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 Custom 98 Flatline Barrel is newer, so it should be commonly available, both new and used.
Places to Buy
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if you want distance get this barrel however i would not recomend it for speed ball because it is not very accurate also it is very big (21") also its a pain to clean because when you put it back on you have to make sure its not tilted to one side or all your paint will go that way, also you need to use large bore paint
Conclusion:
good barrel if you want range but you losse alot of accuracy also its very expensive think of how you play before you get this barrel it does not work well for speedball
j&j ceramic, night stick, but they are completely different
Marker Setup:
tippmann m98 w/ flatline, 20 oz co2, pro team hyper star bolt, dye sticky, adjustable stock
Recommended Paintballs:
rps, evil, any small to medium bore high quality paint
Strengths:
this barrel can outdistance any barrel (except the a5 flatline, which is =)
Weaknesses:
cost, tippmann should have licensed it to dye or armson or 32 degrees
Review:
this barrel might seem a bit pricy for 1 made by tippmann, but in the long run it will save you (accuracy + distance = less of that expansive paint = more $$$ for you) although this barrel is demanding as it must be kept constantly clean and be installed correctly and demands evil, big ball, marballizers or el tigre. however, this barrel is as accurate as any horizontally, its main + is how it shoots vertically (straight) the only thing that could be better is that it could be made by dye and be precision honed to a .6 micro-finish and have a Ti series come out and be better than ANYTHING out there. but, life isn't perfect. blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. BUY IT.
Conclusion:
If you have an m98 or a5 and like to play in large arenas, back of the field or middle, BUY it, if you install it correctly and take good care of it, it will save you
Tippmann 98 custom with Flatline Barrel, Pro Team FX Stock, and remote line
Recommended Paintballs:
Good, fresh paint nothing old or cheap (like brasseagle)
Strengths:
Accurate
Shoots Far
Looks Good
Weaknesses:
You can't shoot fast.Others say it's hard to install.
Review:
I don't know about it being hard to install thats what other reviews say. It came installed on my gun. I do know that it shoots far and is very accurate. The barrel looks nice (not important). I think its a good barrel for sniping and scenario games. Other than those features if you like sniping its great and you might want to consider it . It is a bit expensive.
Conclusion:
Great for range and accuracy. Like I said before,its not for speedball of fast shooting. If you shoot fast it will break paintballs( I made that mistake quiet a few times).
THIS BARREL IS NOT A PAIN IN THE ROYAL ARSE TO INSTALL. You have to be an idiot to do this wrong. The only things that you might not get right the first time is how tight the nut on the flatline adapter has to be and how high or low the back sight has to be. The flatline is GREAT for woodsball but when you play in doors, you cant fire as fast and you tend to get out quicker if you dont know how to hide because the shroud is so big. But if you play in doors, it is awsome to be able to hit someone when they cant touch you. In woodsball, this is the best barrel out there. You cant have a 98 custom, play woods ball and not have a flatline. Thats just not cool. I can hit players from easily 200 ft away and i'm estimating buy i do suspect that i hit someone that was down hill from me from about 350 ft. This is an impossible shot with any other kind of barrel. But to really use the cappabilities of the flatline, get either an expansion chamber if you use co2 or just get a nitro tank. (To get the distance that the flatline says it can get, you need to be shooting about 250 fps)
Conclusion:
I would get this barrel if you were a woods ball player but if you play in doors and your a front player, get something like boomstick or what ever your preference may be. This barrel may be pricy but it sure does really give the ball a whole hell of a lot more distance than any other barrel on the market today.
tippmann 98C, responce trigger, flatline, 32 deg. night stikk, double trigger, star fire venturi bolt, tippmann exp. chamber, aluminum pro seal, coil remote
Recommended Paintballs:
marbs
any RPS
pmi premiem
extra
hellfire
Strengths:
shoots sooooooooo far
accurate
looks cool
scares people
upgrade the shroud to aluminum
Weaknesses:
shoots strate and then curves up like 8 feet
cleaning
hard to get used to
Review:
this barrel takes some getting used to but when u do it is the best thing you could possibly get 4 your tippmann 98C. its kind of expensive but worth every penny.get this get this get this, it's worth it. it takes some adjustments in your game but for 100+ feet it is worth it.
Conclusion:
i can't believe people rated this bad it is great. get it if u have the money, if u don't save up and get it.
WGP Orracle(Clear-Blue-Black fade)With Chrome ANS E-frame,
Silver 14in 1-piece Hammerhead Pro Series, delrin Lightning
Silver Psychoballistics Universal Drop Forward, Dye 750psi Micro Guage attached to reg, Black Evolution 2, DYE 91ci 4500 psi nitro, Black DYE Stickies
Recommended Paintballs:
I used the cheapest I could find at the time
Strengths:
distance
accuracy
Weaknesses:
Mine had a slight problem with chopping paint.
Review:
When I first started playing paintball 3 years ago, I thought this think was the best barrel ever to have come out, but at that time I only played woodsball, I had no clue of the ludacris speeds of which speedball type guns could shoot, now I do. I once used this barrel for snipering in the woods ,but now, sadley enough it is only a back up gun compared to my orracle since I have switched from woodsball to speed ball.(that was totally off subject)
Conclusion:
Great barrel for woods ball, sucks for speedball. For those of us who have used real guns you can also remove the handle and just hold the shroud.
It didn't really have any problems whith the poo paint i used, but try and use good paint if you want it to worrk really well
Strengths:
Range
Accurate (not sniper rifle but ok)
Not too loud
Weaknesses:
Getting the velocity right
Installing it can take 10 min. but its not hard
Review:
Ok, Range - shoots farther than anything else i have shot
Accurate - don't expect to nail pennies but do expect to hit the guy your aiming at
Volume - to me makes no difference loud or soft but it didn't startle me an i was
shooting it
Breaks - it will happen but not bad. all you really have to do to clean it is take the feed
elbow off run the squigie through the open bolt and go.
Velocity - takes a min to adjust but once you get it set its set, (its also funny to watch
when you have to much velocity they arc up at the end)
Installation - it takes a few mins but its not that hard if you read the directions
Conclusion:
If you play out in the woods like me and want to be able to reach out and get someone, go for it. if you are looking for pinpoint accuracy go find a boomstick. over all it does what it is supposed to and does it well.
Chops balls to where performance confidence is low.
Review:
We purchased this barrel on-line for $125. Mighty expensive for a barrel, but the range it provides is great. The backspin that the curve in the barrel creates provides longer flat flight time for the ball so that you needn't arc the shot as much. During some test shooting to find a compatible ball, I could shoot accurately out to 100 feet + with little arcing of the shot and out to much greater distances with heavier arcing.
The only draw back is that you need to use the right ball. For me, the only ball I've used so far that the barrel would not chop 1 out of 10 shots are RPS Marbelizers. I tried RPS All Stars; Diablo Dusk; Brass Eagle Afterburners. No ball would sustain anything beyond 15-20 shots before experiencing a break. However, running a hopper full of RPS Marbs through it was like night and day. We test fired close to 100 balls before experiencing a break. I still want to try RPS Premiums and Big Balls, but I can't spend my life searching for compatible balls.
I'm happy at least that the purchase wasn't a bust. The Marbs do allow the Flatline to perform like is should. Straight as an arrow shots (drifting at the end at long ranges) and reaching out to extreme distances. I still, however, hold my breath when shooting bursts, always waiting for a ball to break.
By the way, when a ball breaks, good luck. You'll need a good, long breach loading rubber squeegee to get it squeaky clean or you can just head for the sidelines and disassemble it for cleaning.
Conclusion:
If I knew then what I know now, I'd pass. I just don't have the confidence in the barrel that I should, especially for the money I paid. If a guy shells out $125 for just the barrel, it should be fantastic. At least Tippmann should save its customers the task of searching out balls that will work correctly by telling buyers on the box to 'Use only Brand XYZ paintballs."
I have purchased an Empire Twister as an alternative to the Flatline which does not shoot anywhere near as far, but shoots as straight and is forgiving to different brands of balls. I'll use the Flatline for big outdoor games only.
Rating:
7 out of 10
Last edited on Monday, November 3rd, 2003 at 7:52 pm PST
marballizers are the best for this gun hands down. #1 paintball to use with the flatline. otherwise i also use premiums and they work fine. diablo works good also
Strengths:
distance and accuracy are good. increases distance without taking much accuracy away.
Weaknesses:
cost $115-$150. requires expensive SMALL BORE paint.
Review:
Great mod to buy. dont be afraid to ask someone for help. it is a tricky mod for begginners but you will be happy with your investment.gives the marker more distance and is pretty accurate compared to other barrels. will intimidate your opponents because they think they are at a disadvantage. IT IS WORTH THE MONEY. TRUST ME. MAKE SURE THAT YOU INSTALL IT EXACTLY HOW THE INSTRUCTIONS TELL YOU AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR VELOCITY SET TO 270 FEET PER SECOND OTHERWISE THE BARREL WILL SHOOT ALL OVER THE PLACE AND CHOP LOTS OF BALLS. I HAD TROUBLE WITH FINDING OUT WHAT WAS CAUSING THE FLATLINE TO SHOOT SO WILDLY AND IT WAS MY VELOCITY. GET IT CHRONOED AND IT WILL SOLVE ANY PROBLEM YOU ARE HAVING.gives the marker more distance and is pretty accurate compared to other barrels. will intimidate your opponents because they think they are at a disadvantage. IT IS WORTH THE MONEY. TRUST ME. MAKE SURE THAT YOU INSTALL IT EXACTLY HOW THE INSTRUCTIONS TELL YOU AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR VELOCITY SET TO 270 FEET PER SECOND OTHERWISE THE BARREL WILL SHOOT ALL OVER THE PLACE AND CHOP LOTS OF BALLS. I HAD TROUBLE WITH FINDING OUT WHAT WAS CAUSING THE FLATLINE TO SHOOT SO WILDLY AND IT WAS MY VELOCITY. GET IT CHRONOED AND IT WILL SOLVE ANY PROBLEM YOU ARE HAVING.
Conclusion:
make sure u get this barrel. keep aware it is hard to install. and MAKE SURE U CHRONO YOUR VELOCITY!!!! 270 is the best for the flatline.
14in Tru-Flight Barrel (Better in accuracy but no cool cornering)
Marker Setup:
Tippmann M98 w/ M4 Stock, 14in tru-flight barrel, Vertical tank
Used Flatline for about 6 and a half months.
Recommended Paintballs:
No cheap paint. If you don't know already, NEVER use brass eagle for anything, not even practice, you will just get your gun dirty.
Strengths:
CORNERING!
Weaknesses:
Wind = Worst Enemy, Balls don't break at long distance.
Review:
Advertisments suggest the flatline barrel for long range targets, I owned a flatline for quite sometime, it is a terrible barrel if you want distance, true, it does have increased distance, but since the BALL is floating on air, it will most likely not break on your target if it is beyond standard range (too many times have i hit someone perfectly and watched the unbroken ball fall to the ground). HOWEVER, after using this barrel for quite some time, I realized that it can cause paintballs to turn corners, you heard me, turn corners. Since the ball floats in a pocket of air, if that pocket is broken by say, the edge of a wall, tree, or any other solid cover that someone is hiding behind, the ball will turn the corner. This is incredible at closer ranges, no one expects a paintball to turn a corner and hit them from the side. It takes practice to master this tactic but once you get it down, you have a terrific advantage.
If you want distance, get a grooved barrel, My Tru-Flight 14incher doesnt shoot as far as the Flatline, but the balls break at farther distances then the flatline.
Conclusion:
Don't get this barrel if you expect distance.
GET this barrel if you want to surprise people by cornering balls.
