Barrel length and distance?

[Person]

"aye" Also, my bad, my brother has a 2 or 3 inch barrel and it shoots fine.

[SlartyBartFast]

The only way this can be settled or discussed intelligently is to test. But of course that takes time and money.

Here's what I would propose as a test procedure:

1. Disable the regulator on a Mag and attach a precision (large dial or digital) pressure guage and an adjustable regulator (Say a Palmers) to the Mag air input fitting.
2. Manufacture/Buy a single bore size long barrel (18"). Mark the barrel in 2" intervals from the end.
3. Fabricate a table/tripod to which the Mag gripframe bottom screws can be bolted and to which a decibel meter can be attached.
4. Fabricate a large target marked with a grid (say a plywood 4x8 with 2" markings) and a support to hold it steady.
5. Perform the test indoors to eliminate/limit wind and temperature variations.
6. Get a supply of paintballs from the same manufacturer and the same batch/colour/shell.
7. Bolt Mag to table.
8. Chrono to 300fps. Take pressure reading of dump chamber.
9. Fire a number of shots recording pressure, fps, and noise (dB).
10. Place target at DIST1 ensuring target is square and centered with respect to the Mag.
11. Fire XXX balls at target. For each shot record pressure, fps, dB, location hit on target (including over, under, left, right, and bounce).
12. Move target to DIST2 ensuring target is square and centered with respect to the Mag.
13. Fire XXX balls at target. For each shot record pressure, fps, dB, location hit on target (including over, under, left, right, and bounce).
14. Move target to DIST3 ensuring target is square and centered with respect to the Mag.
15. Fire XXX balls at target. For each shot record pressure, fps, dB, location hit on target (including over, under, left, right, and bounce)
16. Cut 2" from end of barrel. Remove and hone any burrs from cut. Repeat steps 8 through 15.

Stop testing when barrel is too short to place on gun.

The resulting data will give you standard deviations for all the different lengths of accuracy, consistency, noise, and gas efficiency. Better range would be indicated by better grouping/accuracy at the further distances.

Note: Have to determine what the distances (DIST1, DIST2, DIST3) are and the right number of balls (XXX) to be statistically vaild.

[athomas]

Years ago our entire team shot 5" barrels while others shot 16" for "accuracy". We used 5" for manuverability. The accuracy of the 5" barrel was quite amazing although it was very loud. The ball doesn't pick up any spin as it travel down the barrel.

The range is identical. Its physics. The rate of negative acceleration (slowing down) as the ball moves away from the barrel is caused by the friction and pressure of the air. The air is the same no matter what the length of the barrel. The ball velocity and mass is also the same. The acceleration rate of gravity is always 9.81m/s/s. With everything identical the ball travels the same velocity, slows down the same amount and hits the ground at the same time not matter what the length of barrel.

[Person]

Yeah everything i said before this is all messed up. My older brother has a 3 inch barrel and it shoots almost as strait and as far as my boomy. Just its hell loud, but small barrels are the best. The only good reason to use bigger barrels is to press them into inflatable bunkers to get nice little shots.