Flatline Barrels

[f1d094]

Originally posted by Steeratt
Well, the times I have seen them shoot, the ball initially followed a normal path (straight at first, then dropping slowly as it got further out) then suddnely started curving upwards. And this was every shot. So I would say that, according to my observations, it does not follow a flat trajectory.

Wow. Very weird. I'd love to see this effect in person.

Have you shot one personally? Is the flight pattern any better / worse say for the 1st 75 feet?

[Steelrat]

Frankly, its not the trajectory you should be worried about, its the speed. You have to see how slow the ball is moving to believe it. You can literally dodge out of the way of them. Unless the person does not know they are being shot at, its really not too effective.

Aesthetically, the flatline looks nice on the A5, kinda like a MP5 with a silencer. But on the 98 it doesnt look as good, and on the cocker it just looks plain wierd. I also remember a rather loud report when I heard an m98 with a flatline firing, and like someone else mentioned, your ROF is fairly slow compared to what other markers can put out.

What are you planning on playing, woods ball or speedball? At most speedball ranges, these things are not necessary. For woods ball they can be useful for surpression.

[athomas]

The velocity of the flatline follows the same acceleration curve as a regular barrel for the most part. There are some minor differences due to the spinning but nothing that we need to concern ourselves with for the purpose of a simple explaination. So, a ball shot from a flatline barrel will have the same impact power as a normal ball shot from a straight barrel.

As you increase the range, you decrease the forward velocity. For a straight barrel, this means that the ball will fall to the ground before it reaches its target. The energy of the spinning keeps the flatline ball in the air longer countering the effects of gravity. The forward velocity still decreases at a predetermined rate for the ball. What this means is that the ball will go farther when shot from the flatline barrel but the forward velocity will be greatly reduced.

We know that long shots from a straight barrel have little impact power. At the same extended distance a flatline will have less because the energy of the spinning ball counters the effects of gravity leaving only the energy contained in the forward momentum of the ball. The ball fired from a straight barrel will have a higher arch to reach the same distance. The forward velocity will be the same at the same distance, but the ball will also have some vertical energy as the ball accelerates towards the ground due to gravity. The ball will more likely hit on the upper front side of the targer but will have a better chance of breaking.

So the combination of forward energy plus vertical energy means a long lob from a straight barrel will more likely break than a long direct hit from a flatline. At close range where the trajectories of both are reasonably flat then both will be equally effective.

I wonder if a person using a slightly curved barrel could extend your arch as opposed to actually reversing the acceleration effects of gravity.