"Another" rifled barrel thread

[Flycatchr]

following on from the discusion regarding the tiberius "first strike" rounds, i would like to know, for interest sake, the perception of rifled barrels. Part of the reason i ask is that i still have a few of them from my very old Armson markers from my range. UNFORTUNATELY they are a left spin (anti clockwise) wheras the FS is a clockwise spin, so it would be counter prodcutive to even try them. the main reason for the question is to find out if there where any other rifled barrels made and what direction they spun the ball. i know that the general consensus is that spinning the ball doesnt seem to make much difference, but i would love to know if there is a discernable diference for the FS?

OH - and i got rid of my flatline barrel for the A5, because i was getting more consistancy from the 16" armson rifled barrel that i had threaded for the A5.

[KAVIK35]

For my 2 cents. I have owned a few Armson Barrels for various markers as have the majority of my old teamates. We have found that they are accurate (not anymore than another good quality barrel) , the range is consistent (not anymore than another good quality barrel) , Chrony consistency is great with a good paint match (not anymore than another good quality barrel)

Where we have found that they excel is when shooting through light brush or cedar trees. For what ever reason Armsons seem to increase the effective penetration thru to target in that type of situation. I know... it sounds like crap; but I have been playing for 21 years and shooting these barrels and many many others for a majority of that time, and we all have had that type of result time after time.

[robertsr1811]

I've found that they seem to clear breaks faster. I'm guessing that the rifling give the broken paint somewhere to "smoosh" to.

[punkncat]

I have owned a few of the Armson rifled barrels. I liked how they performed. I am not saying the rifling helped or hindered, they seemed to be as good as any other quality barrel.

[Temo Vryce]

To answer your question, yes the apposing twists would be bad. If you had a newer Armson with the straight rifling it may work a little better, but even then I think that these rounds will work best in a smooth bore barrel.

[dreadpirate]

My experience with my 16" armson stealth, late-90's version:

The barrel shoots as good as any other barrel I have, other than my freak kit, can't comment on 'brush penetration', as was mentioned earlier.

Barrel performance was greatly increased when I purchased a cleaning kit from Pro-Team. Their claim is that gelatin from paint shells builds up on barrels. This claim is borne out by the fact that my performance dropped over time, until I first cleaned the barrel with their residue remover, and then applied their teflon polish. The barrel shoots better than when I first purchased it now.

Mainstream players these days either have never heard, or forgotten, what a spinning ball sounds like. The "angry bee" sound caused by the spinning seam on balls which have a pronounced seam sends a lot of players diving for cover. I seem to recall, in the 90s, I was accustomed to most pro markers making that sound, since the armson barrels were really popular back then.

I seem to have better luck with ballistic angles using this barrel. I have not tested it thoroughly against my other barrels, so this is just heresay, but I have had a number of times where I've fired at 30, even 45 degree angles and been surprised to see all my shots landing in a 7 ft radius or so, with enough velocity still to break on players behind a spool. I suppose it could support a hypothesis that perhaps a spin, however slow, helps in a slight crosswind?

It has been proven that spiral rifling really does not improve accuracy, except perhaps the progressive ported barrels by smart parts that induce just enough rotation to hopefully keep the ball from tumbling randomly. Personally, I find Lapco Big Shot barrels outperform most of Smart Parts' stuff for a lower price, but I digress. I rarely use anything other than my stealth on my A-5, but do not have one for my 'mag, since 16" is too big for what I usually use the mag for.

[cockerpunk]

the fins on the first strike dont make the spin in the barrel. they are made to put spin on the paintball from the air as it flows though it.

our testing showed nothing better about rifles, and the chrono consistency and efficiency was pretty bad.

[Flycatchr]

the fins on the first strike dont make the spin in the barrel. they are made to put spin on the paintball from the air as it flows though it.

our testing showed nothing better about rifles, and the chrono consistency and efficiency was pretty bad.

Whick barrels did you test? how did you test the ID against the ball diameter? i presume you used decent consistant balls?

[dreadpirate]

Whick barrels did you test? how did you test the ID against the ball diameter? i presume you used decent consistant balls?

What cockerpunk says about efficiency is true: I find my efficiency to be fairly low, and I think I know why:

The field I use my stealth on most often is a field paint-only field, and in size-testing, I find that if I place a ball in the back end, drops freely about 1", then stops. After that, i have to blow in the end, and the ball will travel until it reaches the porting, at which point, it is in there pretty tight. It takes a cleaning rod to pop it back out again, since the porting begins about 7 or 8" down the barrel. It seems like the bore actually tightens from back to front, in similar fashion to some firearms, and increases friction as it goes. I have never broken this particular paint in the barrel, but no doubt it pulls down the air efficiency even more than a 16" smoothbore barrel, especially since the last 8" of travel relies more on momentum than air pressure.

I don't see any change in chrono consistency compared to my big shot barrel, but I use the stealth on a HP A-5, which is not very consistent to begin with.

[KAVIK35]

I agree with TemoVryce.... He is one of those that has both experienced incoming and outgoing paintballs with me lol