Actual Paintball Calibur

[river031403]

I don't know anything about any fancy science behind overboring vs. underboring vs. bore matching. I've read dozens of "tests" and about a zillion discussions of the subject. What I DO know is that 25+ years of playing has taught me the following:

Underboring can increase efficiency, but also increases ball breaks.

Overboring will leave you with an empty tank in the middle of a game.

Bore matching is decently efficient while preventing breaks.

As far as accuracy, your barrel doesnt matter for squat.... Paint quality is the biggest factor in accuracy followed by a consistant shooting stance and being familiar with your gun.

As I said, all this is personal experience. Hundreds of barrels and thousands of games worth of it. Take it or leave it.

FYI, My Sarah and I both use freak kits and bore match.

^^^^^thats what im saying^^^^^
I used the same paint without a barrel kit, my accuracy was so so. But the moment I used the freak kit it was an amazing difference same crappy field paint spectrum xo but what i experienced was hit after hit after hit almost did'nt seem fair.

[Drix]

^^^^^thats what im saying^^^^^
I used the same paint without a barrel kit, my accuracy was so so. But the moment I used the freak kit it was an amazing difference same crappy field paint spectrum xo but what i experienced was hit after hit after hit almost did'nt seem fair.

Chances are you just had a **** barrel to begin with. I use a Dye UL, Full Freak and J+J interchangably when I play because I usually use 2 guns in a day, sometimes 3 (I'll start with something heavy and get lighter, eventually I go semi-auto to save paint late afternoon). Aside from efficiency and breaks I notice no difference, accuracy remains the same between all 3 barrels.

[kcombs9]

I don't know anything about any fancy science behind overboring vs. underboring vs. bore matching. I've read dozens of "tests" and about a zillion discussions of the subject. What I DO know is that 25+ years of playing has taught me the following:

Underboring can increase efficiency, but also increases ball breaks.

Overboring will leave you with an empty tank in the middle of a game.

Bore matching is decently efficient while preventing breaks.

As far as accuracy, your barrel doesnt matter for squat.... Paint quality is the biggest factor in accuracy followed by a consistant shooting stance and being familiar with your gun.

As I said, all this is personal experience. Hundreds of barrels and thousands of games worth of it. Take it or leave it.

FYI, My Sarah and I both use freak kits and bore match.

Agree, I have a kit, mostly for efficiency purposes, and so I don't have to worry about if I get into some really large paint no worry about breaks

[Frizzle Fry]

Ah, so the truth is revealed, it was all a sales pitch , maybe you are right though, New Hampshire can have such varied weather that perhaps it would be a good idea to have a kit. Something to think about, maybe I will just start with a single barrel and then buy a kit later on when my wife is not looking, ha.

I play just a few miles south and buy premium $60-$70 per case paint. Same field, same brand... I've found consistency bag to bag in a case of paint (I insist on sealed boxes no mix'n match) but from one production run to another, or one chilly dry day to one hot humid one, I've found that sizes vary greatly. I usually overbore a little bit because I want efficiency but I know paint won't stay round forever. I don't get breaks, and haven't since I went with a kit.

Closed bolt is a different story.

[river031403]

Chances are you just had a **** barrel to begin with. I use a Dye UL, Full Freak and J+J interchangably when I play because I usually use 2 guns in a day, sometimes 3 (I'll start with something heavy and get lighter, eventually I go semi-auto to save paint late afternoon). Aside from efficiency and breaks I notice no difference, accuracy remains the same between all 3 barrels.

that's weird i thought dye didnt make **** barrels. maybe you should try a fourth gun and grow some biceps so you dont have to fight fatigue and go to a lighter gun

[Frizzle Fry]

that's weird i thought dye didnt make **** barrels. maybe you should try a fourth gun and grow some biceps so you dont have to fight fatigue and go to a lighter gun

DYE has made some **** barrels. I love DYE, I think they do an excellent job with many things, and I've got more respect for them than most companies, but to deny that they've made some crappy parts (especially in the barrel department) is just silly. Some Xcellerators came out of the factory with a tighter bore at the tip than the control bore itself, the early carbon fiber stuff wasn't coated so it sparked when debris got into the barrel (sometimes unraveling), and some of the Boomsticks I've seen either wouldn't thread properly (late gen) or came unglued on the field within a year of use (early gen).

Every company has a product they're not proud of, a first gen item that had problems solved in a later model, or a project or product that was shelved because it just didn't work or wasn't worth making work... The problem is that forums, ebay and even distributors don't discriminate. Look at all the people who bought defective chinese autocockers on ebay for cheap, or crummy Shocktech autococker frames that don't work, "rain tips" or "undershot barrels" that have no effect on performance, automag "upgrade" mod boxes or regulator backs.

I'm not saying your barrel is necessarily crap, or that you have a lemon, just that when you're not buying new from a proshop or direct from the mfg, there's a good chance you can end up with a lemon product or "blem" unit - often times they outnumber the "good ones" and most don't end up at the dump. It's not easy to tell.

[river031403]

i completely agree

DYE has made some **** barrels. I love DYE, I think they do an excellent job with many things, and I've got more respect for them than most companies, but to deny that they've made some crappy parts (especially in the barrel department) is just silly. Some Xcellerators came out of the factory with a tighter bore at the tip than the control bore itself, the early carbon fiber stuff wasn't coated so it sparked when debris got into the barrel (sometimes unraveling), and some of the Boomsticks I've seen either wouldn't thread properly (late gen) or came unglued on the field within a year of use (early gen).

Every company has a product they're not proud of, a first gen item that had problems solved in a later model, or a project or product that was shelved because it just didn't work or wasn't worth making work... The problem is that forums, ebay and even distributors don't discriminate. Look at all the people who bought defective chinese autocockers on ebay for cheap, or crummy Shocktech autococker frames that don't work, "rain tips" or "undershot barrels" that have no effect on performance, automag "upgrade" mod boxes or regulator backs.

I'm not saying your barrel is necessarily crap, or that you have a lemon, just that when you're not buying new from a proshop or direct from the mfg, there's a good chance you can end up with a lemon product or "blem" unit - often times they outnumber the "good ones" and most don't end up at the dump. It's not easy to tell.

I agree with you with dye. I have a slg ul and they took care of it all for free gave me an extra board,bolt lots of other goodies kept in contact and hooked my gun up,I no longer have issue with the slg ul.They are great for customer service.

[Frizzle Fry]

I agree with you with dye. I have a slg ul and they took care of it all for free gave me an extra board,bolt lots of other goodies kept in contact and hooked my gun up,I no longer have issue with the slg ul.They are great for customer service.

I had a Gen1 SLG, stripped the eyecover holes, stripped the feedneck, I contacted them (not to complain, just to let them know what happened) and told them I was going to drill out and tap the holes myself but that there was a problem, and they replaced the marker. From what I understand the QC had gotten much better with that model, but they definitely helped out more than anything I've encountered.

[Drix]

that's weird i thought dye didnt make **** barrels. maybe you should try a fourth gun and grow some biceps so you dont have to fight fatigue and go to a lighter gun

I start my day with a shoebox shocker, you go run around the woods all day with that thing :-p

[river031403]

I start my day with a shoebox shocker, you go run around the woods all day with that thing :-p

ok ship it! if you cant handle it i will

[PsychoMag]

back on the barrel bore discussion. When I was playing speedball for years, we all shot a .693 bore no matter what paint we shot. .693 was our teams golden rule. Although you may have a small bore paint like marballizer, add some humidity or dampness from a passing shower and your bore is out the window. I would never go for an underbore because you waste just as much air forcing a ball down the control bore because of drag as you do with an overbore with blowby. We had not so great air efficiency, but we had minimal breaks even with the poorest of cheap tourney paint. The physics behind the paintball has been talked about for years now and I always stumble onto an article and they are all the same, nobody has a true answer. I have been playing since 1990 and by mid 90s, the science of accuracy and barrels was on. I tend to get better shot accuracy with a properly matched dry shell paint and a decent control bore. stepped barrels are usually .700 anyways, so once a ball hits speed and passes the control bore it is wide open, like a crazy overbore. We had a discussion on here years ago and if I remember right someone had a great point about air and how it distorts the ball when the air impacts it in the breach.

In the end, I will match my paint to a bore and if it is humid, I will recheck it throughout the day. If I were still a competitive baller I would be shooting my .693 bore so I dont worry about that break that messes up my game.