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
No Stores
Sponsored Links
Write a review and share your thoughts with other paintballers.
tippman has devoloped a barrel that will send out the ball and hit a target at 150+ feet advertized correctly and it does indead do what they say it will.. did some testing and ranges were 35, 55 77 100 125 and 175..the 175 foot range target was 12x24 and we were able to hit it 3 out of 5 shots..but at ranges beyond 100 feet unless the target was hard such as a gun or hopper ect i dont think a ball break will be possibe. anything under 100 foot and they belong to you with a kill.......IPRESSIVE TO say the least!!
Weaknesses:
loud and dont put any paintballs that are cheap down it the tech rep at tippman recommends marblerlizers.....that is what we use in testing along with 5 other brands which just did not work at all
Conclusion:
for the money great gun barrell a little long and i do not see anything that u could do to improve this product except add a bottom line which would shorten the gun length..great snippin tool and if u need distant this is the one
its a snipin barrel defintly so if you like snipin you'll like this barrel
Weaknesses:
expensive,can't really be up close to shoot someone the balls arc down but awesome long range need good balls or else your screwed i used proballs not one broke out of 2500 and it was about 30 degrees out sucks on speedball courses
Conclusion:
i would recommend this barrel to someone thats loves to snipe but not a person who likes to get right in there
thats it.
This barrel shoots so far, its awesome. I recently went paintballing, and I had 5 guys look at me after I shot and they said "man your gun shoots far!" People say it isnt very accurate, but if you can handle lining up a barrel right it shoots perfectly. I havent had any problems with bad paint. Also, it is great for speed ball, because it shoots so frickin straight. People are not very smart when they give this barrel a bad rating. They just dont have the mental capacity to line up the barrel.
THE 98 FL does add distance to your game,it's accurate,it's easy to clean,it can be used at any distance once you get the fill of it and at close range ( 20 yards minus) you must 1/2" below sight ,red dot sight compatable,and beyond belief its reliable.YOU CAN REACH OUT AND TOUCH SOMEONE,GET IT!
Weaknesses:
allignment is time consuming ,but if you follow the directions its not all that bad,and you need great paint not good, GREAT ( marbles,challengers,premes,tigers,& stars )
Conclusion:
the 98 FL is an all around great investment for any type of play, just take you time and learn.Installing,sighting,handling,cleaning will become a breeze. 1. read directions 2.practice at diffrent distances 3.buy a coil remote 4. use GREAT paint 5.flex squeege ( you dont have to tear down to clean barrell) 6. dot sight HAPPY HUNTING !!!
It does actually shoot further. More accurate than a stock barrel.
Weaknesses:
Nearly impossible to clean in the field. Loud. After so many feet the balls lose enough momentum that just bounce. Expensive. Heavy and makes an already oversize gun even larger. Very tough to find a paint/barrel match.
Conclusion:
The closest paint match I could find that wouldn't get slaughtered by the gun were marbalizers. Fresh paint, no breaks all day. At about 100 ft and beyond they just wouldn't break. The M98 already bugs me because it is too long, and this makes it ten times worse. All in all, I was much happier with my 10" CP. I gave it a 5 because it does make the balls go further, but without breaks it is kinda worthless.
The range on this barrel is superb. The accuracy (contrary to popular belief) is good. With that being said, we move on to the cons
Weaknesses:
it's LOUD. Accuracy is nowhere near as good as an All American, or a Dye Stainless. It's also a heavy peice of metal. Shooting people while running is difficult because the wind catches the spin on the ball and forces it up, way up.
Conclusion:
I would buy this barrel if i was a sniper. If i was a frontman, i would get an All American. I know many people who simply are not impressed with this barrel's performance and ditch it for an AA or even a CP barrel. Before you buy it, please note that it is loud as hell, and is useless if you run a lot.
The accuracy of this review is disputed. Please see discussion on the comments page.
2 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
Strengths:
-Farthest shooting barrel out there
-Good close range accuracy
-Didn't break a ball in 600 rounds of el tigre, rp premium and BE paint
Weaknesses:
-requires small bore paint to be accurate
-very poor accuracy at its 120 foot + ranges.
-very long
Conclusion:
This is my opinion on the flatline barrel. I own a 2001 cocker with a bigshot as well and a model 98 with a bigshot. Both the bigshots are much more accurate then the flatline barrel. I can lob balls out to where the flatline hits with better accuracy then it shoots.
In the woods you often are need to be very close to get good shots on people, the flatline has range yes, but there are to many branch's in the way plus you have to be VERY lucky to hit a person with its poor long range accuracy.
the other bad is that at those long ranges a person can dodge a paintball, it takes a paintball 1 second to go 100 yards, it takes less they half that to duck under you cover.
Bottom line i can easily move up on a flatline user with my cocker and its superior accuracy until i am in range then nail them.
I don't know why you people are trashing the flatlines. They are awesome. I'm pretty damn technically inclined to find out how this works, and to me it was a brilliant idea. The range IS unbelievable. It may not be 200 feet or whatever they say it is, but it's better than any other barrel I've seen before. The accuracy is good. All of you people who say the accuracy is bad, you probably just don't know how to use it. It takes some getting used to. Great barrel.
Weaknesses:
Expensive, and hard to install. I'm technically inclined like I said, and it was still a bit tricky. Tweaking the alignment may be time consuming, but once you get it, you dont need to do it again. I don't know about the expensive paint, I use sheridan in this thing in 60-70 degree weather and it works. No lie.
Conclusion:
Awesome barrel. It works. Trust me. Not as accurate as some may think, not as bad as others might. The paint I dunno about. I use Sheridan, I've also shot some Hellfire, All Stars, Marbs, and even some Brass Eagle paint. Brass Eagle broke a lot, but what do you expect? I'm not sure its worth $110, I think that's just because it's a revolutionary technology. Better range than any other barrel. I'd recommend it for back players.
It works, a little too well. The range you get is unbelieveable, and it does travel in a straight line. It also lines up with my aftermarket sight (on the y axis), making manual accuracy better.
Weaknesses:
Has to be lined up perfectly, and requires allen wrenches to install. Also not very reliable- needs marballizer paint or nothing, and doesn't like inclemant weather.
Conclusion:
Well folks, it works, and it works great. My friends were very angry at me for purchasing this barrel because I have acquired the ability to cap my friends from accross the field (goggled my friend the first time I played with it- he told me he didn't even see where it came from). I would have a backup barrel (lapco or dye) for when it acts up, though.
Unbelieveable range and accuracy. Didn't break a single ball out of 2000 rounds of 32 degrees team colors. Put a dozen rounds through a hole 6 inches wide about 50 feet away.
Weaknesses:
Does nothing to quiet the gun. Shroud is a bit flimsy for such an expensive item, but it can be epoxied to make a much stronger item. VERY picky about paint. Broke 1 in 200 rounds of Zap, but not 1 out of 2000 32 degrees. A pain to squeegee, but not that bad once you get used to it.
Conclusion:
I don't understand all the bad press it gets. Yes, the adapter did have to be filed a bit at the back to get it to fit properly, but other than that the barrel was quite easy to install. The long multi-ring squeegee fits (barely) through the breach to clean, and a stick squeegee is flexible enough to get down through the front. I personally enjoy it and would never use anything else on my M98, though I think the price is a bit high (paid more for it than the gun!). It is picky about paint, but I only like the best paint anyway. ;-)
