PaintballerX
09-19-2002, 09:28 AM
Just a quick reference thread, get in touch if you need more info or want me to elaborate.
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Barrel Information
Paintball markers were never meant to be dead-on accurate. In fact, it's physically and scientifically impossible to make a paintball as accurate as a bullet, not only because of it's round shape and arced trajectory, but also because of it's low mass/weight. To add to that, even the best of nitrogen systems will never have dead-on efficiency, such as a chrono reading of 285, 285, 285, 285, 285, 285, etc. It will always vary by 2-3 FPS at the very least, so the ball will never fly perfectly or like the ball before it every shot. Now, on to a few misconceptions. Scientifically speaking, the longer the barrel the LESS distance and the LESS accuracy, contrary to popular belief. The reason for this is that drag = deceleration, and deceleration = larger arc and less distance. Scientifically speaking again, the optimum barrel length is 10"-12", as that is the best length for efficiency, accuracy, and distance. Actually though, anything above 6" is going to be relatively the same. The length of the barrel matters quite a bit in one-stage or one-piece barrels (like many of the low cost options today), but in two-piece stepped-bored barrels, it doesn't matter that much. Personally, I never go past 14", but many people find a 16" barrel to be great for Sup'Air or Hyperball to push into the bunker or the bunker grooves.
For all of this information, I tested the following barrel sizes: 6", 8.5", 10", 11", and 12". All barrels were internally smooth bored, no rifling, and no porting. They were all simply test barrels, smooth, completely perfect tubes with no brand name, custom built for that particular test.
Accuracy Myths
We all know that closed bolt was long known to be more accurate than it's counterpart, the open bolt paintball marker. Now, through a series of tests it has been found that the open bolt vs. closed bolt battle was pointless, as they both pump out the same accuracy when bench mounted. That's the key word---we all know we won't go out and play a game of paintball with our marker bolted to a table in the middle of the field. So really, ON THE FIELD, a closed bolt marker will be more accurate. Hear me out before you start flaming me for misinformation; the only reason one might see that a closed bolt marker is more accurate is for one reason, the low blowback, which in turn produces a low amount of kick. We all know an open bolt marker will have copious amounts of kick compared to that of an Autococker of Shocker, which will obviously throw your aim off a slight bit.
However, we should all understand that simply being closed bolt doesn't make the marker more accurate. It's MOSTLY about the paintball to barrel match. This means finding the bore size of your barrel and then doing the same for the paint you use. A large bore paint in a small bore barrel won't be accurate at all compared to a small bore of paint in a small bore barrel. The paint will barely squeeze through and most likely break, resulting in terrible accuracy from the dripping paint. In order to find out if a paint fits your barrel properly, you need to perform the "blow test". This means placing the ball in, then blowing through the barrel. If the ball rolls right out, it's too small for the barrel. If you turn blue and keel over, it's obviously too big. However, if it goes through with a slight amount of force applied, it should be just fine.
Mike
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Barrel Information
Paintball markers were never meant to be dead-on accurate. In fact, it's physically and scientifically impossible to make a paintball as accurate as a bullet, not only because of it's round shape and arced trajectory, but also because of it's low mass/weight. To add to that, even the best of nitrogen systems will never have dead-on efficiency, such as a chrono reading of 285, 285, 285, 285, 285, 285, etc. It will always vary by 2-3 FPS at the very least, so the ball will never fly perfectly or like the ball before it every shot. Now, on to a few misconceptions. Scientifically speaking, the longer the barrel the LESS distance and the LESS accuracy, contrary to popular belief. The reason for this is that drag = deceleration, and deceleration = larger arc and less distance. Scientifically speaking again, the optimum barrel length is 10"-12", as that is the best length for efficiency, accuracy, and distance. Actually though, anything above 6" is going to be relatively the same. The length of the barrel matters quite a bit in one-stage or one-piece barrels (like many of the low cost options today), but in two-piece stepped-bored barrels, it doesn't matter that much. Personally, I never go past 14", but many people find a 16" barrel to be great for Sup'Air or Hyperball to push into the bunker or the bunker grooves.
For all of this information, I tested the following barrel sizes: 6", 8.5", 10", 11", and 12". All barrels were internally smooth bored, no rifling, and no porting. They were all simply test barrels, smooth, completely perfect tubes with no brand name, custom built for that particular test.
Accuracy Myths
We all know that closed bolt was long known to be more accurate than it's counterpart, the open bolt paintball marker. Now, through a series of tests it has been found that the open bolt vs. closed bolt battle was pointless, as they both pump out the same accuracy when bench mounted. That's the key word---we all know we won't go out and play a game of paintball with our marker bolted to a table in the middle of the field. So really, ON THE FIELD, a closed bolt marker will be more accurate. Hear me out before you start flaming me for misinformation; the only reason one might see that a closed bolt marker is more accurate is for one reason, the low blowback, which in turn produces a low amount of kick. We all know an open bolt marker will have copious amounts of kick compared to that of an Autococker of Shocker, which will obviously throw your aim off a slight bit.
However, we should all understand that simply being closed bolt doesn't make the marker more accurate. It's MOSTLY about the paintball to barrel match. This means finding the bore size of your barrel and then doing the same for the paint you use. A large bore paint in a small bore barrel won't be accurate at all compared to a small bore of paint in a small bore barrel. The paint will barely squeeze through and most likely break, resulting in terrible accuracy from the dripping paint. In order to find out if a paint fits your barrel properly, you need to perform the "blow test". This means placing the ball in, then blowing through the barrel. If the ball rolls right out, it's too small for the barrel. If you turn blue and keel over, it's obviously too big. However, if it goes through with a slight amount of force applied, it should be just fine.
Mike