe it isn't cool? Any way I wanted to try a Dye Boomstick, had an extra 70 bucks layin around, found one on this forum, stuck it on there, and guess what? It ain't that much better than the stocker.
Now, before you aftermarket barrel lovers start flaming me, let me give you a little background on my other hobbies. I'm a national level archer, who has won more tournies, flinging arrows at quarter sized targets than I know what to do with. I know about accuracy and how to judge what is, and what isn't. I also shoot High Power rifle matches. Iron sight, center fire rifles. I shoot a Garand M1 that I received through the Civilian Marksmanship Program or CMP. I reload. Obssesively. Ask my wife. Or better, don't. It wouldn't be pretty.
Now so much for my Bona Fides. I benched both barrels off a sandbag at a 20 yard target, 60 feet. Indoors at my friends archery range so wind was not a factor. Same bag of JT maxims so lots were not a factor. 70F, 40% R.H. I fired 10 strings of 3 shots apiece through my Oehler chronograph. Runs about 1500 dollars, it's pretty accurate. The stock barrel was 12 inches long and the Dye is 14 inches. Accounting for the difference in length, the average velocities were adjusted to equalize them. The velocity was set at 280fps. My marker is double regulated and nicely strings shots with a standard deviation of 3fps +-. I shot at a standard NFAA Vegas 3 color target used for archery. It's easy to see hits, and it has a single bullseye in the center of approximately 1 inch in diameter. The outside diameter of the target is approximately 18 inches. Shooting 3 shots apiece with about 5 seconds between shots to prevent any shoot down, the stock barrel was able to average a group size of 3 inches. Not bad. The Dye barrel was installed and again the velocity was adjusted to 280fps through the Oehler chronograph. the same 3 shot string was fired with 10 groups total. The average for the Dye was 2.5 inches. Not much of a difference. Interestingly enough, the Dye was less consistent in the fps, fluctuating by nearly 5fps+- for the strings. I think this may be attributed to the better bore to paint match the stock barrel had with the JT maxims. However, and this is a biggie in my opinion, the Dye had noticeably less left to right variation than the stock barrel. Most of the group spread that was seen was due to speed fluctuation, and not any curvature of the paintball. In fact, I noticed as did my friend who was kind enough to let me spray paint in his archery range, that the Dye barrel shot several groups that were under one inch. Impressive.
So, what's my advice? If you have the extra cash laying around, go for it. You really aren't going to see that big a difference in the barrels. It seems to me, and there are numerous threads around this site that bear this out, that barrel to paint matching is far more important to consistent accuracy, along with good regulation. Me personally would spend the money double regulating my marker first, then the barrel second. Heresy? Let me tell you this. My Hoyt Prostar Carbon Plus target bow, I know long name, is the world's best target bow. Period. It shoots matched arrows through the chronograph with a standard deviation, that's how much difference there is between shots, of ZERO. It does the same thing every time. THAT is the key to accuracy. If your marker can do that, you're 99% of the way there. The rest is just window dressing.
Addendum, I'm going to repeat this test with different brands of paint. And I'm attempting to get my hands on several duplicates of the spyder barrel. Possibly I have a "ringer"?
Post your thoughts, I'd be interested in reading them.