before buying a barrel-check out this bore sizing chart

[Dave]

This is a bore sizing chart that will help you figure out which barrels will most likely work with what paint and visa-versa.

http://members.mint.net/aidtwo/mpb/articles/barrels.html

I have decided to go with Big Ball paint. Tom mentioned how paint these days is very brittle, and I know this stuff was the sturdiest paint I used in my 'mag, and actually the most consistent as well. I know there are probably always going to be leftovers from making paintballs, so Big Ball should always exist. The size of this ball is .688 to .690, so we will just say .689. Now, to find a barrel...here is what I have been looking for at:

Lapco Big Shot
ACI ???
Perfect Bore by PMI


Here is what it says...the Lapco is around .689-a perfect match. Then there is the Perfect Bore, which is around .688-.690, another perfect match. The ACI is too big.

Has anyone tried any of these barrels? Has anyone used Big Ball paint with incredible accuracy with a certain barrel? I would like to get a barrel that is more efficient than my Xcel, and shorter....and I am not exactly sure why a 5-6 effective bore length would give a better tightness to shot grouping versus a longer barrel with some porting...I would like to know why this is...why does the abrupt stop creat better consistency? Is this abrupt stop the paintball going out of a barrel, or just the end of the first stage of a two piece? I am looking mostly for consistecy, that is my priority, so what effective bore length should I be looking for, and how does that relate to a barrel when is says 10" or 12" or whatever the overall length is?

Any help is appreciated!

-Dave

[mac2k4]

paint is constantl changeing sizes, swelling.... ya just have to check everyonce in a while while playing. sometimes ya might have to go up a bore size.

[Russ]

Just to let you know, there are MANY factors that influence paint. Age, how it was shipped, storage techniques just to name a few. And just because a store just got some paint in, doesn't nesessarily mean that it's fresh. It could've sat at a distributor's warehouse for some time. Also paint varies widely from lot to lot. BigBall you buy today can, and usually is, much different than what you'll get in a month from now. Paint is always a crap shoot. Kinda like what Forrest Gump said...

"PAINT is like a box of chocolates, you'll never know what you'll get"

[bond1313]

Hey, I use big ball all the time it is the only paint I use, I works perfectly in my dye 10" SS barrel, i would recomend getting it I belive the bore size is .689. If you go to tom tech tipes #4 you can see how consistant it was, and it was a week old. Big ball is some really good paint and its cheap as hell 40 bucks a case of the net.(50 at my local store)