need advice about my barrel

[Ebbed]

I need some advice guys I have never had an issue like this before. I order Titanium paintball's longbow 4 bore aluminum barrel kit and just got it today, initially I was impressed with the outside appearance of the barrel but under inspection of the internal bore on THREE of the four control sections there is scratches in the surface about half the length of the barrel, and the tip… the ****ty honing job left a ribbed finish. I spent A LOT of money on this kit converting it o Canadian then getting it shipped across the border. What should I do?

p.s. I can’t test it yet because I’m still waiting on my marker and air tank to come from the states too.

p.s.s. you can't feel these scratches with your finger, so they can't be that deep....

[Ebbed]

honestly no one has any advice?? Or had marks inside their barrels from a dealer?

[Siress]

If you're unhappy, send it back. It's not their fault you have a hassle with shipping charges. In an ideal world, it wouldn't be as such. Some companies go above and beyond by refunding shipping charges; although I suspect this is to keep people from ruining their reputation by spreading the word about the ****ty quality. hint, hint.

It sounds to me like the manufacture bored the inside out with a boring bar and followed up with a ball-hone. That'll leave a ribbed finish like no other if the boring operation was sloppy.

[Temo Vryce]

Contact the store that you purchased it on and see what they can do to help you. Other wise go directly to the manufacturer.

[maniacmechanic]

same as the 2 above ^^
there should NOT be any "scatches " in a barrell , should be a mirror finish , other than a tippmann flatline

[BiNumber3]

some barrels are designed so that the bore gradually increases bore, your tips may be ribbed due to that. Tho ive had other barrels with ribs, from cp barrels i think, didnt affect performance, especially for u since the ribs are on the tips, which dont touch the ball normally.

as for the control bores, what kind of scratches? can u feel them? every single boomstick ive had has scratches, my titanium boomstick more than my steel ones. however they dont seem to affect the barrel performance, and ive tried to feel the scratches on mine and cant feel them.

so id suggest testing the barrels first, and perhaps asking the company about them.

[Wanta B Sniper]

I have a short steel barrel that has scratches inside as well, shoots as true as any of my other barrels though. Contact the manufacturer and find out what you can, but I don't think it will make much of a difference.

[Ebbed]

to me it looks as if they were trying to check the ID of the control sections with gauge pins and scored the inside as a result. I won't be able to test the barrel for a month plus because the company with my hopper and air source are "waiting for product from the manufacturer". I have bought used barrels in the past that seemed to be in better condition then these control sections. As I mentioned above i can't feel them with my finger but if you look at them in the light you sure as hell know they are there. I emailed saksworld but they have just blew me off and told em to talk tot he manufacturer. they also insulted my intelligence by telling me "its probably dust", ********.

I'm not so concerned with the ribbed finish anymore, i believe that's an optical illusion cause by tapered bore. my big issue is these dam scratches.

[Siress]

In order: post pictures of everything, post threads about the"customer service" from the retailer, contact the mfg, post about the "customer service" and quality from the mfg., return barrels for replacement or refund.

[Ebbed]

if there is anyone in the Windsor Ontario area who is willing to allow me to fire a few rounds through their marker i would really appreciate it.

[BiNumber3]

are the scratches parallel to the barrel or perpendicular? also what material are the control bores?

[Ebbed]

are the scratches parallel to the barrel or perpendicular? also what material are the control bores?

the scratches are parallel (ie.the length of the barrel) as if someone pressed something through. The controls are made of aluminum. Titanium paintball claims "The inside of the barrel has a patent pending finish called Hard bore which is smoother and harder than any finish available today." if this is true it must have took a material harder than this hard bored finish to scratch the inside of it.

[BiNumber3]

aluminum should be mirror smooth, only barrels ive seen with streaks are steel or titanium, so i guess contact the manufacturer, tho im suprised the place u bought them at wont do anything:/
is this the barrel or similar? http://www.directpaintball.com/SpyderPiranha-Titanium-Paintball-Longbow-Barrels-P3201.aspx

it states in there that the control bores are either steel or titanium
also, it does mention the "stepped" bore in the tips which are why they look ribbed

[Ebbed]

this is the kit i ordered: http://www.sakworldpaintball.com/tipa4boalbak.html

and no they won't do anything for me.

[Ebbed]

After an entire weekend of CLOSE inspection, with my superiors from work… father the tool maker… and uncle the metallurgist I am going to recant my “scratch” comment. Although there is visible marks in the barrel it looks like no material is displaced, almost like the lines are below the mirror finish. It annoys me that there is marks at all, but I think I can live with these as I have been told “I’m to picky” by the pickiest people I can find. Let me know if any of you have marks inside your barrel…

[BiNumber3]

well if u cant really feel them, n it doesnt seem to affect accuracy, it should be ok, still a lil odd that one control is perfect n the others have streaks

[Ebbed]

I got an email response from the manufacture at titanium paintball today here it is:
Sam Lotfy (sam.lotfy@hydracore.us.com)

I’m sorry that you are not happy with the barrels. I can assure you that they are not defects, and that is the way they are. The small scratches that you see are from the nickel plating process. They are in every aluminum barrel. It’s a function of the plating and the electrical conductivity of the bore. It has no impact on the performance and cleaning ability of the bore. There will also be a ring on the inside. That is a section that manifests due to the high stresses in the barrel from the hardening process and is in every barrel we produce regardless of material type.
Have you tried the barrel? Has it performed poorly? If you have any questions, please give me a call at 7432-548-5500.

So there you have it, I hate admitting to being wrong as much as the next… but I can understand how this could be true. The anode is positive and the cathode negative, so you have to use electricity so that the electrons will migrate to the negative cathode and attract the positive nickel ions which will plate the barrel. So there is a possibility that the lines in question were more of a “direct path” attracting a higher concentration of the nickel plating resulting in discoloration. This would explain why they can not be felt, only seen. As far as the ring, that makes sense too, it probably wouldn’t exist if the control section was shorter, that being said it would lose effectiveness. Ultimately it comes down to testing end because I don’t have my marker yet ill have to wait to pass my final judgment in the meantime I would love to hear some opinions.