DOes paint to barrel Match really matter?

[Yamz]

I am going to say its half paint/barrel match and half the finish on the inside of the barrel remember when trying to get a paint/barrel match when a ball is hit with the escaping gas it warps the balls shape (dont ask for the math just know when something goes from 0 to 280fps in a few inches it has to accelerate real fast) the warping of the ball causes the outer diamater to get larger this is where the smoothness comes in the smoother the surface the less friction the ball will encounter allowing it to slide through better giving less breaks for more info on this view www.technopaintball.com

[sniper1rfa]

yamz, i would suggest doing the math, if you are to post claiming something which was debunked by agd quite a long time ago. Using a clear barrel and high speed video it was proven that the ball doesnt warp or crush AT ALL during its acceleration. :)

the number you are looking for, BTW, is 300,000 fps/s.

[Bubonic Plauge]

ball warping

From what I researched the "warping" of balls ONLY mattered way way way long ago when the ball manufacturing technology was poor/new. Thats when these closed bolts and low pressures (IMO) began their myths. Paint technology today, and recent studies all suggest that zero warp occurs on the ball.
Also, the warping was more of a "dimple." But, my resources could be bogus...just like any thing printed, doesnt make it truth eh?

If enough people believe in myths...then it becomes HIS-tory...kinda scary really

Egg

[Paintmanmike]

Velocity consistency (and thus accuracy) are very likley effected but one thing more is also true, matching effects gas efficiency as well.

When the ball is too small for the barrel some gas leaks down past the edge of the ball and hte side of hte barrel. This amount of gas does not cause the ball to accelerate. That lost gas is a waste, you have to increase the pressure to make for that. This takes more gas per shot and thus less shots for a fixed volume like an HPA tank. I think maybe 5% loss is around what I see when I go for too small a ball for my barrel.

Too big a ball does not lose gas that way, it increases the amount of surface area of the ball in contact with teh side of hte barrel increasing friction. The gas pressure has to go up to make up for the increased fricitional losses in the system. More pressure, more gas per shot, less shots per tank. I'd guess 5% too but since my marker tends not to feed big paint very well I really have less experience with this sitution. I've given paint away that was too big because of this.

[DesertEagle]

Devils Advocate

OK. I can understand paint matching the barrel. I can understand air passing a ball in the barrel will cause inconsistencies. Then how do you explain internal rifling? I use a Bud Orr 16in internal rifled barrel and I will put this thing against any freak any day. The internal rifling will allow some air to pass around the ball. But (I think) you also need to consider other factors. I guess what I am trying to say is that matching could matter but there are many other facts to consider. For the average player (like me) I do not need that level of play. All I want is to buy paint and shoot. I play a few times a month and probable would not notice the difference in matching my paint.

[sneakyhacker420]

small paint is short-ranged on my gun, and when i have a perfect paint-bore match, my gun is easily shooting further than any flatline barrel without me having to arc it one bit, it's awesome... not to mention GREAT efficentcy

[Richter]

i find paint bore matching to work but there are some problems with it. even if you match the paint to the bore there can be that one ball that is a little too big fore that bore. If it is fragile paint this ball that is a little too big for your bore will break in the barrel. That is why i use a large bore barrel mostly. You will lose a little accuracy and a little efficiency but it beats the hell out of squeeging the barrel. I have heard rumors of Smart Parts sponsored teams using only loose bore/ large bore barrels (including using freaks) just for that very reason. They don't want thier barrels breaking balls in them, especially when they are showing off thier products to potential customers. So if you do break a ball it will be inaccurate that why i use a looser fitting barrel because i don't trust any of the paints i shoot for total consistancy. I sometimes though run a barrel that is a little too tight to combat the problem also. A little tighter bore seems to "clean itself" after a break.
just some food for thought

Shane

[manike]

Originally posted by WARPED1
Paint to barrel match is pretty much the only thing that matter in accuracy.

I disagree, I think it's the least important thing.

I think barrels are over rated (says someone with 4 barrel kits )

I'm the one Magman007 is on about.

I think bore to barrel matching is over rated on open bolt guns. For closed bolt guns, then yeah it helps because it stops the paint rolling out the barrel and messing up consistency but on open bolt gun's it means very little.

Accuracy is down to paint, it's weight consistency and how good the seam is. Also it's down to how consistent your gun gas blast is. And how crappy pushing a sphere through the air is...

I shot a piece of PVC tube which was just as accurate as a normal ally barrel. :)

I've shot the same large bore barrel on my RT for 5-6 years? And it's accurate with all paints.

If it mattered that much why would most of the AA's run .693's almost exclusively? go look at some SP photo's and see what they are shooting... and they shoot Diablo which is a smaller bore paint and Bob's ironmen run 695's I think it is...

Time to clamp my gun to the bench again :)

[Riot[Z-Grip]]

Just a little speculation here:

Maybe matching paint to your barrel helps with inconsistencies in the paint? i.e. If your paint sucks, and you match it well, it will shoot better than if you hadn't matched it?

I can think out why this might work in my head, but I can't put it to text... =) Sorry.

-Riot

[manike]

Maybe, but in practice I have found the opposite...

If the paint is inconsistent and is larger and smaller or odd shaped then you get different amounts of friction in a barrel which has been matched to a cross section of the paint. This gives varying velocities and bad accuracy.

Everytime I've shot crappy paint, I've got more consistent chrono readings by using a larger bore barrel.

Consistent velocity = major factor in accuracy

To be honest if your paint sucks, you can kiss accuracy good bye anyway. It's one of the most important things in my opinion...

[Muzikman]

All I will say is that of all the guns I have, two of the most consistent guns I have are fixed barrels. This tells me that paint to barrel match is not as important as long as the barrel is not too tight. Now, obviously, if the ball is rolling out of the barrel, you are going to have problems. There is a happy medium, and I see no reason for 6 or 8 barrel inserts. This is one reason that I do not own any of these multi-bore barrel sets.

[Riot[Z-Grip]]

Well I usually shoot Draxxus paint (on the smaller side, usually less than .687 with my freak kit, last case was .682). One day I just was too lazy to switch out my .689 insert (Blue insert to match the blue accents on my gun :) ) and I noticed slightly worse consistancy then when I had matched my paint. This was new paint and I'd like to think I'm not a SP drone..

I think what we need here is an objective test, performed by AO members (which I regard as generally some of the more educated people in paintball).

.02

-Riot