VSC Phantom, trigger shoe, polished power tube, valve slug
Recommended Paintballs:
Tighter bore than the Phantom stock barrel.
Strengths:
Tight bore, availability for Phantom
Weaknesses:
None
Review:
I got this as my first Phantom upgrade and it has served me very well. Small bore paint that will roll out the Phantom stock barrel is kept in by the Microshot.
Detent rings for the Phantom are often suggested as a cheap way to keep small bore paint in, but I have found that having a well matched barrel improves the guns accuracy and keeps velocity more consistent.
The porting on the end is very different, being what I call "Swiss Cheese". It serves to quiet the gun and I have found my Lapco barrel is no more detectable by sound than the stock Phantom barrel.
Conclusion:
Barrels rarely perform miracles. The Lapco Microshot does its job very well. I think it's worth a 10 out of 10.
Tippman A-5, Lapco Microshot barrel, double trigger, CO2 20oz
Recommended Paintballs:
RPS Flash
Strengths:
Greatly respected Manufacturer, looks good, seems high quality, never pops paintballs, clean finish
Weaknesses:
seems loud, more colors, balls curve slightly
Review:
As you can see I don't have as much experience as a lot of members on this site so keep that in mind when reading this review.
Some of my friends have been "playing" paintballing for years and they all agree the first upgrade you should get is a barrel. They all also agreed that Lapco makes some of the best barrels around.
I asked some knowledgable sales people from a couple of good paintballshops in my area that said Lapco was the best barrel made for the money.
I noticed the barrel shoots pretty consistant shots, although some shots seems to curve down the further I shoot. I also noticed that most player's balls do the same thing in long distances too.
The barrel sounds hecka loud. Lots of people are intimidated by it. I hear commits like "I don't wanna get shot by that gun" or "thats not fair, your guns better than mine."
Conclusion:
Like most things I research, I usually go by word of mouth. The word I got was "great barrel for the money". So far I think they were right. Although give me a couple years of experience and I might change my mind.
Ion
Lapco Barrel
Empire B Reloader
Clamping feedneck
Recommended Paintballs:
Anything
Strengths:
Never Breaks Balls
Increased accuracy
Quiet
Easy to assemble
Fairly Cheap
Light
Weaknesses:
Hard to clean the ports
No O ring to hold it secure
Review:
The first thing that I noticed with this barrel is that it increased the accuracy of my paintballs by a lot. At fifty feet there was almost no visible spread while at one hundred feet there was a spread of only about an inch or so.
The barrel makes the paintballs travel straighter for a much longer period of time and the best part about it is that it is much quieter than the stock barrel for the Ion. It will run you about fifty bucks for it though but it makes up for it with the accuracy. The ports on the barrel are hard to clean mainly because there are so many of them but this barrel really will fire any sized paint that you can put in it.
The only other thing I didn't like about this barrel is that it doesn't have o rings to keep it secure on your gun and so you have to retighten it after every couple games. Other than that it is a great barrel for the money
Conclusion:
I would really give this product a 9.5 if there was the choice but I feel like the barrel deserved a 10 because it kept on coming loose and was harder to clean than any of my other barrels. It is accurate and works extremely well for the price so if you are limited on money then this is a great buy.
