The advanced Aero Barrels feature internal patent pending grooves that tremendously increases accuracy. Made of high grade aluminum. These two-piece barrels are available in 12", 14", and 16" lengths.
Product Availability
The Raven AERO Barrel is older, so while it may be available used and in a few cases new, it is not commonly available anymore.
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Smart Parts 14 inch teardrop is similar, a little quieter but definitely not as accurate as the aero
Marker Setup:
I use a Spyder TLX with rocking trigger, aero barrel, ACS Bolt, Halo B, and Spyder uni remote.
Recommended Paintballs:
PMI premium paint recommended
Strengths:
This product is extremly accurate at up to 90 yards
Weaknesses:
You need smaller paint or the ridges will break any larger balls at higher speeds
Review:
This is a great barrel in my opinion. It works on most markers and is very accurate. Before I started using this barrel I was using a teardrop 14 inch. Compared to that barrel, the Aero is much more accurate (although slightly louder) than the teardrop. A great upgrade from any stock barrel. For front players I recommend the 12 inch to keep you shots hitting the same place, every time. For back players, you should go with the 14 or 16 inch. The only complaint is that the ridges that guide the ball decrease the bore size and you'll have to use slightly smaller paint. I use my aero with my ACS bolt, rocking trigger equipped TLX and it works perfectly and has almost never broken a ball. I highly recommend this barrel.
Conclusion:
If you are a back player this is definitley for you. You can easily hit those guys from across any speedball course. If you are a front player, you should still think about purchasing one, it can help you get a nice little stream going and you'll never miss again (when pointing it at them).
I read the previous reviews and I hoped for better. I was looking for a barrel upgrade for my backup gun, a Spyder SE, and found this 14" 2-piece rifled barrel on ebay for $18. It seemed too good to be true. It was. If you get a break you might as well call yourself out, you'll be shooting knuckle balls for the rest of the game. The rifling traps the paint inside and makes it impossible to get out even with a good swabbing. My problems with this barrel started even before I broke a ball, which it does fairly frequently. It couldn't even outshoot my stock spyder barrel which was only 8". I took both barrels out and shot at a target 60' away. The Aero barrel was all over the place, while my stock barrel could consistently hit the target at the relatively close range. It feels almost flimsy in my hands and I feel like I could bend it easily if I tried. When its screwed completely in if I apply even light pressure I can shift the barrel to one side or the other because of the shoddy threads and weak connection where the 2 pieces meet together.
Conclusion:
Cheap quality barrel for a cheap price, I wish I still had my Boomstick. Thus far I believe that rifling is overrated and just traps in paint.
Pretty much everything but the carbon fiber barrels. Still trying to get my hands on one.
Marker Setup:
Spyder Imagine
*Smart Parts Linear 14” barrel
*NDZ low-rise
*EP conversion: ACP Odyssey 02 delrin ram, custom mainspring, Mongoose delrin bolt w/ modified pull pin (to fit ram), custom valve body, custom valve pin/cupseal, Odyssey 02 valve spring, Odyssey 02 frame (FBM Wrath trigger, 25g switch, Air Soldier solenoid/valve assembly, factory Mongoose LCD board), Bob Long Alias Intimidator front block/LPR, Bob Long Torpedo reg, Odyssey 02 ram cap, Nycoil Ion/Epiphany LP line
*Dead On ASA on/off
*Dead On long drop forward
*3000psi 47ci HPA
Diablo Mongoose
*NDZ Low Pressure Chamber
*Modified front block - drilled and chamfered air passages
*Bob Long pressure gauge
*32 Degree spring kit
*Modified stock bolt - removed venturi, bored/honed orifice, drilled/chamfered air passage, reshaped bolt face, polished friction surfaces, shimmed O-rings
*Modified stock striker - lightened, polished friction surfaces
*Modified stock valve - drilled valve-to-bolt air passage, machined valve pin
*Custom blade style trigger
*50g microswitch
*Triumph SL200 loader
32 Deg. Icon Z
*Back-up gun, same mods as the Imagine without the E-Trigger and half-back.
Recommended Paintballs:
Find what you like. I use RPS Premium as it's the best paint the local fields offer. I prefer Draxxus or Diablo whenever I can get it.
Strengths:
Very accurate, lightweight, good anodizing, quality finush, affordable price.
Weaknesses:
Read review
Review:
The barrel I tested was the Raven Aero 14" one-piece barrel, but it has the same rifling and porting as the two-piece. I saw this barrel in my local pro-shop and the owner said he hadn't sold any of them yet so he had no idea if it was any good or not. I offered to buy one and try it out as I was playing that weekend. For $35, the curiosity alone jsutified buying one. Instead he sent it home with me on loan, on the basis that if I wanted to keep it I could pay him later and if not I could just return it, but either way, he wanted to know how it went. I first went to my parents' farm with some of my own paint - I had everything from Hellfire to cheap Worrpaint and used the markers listed in my setup. The barrel performed flawlessly. It's a tad louder than my other barrels, but still pretty quiet. I did not notice the affore mentioned barrel breaks, though I did have a break in the breech that I can only attribute to a bad ball (there was paint in the feedneck and hopper), and from that I noticed that shooting through breaks is not as easy as with some barrels. It seems that the rifling traps broken paint. It'd be wise to carry a good swab in the event of a break. At the field the barrel worked flawlessly using RPS Premium and Draxxus Field Blaze, with ball-on-ball accuracy from close to moderate distances, and longer shots providing fairly close groupings as well.
Conclusion:
It's a great product in the price range of the Linear, Evil Driver and other comparable barrels, that provides outstanding performance. It's a fine choice. I give it a 9 because it isn't perfect but it's good enough to be one of my main barrels.
Rating:
9 out of 10
Last edited on Sunday, November 16th, 2008 at 9:26 am PST
