Rifled Barrels

[viper-mayhem]

Has anyone used the Empire Twister Barrel? It has rifling inside the barrel. I am looking into getting a 14" but I would like someone who has actually used one to give their opinion on how it shoots, if the balls fly straight or not. I have used the 2 piece barrel kits and it is OK, but I would like to know if this rifling really has any bearing on the trajectory. While we are at it, has anyone actually shot the barrels that have straight rifling too? Thanks, V-M

[athomas]

Rifling does not have an affect on paintballs. They just don't rotate fast enough, plus they are a sphere. The one thing rifling may offer, is a recessed groove that allows broken paint or moisture in the barrel to stay away from the ball-barrel contact area. This would theoretically help reduce innacuracy in those situations. Due to the rifling not having any affect on the ball, if I was going to get a rifled barrel it would be a straight rifled not a spiral rifled barrel. Another note; they are much harder to clean due to the rifling.

[georgeyew]

I have an Armson rifled barrel on my mag. It looks cool with the spiraling but I don't notice an improvement over a normal barrel. But when I do get breaks, it is just as easy to clean as the other barrels.

[maglover728]

I have been told that the theroy behind rifled barrels for paintball is to give the ball more contact with the barrel and increase acuracy that way. I agree with the above and suggest a straight rifled barrel over anything else.


(how can you have straight rifleing, that goes against the defination of rifleing but that is what it is called.)

[Pneumagger]

I had an empire that crossed my path in a trade once. It's rifled. It shoots a paintball. All aftermarket barrels that match paint size shoot marginally the same. If you want to shoot accurate, buy the expensive paint.

[jade_monkey07]

as much as people say that rifling doesnt do anything, i recently tried the hammerhead barrels the Bangstixx and the sharktooth, even the 4 inch sharktooth shoots better then a 14 inch freak. the bangstixx was the best barrel for distand and accuracy that iv ever seen, dont know if its the rifling or not though.

[madcrisis]

mag lover u mean railroading

[MANN]

rifling does not work IMO. If you want more info pm me and ill give you links. It is just hype.

[athomas]

as much as people say that rifling doesnt do anything, i recently tried the hammerhead barrels the Bangstixx and the sharktooth, even the 4 inch sharktooth shoots better then a 14 inch freak. the bangstixx was the best barrel for distand and accuracy that iv ever seen, dont know if its the rifling or not though.

Distance is purely physics. You can't get more distance at a given velocity because the rate of decent is always the same. So, if it takes 1 second for a ball to hit the ground and the ball travels 300 feet in 1 second then the distance will always be 300 feet no matter what tube the ball originated from. Accuracy is determined by how much unequal forces are exerted on the ball in the barrel. If the ball rolls in the barrel it will be affected by the magnus effect which will cause the ball to curve. Even in barrels that are too large, this rarely happens because the air pushing the ball is distributed equally behind it. Basically a barrel is a tube that guides a paintball as it gets up to speed. The biggest cause of inaccuracy is paint that is not perfectly round. If you truley want accuracy, as mentioned earlier, buy better more consistent paint.


I've seen some barrels that seem to be better than others. It usually boils down to paint inconsistencies and a larger bore compensates better than one that just fits the paint. Freaks have a problem with alignment. But if the inserts are properly aligned before the barrel is inserted, they are fine too. I have seen lots of barrels that seem to be poor with accuracy in most instances. It usually can be traced to a defect somewhere. A nice straight tube usually will propel a paintball close to where you want it to go.

[jade_monkey07]

Distance is purely physics. You can't get more distance at a given velocity because the rate of decent is always the same. So, if it takes 1 second for a ball to hit the ground and the ball travels 300 feet in 1 second then the distance will always be 300 feet no matter what tube the ball originated from. Accuracy is determined by how much unequal forces are exerted on the ball in the barrel. If the ball rolls in the barrel it will be affected by the magnus effect which will cause the ball to curve. Even in barrels that are too large, this rarely happens because the air pushing the ball is distributed equally behind it. Basically a barrel is a tube that guides a paintball as it gets up to speed. The biggest cause of inaccuracy is paint that is not perfectly round. If you truley want accuracy, as mentioned earlier, buy better more consistent paint.


I've seen some barrels that seem to be better than others. It usually boils down to paint inconsistencies and a larger bore compensates better than one that just fits the paint. Freaks have a problem with alignment. But if the inserts are properly aligned before the barrel is inserted, they are fine too. I have seen lots of barrels that seem to be poor with accuracy in most instances. It usually can be traced to a defect somewhere. A nice straight tube usually will propel a paintball close to where you want it to go.

i understand all the physics behind it all. but you cant deny that a flatline flies farther cause of the spin at the same fps as another barrel.

on this past sunday we sat next to a chrono with 4 diffirent guns(2 tac ones, invert mini, autococker), mounted the guns to take out human error. 5 types of paint(v1,vein,menace, xball bronze and silver) matched the bore sizes on the freak, pipe bomb and the hammerheads. chrono'd at 275-280 each time we tried something new, and it didnt matter what combo's we used the hammerheads outshot in distance and accuracy EVERY TIME even the 4 inch sharktooth was keeping up with the other kits no problem. just like the flatline when the ball passes you it makes a whizzing noise. its spinning and it seems to work damn good. i know all the theories, and iv heard both sides of the story. theres nothing really i can say to convince anybody except that i saw for myself that it works on my gun, in my hands.

[MANN]

i understand all the physics behind it all. but you cant deny that a flatline flies farther cause of the spin at the same fps as another barrel.

on this past sunday we sat next to a chrono with 4 diffirent guns(2 tac ones, invert mini, autococker), mounted the guns to take out human error. 5 types of paint(v1,vein,menace, xball bronze and silver) matched the bore sizes on the freak, pipe bomb and the hammerheads. chrono'd at 275-280 each time we tried something new, and it didnt matter what combo's we used the hammerheads outshot in distance and accuracy EVERY TIME even the 4 inch sharktooth was keeping up with the other kits no problem. just like the flatline when the ball passes you it makes a whizzing noise. its spinning and it seems to work damn good. i know all the theories, and iv heard both sides of the story. theres nothing really i can say to convince anybody except that i saw for myself that it works on my gun, in my hands.

Got proof/pics/vid?
Were you inside or out?
How did you mount the markers?
How long did it take you?

[Dend78]

yeah but the flatline is a special case it throws the ball really weird low to strat then it climbs which once you get used to it no big deal but just picking it up and shooting it is crazy. ive been through tons of barrel but none with rifeling. they all seem to be about the same your paint to bore, and paint in general is what makes the magic happen.

[slasherdan]

The entire concept with rifled barrel on a real firearm require the grooves in the barrel to cut into the bullet and cause the spin. This will not work on a paintball for one clear reason, breaks.

The interior of the Flatline barrel isn't smooth, it's course. This is to cause the friction and create the backspin that allows the ball to fly in it's flat trajectory. As the ball slows down the spin starts to take over and you see the ball fly up in most cases.

I won't say weather the hammerhead barrels are good or not. My friends swear by them all the time. Yet I see no accuracy improvment than say over my Edge Kit. Or my Phantom Stock barrel for that matter.

What I do see is more complications with the barrels when they break paint.

Will I buy a Hammerhead?? Nope ....

Is it because I think they're a bad barrel? No, I just have good performance from something else. Why spend more cash?

You get bad paint it doesn't matter what you're shooting with. You're going to have some issue's. If you have good paint you'll have good results.

[viper-mayhem]

Well, to end this debate, the reason I ask who has used one is because I saw it on ebay for 99 cents with $9 in shipping and no one has bid on it. I only wanted to know if they were ok for the price...lol. This debate can keep on going but debates over theory can go on forever. In my case I just wanted to know if someone actually use a rifled barrel and how well they work. Personally, my Cobra full bore barrels on my Angels have out performed anything I've come up against, mainly because of barrel to paint match and a couple of drops of Rain X, but I'm not about to prove it to the world with Theory and/or Relativity. But that it works for me and probably me only. Thanks for the input guys.

[athomas]

i understand all the physics behind it all. but you cant deny that a flatline flies farther cause of the spin at the same fps as another barrel..

Different spin. The flatline doesn't impart a spiral spin. It flings the ball against the roof of the barrel to cause a backspin. This causes the magnus effect as the ball flies through the air. It builds up pressure under the ball while reducing the pressure above the ball. The ball wants to go in the direction of least resistance which is up, but gravity is hauling it down. As the ball slows, the rotational speed reaches optimum value and the upward force is greater than the force of gravity. This is when the ball goes up rather than down.

Rifling causes projectile to cut through the air more efficiently by creating a vortex around it. It prevents air from contacting the surface so the effects of friction are reduced. It doesn't provide lift, but slows the rate of negative acceleration so that the projectile goes farther forward in the same amount of time.

In a rifled paintball barrel there is no magnus effect nor is there a spiral spin, so no increase in distance. Only if the other barrels used in comparison were imparting sidespin would there be a difference in distance. It could be possible, especially if the paint wasn't consistent. Straight rifled barrels may very well handle inconsistent paint much better.