Barrels - Freak kits etc

[louisxg]

Hello everyone,

As I have recently picked up my 1st gun I am thinking of finishing it off with a nice barrel kit for maximum effectiveness.

My gun is an Etek 3. The barrel as standard is a .688 I believe.

I suppose the purpose of this thread is for 2 things:

1. Is a barrel kit a must have?

2. What bores are the most commonly used? The reason I ask this is because for a cheaper option I could maybe buy separate barrels/inserts rather than a full Freak kit?

Thanks for any advice everyone

 

[munduz]

Barrel kits in my opinion are a waste of money.. Some people will bore you ( no pun intended ) with the benefits of bore sizing your paint for better efficiency or more consistent +/- a few fps over the chrono.. The major importance when you are shooting at someone is accuracy and the quality of paint is where you will see the difference.. Most manufacturers use a .689 - .691 as standard and you won't have any problems just using that.. I use a .691 whether I'm using training paint or tournament grade paint and never have any issues.. The only difference is tournement grade paint shoots straighter and is more brittle 99% of the time.. Save your money and buy better paint, plus it is less kit you will need to haul around

 

[louisxg]

Barrel kits in my opinion are a waste of money.. Some people will bore you ( no pun intended ) with the benefits of bore sizing your paint for better efficiency or more consistent +/- a few fps over the chrono.. The major importance when you are shooting at someone is accuracy and the quality of paint is where you will see the difference.. Most manufacturers use a .689 - .691 as standard and you won't have any problems just using that.. I use a .691 whether I'm using training paint or tournament grade paint and never have any issues.. The only difference is tournement grade paint shoots straighter and is more brittle 99% of the time.. Save your money and buy better paint, plus it is less kit you will need to haul around

Thanks for the reply @munduz

With my standard barrel being a .688 will this not prove a problem with paint in sizes you have mentioned? .689 upwards.

Excuse me being a noob but would that paint even fit down my barrel?

 

[H]

Pretty sure the ETEK3 comes with a .693 bore shaft3 compatible back.Which is pretty huge considering most paint iIve shot in the last few years has been anywhere from .683 to .688. You will be getting far less than ideal efficiency with such a large back. If you care about efficiency then sure it might be worth getting a smaller back or maybe even a ShaftFR back and a couple of inserts. If you never find yourself coming close to running out of air it's probably not worth the expense.

 

[Tom]

Assuming it were an.688 back and you had large .693 paint then generally it will still work

The difference being .005" and paintballs will squeeze to fit
If you're getting loads of breaks in the barrel then it's a problem, but that would often be cold weather and very brittle paint

Opinion also varies on what to do with a barrel set - the closest bore or under/over bore. All have their benefits


Save your money and buy the odd barrel or back, then build a collection over time
Experience will tell you if you will make use of a barrel set. I have a number of barrels including a full freak set, plus multiple backs and fronts, but 99% of the time use the same insert

 

[munduz]

I don't think you will find any issues using your standard back as paint seems to be between .680 - .685.. None of my team mates who use inserts have gone over a .685 recently.. I always overbore to avoid breaks as in the past I have suffered breaks when under-boring, and efficiency doesn't bother me as I'm usually shot out before my tank is empty..

 

[louisxg]

Thank you for the replies everyone!

My next question (Again this may sound stupid). How do you know what barrel to use? Are the paintballs marked - size wise?

As we are talking such tiny differences in the balls how would you know for sure you are using the correct kit?

 

[Tom]

You can get ball gauge (and may be included in a barrel set) but its easier to try the ball in the inserts. See how well it fits, and then depending on preference make sure it is a little tight for underbore, a little loose for overbore, or just right with a blow test