The barrel isn't the most important part of your paintball marker. However, if you didn't have one, you'd probably notice. There are a few things you should know when choosing a paintball barrel that will help you get one that fits your marker, and that will perform well for you. While they might not get as much attention as markers, masks and hoppers, paintball barrels are still an important piece of equipment. Here's some basic information to help you decide.
There are three major parts to the typical paintball barrel. These are the shaft, threading, and porting. Threading is the part of the barrel that lets you attach it to the marker, and must match it. The shaft is the part that the paintball goes through, and the porting is the area near the end of the barrel. There may be holes or other openings in the sides of the paintball barrel here.
Threading is the most important thing for making sure that you'll be able to put together a functional marker. Since threading must match, you'll have to be certain that you have the same size and frequency of threads on the marker body and on its barrel. If you've bought both from the same company, you should have a problem. On the other hand, if you're mixing and matching, you could have problems. While it's best to buy matching threads in the first place, you can get adapters if you've accidentally purchased paintball barrels that don't match your gun bodies.
The length of a barrel gets more press than it should. Many people think that the longer the barrel is, the more accurate it is. That's only true for barrels up to eight inches long or so. Beyond that, a longer barrel could actually hurt performance, slowing down your paintball. The longer the barrel, the more air you'll need to shoot a given ball, meaning your marker becomes less efficient. If the barrel is longer than fourteen inches, the paintball actually starts decelerating before it even leaves the marker. An eight to ten inch barrel is sufficient for most people.
Porting refers to the holes near the tip of a paintball barrel. These are used to make the marker a little quieter when it fires. Remember that the more porting there is, the more air is used in firing, so it's good to get a balance. Some porting is spiraled, whereas other porting is straight, but this is mostly decorative. Neither pattern seems to make a marker much quieter.
Paintball Related Article
Why You Shouldn't Build A Paintball Gun
Paintball guns are readily available from many different companies. If you really love doing things yourself, and know your stuff, it's possible to build a paintball gun out of common hardware store materials. However, the big...
