The Flatline Barrel System is the first barrel to put back spin on paintballs. It not only increases accuracy and distance, but it also has a flat trajectory.
Product Availability
The Tippmann A-5 Flatline Barrel is newer, so it should be commonly available, both new and used.
Places to Buy
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Tippmann A-5
Flatline Barrel
APE Rampage Board
Double Trigger
Recommended Paintballs:
Whack, anything that has a thick shell. Do not use nightmare paint, it will break like crazy!!!!
Strengths:
Shoots alot farther that stock barrel and looks alot cooler.
Weaknesses:
Sometimes breaks a ball but not usually.
Review:
I got this barrel about a year after I got the tippmann A-5 and it is great. I now can literally hit people on the other side of the field. The only cons to the barrel is that sometimes breaks a ball and you also have to unscrew to Allen bolts to take off the Flatline and clean it, price (but worth it).
Conclusion:
If you like your tippmann and you want it to shoot farther, the Flatline Barrel is a great upgrade! Don't be discourage by the price.
Tippmann A-5
WAS Egrip
J&J Edge Barrel Kit
Flatline Barrel Kit
88ci/4500psi Pure Energy HPA
My rating scale defined
10- Oh my god this thing is awsome, drop what every you are doing and go buy one
7 - Good piece of gear
5 - Does what it is suppose to do
3 - Doesn't live up to advertised features
1- If you insist on buying this item, you should just send it to my paypal account either way your are waisting your money
Strengths:
Distance
Looks
Weaknesses:
Accuracy
Ball don't always break
Loud
Sucks air
Cleaning
Review:
I am writing this review with new players in mind that don't know much about how to get the most out of their marker. So if you are new to paintball and just bought an A-5 your first investment should be a new barrel. Make sure you do your research about barrels before buying a new one. Also take most things you read with a grain of salt. The most accurate review are from people who have tried different products. Also just so I can qualify myself in the field of markmenship and shooting, I spent 8 years in the Marine Corps and was a Primary Markmenship Instructor for my Unit. So I know a litte bit about shooting.
First let me say that this barrel will allow you to shoot farther than anyone else on the field. You will get 50-70 feet of addtional flat trajectory with this barrel.
Second, having said the first don't think you will be picking people off from 150 feet with this barrel. The accuracy at long range is pretty poor. Granted you will be able to provide cover fire from a long way out, but you will find it hard to hit anyone. I found that this barrel is realtively accurate at less than 75 feet (certainly more accurate than the stock barrell). Also another problem I have seen is that at a greater distance the paintballs won't always break. Keep in mind that most fields require you to crono at 285 or less. The farther the ball travels (doesn't matter what barrel you are using) the slower the ball will be traveling when it hits the target.
Cleaning barrel requires you to disassemble the gun. I have had several ball breaks and it really bites when you are in the heat of battle. You can clean most of it out with a barrel swab, but your accuracy will be crap until you get off the field and run a squegy through it.
This barrel is really loud. The A5 with CO2 or HPA is loud enough as it is and when you add the Flatline it gets even lounder. Now this can be a positive or a negative depending on how you look at it. If you want the intimidation factor of the loud barrel , this is your barrel. If you are wanting to go recon on someone, they will know where you are after your first shot.
This barrel uses alot more air that some of the other barrels I have used. This is due to the large bore size and no porting. Because the barrel bore is larger than most paintballs out there it allows excess gas escape and requires you to use more air.
Conclusion:
So after reading all that you have to decide what type of player you want to be.
If you want to be the guy in the back pinning people down while you buddies move in for the kill. This is the barrel for you.
If you want to be a sniper (one shot one kill) type of guy. Don't buy this barrel (or an A-5) for that matter. It is too loud and you will most likely no hit your target. On ebay and some folks on this site tout this a being a sniper barrel it is anything but that.
If you want to be the guy that closes with the enemy and destroy him buy close combat, there are much better barrels for this purpose. I would recommend the J&J edge Barrel kit for the A-5. It provide much better accuracy at 75-100 feet than the flatline does. You will have a greater arc on the trajectory, but you will find a much more consitent shot.
All thing said I really like this barrell. It does what it is suppose to do. Which is allows you paintballs to travel farther on the field than anyone else. So if you are wanting to stay back in the back of the field and pin people down this is your barrel. Since the accuracy is sill decent at closer distance it is a good barrel for a combination of long and short range shooting it is also a great choice.
Rating:
7 out of 10
Last edited on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007 at 4:39 pm PST
Scorch,Visible Impacts,Marbs,or anything with a thick shell and a fairly high grade
Strengths:
-DISTANCE!
-moderate accuracy
-looks cool
-durable construction
Weaknesses:
-Picky about paint
-Not the greatest accuracy
-Price
Review:
I have used this barrel for a total use of 1 playing day and several tests. I have very quickly learned that barrel does break paint more than some others, but that is expected due to the coarse inside of the barrel to give the ball its backspin. However, this can be prevented with the right paint. I suggest trying several paints before giving up on this barrel like I almost did. DON'T MAKE THIS MISTAKE! Just try something with a thick shell. Scorches worked best for me. Also, dont expect this barrel to have the best accuracy. It's built for distance with moderate accuracy when tuned and using the correct paint. I would recommend it for someone with a position like that of a heavy gunner, or for use of suppression.
Conclusion:
My conclusion about the flatline is that it is a great barrel if used properly. Most can deal with the accuracy but SNIPERS BEWARE! Just look a little more into it before taking the plunge. But could you put a price on the ultimate heavy gunner barrel.
The accuracy of this review is disputed. Please see discussion on the comments page.
Period of Product Use:
2 years
Paintball Experience:
More than 5 years
Similar Products Used:
WERKS 14"
Old spyder barrels ( with adapter )
Marker Setup:
Tippmann A-5 with 14" werks, 68ci 4500 psi HP tank, low pressure system (very helpful), E-grip, m16 style stock, remote hose, upgraded internals, scope ( a cheap wal-mart scope mostly for looks but it does help if you use it as a monocular when playing in the woods, although you need to take off your mask)
Recommended Paintballs:
marbalizer
Strengths:
Looks cool
More accurate than stock
Weaknesses:
Werks is better...and cheaper
High grade paint required for described preformance
Review:
I have to say I was disappionted with my flatline. Although it was more accurate than the stock, it wasnt worth 100 bucks. Also the extra 100 ft it adds to your shot is 100 ft of inaccuracy and if you are shooting at someone that far away you need dead on accuracy.
I also noticed that when i didnt use expensive paint, it broke a lor of balls (more than the stock) and you need gun cleaner or a sink to clean it back to top preformance
i was also pretty ticked when I lost the original barrel adapter because I had to switch it out for the flatline.
I WASNT IMPRESSED WITH IT. IN MY OPINION ITS A WAY TO WASTE YOUR MONEY ON A BAD UPGRADE WHEN YOU CAN GET THE WERKS FOR CHEAPER
Conclusion:
Not a recommended buy, get the 14" werks barrel instead
1) a-5+e-grip+multiple barrels
2)dm4+shockteck trigger+pipe kit+evolution II
both run off pure energy 68/45,s
Recommended Paintballs:
Chonic, hellfire, and anything small bore
Strengths:
Range
Weaknesses:
Accuracy and paint selection that shoots well(there's not many)
Review:
The flatline is heavy, big, and loud. It is the biggest target a barrel could be and likes very few types of paint, and i love it! the range of a flatline is unchalenged. for players who like to lay supresive fire and play D, it is the best option. You may have herd of the apex from BT. It is lighter and quiter and less choosy with paint , but its abillity to spin makes it less reliable for high intensity situations. like if your ambushed and must shoulder and fire in a hurry. i also feel that the flatline with a good paint match (hellfire) and set to 275-280fps is more accurate. This barrels is abosolutely silly for tourney ball however and if accuracy or concealment (flatlines are loud) are your cup of tea it is not for you.
Conclusion:
If your a slow mover, like long range, or laying lots of supresive fire; get it. If you like to get up in the action or play tourney ball, do not get it.
Loud !!!
Paint picky !!!
Breake balls easily
Very Hard to clean
Internal scratchs easily
Review:
This gun will give you all that Tippmann advertised if you:
1) Use good, "expensive", and big size balls
2) Use highly consistent and "expensive" tank and regulator, to comply with Tippmann own recommendation speed, 270-280 FPS.
If you are a new player who want to have a better accuracy and a descent range, try to get other inexpensive barrels such as J&J 14" ceramic or 14" Empire twister barrel. If you concern more about money, get Tippmann sniper barrel. It is cheaper than J&J or Empire by about $10.
Another downside of this barrel is that it is hard to clean. If you break a paint in this barrel during a combat, you won't be able to clean it fast. If you can't clean it, the next ball come out of this barrel wil no longer have a descent accuracy; since this barrel relies heavily on its "engineered surface and shape" of its internal.
Conclusion:
This barrel is a pain in the @$$. Save $50 and get a better accuracy with other barrels. Stock barrel somewhat is more accurate that this Flatline barrel
timmy ripper
cp perfect drop
cp on/off asa
evo II y board
Recommended Paintballs:
anything without brittle shells, i prefer marbelizer or evil
Strengths:
See review
Weaknesses:
See review
Review:
i bought this barrel for my A-5 for when i play rec-ball or woods. at first, i had a problem with accuracy because i had the velocity up to 290. after doing my own investigating and actually looking into what i can do to fix the problem, i realized that a high velocity puts a lot of pressure on the paintball and that it causes it to spin so fast that it actually gets lift and isn't so accurate. also, when shooting with a flatline, youhave to hold the marker straight up so that the ball doesn't begin to curve because of the angle of the spin. it took a while to figure out how to get it all perfect, but with most paintballs, i find that shooting somewhere between 265 and 287 fps would get the best results. i like to keep myself somewhere between 275 and 285 because i use a co2 tank on this marker because it uses up a lot of air and co2 lasts longer than compressed air. another thing to look out for, is the bore of the paint. larger bored paint tends to get stuck more inside the barrel because of its shape. i would recommend medium bore and look for paint without dents and a barely visible seam so that it can make the most out of the reverse spin it gets from this barrel
so basically get good paint, chrono at the correct fps and i bet you this barrel will work like it is advertised. people who say this is inaccurate and doesn't do its job need to make sure they actually took the time to get everything set up properly
Conclusion:
Great product for tippmann. it has a good intimidation factor, and when you finally get your marker tuned right, you will never have a problem with this barrel
tippmann a-5,
J&J 13" ceramic barrel,
20 oz. pure energy tank,
remote
Recommended Paintballs:
anything, preferably higher quality paint like marbs...etc...
Strengths:
-Shoots far
-the respect you get for having one.
Weaknesses:
-Very inaccurate
-the adapter ruined my a-5
Review:
so i got my own barrel, the j&j ceramic. and my dad got the flatline, i asked him if i could try it out, and he let me borrow it for a game or two. i was very disappointed, i shot as far as i needed it to, but i could barely hit the broad side of a barn. i thought, ok, im just having a bad day, and tried to switch the barrels, but...oh wait...the adapter almost STRIPPED my a-5, and now all the paint on it is ruined and sometimes my barrel falls off. thanks flat line. and yes, i did take the 3 screws out, and tried to gently take it out. i don't like this barrel at all.
Conclusion:
If you want to say you have a flat line, buy it. if you want a good fricken barrel, buy the j&j ceramic. (it costs $25 less and shoots way better)
I have a tippmann a5 stealth. i bought it off of paintballonline.com, and it sucks. the frame is plastic and the cyclone feed lasted about fifty shots before it stopped feeding balls. I also bought a response trigger from paintballonline.com, and it DOES NOT WORK!!! it fits the gun extremely loosely, and nobody at my local paintball shop can figure out what is wrong. DO NOT BUY FROM PAINTBALL ONLINE!!!! they will rip you off!!! action village is MUCH more reliable (do not take my word for it, go to their ebay account and check their feedback, it is extraordinary)
Recommended Paintballs:
ANYTHING EXPENSIVE (<unfortunately) with a hard shell that will not chop easily.
Strengths:
Distance, Accuracy, Appearance
Weaknesses:
Takes too long to remove, hard to clean, did not work with nitro
Review:
The flatline is a very useful woodsball tool. For some reason though, it did not perform with nitro. I had a full tank, but the balls would just shoot out like they were being shot by an old 98 rental. They were not accurate, and certainly did not travel 250+ feet, which is what the flatline is supposed to shoot. But once i put a CO2 tank on the gun, the flatline ripped!!!!! It shot so far and had my paintball club buddies wanting me on their team. IDK if this is the case for everyone or just my gun, but with CO2, the Flatline barrel is accurate and farther shooting than anything ive ever seen! BUY IT!
Conclusion:
Buy the a5 flatline, you will not be disappointed if you are a woodsballer
Tippmann a-5 with Rufus Dawg double trigger and trigger stop and removed fore handle
Recommended Paintballs:
Evil paintballs
Strengths:
Added Distance
Litlle more accurate than stock
Looks cool
Weaknesses:
Not much distance added
Paintballs do not break on contact
over priced
Review:
I had the flat line since i had my a-5 and i dont like it much at all. Sure it adds like 80 ft maximum, but it has back spin and travels so slowly that it sometimes doesnt break on contact. And the barrel treats no two paintballs the same. One goes left, one goes right, one goes up and on nose dives in front of the bunker. If you like woodsball and wanna get the feel for a sniper get the barrel
Conclusion:
I wouldnt get it because it is over priced and it gets int the way and to clean it you have to take the gun apart
