I'm planing on buying an flatline this winter.  Does any one want to talk me out of it? any one want to talk me into it???

triggerhappy1 wrote: i would recomend getting it for the warm season, but you will break alot in the cold, because the balls are more brittle.

You got it backwards. vice versa. But are you getting it for the 98 or the a5? Not much difference, nvm. My flatline shoots great but you have to keep your velocity down and use good paint(Marbs,traxxus,diablo) or else you will break balls in the barrel and your shots will be all over the place. I have had problems in the past of the balls bouncing off people at like 250 ft away but I just shoot them again and it only happened twice.

triggerhappy1 wrote: i would recomend getting it for the warm season, but you will break alot in the cold, because the balls are more brittle.

i know when it gets warm and when it gets cold.  the idea is to get it at the end of winter and the begining of sping (i hope to find a deal). and why would i be getting a 98 flateline for my a-5? and i play with a guy who has one on his a-5 and he uses zap paint ... he's never broke a ball

DrunkDriver wrote: i would not get it if it was my money. maybe if it comes down in price

It already did come down in price. It went from $150 to $120. At least where I am; IDK about other places.

Detz wrote: well i am going to get it.  i've read in some threads about people saying they've shot people with their flatlines and had them catch it or bounce off.  well the way i see it is if the ball leaves the barrel at 275 fps and the backspin of the barrel will resist gravity for about 150-175 ft of flatline trajectory then it will go 200 ft but how fast will it be going then? u can take a ball and thow it and it will break so it probably only needs to be moving at 15-30 fps to break summary: i cant really see the balls bouncing off or ppl being able to catch them before gravity pulls them to the ground

This always comes up... paintballs are slowing down the moment they leave any barrel.  So yes, the flatline is more likely to bounce or "be caught" when shooting at the maximum range.  And we all know it's relatively easy to dodge any paintballs coming at us from a distance... now add the extra distance that the flatline shoots and it's even easier.  But I say, so what?  If someone is dodging or catching paintballs, then they're probably not shooting at you or your teamates.  That's really the point of shooting the flatline at maximum range anyway.  And you may actually get a kill.

I once saw some show...  I think it was Ripley's Believe It or Not.  Some Ninja dude was trying to beat the world record for catching paintballs.  At a fairly close range, he just used his hands and stomach to absorb the impact and I think he caught about 10 paintballs.  The point is that it's possible with any gun/barrel.

Shadowminion wrote: I dont care either way , but dont be expecting a greatly extended effective range with the flatline . tha ball wont break upon impact one foot farther than it would've ,if shot out of a regular aftermarket barrel . The flatline will shoot flatter , farther in overgrowth type brush , because of the aerodynamics of the spin it puts on the ball ,so a lot depends on what type of game you play most often . Hate to see people buy into Hype , buy the product , not the image..

^wow u must be the dumbest person alive.

Go to ups and customizing and read the sticky

Bcuz its been written somewhere , doesnt make it true , Jeez !! The Flatline wont have ANY more effective range , and thats SIMPLE physics , If all you can do ,is point to what somebody elses opinion is , Then what business you got calling me Dumb ? Think before you post ..

Assuming the same velocities , from the same frame marker , A5, 98C Take yer choice :

1. you have the same leaving barrel velocity , both barrels.

2. Drag caused by friction of air molecules slows down the paintball , no matter what the spin is , in fact without this drag , the flatline wouldnt have the flat trajectory it does . The further the paintball goes, the slower it gets .

3 gravity acts on all things , a pound of lead ,falls as fast as a pound of anything else , Doh !!

4. Impact energy = Velocity x mass . we adressed velocity and drag in #2 above .

5. If there is enough Kinetic energy left upon impact  , the ball breaks , if not you got a bounce . Doh !! This is called impact energy .

Splain to me Harvard Boy , how a flatline can make a ball break farther out ?!?

Keep the words small , Cuz I am the dumbest guy out there .

Shadowminion wrote: 3 gravity acts on all things , a pound of lead ,falls as fast as a pound of anything else , Doh !! Only in a vacuum, Einstein... Splain to me Harvard Boy , how a flatline can make a ball break farther out ?!? Nobody said that

Your other points are true, but irrelevant.

There is no "hype" about the flatline.  It works as advertised: "adds 100 ft of flat trajectory - GUARANTEED".

Detz , the flatline changes the trajectory into a flatter line , and because of that it is great for heavily overgrown woodsball , as I said in my first post . Long shots occasionally break from any marker , I never disputed that , but to ADD an extra 100 feet of range ,it doesnt , physics make that impossible .

And for R(etarded?)morey , gravity is why we compensate in long shots by elevating the barrel slightly , long shot being 150 Ft + . the effects of drag when considering Gravity only come into play as you reach what is called Terminal velocity (the speed at which a falling object stops accelerating due to drag , and the distances we are talking about (12 feet max) wont even account for the first Squaring of speed acceleration , so my arguement stands , a pound of lead falls as fast as anything else . Oh the accereration rate of an object in freefall is V(squared) and is near 33 meters to reach term.Velocity

the other information is all relevant , get your Brain outta that Vacuum .

Shadowminion wrote: Detz , the flatline changes the trajectory into a flatter line , and because of that it is great for heavily overgrown woodsball , as I said in my first post . Long shots occasionally break from any marker , I never disputed that , but to ADD an extra 100 feet of range ,it doesnt , physics make that impossible . And for R(etarded?)morey , gravity is why we compensate in long shots by elevating the barrel slightly , long shot being 150 Ft + . the effects of drag when considering Gravity only come into play as you reach what is called Terminal velocity (the speed at which a falling object stops accelerating due to drag , and the distances we are talking about (12 feet max) wont even account for the first Squaring of speed acceleration , so my arguement stands , a pound of lead falls as fast as anything else . Oh the accereration rate of an object in freefall is V(squared) and is near 33 meters to reach term.Velocity the other information is all relevant , get your Brain outta that Vacuum.

Personal attacks don't make your statements true.  It does add 100+ feet of flat trajectory.  Otherwise we all could sue Tippmann for making false advertisements.

Nobody can deny that you can hit the same target with any barrel.  But when you're shooting at a distance with a standard barrel you have to aim AND compensate for range by shooting above your target.  How many times are you shooting at a distance and having your paint fall short?  With the flatline, this is less likely to happen.  Most people just want to aim and shoot (and not have to worry about distance).

Rmorey , I wish that was your opinion on Yer first post in this thread , You seem to forget the Pseudo-Flaming started there,, I wont quote you , because I dont believe in the proliferation of stupidity .

You can go back and look Fer Yerself if Yer memory is as bad as your judgement , as far as I can tell you've backpedaled on every point you tried to make , Go back into your corner and stay there til you can post with out starting a flamefest by calling somebody out .

The Flatline doesnt ADD any effective range to a paintball ,it just flattens the trajectory , as I said in my first post....

Detz , Then By all means , the Flatline is just the ticket for you , go get it and Knock'em dead !! I just want people to make sure they dont have hopes higher than the product can deliver ,if you take what you've heard here , and keep it in mind as you shoot your new Flatline , you will most likely be very pleased with it .

For me , I will guage my distances carefully , and count on my gun's consistency to deliver what I need from it , most of what I've been doing so far ,is snap shooting , at up to ,and rarely beyond 150 Feet . I've watched a few paintballs come at me from a flatline , and at close ranges , they do tend to climb just a wee bit , not much , but a few inches . If you get into some close quarters combat with your flatline ,it will tend to shoot high , Ya might end up having to compensate a lil bit anyway , but the other way .

@5 M@$T@ wrote: DrunkDriver wrote: i would not get it if it was my money. maybe if it comes down in price It already did come down in price. It went from $150 to $120. At least where I am; IDK about other places.

i might buy it if it was $35

Ok,Shadowminion, first of all most of your points proved nothing.

The Flatline curves the ball up and when gravity works on it it goes straight for a much longer time. The balls do not slow down to the point when they wont break until at least 50 feet past the range of a normal barrel. It adds effective range, doesn't take it away. For any barrel to reach as far as the the Flaltine does you'd have to lob it and that will have about 60% less chance of hitting anything, never mind breaking, than the Flatline.

Oh , Boy,,,, another person that needs to learn what impact energy is... Velocity x Mass , ask Yer teacher ,  obiously I didnt explain it very well ..

<Shrugs and wanders off ,,,Glad he isnt a Teacher in public schools>

k well lets go over this.  the back spin alows the ball to counter the down force of gravity.  this is good, but only lasts about 150 so it should get another 50 feet of falling distance.  so total displacement is around 200ft.  if the ball leaves the barrel some where between 275-300 ft/s and friction is slowing the ball down at (inseret -acceleration caused my air resistance).  i'm assuming the velocity of the paintball from a horizantal shot(no lob) will still be above 15-20  ft/s and at this velocity the paint ball will still bread. 20*4.0g (<- apx. mass of a paintball).
summary: paintballs will break at 200ft with flatline.  they will break at 200ft with any barrel but u wont hit any one with any other barrel unless u practice lob shots all day.  will ur balls break after 200ft. hard to say but probably not, but when i get my flatline i will tell u.

is every one ok with that?

The effects of gravity can be "guestimated" just as well as anything else , Gravity is a constant , and if one gets familiar with a particular velocity setting ,its no biggie ,it becomes almost intuitive . I dont know the exact impact energy required to break a paintball upon impact (many variables to pin it down to an exact value ), but as long as you understand the concept , you gonna be a terror with the flatline . like I said at first , I dont care either way , I can reach out and touch a Flatline shooter , just as well as he can reach me . The flatline shines in heavy growth , get to know how your flatline shoots , keep it clean , and Make some "witness marks" on Yer barrel and frame , so you can put it back together after cleaning , exactly as it was , every time .

As you can see , there are some Very strong opinions about this barrel , either way . best way to make the judgement for yourself,is,if you can , buddy up to somebody with a flatline , and see for yourself .

You are not here to please us , get what works for you .

Shadowminion wrote: The effects of gravity can be "guestimated" just as well as anything else , Gravity is a constant

yeah the reason i didnt add gravity to my reasoning was because the back spin is counter acting it for most of the balls flight.  like in a free body diagram the normal force balances with gravity, in this case the back spin force balances with gravity

lol,
yeah Pball on the moon would be so killer.  and then we could all jump really high, and have floating bunkers that would teatherd to the ground, or just really high towers and stuff we could all jump to

jacobpd7 wrote: My flatline seemed to get scratched up a lot on the inside. I kept it very clean but it kept on getting scratches on the inside of the barrel. I'm thinking about getting the Lapco Bigshot 12" barrel. Does it break paint a lot?

Jus send yer Flatline barrel to Tippmann, they'll reapply the special (fergot what its called) coating in the barrel and it'll be like brand new again.

Flatline sucks,,, all my friends who ever got them hated em'

borntopaint wrote: i would be more than happy to talk you out of it    i have heard waaaay to many people not like it

theres the problem ^^ u've just HEARD not actually experience.  that why u shouldnt bother posting because u dont actually have experience with it

Shadowminion wrote: Oh , Boy,,,, another person that needs to learn what impact energy is... Velocity x Mass , ask Yer teacher ,  obiously I didnt explain it very well ..

You can't just recite some 6th grade Science class to try to explain why the flatline can't do what it actually does - it adds 100 ft of flat trajectory.  Nobody is back pedalling.  You're trying to spit out a bunch of irrelevant formulas trying to contradict something that nobody said.  You may need to go back to 6th grade to see if you can figure out how to re-apply these formulas to anything that anybody here was talking about.