Best Length

[paintballblasta]

I'm getting a Custom Products barrel and I don't know what length to get. I shoot Proball paint. I need accuracy and quietness, blah blah blah. Thanks.

[harrysacks]

what kinda gun do u have?

[pr0kch0p]

12" its no too big, not too small. just perfect. extra length doesnt do much.

[paintballblasta]

I have a PMI Piranha STS G3

[paintballblasta]

Oh yeah and if it matters, I'm a mid-upfront player.

[DontKillWhitey]

10-12 inches is perfect 14 isnt bad but just makes ure gun bigger, 16 and up is jsut stupid...

[harrysacks]

yeah, get a 10 or 12 inch. dont get some long goofy lookin barrel, cuase theyre just as good as any shorter barrel, and they just make ure gun lookin silly. alot of people say that the longer the barrel, the more accurate, but theyre just really stupid. everyone would have a 20 somethin inch barrel if that was true. *******es........

[zenmaster]

generally, longer barrels=more porting=quieter shot
also, when comparing say, a 16" to a 10" barrel, it will give you more range... it puts your paint 6" closer to your target ^_^
me? I like 10-12" and I play front...

[RebelLe]

By barrel is 16 inches and it shoots great!!!

[BOBO2]

I like 12 better but I have bouth sizes and use them bouth equaly.

[AndrewH]

the 11.5 inches on the LAPCO's are perfect.

[BOBO2]

If you want quietness don't get the lapco. If you don't care about the noise the get it there very efficent.

[CDietz]

12 inches

[simon woodstock]

definately 12, i'd Never buy anything over 14, thats rediculous, some people think, oh better accuracy, shoots atleast 6 inches farther, but thats not true at all. the longer the barrel the more drag the ball gets. it has more of a chance to get thrown off and takes more air. They are definately less manueverable and anything over 16 and people will know you're a newbie. once the ball has established a path of flight you don't wanna put anymore hinderance on it.

[D-RoK]

DontKillWhitey, why is a barrel that is 16" or longer stupid?

simon woodstock, why is a person with a 16" or larger barrel a newbie. I have been playing for 5 years and I have a 16" barrel. What people don't realize is that they usually sight down the barrel, so, the longer your barrel is the more accurate your shots are.

[BOBO2]

16 is not stupid but it has no real advantage over a 12 or 14. The sight thing is true but your shots arn't more accurate it's just you can aim better and easier.

[Saiyan_warrior]

Guess ill have to put the article up showing that longer barrels DO NOT give you more accuracy or range.

Longer Barrels must be better right?

By Allen Turner w/quotes from APG March 2000

Ever since I created this barrel site I have been getting questions about barrel length so I thought I would address it here for all to read. I suspect the questions I get about paintball barrel length are due to the common assumptions that paintball guns behave generally like "real" guns, and that assumption is understandable, but inaccurate. A paintball does not behave like a lead bullet and CO2 does not behave like gunpowder.

When CO2 or HPA gas is released into the chamber of a paintball gun it accelerates the ball for 6-8" down the barrel. The rest of the length of any barrel only serves to guide the ball and reduce the "pop" noise when the gas hits the end of the barrel. Adequate length stabilizes the ball but excess length causes unnecessary friction which reduces both accuracy and speed, and it can cause the ball to spin.

This friction after the initial acceleration is why I created the paint & barrel guide, a good fit should help improve accuracy while a poor fit will guarantee problems, balls flying left, right, up and down, cats and dogs sleeping together real wrath of god stuff.

Allow me to get to the point. Longer barrels do NOT = better accuracy. A good quality, well machined barrel will generally improve accuracy no matter the length. Matching the proper barrel bore to your "paint of the day" is MORE important than the length of your barrel. That's why serious players carry different size barrels. "The Best" barrel bore and length depend on a combination of factors ( paint, gun, weather, style of game). Brand XYZ barrel is not the "Holy Grail" of accuracy for all conditions.

APG had the following comments on barrel length in a rescent barrel article: "For maximum range you must match the barrel length to the gun you use...the barrel should not be so long that the ball begins slowing down before it leaves the barrel....After a paintball exits the bore the propulsion effect of the CO2 ceases, the ball stops accelerating. There is nothing you can do to make the ball in flight go faster. What is controllable though, and therefore critical, is the acceleration of the ball while it is still inside the bore. If the ball is still accelerating as it leaves the barrel you get slightly more range. If the ball is slowing BEFORE it leaves the barrel you get slightly less range." -Russel Maynard,"Y2K Barrel theory", APG, March 2000 pg 153

Let me simplify this for the newbies or youg'ins among us. A 16" barrel will not get you to Sniper heaven, an 18" barrel is just plain asinine and a 22" barrel would need a bi-pod for stabilizing but why bother since the paint balls wont make it out the barrel anyway, but hey it would look cool, right? ;-)

In fact many expereinced members of the paintball comunity reccomend no longer than 12" barrels, including Colin from Lapco and the infamous Glenn Palmer of Palmers Pursuit Shop. In my personal experience I feel that barrels of 12" to 14" are great for most guns. I do not reccomed barrels over 14" for guns that have a high spike pressure such as Spyders, Tippmanns, F4's, Thundercats, etc. The 16" or longer barrels are also awkward on the field and reduce your ability to move quickly though the cover and hence your effectiveness on the field.


One last note about bore size and length. Low pressure guns (I do mean "TRUE" low pressure guns as in Cockers, Angels, Bushmasters) seem to tolerate tighter bore barrels (I think they are softer on paint) while Blowforwards such as Automags, Desert Fox's seem to prefer a slightly oversize bore to minimize paint breakage. Evidence of this is that Stock Automag barrels are very large.


In the case of paintball barrels longer is definitly not better......

[BOBO2]

Originally posted by Saiyan_warrior
Guess ill have to put the article up showing that longer barrels DO NOT give you more accuracy or range.

I know barrels than are long don't give any advantage but I was trying to avoid a flame war:D buy saying that there not stupid but don,t have better any thing.

[D-RoK]

I love my 16" Freak barrel kit, I'm an anchorman so I don't need to stay tucked into my bunker, I find it easier to get the balls on target with the 16" than the 10"(I sight down the side of my gun).

[assasin]

12" is a perfect lenth. anything about that just gets in your way. plus, a 12" shoots just as good as a 14" except the 14" is more quiet. the longer the barrel, the more quieter.

[p8ntballguy1234]

16 inches is insane. Why get a huge barrel, make your gun bigger, look silly, all for no more acuracy. It just doesn't make sense.

My two cents

[assasin]

i wouldnt get anything over 12". the only thing that happens is that you gun gets quieter when the barrel is longer. but it gets in your way and the accuracy doesnt improve. 12" for me

[AllOleander]

Defiantly get the 12" CP over the 12". They both have the same amount of porting, just the 12" is longer..but it doen'st have more porting..so it wont be any quieter.

Only get 14" CP if you can aim better w/ longer barrels..otherwise, get the 12" CP because it gives you 2 more inches in your bunker to work w/..and if ur a good/tourny player..2 inches can save you the match

[spray_and_pray]

i have a 10" boa and a 10" bigshot and a 12"jj and i like the 10" inchers better they dont sacrafice any thing and they are smaller so that i can tuck into the bunker and snap shoot a little closer but i DONT aim when i shoot i know where my balls are gonna go by instinct

[strongboy2005]

personally, i would get a 10"

[SmartDyeSpyder]

hey, longer the better, mine is 14" and i see now problem w/ it getting in the way.

[Saiyan_warrior]

The longer doesnt mean the better, you can aim better but you still have no advantage over the same barrel and shorter and the same paint match.

It might mean a little quiter, but not to much to notice.

[flyingdeadbody2]

i personally wouldnt use anything over 10-12 inches. 14 inches is reasonable, but i think anything more than that is just extra bulk.

[SmartDyeSpyder]

i agree w/ that but my gun is made to have the last 8" of the barrel just for the ball to reshape and get some spin, so actually i have a 6" barrel, so in my case i like have longer is better. B/c it issn't the barrel that is getting longer, i am only helping the ball go were i want it to.

[spray_and_pray]

what in the hell did this kid just say

[SmartDyeSpyder]

If u didn't get it the first time, i don't have to say or type it again, all u have to do is read it again and then if u dont' get it, forget it.

[magilicous]

Between a 12 in. and 14 in. barrel i would get the 12 in. one.The best size barrel though that there is ,is a 8-10in. barrel.