The Ultimate Barrel Thread

What we really need here on AO is a concise, detailed, and helpful thread about barrels. Most of the barrel related threads are about one barrel. We need a thread that can act as a resourse: A growing list of reviews and research about barrels.
To accomplish this in an optimal way, we must establish a system for barrel review...
-Barrel and manufacturer
-Which gun you've used it with
-Weight and length
-Cost
-The Good
-The bad
-Conclusions
-Anything else helpful
If everyone submits thier personal review(s) of a barrel in addition to other comments then we can finally have a useful pool of information. I don't really want to turn this into a Deep Blue type of discussion about the science behind it all, just reviews about performance.
If anyone has any ideas that would make this thread a more effecive source of barrel review then tell!

Make a barrel forum so that way everyone can post about certian barrels and it will all be contained in one forum.

That would be nice...But i guess the best way to start is right here...When the mods see that this thread has alot of info and interest then maybe we'l have a barrel forum.

hmm sounds interesting i was gonna try out a diff barrel on my Emag this sat i'll havta come back here and post what i find out


steve

I'll mod it. :D

14" J&J Ceramic for the Spyder. I don't know exactly how much it weighs, but it's one of the lightest barrels I've ever used.

It cost me about $45 or so. It comes in a good bore size, .687 or .688 I think, which is a very versatile size.

It gets a lot of attention for being able to shoot through broken paint, and it does it better than most barrels can. You should still squeegee though. I like it's porting style- enough to quiet it down, but not so much to make your gun inefficient. The gray color is ugly though. www.paintball-discounters.com and maybe some other places sell a new version that is black though, and that version looks quite nice.

The bottom line is that this barrel is cheap, has a useful bore size, and has the perfect amount of porting, making this one of the best barrels you can buy, especially for the price.

Is that what you're looking for?

Great start

I've got the 14" Ceramic also and I'm very happy with it. Perfect if you use small bored paint like Marballizer or Team Colors. It's very lite and smooth, and gas efficient. I get about 800 shots from my 88ci. Great for the cost: Effective, less wieght then other barrels. It is a great upgrade on the stock RT barrel.
This is the barrel I would recommend under 100.

I've gone through many many brands and types of barrels....
first off

14" Dye aluminum/spyder threaded

Standard bore Shot very nice and quietly, but poor ability to shoot through breaks so I had to squeege ALOT, nice and light

14" Dye stainless/Cocker threaded

Same as aluminum, but bigger bore and alot more heavy

16" Dye Ironmen series Boomstick/Cocker threded

Small bore Shot very very nicely, but ended up to long for me, nice and quiet, light for a 16 inch barrel

14" Dye Ultralite boomstick/cocker threaded

small bore and O MY GOD is it light, shoots the same as the boomstick

Freak kit 14" AA Red front/cocker threaded

What can I say??Its amazing and i now shoot this and only this barrel

7" bob long long shot Custom made by Rob Webb/autococker threaded

Shot very very nice, and very efficiently, one of a kind so haha u cant have one:cool:

Armson Stealth 16in. (spyder thread)- Paid 80$ used it 4 times. VERY paint picky. Works extremely well with very small bore paint (RPS allstar, RPs Marblizer, El Tigre) Lightweight for length and material. Very quiet, not very efficient due to length of porting.

Custom Products 10in (Spyder Thread)- Got it with my spyder 2 years ago. I have found them for as cheap as 30$. Normally 40-50$ up to 18 inch. Very impressive barrel for the price. Very efficient, nice bore size .689 (works very well with most paint)

Smart Parts Teardrop 12in (Mag)- 59$ (got mine for 20$ with trade of stock barrel)Can't say anything bad about it. Shoots most paint very well. Good porting allows for quiet and efficient operation. Can shoot through most breaks after about 20 shots begins to tighten up again.

R/T Stock Barrel - Medium bore allows for use of most paint. Only drawback.. very loud pop sound when shot due to no porting except at the crown. + looks very good with black guns :)

Heres a link for bores on aftermarket barrels in case you're insterested. Barrel Bores

Courtesy of paintballtimes.com

-Barrel and manufacturer
J&J Ceramic
-Which gun you've used it with
Tippmann 98
-Weight and length
14"/?
-Cost
around $40, but came with gun
-The Good
shot through breaks very well, very forgiving with paint
-The bad
ugly color
-Conclusions
Very good barrel. I just wished they made it chrome or black, instead of that blah grey.
-Anything else halpful
nope

-Barrel and manufacturer
Dye Stainless Steel
-Which gun you've used it with
Automag
-Weight and length
10"/?
-Cost
came with gun, I don't know price
-The Good
looks, its shiney, pretty good with paint that isnt matched perfectly
-The bad
not the best with breaks, some say it's heavy, but I don't notice
-Conclusions
Looks great, shoots well
-Anything else halpful
nope

Lapco Bigshot aluminum and stainless steel

1. aluminum was really light but the stainless was a tad heavy
2. good gas efficancy, no porting holes(except for the end)
3. super smooth bore
4. kinda loud
5. shoots good with PMI premium paintballs
6. cheap
7. one of the best barrels you can get for $50
8. shoots really nice

Smart Parts Deluxe Freak System

I use it on my PF Automag with all the paint in the world. The stainless steel back is a tad heavy, probably equal to the weight of the mag's mainbody.The barrel system cost me 179 plus shipping.

The good:
In reality, it's not just one barrel. It comes with 8 inserts all of different bore size so that you can match your paint to barrel effectively for paint of all sizes. Then you can get tips at lengths of 10, 12, 14, and 16 inches, and i believe they may have an 18 as well but i am not entirely sure. And lastly, should you decide you would like to use the barrel system on a different gun all that you must do is purchase an additional freak back for the particular gun you wish to use it with. This barrel is by far one of the greatest additions to my setup since i purchased my mag a few years ago. I have a tips of 10 and 12 inch lengths, both have an equal amount of porting and are equally quiet.

The bad:
Mind you, the cost.

Conclusion:
Hey, when you consider how many barrels you're getting (My setup: 1 back x 2 tips x 8 inserts = 16 different barrels) it is definitely well worth the price. This is definitely a good buy and i would recommend one to anyone and everyone.