So what’s the new barrel meta?

[$L!mBo]

buy the cheapest one piece you can find, or even better, send your old barrels to BMC and have them freak bored
make sure you send em in CLEAN
and pray they sit centered enough for him to do the work. hes a little picky

[Jackson]

Anecdotally, the best results I've had in the past couple years was this year with my 2006 Grey Ghost and stock .690 Big Shot barrel. In most pumps, that would be a recipe for rollouts. But on the "new" Grey Ghost the ball doesn't sit in the barrel, instead being held just behind the barrel by a Spyder style detent. Conventional wisdom says that this is less than ideal since the ball is "shot" into the barrel, crossing the breach/barrel gap. I have had no issues ever. Maybe that new Nova autococker with quad detents, when using a sufficiently large over-bored barrel, isn't such a bad idea.

[Jellyghost]

This has been my best setup for ever. Over-bore seems more fail proof (and surprisingly consistent) than tight bore.

[dutchcommando]

I'm a believer in bore-matching whenever possible for optimal efficiency, or I'll run a slight overbore with open-bolt markers. How I look at it is that I already have the kit, so I might as well try. Plus you can pick up a standard Freak kit for around $100 new. It's arguable how much it effects your efficiency, but it does have an effect.

I generally try to run a good paint such as Marballizer or Evil, too.

[SockeyeSteve]

Freak XL is nice, bore match as best as possible (I tend to over bore one size up) and let the detents do their thing.

Always buy the best paint you can afford. Usually evil in my area and I've always had good luck with that. Occasionally my home field has defy and upgrades to that for the same cost, their paint tends to run smaller or that's been the case with every case I've happened to have but it shoots pretty consistently and I find less oil in their bags than I do with evil or G.I. Custom

[Impactfour]

I've always been a fan of freak kits. A few weeks ago I had the wild experience of chopping a few balls in a pump only to realize the paint I'd switched was a whopping (by today's standard) .685 and I'd foolishly assumed it would be tiny like all modern paint. Being able to switch on the fly is nice even when I'm too lazy to borecheck a new bag of paint sometimes...

[Brandon]

I've been using a Freak pretty much since they first came out, both the OG size and the XL. I've also acquired most of the sizes in brass for the newer Tiny Paint.

I did try the Acculock for a while, but there just isn't as much variety in the inserts as there is with the Freak. I was talking to Hellion360 on Saturday about the PWR inserts, specifically the Inception inserts. They look really nice and seem very well thought out, especially with the nicely transitioned edges.

In the end, though, they do the same thing when used as intended, and I really don't need to spend more money on another barrel system.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Agreed this is why I don’t have anything that takes XL inserts or a PWR. However if I didn’t already have what I need and was buying a new barrel insert system I would go PWR since that’s the latest barrel bore system all the manufacturers are embracing lately. They are definitely more durable than standard freaks. Not that durability is an issue for me anyway I take good care of my stuff. However Older freaks are easily bent if abused. Also the design of the PWR is likely better if a ball is ever broken vs a freak that never shoots clean without a full break down clean of the insert and barrel.

[Interl0per]

There's no scientific consensus; I believe Tom Kaye when he says porting just reduces effective length for accelerating the ball, and it seems like simple physics that out to the proper effective length, a good paint to bore match should maximize efficiency if one is concerned about that. But on my local FPO fields I'm not convinced paint in the same bag is consistent to .001", so I'm comfortable with a limited selection of inserts. As others have said, if your stock barrel is up to snuff concentrically send it to BMC; get 2-3 inserts and have fun.

[TheBigShawn]

https://www.youtube.com/@thatpaintballchannel179

This guy did a whole video series on Paintball Accuracy, highly suggest it if you want to get into the details. If you just want to skip to relevant video about barrel boring, it's this one:

[dano_____]

The only thing I have seen come out in barrels that could be perceived as an improvement in the last 15 years has been the micro-porting. They are still just a tube the same as others, but you get the same quietness of a properly ported barrel while being able to use them in more inclement weather. It definitely is a niche requirement and doesn't happen all that often, but is nice to have.

Itypically use a deadlywind carbon barrel with freak inserts and see no reason to get something different unless I was going to change up the aesthetics for a build. That being said, my favorite barrels of all time are the second gen powerlyte scepter barrels. I have the full sizer kit for it and love how it points and the sound signature of it on low pressure guns. They aren't impossible to find, but aren't as easily found as others mentioned in prior posts.

[dutchcommando]

I miss the second gen Powerlyte Scepters. Probably one of my favorite barrels of all time. I loved the compression lock system they used for inserts

[JonM]

Barrels really come down to a few things:

• Aesthetics
• Sound signature
• Preventing roll-outs (for closed bolt markers)
• Air efficiency (in niche cases)

The whole accuracy debate has been beaten to death over and over with no real winner, but the "toob is toob" (sic) crowd seems to be holding the lead these days.

Personally, I still find myself bore matching - probably more out of habit than anything. Then again, I tend to shoot mostly closed bolt markers. When I shoot my 180R, I usually go .689 and not put much more thought into it. Still shoots great.

[Chuck E Ducky]

These J4 PAT barrels can’t be beat for the money. Especially if you don’t want to mess with freak bore barrels. They are thin enough to run on Phantoms with original over barrel handles with a round head body to which is cool. Nice quite simple and clean looking all for $35 a barrel. I got the entire set and love them.

My all time favorite is the PumpPb Tightstick but these are just as good.

https://www.j4pb.com/product-page/pat-singles