is the flatline worth the money?

head_strong259 wrote: ^^^^^^i agree!! the flatline isn't worth it. it isn't very accurate at close range and you have to buy expensive paintballs to work in the flatline.

Would I be lying if I said you've never owned one? Seems to me that I wouldn't. What you just said makes no sense. You imply that the flatline is accurate from a distance but inaccurate up close which doesn't really sound possible. If it's inaccurate up close then it won't be accurate farther out either because the ball is affected more and more by the environment as it flies. I own a flatline for the A5 and I can say from experience that it is not a bad barrel at all and I actually use it over my bigshot because of the range. The accuracy isn't as good as that of my bigshot but it's good enough that I can still hit the target. In addition to that, I can now hit some targets that would normally be so far out of range that I wouldn't bother shooting at them. I can't land a shot from 300 feet away consistently but I certainly have a better chance of doing it with the flatline than with anything else. I used it for almost all of the west point game in April and I was doing damage from outside of the enemy's range which was a great thing. I was able to shoot a guy in the mask over a bush while his return fire bounced/rolled around me. He had no chance of hitting me but I was a serious threat to him. That situation alone convinced me that the flatline was worth the money and I'm sure I'll see plenty more times like that.

As long as you install it correctly and use good paint, it will work great for you and you'll be glad to have it. Saying that you need to use expensive paint isn't really fair because that's not always the case. Most people prefer RPS paint which does tend to be a little more pricey but you can use some of the cheaper diablo/draxxus paint and get pretty good results. I had great results with team colors at west point too which was surprising. There is cheaper paint that will work good in the flatline but if you want the best then obviously you'll have to pay more. The same goes for just about every barrel though. Don't expect good results from any barrel if you don't give it good paint.

Also, congratulations to Jeremy.Walker for making the most contradictory post ever. That was truly useless and I really hope you decide to start posting things that will help people instead.

Flatline for A5 is better than anything else...Period.  I have a J&J Ceramic for the combination of when the field paint sucks and its super humid (>90%).  The junk paint can swell like Jeter's cheek (anyone see the game last night) and not fit the flatline too well.  A straight barrel is useful only when this occurs.  It'll still be a little tight in the J&J, but the brittle shells don't have to deal with the friction and spin of the flatline.  Then again, I usually pay a little more for a better quality paint (like RPS) from the field (when offered) so that I can still use my flatline.  It's worth the extra few bucks per case in that situation.

I've heard of alignment problems with the 98C version of the flatline.  All I know is that there is no way you can screw up the alignment for an A5.  It's either on and aligned or not on at all.  Tippmann did well with that.  But, like anything else you can do to your marker, if you ain't got the installation know-how, you shouldn't be upgrading it. 

As for the sidespin issue from a few other posts, it may seem crazy, but I love tipping my flatline about 45 degrees to a side and watching the paint curve around obstacles.  Don't get me wrong.  It's in no way consistent nor completely aimable, but it's pretty damn cool when you see a few too many bodies behind a bunker and you can start bringing paint into them from an angle.  It annoys the heck out of them!!!  Especially if you flank them from the other side. 

dont listen to anyone that says flatlines arent worth it they are the best barrel period NO DOUBT ABOUT IT! wherever u shoot, the ball goes and boy does it go far! VERY accurate! and u dont have to buy expensive balls. i use whatever the heck my friend bought and it works great. whoever sed its not worth it prolly doesnt own one.