The Barrel. This is the most important upgrade you can make to your paintball marker. Barrels come in many shapes, colors and sizes. But what does it all mean and is there a REAL difference between barrels. The answer is YES! Most barrels start their life and tubular blanks or as solid hunks of aluminum, or more exotic, titanium. They are honed out on special machines to exact ID (inner diameter) tolerances and then turned and milled with ornate designs. They are what guides our paintballs to their targets. So, what makes them so important? Let's start at the beginning, the polish. The brighter, more lustrous shine the barrel has on the INSIDE, the easier the paintball travels down the barrel. Better the polish equals less friction which then translates into more and more accurate shot and better air efficiency. The barrels porting is huge. Most stock barrels have little porting at the tip or none at all. What this does is as the ball leaves the end of the barrel, so does all the air at once. This can have a tremendous effect of the flight path of your paintball, as the air escaping can actually push your paintball on one side or the other, causing the ball the wing out at different angles. Porting allows the air to escape in a uniform manner before the ball exits the barrels, which reduces the amount of air which can effect your accuracy. The amount of air that is ported out is dependant upon the barrel. Some have a little porting, and others have enough porting that it eliminates all influential air.
Another key thing is barrel length. A common myth is the longer the barrel the more accurate the gun will be. This is false. Longer barrels offer only a tactical advantage, allowing you to push your barrel through or around cover. The best barrel length is between 12 and 14 inches.
The next feature, and most importantly for barrels, is the ID (inner diameter). The standard paintball size is .689 caliber. This size can fluctuate from .679 to .697, and the effect it has on your paintballs and the path it follows is the most crucial. Literally all your one piece barrels are the bore size .689 which will work with 80% of all paintballs. Many people try to size the paint to their barrels, and some spend a lot of money to find that perfect fit. The best way to cure this is to upgrade your marker with a barrel kit. This usually is comprised of several sized bore back pieces with a sized front tip. The top of the heap is the Dye Ultralite barrel system. This is a 3 back system of .684, .688 and .692 and a sized front tip. This system offers an awesome polished internal bore and more than enough porting. They also have a back bore piece of .688 size and made of Titanium. This is tougher than steel, lighter than aluminum and polished like a mirror. Another great barrel kit is from Smart Parts. This is the Freak kit. It offers a back receiver, sized tip with 8 color coded inserts with different sizes., ranging from .682 to .697. They are made from light weight aluminum or stainless steel. This kit offers extreme versatility. Others kits from CP, REDZ, J&J Ceramics and EVIL all have similar features, and like DYE and Smart Parts, offer amazing “out of the box” performance.
To size a paintball to a barrel, place a paintball in the back of the barrel. If it rolls out, go to a smaller bore size. If it gets stuck, go to a bigger bore size. You want the be able to blow the paintball through the barrel with your breath, like a blowgun. This will give you the most consistent shot, the best air efficiency and shot on shot accuracy.
The bottom line is this, the barrel is THE MOST IMPORTANT upgrade you can make to your marker. Buy a good barrel or barrel system, and see how it improves your game.
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