A-5 Flatline Accuracy- Any Ideas

Accuracy up to what range?  There really isn't much you can do other than getting the right bore paint (small to medium) and tuning the marker to the optimum velocity (250-280fps).

- robbo - wrote: StormyKnight wrote: Accuracy up to what range?  There really isn't much you can do other than getting the right bore paint (small to medium) and tuning the marker to the optimum velocity (250-280fps). yea ^^^^^ when i had my flatty i found becasuse of the back spin for distance and no porting, the accuracy seemed to suffer a lil compared to 'normal' barrels.

I sincerely doubt porting the Flatline barrel would not increase the accuracy.  Most likely it would screw up the 'flatline effect'.

If the ball touches porting while still creating backspin, I think you would result in more barrel breaks.

- robbo - wrote: im not on about putting porting in the flat line, im saying accuracy is lost due to it not having porting, which is not needed to get the back spin affect...... ......reason porting is on barrels is for the ball to gradually come into contact with  the outside air and gradually release some pressure build up from behind the ball, which can cause it to off spin with no porting when it pops out the end, hence the porting hole of barrels are towards the end, and some have more at the tip etc, this gradually introduces the ball into 'the outside world' instead of it suddenly hitting a 'brick air wall' with high pressure behind it.

From www.directpaintball.com: 

So what exactly does porting do? Well, barrel ports are basically holes drilled from the inside of the barrel to the outside. Portings main role is to reduce overall noise levels by venting excess air pressure behind a paintball before the paintball leaves the barrel. Well, I have no real way to test an accuracy difference with or without porting until I can get my hands on a custom made freak barrel tip with no porting in it. However, as a general guideline, porting decreases gas efficiency as well as noise. As air escapes through the ports, instead of continuing to push the ball down the barrel, it vents air to the outside increasing the amount of air needed to accelerate a paintball to 300fps, thus reducing gas efficiency. Having a barrel with lots of ports, as opposed to a non-ported barrel, can signifigantly reduce most guns noise.

From http://paintball.about.com: 

What are ported paintball barrels? Ports are small holes drilled through some paintball gun barrels. Porting comes in many designs (straight down the barrel, in a circle, in spirals, etc) and quantities (from a few holes to a ton). What do ported paintball barrels do? Porting decreases the noise a paintball gun makes by releasing air pressure before it leaves the barrel muzzle. Some people also think porting also help decrease the air turbulence behind a paintball, allowing it to have a straighter trajectory. However, this is mostly a myth, particularly if you have a good gun/gas system and use quality paintballs. What are the downsides to ported paintball barrels? By allowing gas to escape early, porting decreases gas efficiency. That means you need to use more gas for a paintball to reach the same velocity with a ported barrel than a nonported barrel.

From Wikipedia: 

Most barrels are ported (or vented), which means that holes are drilled into the front of the barrel allowing the propellant to dissipate slowly, decreasing the sound signature of the marker. There has been a considerable amount of marketing hype surrounding barrel porting, but there appears to be no basis for claims of the benefits of porting (such as that it decreases "turbulence", increasing accuracy), other than the decrease in sound signature.

From www.paintball-galaxy.com: 

Ports are small holes drilled through a paintball gun barrel. Porting comes in many designs - straight down the barrel, in a circle, in spirals, etc. It also comes in many quantities - from a few holes to plenty! The greatest benefit of ported paintball barrels is that it decreases the noise a paintball gun makes by releasing air pressure before it leaves the barrel muzzle. Some people also have the perception that porting allows a straighter trajectory by decreasing air turbulence behind a paintball. However, this perception is a myth, particularly if you have a good gun/gas system and use quality paintballs. The only downside to ported paintball barrels is that it decreases gas efficiency by allowing gas to escape early. This means you need to use more gas for a paintball to reach the same velocity with a ported barrel than a non-ported barrel.

 

- robbo - wrote: lol.......ive used barrels with no porting, accuracy.....a mess.....spin off all over.

And yet another victim of marketing hype. 

Porting with a Flatline: With properly shaped ports there shouldn't be any problem with contact to the ball that might cause breakage. BUT, the properly sized ball (small diameter) leaves a significant part of the bore open to gas blow by. It is just a fact of the design.

Accuracy: My tests have been run with a 98C Flatline, but I think the results are relevant. With well matched paint and a well regulated air supply (Stabilizer with HPA) at "normal" (60 to 80 ft) distances I found virtually no difference in accuracy between my Flatline and a J&J Ceramic, a Hammerhead Pro(kit), a Stonecold II(17"), Stiffi Switch (kit), and an Apex.(the Apex was tested both in backspin and non-backspin mode)

My tests were done off a rest with sand bag supports and a red dot sight. Test was done indoors to eliminate wind caused inaccuracies. 100 shots were fired with each barrel. Several different brands of premium paint was sized and exclusively used with barrels whose bore diameter was no more than .0015" larger than the diameter of the paintball.

All the barrels would hold 10 shots on a ten inch diameter paper plate at 80 ft. Indoors with no wind, both the Flatline and the Apex would put ten shots on a ten inch plate at 120 ft...a distance where the arc trajectory from the other barrels began to make hitting the target significantly more difficult. The J&J, the Stonecold II and the Stiffi when sand bagged solidly in place, rather than sighted and fired from the shoulder, would still keep 10 shots on the plate at 120 ft. But, the upward angle of the barrel needed to make those shots exceeded the the easy hand held compensation of the sights.

At 190 ft the Flatline and Apex still maintained a relatively flat trajectory, but accuracy became more problematic with groups opening up to about 18" to 24" depending on the brand of paint.

The most significant factor was roundness and seam uniformity of the paintballs. Even the J&J, touted as the best by many people, shot 36" groups at 80 ft with low quality (low priced) paint. (there is high priced paint that is also just as poor due to inconsistency of diameter from ball to ball and out of round with pronounced seams)