Bad balls, Hairy, Dimpled Lumpy, Saggy, Schwetty, Salty

[iamthelazerviking]

Was just shooting a tree in the backyard with some months old field paint. Probably GI. Just yellow shell/white fill. Will need to caliper a few, but I was using a .680 Stella back which was an underbore. Very surprised at the accuracy for being old meh quality paint that's been in a Valken jug since forever ago. No barrel or breech breaks. Quite surprised.

[Jonnydread]

GI has been shooting well for me lately. Valken less so, but not terrible. I pine for the paint circa ~2000

[RedLeaderSB]

I put some calipers on some recently,
.675 on the seam,
about 655 off axis.

Then I made some .670 inserts lol

[pearcem]

About a year ago a friend bought some GI paint from the field, 3 star I think. It was so out of round that ever 20 or so round wouldn't feed through the feedneck of his Etha 2. It took us a while to figure out what was going on, we kept thinking it was something with his hopper. Nope, paint just couldn't be physically forced into the breach.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Crazy because my local proshop has Redemption that is shooting great. It’s on the smaller side but not that small. It flys true and is super brittle. Maybe a lil to brittle for the colder weather I was shooting it in. Last practice I shot a case of Graffiti and infinity. infinity shot lazier straight but was a lil more bouncy then the graffiti. I was actually impressed how well it shot.

Valken just dropped a “premium” graffiti I think it’s a harder shell graffiti from what I understand. I opted for the normal graffiti it was a lil cheaper and it’s always been pretty consistent for me it shoots in any weather in any marker. I did not like the “new world” paint they were selling it never shot good for me. I’m assuming the “Premium” is just rebranded “new world”. Haven’t tried it yet but I’m going to grab a bag to test it out next time I’m there.

Redemption Pro is manufactured in fewer batches it sells slower so it sits longer adding more variables to the paint line. It’s so hit or miss. I really miss regular redemption so bad that paint was some of the best I ever shot.

No excuse for how small it is tho. That’s unacceptable. You shoot them an email? They might send you a replacement case probably be in their best interest.

[AnarchicArctic]

Yeah I sent them a message, haven’t heard back. Finished a case of graffiti before this that shot great. What a difference.

[iamthelazerviking]

So here in Utah, I finally got out to play this last weekend at the oldest field in the state called Action Center. He was selling cases of Valken Reserve this particular weekend. Can't tell how old it is or anything, but the packaging was nice and clean so it seemed relatively new to me. I didn't inspect it heavily but it was all clean and looked fine at a quick glance. Likely some dimples but didn't see any odd shapes and had zero problems feeding, and no breech or barrel breaks in two different markers. Did a quick sizing and was having some roll-throughs on a .680 Stella back. Used a .675 back at first but then said screw it and over bored with a .685 the rest of the day.

This was at an outdoor field on a sunny nearly 80 degree day.

Took a sample of 5 from my jug. This has been in the jug, in my gearbag, since the weekend. Some do appear a bit more oval shaped.

Measured each twice, once along outside and then at the seams.

instagram view full size

2nd: .6485 and .6685 at seams
3rd: .6495 and .6705 at seams
4th: .6415 and .6680 at seams
5th: .6485 and .6735 at seams

So yeah....small balls. Definitely shrunk since being in climate controlled environment.

[gabe]

At the local field we got some Empire Custom Blend to shoot. Stuff is all covered in little bumps everywhere. Looks like goosebumps on skin.

That being said it shoots great. Probably some of the best shooting paint I've had in the last couple years.

[Havoc]

Maybe like golf ball dimples it helps improve the flight characteristics

[gabe]

That's kind of what the group at the field figured. I only shot them through a 687 freak xl insert so probably a pretty well sized overbore seeing as the paint runs .681 or so. I would imagine with an underbore it wouldn't shoot as well.

[cellophane]

At the local field we got some Empire Custom Blend to shoot. Stuff is all covered in little bumps everywhere. Looks like goosebumps on skin.

That being said it shoots great. Probably some of the best shooting paint I've had in the last couple years.

My local field has the Empire Custom Blend and I've found it to be pretty good as well. Not as brittle as tournament paint, but for practices it is just fine. Sizing is relatively consistent, shoots well, and has a bright, fairly thick orange fill.

[Spider!]

My favorite BS on some terrible "cold weather" paint; "Made in Columbia. Store at 40F."

[Jonnydread]

ooh this is fun I'm gonna measure some balls