Preferred barrel system?

[ChillswitchEngage]

I'm still very much of the opinion a tube is a tube as far as accuracy goes. But regardless, in my ideal world, I'd probably be running a 14" Dye UL in .689 bore on all my markers.

[SockeyeSteve]

Freak XL on my pumps (because that's what the barrel I use is bored for)

PWR on all my eclipse stuff

I still over bore and tend to rely on detents doing their job

Standard Freak all American was my go to for years and had the best luck with those.
Though the WGP Orracle raindrop style porting is arguably my favorite port design

[The Jayster]

I use an ID Stella kit with PWR inserts for my Emeks and Nova Sentinel Sniper pump, I use the stock S63 PWR kit for my LV2, and both my Phantoms have Phreak-bored barrels for the 5" inserts.
I use the Phenom-style stock barrel on my gen 2 A-5. Good enough.

[joshs]

I like the J4 Paintball one piece barrel set, but it's much easier to transport a two-piece insert based kit. My current favorite is the CRBN Nano PWR barrel. It's quiet and the small ports do seem to limit water/paint ingress from the outside of the ports.

[Moodog]

Is J4 still actively shipping the one piece barrels?

[joshs]

Looks like they're still in stock on their site.

[ClockworkSoldier]

My two favorite all time barrel kits so far have been my Custom Products in AC threads, and my J&J Edge in A5. I'd love to try and find another J&J kit with AC threads at some point. As for other barrels, My old two piece Dye Boomstick was amazing, and probably my favorite single barrel I've had, and recently picked up an old A5 with one.

As for what I'm currently using, it's a bit of a mix. I recently picked up a Deadlywind Fibur X for my SL68II, which uses 5" Freak inserts, and it shoots great. I still use the CP kit randomly, and it performs as fantastic as ever. I also picked up a new CRBN Nano barrel kit, but haven't had the chance to take it out to the field yet. Depending on how the Nano performs, I may flip it and pick up a UL-I though. I just wish they had a purple version available...

Here's my opinion on the whole barrel debate though. I do generally agree that a tube is a tube, and that paint is the primary factor in accuracy, but with some big caveats. If you're like me, and love using old guns that aren't the most efficient, and/or lack detents, then having a good bore match can help drastically, especially with some old guns that can have a hard time achieving higher FPS to begin with, like my SL68II and 68 Special. Shooting at the correct speeds can have a huge impact on accuracy. And if you're already spending money for higher grade paint in the first place, then the differences between a proper bore match, and no match, become a bit more apparent. Otherwise, if you're just shooting inconsistent low to low-mid grade field paint, you're better off grabbing a good single bore barrel, and relying on your detents to stop any roll-outs.

[Sottyman]

Aside from my Shocker AMP's, everything I have is closed bolt (phantoms and cockers). Regular 5" freak set for those. The AMP's come with the Freak XL barrels, so I have a set of those as well. I got the phantoms and cockers before the shockers, otherwise I'd have just standardized on a set of XL inserts and been done with it. Luckily insert sets are cheap, so no big deal.

[Magmoormaster]

Definitely in the "tube is tube" camp. That said, my preferred barrel is the Empire barrel kit that came with Snipers and Resurrections. Long bores, good sizes, and you can get the full kit for under $100 all day long. I also like the Disruptive barrels, they're also super cheap. If I were to get something fancy, I'd definitely do a PWR barrel of some kind.

I used to have a full freak kit with all sorts of extra tips (WWA, Apex, etc) but I only ever used like one or two inserts. Decided to downsize and go back to the Empire barrel. Before all that, I had a CP kit. Really liekd it, but they never did small enough bore sizes.

[JohnB]

Those empire sniper barrel kits are nice. They gap sizing by 5 so not all the sizes but smoking deal for the used price and they are of good quality. I agree on a system that flys under the radar.

[Trbo323]

DW fibur x8

Last I looked (it has been a while) it was the lightest full length xl system on the market

Sent from my motorola edge 2024 using Tapatalk

[Jsc5150]

I have this barrel and I really like it.

They also make an sl68-ii adapter

[Cross-Country]

T00b is t00b, but I've found one glaring exception: with old Tippmanns, CP .685 one piece barrels use some kind of voodoo magic, and turn them into much higher end markers than they otherwise would be.

Bore matching is blatant pseudoscience, people spend far too much money on things like Freak kits that don't do anything, but finding a nicely machined, simple, one piece barrel is a good way to take a cheap marker up a notch.

Oh, and probably an unpopular opinion, but I have one of those Apex 2's for my Pro Carbine: They. Don't. Do. Anything.

[Chuck E Ducky]

Overbore or slight overbore with Detent Fingers /RedLeader laser cut detents.

I like one piece consistent bore longer barrels. I find longer barrels easier to point.

My personal favorite is the Pump PB Tight Stick .681 I put it on just about everything I shoot. Except my mech / electo I just use whatever they come with or use a mid bore UL and let the detents do there job.

Paint isn’t consistent enough to do tight bores and I find I get a much tighter group with a slight overbore. Also efficiency is no longer an issue for most setups today. Tanks have gotten smaller and lighter and the markers are more efficient than ever. So anything with detents I go with a slight overbore.

[dutchcommando]

My favorite of all time was the Powerlyte Scepter V2. Besides the fact that the barrels were very nice quality, the inserts were made with a machined ring on the end that matched with a taper on the threaded end of the tip. As you screwed them together, the tip would lock the insert in place via compression. No o-rings that held them in. The inserts would just slide right out after you unscrewed the tip.

Nowadays I just use a classic Freak for compatibility.

[Jsc5150]

Freaks, classic and xl.

There isn’t some magic formula to what bore- under, over, match- shoots best

But a freak kit makes it easy to test a few bores until you like how the paint is flying

[scottieb]

On Autococker threaded markers the OG 2 piece (stainless back, aluminum front) OTP G-1 is my favorite barrel system. I've been shooting this barrel system for nearly 30 years. The ring sizer inserts are great and I've found a standard Freak back and properly sized insert offers zero advantages over the OTP G-1, and the OTP is quieter too.

For other markers I use a classic Freak barrel system, usually 14" in total length. I recently had a Spyder threaded OTP G-1 bored for freak inserts. I am excited to see how it performs.

[Cunha]

For closed bolt I have used everything I could get my hands on, and the wedgited palmer barrels shot best. Then I got a freedummy 3d printed ball wedge thing and it worked perfectly too, with whatever barrel I had on hand.

The thing is to make sure the ball is always in the same place despite the variability of the paint. Running 'underbore' freaks work but can be hard on paint. So wedgits, nail polish, epoxy, or detent rings are my favorite.

[Cdn_Cuda]

I'm cheap and have a stupid amount of classic Freak barrels and tips. So from my cockers and pumps they are my go to. I use a Lucky 15 one piece for my Emeks and I have a Nova Barrel kit to use with my Nova N1 or N2. If I buy a new barrel kit it'll be a PWR barrel, but I so rarely buy new it might take another decade before I do so.