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Finding the Right Barrel for Your Paintball Gun.
 Which barrel should I put on my paintball marker? is one of the most common questions
asked by paintballers everywhere. Truthfully, there is no easy answer. This article is
intended to help separate the fact from the fiction regarding paintball barrels.
Manufacturers place a lot of hype on their barrels and sometimes it is very hard for the
consumer to decide on what type of barrel will best fit their needs.
Barrel Materials - Copper, Stainless Steel, & Aluminum
Barrels are typically constructed of brass, stainless steel, and aluminum. Brass is a very
friction metal, provides the slickest surface possible for paintballs to travel along. We will
discuss in detail what you can gain from a slicker barrel later on. Brass is also very heavy,
soft, and requires more maintenance than aluminum or stainless. Brass barrels, because
they are made of a relatively soft metal, require polishing and general maintenance from
time to time. BOA and Palmers Pursuit Shop are the top manufactures of high quality
brass barrels. Stainless steel is next on the low friction list, second only to brass. DYE, Air
Concepts Industries (ACI), Smart Parts, and a few other companies manufacture stainless
steel barrels. Stainless steel is relatively heavy and difficult to manufacture, but it is also
the most durable. Aluminum, is in a sense, the jack of all barrel materials. It is lightweight,
inexpensive to manufacture, and does not provide significantly more friction than a
stainless steel barrel. Aluminum barrels are made by most every barrel manufacturer. My
personal favorites are Custom Products, Lapco, DYE, and Smart Parts aluminum barrels. So to break that down:
Brass
Pros:
- Least amount of friction.
Cons:
- Heavier then both stainless steel and aluminum.
- Soft and easy to damage.
- Requires polishing and general maintenance. |
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Stainless Steel
Pros:
- Low friction.
- Very durable.
- No regular maintenance.
Cons:
- Difficult to machine and thus more expensive. |
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Aluminum
Pros:
- Lightweight
- Inexpensive and easy to manufacture.
- Can be anodized.
- Relatively Durable.
Cons:
- More friction than stainless and copper barrels. |
Two-piece Barrels
 Two-piece barrels combine the better of both worlds by typically utilizing a stainless steel
base and an aluminum tip. The DYE Boomstick is probably the most widely used
two-piece barrel. The idea behind using two materials in constructing the two-piece barrel
is to give the paintball the advantage of lower friction upon initial acceleration by using
stainless steel and then using a ported aluminum tip to decrease the overall weight and
muffle the guns sound output.
Friction
Friction is defined as the resistance to motion between two objects. Friction, as it applies
to paintball barrels, is the resistance placed on the paintball by contacting the inner surface
of the barrel. Friction is typically your enemy when choosing a paintball barrel. Barrel
materials with higher amounts of friction translate into reduced gas efficiency and
increased chances for ball breaks. The only time you would want to create more friction
than necessary is when youre using a barrel system like the Tippmann Flatline that relies
on barrel friction to place back spin on the ball. The extra friction along with a curved
barrel places backspin on the paintball and increases the range a paintball will travel before
contacting the ground.
Length
The next factor to consider is barrel length. Airgun Designs did a really nice little bit of
research on this that you may want to check out: Click here to Read
The article basically dispels the myth that a longer barrel adds more range to your gun.
You cant expect a 16 barrel to outrange a similar 12. After the ball has traveled the first
7 - 10 of the barrel it will generally begin to decelerate. Yes, in many cases, a paintball
will actually begin to lose velocity as it progresses further down the barrel. The Airgun
Designs article effectively explains that a 14 Boomstick is equivalent to an 8 barrel with
6 of silencer added onto it. Just like a real gun, the silencer tip doesnt add significantly to
the muzzle velocity or accuracy, it does however make the gun quieter.
Question: Doesnt a 24 barrel make your gun shoot further than a 12?
Answer: Yes, it will shoot exactly 12 further from the guns chamber. A red paintball
leaves a 14 barrel at 300 fps. A blue paintball leaves a 10 barrel, at the same trajectory
and velocity (feet per second), both of the paintballs will land exactly the same distance
away from the barrel. This, of course, bars all oddities like wind and other objects that
may be in the way. So, unless you are using a barrel system like the Tippmann Flatline that
utilizes backspin to increase range, you cant expect a 24 barrel to shoot any further than
a 12 barrel if both barrels have the same initial muzzle velocity.
There are a few other advantages to having a longer barrel such as being able to aim along
it easier and poke it through brush, but the biggest advantage is the ability to reduce noise
levels via porting.
Porting
 So what exactly does porting do? Well, barrel ports are basically holes drilled from the
inside of the barrel to the outside. Portings main role is to reduce overall noise levels by
venting excess air pressure behind a paintball before the paintball leaves the barrel. Well, I
have no real way to test an accuracy difference with or without porting until I can get my
hands on a custom made freak barrel tip with no porting in it. However, as a general
guideline, porting decreases gas efficiency as well as noise. As air escapes through the
ports, instead of continuing to push the ball down the barrel, it vents air to the outside
increasing the amount of air needed to accelerate a paintball to 300fps, thus reducing gas
efficiency. Having a barrel with lots of ports, as opposed to a non-ported barrel, can
signifigantly reduce most guns noise.
Accuracy
Now, on to accuracy. Accuracy is determined by a combination of a few things. Paint to
barrel match, paint consistency, shot per shot velocity consistency, and the stability of the
shooting platform. In my opinion, the paint to barrel match is the most important factor.
The paint to barrel match determines how much air your gun will use per shot and can
increase or decrease the number of barrel breaks. The only true solution to finding the
right paint to barrel match every time you change paint is to use Smart Parts Freak barrel
system or else you can buy several different barrels, all with different bore sizes. The Freak
barrel system uses interchangeable backs so you can fit your barrels bore to almost any
size of paint. To test your paint to barrel match, simply put a paintball in the back of your
barrel and try to blow the ball out. If you can blow it out without turning blue in the face
then it isnt too tight. If your paintballs roll out of your barrel then your barrels bore is too
large. A snug paint to barrel match will maximize your guns accuracy and gas efficiency.
Click here for a chart to help you find the right size paint to fit your barrel, or vice versa.
 Paint consistency can also play a big part in your guns accuracy. I have seen bags of fresh
paint that contain balls that span 3 different bore sizes. Try many different kinds of paint
until you find the paint that works best with your barrel setup and your budget. Not all
paints are created equal. In general, I have found that PMI Premium, RP Marbalizer, and
RP All-Star paints seem to have the best consistency. Dont expect you buy a case of 2000
paintballs for $40 (or get a free case of paint with a purchase) and still get high quality,
well rounded paint.
The vertical (up and down) accuracy of your gun is partly determined by your paint and
barrel match, but also determined by the consistent pressure delivery of your air system.
Nice air tanks like the Max-Flow and Conquest compressed air tanks that use regulators
to stabilize pressure will increase the consistency of the pressure going into your gun
thereby helping to stabilize your shot per shot velocity.
Conclusion
So, in conclusion.... One barrel isnt necessarily better than another. Just like buying a
marker, you need to find a barrel that fits your playing style and budget. I personally shoot
a 12 mostly unported, one-piece, aluminum barrel during tournaments and a 14 two
piece, heavily ported barrel during woods games. I chose the 12 because of its self
cleaning properties. I use the 14 in the woods because of its added noise reduction.
Try to find a barrel that fits your playing style and your paint. Decide for yourself if a $120
barrel shoots $70 dollars better than another $50 dollar one. Experiment with different
ways to spend your money. A new regulator for $75 and a new barrel for $50 might help
out more than a single $125 barrel. If you have a friend with a barrel you are considering
buying, ask if you can try their barrel before you buy one yourself. Hopefully you are now
better informed and can find a barrel that will work the best to fit your playing style and
budget.
Thanks for reading,
Kyle Christen
AKA Ash, Housewares
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