98 Custom setup

Well the flatline and BT Apex are the only two barrels that will actually increase your distance as they both impart back-spin on the ball with allows the ball to travel further in accordance with Bernoulli's law. Every other barrel will give you the exact same distance as the stock barrel was. According to the most basic Newtonian physics, an object weighing the same mass and traveling at the same speed with the same gravitational pull on it will travel the same distance as a like object unless, (and this is important here) it is acted upon by outside forces. So, in short, barrels like the Flatline and Apex impart an outside force (variances in air pressure based on the back-spin motion of the ball in flight) which is what allows them to shoot farther. Rifling won't help, nifty porting designs won't help, it's all going to go the same distance with the exception of either of those two barrels which are rather inaccurate at their maximum range. The other thing to remember is that the ball is still only carrying a certain amount of energy in it's flight. While FL and Apex barrels allow the round to go further, it is still only carrying the same (actually a little less) energy as a round fired from a standard barrel. That energy is what you need to allow the ball to break on it's target. In short, it goes longer, but has less energy at the end of it's trajectory leading to more bounces, which is very frustrating.

As for length of barrel, after 14" it doesn't get any quieter as you use more propellant to push the ball down the barrel than you normally would at any length over 14" which results in the same amount of decibels produced by the report of the marker. 14" barrels are very popular as they are an even balance of quieting effect from porting and gas efficiency as well as a nice balance in size that will let you tuck in tight if you need to, but still give you the ability to poke the barrel through any obstacles like briers or whatnot to get a shot off.

My sincere advice would be to look into a J&J ceramic or LAPCO Bigshot for the best accuracy that you're going to get at a great price.

Ohhh I remember the days when upgrades cost me less than $100/ea. Those were indeed the days....

Now I do deals like this and consider them low-cost: link