What do you guys think of Hamerhead Rifled Barrels?

[astroboy]

i got a set of hammerhead with the full fins... bought into the hype and foolishly am waiting to see if it is like wine; does it get better with aging? lol... i have posted my review on pbreview and pbnation... basically accuracy is no better than my CP set and a lot of time it is worse and with my set there are lots of breaks in the barrel midway so that's my take and yes I did ask for a different set (this was my 2nd set because the first set didn't all fit together and other issues...) i don't use it all...

[Bigman]

Well unless you guys are cracking thermodynamics books trying to figure this one out don't try to make logic of it. The barrel works sort of like step-ups and flatlines buy using air to stabilize the ball... I don't know I didn't buy it becuase of that I bought becuase I laughed at the guy saying it was more accurate then my freak. He told we to but 20 rnds into a target about 75' away. Then he puts a Hammer Head on it, same paint same fit... Yeah all 20 rnds went inbetween the closest 5 freak rnds to the bulls eye... Bought 2 one for my dads RT one for my cocker which will carry onto my next buy... eTac-One.

[Miscue]

Well unless you guys are cracking thermodynamics books trying to figure this one out don't try to make logic of it. The barrel works sort of like step-ups and flatlines buy using air to stabilize the ball... I don't know I didn't buy it becuase of that I bought becuase I laughed at the guy saying it was more accurate then my freak. He told we to but 20 rnds into a target about 75' away. Then he puts a Hammer Head on it, same paint same fit... Yeah all 20 rnds went inbetween the closest 5 freak rnds to the bulls eye... Bought 2 one for my dads RT one for my cocker which will carry onto my next buy... eTac-One.

This sounds familiar... SP Tear Drop anybody? This barrel didn't do anything special either... because it doesn't work.

http://www.freshpatents.com/Paintball-gun-barrel-with-compression-chamber-dt20050331ptan20050066954.php

[Drizit]

Well Miscue I mean no disrespect but in THIS case you are dead wrong. I won't say it the rifling and I won't say it's the much hyped reverse porting. However SOMTHING about this setup makes it work better then other options. My first thought at the IAO a few years ago was "yah right another rifled barrel" Glen Palmer was standing right beside me with the same opinion BTW. The owner of Hammer Head told me to come back with my gun and paint. So off I went to get my Imp with a freak and a full pod of field paint and a friend with a racegun. We went out back matched the paint to the freak kit and started shooting down a target range at a pop can hanging from a string with the freak I was lucky to hit more then 1 in 5 when the can was sitting still, half way through the hopper we swapped barrels for the same sized (.01 off was the closest) fin as the freak insert and started shooting again the hits on the still can went up to more like 1 in 2 or better and I could even hit it when moving with some degree of consistancy. The same results were found with the cocker (again compared to a freak). I also now own a twist lock single piece hammer head that gets used on my pump mag. The other option for the pump are a 14" SS boomstick and a 14" old school one peice all american (both vary nice barrels and all 3 with unknown bores) reliably with whatever paint I happen to have at the time the hammer head works better then the other 2. So much so that even though I have sold my last twist lock marker with the other 2 I am keeping the hammer head just in case I ever get another twistlock.

Oh and as to the tippmann flatline... as a previous owner here's the deal... it does give notiably better range however you better have an RT kit on there or you can forget about hitting anything smaller then a mid sized car (I know I exagerate) I swapped that out for a hammer head and even though the range is less I get more kills per hopper (RT at 19 a sec, shooting from the hip you count kills by the hopper full not by the ball) so you do the math range or MUCH better accuracy. In fact I found the flatline accuracy to approxematly match the stock barrel (from a rental gun at a sandy field.) on the other hand I like it when someone else behind me has one (helps keep the other team in while I move up for the kill.)

ok now that I have promoted a rifled barrel without quoting laws of fluid dinamics feel free to tell yourselfs and the rest of the world that I don't know what I'm talking about... No realy don't even try a hammer head just accept blindly that they don't work and let me have the advantage

[osustevie]

I got a 5 fin Hammerhead kit for my CCM series 5 cocker. I just love it. All I can say is that I am very pleased with the performance I get from my Hammerhead barrel.

[Lohman446]

ok now that I have promoted a rifled barrel without quoting laws of fluid dinamics :

And absolutely zero quantitative or objective reference material. Good job though

[Drizit]

And absolutely zero quantitative or objective reference material. Good job though

True but I'm just to lazy/busy to setup a proper target range and a bench to lock things down. one day I'll do it just for fun but at the moment I have clients demanding attention and a car requireing a head swap so I'm booked. The closest thing to quantitative evedence is that swaping from a freak to a hammerhead with the same sized back 1/2 way through a hopper resulted in me hitting a small moving target with far more proficiency. Make of that what you will

[SlartyBartFast]

True but I'm just to lazy/busy to setup a proper target range and a bench to lock things down. one day I'll do it just for fun but at the moment I have clients demanding attention and a car requireing a head swap so I'm booked. The closest thing to quantitative evedence is that swaping from a freak to a hammerhead with the same sized back 1/2 way through a hopper resulted in me hitting a small moving target with far more proficiency. Make of that what you will

Which is an absolutely and amazingly useless comparison unless the marker is re-chrono'd after the switch.

If the freak back was too tight, inconsistencies in ball size would cause inconsistent velocities.

[SCpoloRicker]

Well Miscue I mean no disrespect but in THIS case you are dead wrong. I won't say it the rifling and I won't say it's the much hyped reverse porting. However SOMTHING about this setup makes it work better then other options. My first thought at the IAO a few years ago was "yah right another rifled barrel" Glen Palmer was standing right beside me with the same opinion BTW. The owner of Hammer Head told me to come back with my gun and paint. So off I went to get my Imp with a freak and a full pod of field paint and a friend with a racegun. We went out back matched the paint to the freak kit and started shooting down a target range at a pop can hanging from a string with the freak I was lucky to hit more then 1 in 5 when the can was sitting still, half way through the hopper we swapped barrels for the same sized (.01 off was the closest) fin as the freak insert and started shooting again the hits on the still can went up to more like 1 in 2 or better and I could even hit it when moving with some degree of consistancy. The same results were found with the cocker (again compared to a freak). I also now own a twist lock single piece hammer head that gets used on my pump mag. The other option for the pump are a 14" SS boomstick and a 14" old school one peice all american (both vary nice barrels and all 3 with unknown bores) reliably with whatever paint I happen to have at the time the hammer head works better then the other 2. So much so that even though I have sold my last twist lock marker with the other 2 I am keeping the hammer head just in case I ever get another twistlock.

Oh and as to the tippmann flatline... as a previous owner here's the deal... it does give notiably better range however you better have an RT kit on there or you can forget about hitting anything smaller then a mid sized car (I know I exagerate) I swapped that out for a hammer head and even though the range is less I get more kills per hopper (RT at 19 a sec, shooting from the hip you count kills by the hopper full not by the ball) so you do the math range or MUCH better accuracy. In fact I found the flatline accuracy to approxematly match the stock barrel (from a rental gun at a sandy field.) on the other hand I like it when someone else behind me has one (helps keep the other team in while I move up for the kill.)

ok now that I have promoted a rifled barrel without quoting laws of fluid dinamics feel free to tell yourselfs and the rest of the world that I don't know what I'm talking about... No realy don't even try a hammer head just accept blindly that they don't work and let me have the advantage

[Mike Smith]

Which is an absolutely and amazingly useless comparison unless the marker is re-chrono'd after the switch.

If the freak back was too tight, inconsistencies in ball size would cause inconsistent velocities.

Yep, that 1 one-hundreth of an inch difference in the diameter is why the Hammerhead was more accurate that his freak.... And, of course, he had the world's MOST consistantly round paintballs in his hopper.... :R :R

[Drizit]

Yep, that 1 one-hundreth of an inch difference in the diameter is why the Hammerhead was more accurate that his freak.... And, of course, he had the world's MOST consistantly round paintballs in his hopper.... :R :R

Beat me to the draw, yah there really is no point in rechronoing after a .01 change in bore size for the purpose of this test, and the paint.... Yep best stuff on earth Diablo Hellfire that went unused at the IAO and has been sitting in a tightly packed pod all day in the heat and humidity. I think it's safe to say that there is more then a .01 variance from ball to ball. In fact I know that to be true as we fed the paint through a ball seizer to find the correct insert rather then just blowing them through the insert.

[Lohman446]

Beat me to the draw, yah there really is no point in rechronoing after a .01 change in bore size for the purpose of this test, and the paint.... Yep best stuff on earth Diablo Hellfire that went unused at the IAO and has been sitting in a tightly packed pod all day in the heat and humidity. I think it's safe to say that there is more then a .01 variance from ball to ball. In fact I know that to be true as we fed the paint through a ball seizer to find the correct insert rather then just blowing them through the insert.

So you did in fact fail to isolate variables? Unless your telling me that was consistent paint.

[topazpaintball]

what was it that rogue said? "an aluminum tube is an aluminum tube, no matter whose name is on it" or somethign to that effect

[SR_matt]

ok well i won one at a scenario game so i dont have the money tie to the barrel expectations

does it shoot well? yes

does the rifeling work? i can see some what of a differance, if the ball has a defect in it it wil at leat always seem to go the same direction a other defects


the rifleing seems to stabilize the spin as apposed to creating spin like other rifeling does

would i buy one? probably not because i like full length backs and i am a fan of dye barrels

will i suggest it to others? sure its a good barrel

i hope this helps
-matt

[Pneumagger]

look..as an engineer, I tend to read into advertisement claims a little to much and tend to call shennanigans on alot of things without feeling the need to try it out.

The truth here is this: It is a good quality barrel, right up there with boomsticks and freaks. Some claim better, some claim equal performance. Quatitative data fails to consistently prove one argument right over another

The unkown is this: Is the rifling the deciding factor in everyones "I compared it to barrel B side by side" miracle stories? Probably (and theorhetically) not. There are a lot of factors. Perhaps the muzzle brake on the hammerhead is a great design by chance. Perhaps the stepped bore and rifle channels lets the ball ride on more air and pick up less barrel friction and spin. Maybe it's polished better. Who knows.

(for example)
If I claim my $110 Scandium Alloy Dye Ultralight II shoots better than a $15 Dye Excel because it can directionalize the earth's polar magnetic feild giving the ball less resistence through the barrel...everyone would call shens and it would be a load of horsedung. But what if the barrel places all it's shots within the 5 best shots of the Dye Excel consistently for many users? Then for some (unknown) reason, it is a better barrel and possibly worth the money.

Just because a manufacturer "claims" why something is better doesn't mean it's true. But if a barrel performs just as good (or possibly better) as other high end barrels, who cares why? It could be for other reasons. Don't call BS on someone just because they noticed a change in performance of their equipment and you think you know some "theory" that conflicts with an "advertisement". Sure, you may be right...but (if their observation is honest) they still have a better barrel reguardless of what you think you know and how many laws of physics a manufacture's PR department has broken.

My $.02 (nonrefundable)