Stock Spyder Rodeo, AK Ricochet loader, CO2 w/antisyphon tube.
Recommended Paintballs:
Medium bore paint, I've used generic field paint and Sportmart stuff (Tork).
Strengths:
Well made, no blemishes, looks spiffy.
Weaknesses:
Don't notice any big difference over the stock barrel.
Review:
I figured I'd give this a try since it's fun to tinker with things and it's an inexpensive purchase. Barrel fits well, is nicely made, mirror smooth inside and out and looks cool.
That being said I haven't noticed any real difference compared to my stock barrel (Kingman 12 inch aluminum). No double range, no 3 inch groups at 50 yards, it's not as quiet as a mouse. I'm shooting inexpensive medium bore paint. If there are any improvements I don't think that I'll notice 'em without firing from a bench rest, switching barrels back and forth and getting out the tape measure.
Had one break in the barrel playing after a few hundred rounds of field paint (including some stuff that's not exactly what you'd call perfectly round), I don't think that's a problem, cleaned it with a squeegee (shooting through the break was no problem, rounds didn't go winging off all over the place). Cleaning the ports isn't hard but they don't just wipe off, I stuck the barrel end in some water, swirled it around, towelled off and ran a squeegee through, clean as a whistle.
Overall the Smart Parts Teardrop is a decent barrel but it's no big change compared to the stock barrel.
Conclusion:
Buy it if you want to change something simple and inexpensive, you may get a minor performance improvement but don't expect magic. I'll call this "average", thus the 5.
The accuracy of this review is disputed. Please see discussion on the comments page.
Period of Product Use:
3 months
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.
Paintball Experience:
More than 5 years
Similar Products Used:
stock barrels
16" J&J Full Tilt Ceramic-much better
Marker Setup:
Tippman 98' custom
Strengths:
Looks
Weaknesses:
Expensive, and breaks balls consistantly
Review:
I bought a 12" for my 98' because I thought that it would help in accuracy. I was wrong, I played with it for a few months then switched back to the stock 8.5" barrel because it was just as accurate but without breaks. This is the last barrel by this brand that I will buy because it was a waste of money and not worth the caust.
The only time this barrel helped was when I could shoot around bushes due to balls breaking in it constantly.
Conclusion:
If you want a new barrel go for it but don't buy this one. It will put a new "twist" on you game. Save your money or buy something better
Rating:
2 out of 10
Last edited on Tuesday, February 13th, 2007 at 8:56 pm PST
J&J Ceramic 14" & 16 spyder and tippman threads new and old style-- decent but teardrop is better
32* carbon tip barrel(what ever they call it) pointless. stainless back makes it heavy. not near;y as accurate
CMI thunderpig 21" don't ask Dont buy Don't use. Loud ok accuracy, untill you get it messy. rifling makes it impossible to clean without a hose and 5 minutes with a squeegee.
Dye excel-- why bother. this barrel is nothing special.
Marker Setup:
1 2004 black WGP Prostock Autococker. SP 14" teardrop barrel, Shockteck Supafly 2004 style black/teal delrin & pin, Egg II/ reloader, Check It unamount, 1 eclipse QEV!?!(2nd purchased not installed), kapp twista rod, CP delrin detent, Belsales hollowpoint 3way (not yet installed), antisiphon co2 for now....
2 2K3 Piranha STS eforce , empire reloader, teardrop 14", Stock barrel, spring kit, normal Co2's...
Recommended Paintballs:
PMI premium, marbalizers, Diablo heat... anything .688 to .689
medium sized paint (see PBreview ultimate barrel stickie for paint chart)
if you want you can shoot junk, but by the case premiums cost the same as blue streak and work way better
Veiwloader paint has inconsistant sizing and will cause barrel breaks
Strengths:
accurasy
Quiet
easy clean porting/
semi shoot through
Ceramic/ teflon
Weaknesses:
It isn't a kit
Wierd blunderbuss tip shape
tends to cost $45 on ebay
Review:
I am not going to be comparing this barrel to kit systems. instead I am comparing it to barrels available for under $70. IT IS NOT RIFLED, even though the description above says it is.
I have tried quite a few types of barrels and paint. I own both a J&J and a teardrop. Both are aluminum barrels that are impregnated with ceramic and then the bore is coated with teflon. The teardrop has better porting. I prefer the teardrop. My reasons are as follows. Teardrop is more accurate. Teardrop is quieter. Teardrop has less barrel breaks. Teardrop is more likely to do a shoot through.
Teardrop is easier to clean. For these reasons I bough a teardrop for my autococker too.
If I ever get the money for a freak kit, I will definitely get the teardrop style front rather than the All american, even though the AA looks better to me.
On the looks note my stickers come out exactly upside down on my piranha and my spider. on my autococker it aligns the stickers vertically so that only the word smart parts shows on the top surface. I think that looks better anyway. However, I don't have the original oring on the cocker barrel, so that may vary. I am told that they do not start the threads on the same place on every barrel. that seems sloppy since they put in styling features that have a clear orientation necessary. however, i have also been told that most gun manufactures don't start the breach threads in the same place from gun to gun either. ergo the barrel would be better off without the stickers at all. Not That I really Care About Looks Anyway...
I have done both field play and intentional semi controlled testing. I typically get about
4-6" groups with a few outliers from a rigid shooting stance at about 100 feet. (with my piranha pmi premiums, my preferred paint) on one test I switched barrels to my J&J and with the same paint air and gun from the same spot at the same target was getting 7-8" groups with a few outliers.
That sells me on the barrel right there.
Using the same paint, air, target and location at the same time, I used a tippman with a 32* carbon tip barrel (brand new) it got about 16" groups with basically no outliers. very weird.
I repeated the switching and test several times with the same results. not laboratory testing but it convinced me. Of course the Teardrop on my Autococker gets noticeably better results, but I haven't done controlled or comparison testing with that. also i have occasionally had pb's roll out on my cocker, so a kit is probably in order.
What I like next best about this barrel is the porting. it has a lot of porting. This makes the barrel very quiet. however the porting is all at one end of the barrel, not halfway down the barrel. this means that compared to the J&J the ball has about 4" more to accelerate. This did make a very real difference. I have not tested the relative velocities at a chorno, but at 100ish feet it resulted in the teardrop shooting about 2 feet higher than the J&J that means for the same velocity less gas is used and a flater trajectory.
also the Patented teardrop grind on the port holes means that there is very little surface area for paint to stick to in the holes. J&J's and most other brands hold droplets of paint in the porting. In my opinion if you are going to properly squeegee your barrel, any ported barrel takes about the same amount of effort to clean. The teardrop excels in that that it has porting that is ballistically better. after I squeegee, i turn my gun upside down to dry fire. I fire once to make sure there is no ball in chamber then I cover the muzzle with the palm of my hand and fire a coupla times. the porting is now completely clean. No big deal. With a straight shot this takes 10 -15 seconds. people who can't manage an operation like this are incompetent and will have problems with any barrel. they should also get better paint and an empire reloader.
If there isn't too much goo in the barrel a shoot through is possible. with my autococker shooting through, I get about 85% of my accuracy on a very rare barrel break. on a spyder clone or tippmann, you are less likely to successfully shoot through.
In my experience, I am more likely to successfully shoot through with my teardrop than my J&J ! Cleaning is still way better than shoot through with any barrel. With a straight shot it only takes 10 seconds to clean your barrel ok.
Conclusion:
I think that the teardrop is probably the best barrel in the price range. I find that It provides me a significant advantage in accuracy noise and maintanence over people who have similarly priced barrels. (J&J. anything 32*, Custom Products, Lapgo bigshot, etc)
I got mine for $25 on ebay with shipping included and $20 respectively. I love them.
Rating:
10 out of 10
Last edited on Wednesday, March 2nd, 2005 at 1:01 pm PST
J&J Ceramic-less distance
JT Two Piece-less accuracy
J&J Pro Stainless-Too Expensive and can bairly compare to the teardrop
Marker Setup:
Black 03 Imagine
14" Teardrop
68/4500 Crossfire
12v Revy
Bulliet Drop
Superfly Shorty Bolt
32* Exp. Chamber( going for a Shockteck Reg)
Recommended Paintballs:
Diablo works very well
Strengths:
Very Cheap
Very good quality for price (Smart Parts is the Best)
Weaknesses:
Shiny paint on it. Shows up in the wood with the sun on it.
Review:
This barrel performes very well for the price. The average person would look at the barrel and price and say it junk.
My friends have a J&J Cermic ,JT 2 Piece barrel and a J&J Pro Stainless. My Teardrop is has more distance and accuracy than there barrels. (I also have HPA and they have Co2 which could make some difference.)
They all cost the same but the smartparts performes much better.
One of the bad things is its hard to get broken paint out of the ports.(But it rairly brakes paint) if it does.
Conclusion:
If you are looking for a cheap high quality upgrade for you gun. Your best bet would be with the Teardrop.
Rating:
10 out of 10
Last edited on Wednesday, December 8th, 2004 at 9:17 pm PST
M3 black dragun full function
Teardrop
VL Revvy
16oz co2 w/anti siphon kit
Recommended Paintballs:
32 degrees compotition
Strengths:
Accurate, cheap
Weaknesses:
a little louder than my friends whisper but still not bad
Review:
I got this barrel for around $40. its so god for the price. This barrel has very few brakes(depending on paint), its good in almost all conditions ,easy to clean(compressed air spray works wonders). the black color matches just about all shiny black colors.It is the right barrel for the beginner to intermediate player
Conclusion:
If you are a new player and somewhere down the road want to get a new gun but still want a better barrel on your gun get the teardrop it wont fail to impress you
spyder stock barrel, dye boomstick 12", and a 16" tru flight
Marker Setup:
I have a spyder victor with a 14" teardrop barrel, expansion chamber, double trigger,with a 16 oz pure energy co2 tank and a 200 round pmi hopper
Recommended Paintballs:
i reccommend marbalizer and dusk midnight pantballs
Strengths:
quiet
accurate
does not chop balls
great long distance accuracy
durable
Weaknesses:
ummmmmmmm................none
Review:
This is a great barrel. It is the best barrel that money can buy. It is sleek, sporty, quiet, accurate with great range, and is for a great price. There is no barrel out there that I have found that can beat the smart parts teardrop bareels. Great price and also fit almost all paintball markers.
Conclusion:
My final reccommendation is the get this barrrel. Don't look at any of those JT or tru flight barrels, get teardrops! In my opinion the best barrels ever made. So what are you waithing, for go buy!
The accuracy of this review is disputed. Please see discussion on the comments page.
Period of Product Use:
1 year
2 of 7 people found this review helpful.
Paintball Experience:
2 years
Similar Products Used:
J&J ceramic- is better than this
Marker Setup:
spyder imagine 04 14"j&j ceramic-bobLong torpedo-Acs bolt- dead on drop
Recommended Paintballs:
dusk
Strengths:
V look in review
Weaknesses:
V look in review
Review:
PROS;
this barrel looks nice
THe porting is kinda loud,if u like that
um...........from 50 feet the spread was like 2 feet
cons: price, it is only 50 but not worth the money
progressive is like the same thing but cheaper
it is starting to chop a lot
Conclusion:
i dont think you should get this go for the J&J ceramic, it is better
Spyder Victor II
Smart Parts Teardrop Barrel
Low Rise Hopper
Home-Made Stock
Recommended Paintballs:
I Have only Used Monster Balls and they work fine
Strengths:
Acurate
Mostly Quiet
Good Distance
Weaknesses:
Hard to Clean
Hogs gas sometimes
Review:
This is a great barrel for the price. It is acurate, quiet with the porting, and has a nice design. It is unique in it's shape and desin in my opinion and shoots alot better than the stock barrels. In my opinion it is about even with the Linear barre., but maybe a little better. It is hard to clean due to the porting and the interior material, but a good squegee will solve that problem without a hitch. Gas usage is average, once in a while for some reason it will just not work the same, but i am pretty sure that is more my gun (which i am getting a new one soon.
Conclusion:
This is a great product that is durable and acurate to any player.
Smartparts Ion
All American Barrel
Halo B hopper customized
Pure Energy air system
Recommended Paintballs:
never had a problem with any paint that was tournament grade
Strengths:
Accurate with burst fire.
Weaknesses:
Single shot it plays tricks on you.
Review:
All together this is a good barrel. I like it. I only upgraded because i got a new gun so i figured time for a new barrel. Any ways its a good barrel. I also noticed that it seemed to make the gun quieter. Im not sure if that is do to it or not. But if you are lookin for distance this shoots about the same as any other "after market" barrel.
Conclusion:
I recommend this barrel to any one...hell i gave my best friend my old one
Diablo Wrath with Fireball Mountain wave trigger and 14" SP Teardrop
Empire reloader II
Pure Energy 72 ci. 3000 psi
Recommended Paintballs:
well, all i've shot with it is Draxxus rec-sport and Draxxus blaze, and they both shot great.
Strengths:
Consistent
Very accurate
Looks sweet
Weaknesses:
None so far.
Review:
Ok well although the Wrath stock barrel isn't too bad, I wanted to up my game with a balance between price and performance. My friend had one for his ion, and my other friend had one with his 98 custom, and they had nothing but good things to say about it. So I picked one up off Action Village ($30 bucks, there's the price point). Tried it out with some target practice at first at about 30-40 feet, and it was AMAZING. Ball on ball, shot after shot. I was getting up to about 10 bps, and still had a nice tight grouping. Then the inevitable happened, and i broke one. Shot right through, and within 5-10 shots i was back to the tight group of consistent shots. I was impressed.
Conclusion:
Get it. It's 30 bucks, shoots like a much more expensive barrel, and when you break (Murphy's law) in the middle of a heated tournament match you wont be a sitting duck squeegeeing (is that a word?) your barrel. And it just plain looks cool. End of story.
