tippmann 98 custom plz read!!

this is my very first paintball gun and its a tippman 98 custon with ACT and had a question about it....i started shooting it and it was shooting ccrazy like twirling and going all over the place... so someone told me that it should be good once i turn down the velocity so i did and it shoots straight but it doesn't have much force behind it what should i do?? thanks                                                    

umm it goes straight and then when it comes closer to the target it will just fly another direction...

It's common I am sorry to say, so don't worry. As I said the stock barrel is garbage, and should be the first thing you upgrade. The stock barrel is simply designed to throw paint down the field at 290 feet per second.

What also may be a problem on top of that, would be the quality of your paint. Seeing as you're a new player, I am going to take a wild guess and assume you have cheap paint bought at Wal-Mart or some other big box store, they don't carry the most quality or "fresh" paint.

ugh, "seconds" are the reject rounds. They're going to have crap accuracy no matter what. That in conjunction with the stock barrel is bad enough. Un-screw the barrel and hold it up to the light so you can see inside of it. Is there any paint in the barrel from where a ball might have burst? That will cause the "whirling" effect more than anything.

haha i've cleaned the barrle over and over! its spotless.. and in my first message i said it shoots straighter now just doesn't have much power...

ughh i've been tryin to do that... i'll keep trying thanks and what length barrle do u think would be best for my gun?? 14"?

vatech2774 wrote: ughh i've been tryin to do that... i'll keep trying thanks and what length barrle do u think would be best for my gun?? 14"?

Anything between 16" and 12" is best. If your barrel is too long, it will require more air to push it down the barrel, causing your gun to use more gas.
If it is too short, it will not spend enough time in the barrel to be "hit" with all the air,so again you will have to raise your velocity. and since the ball moves and warps when being shot, it will also not have enough time to "straighten out" in a shorter barrel.


So yeah, anything in between 12 and 16 inches is best,
I have a 14 inch barrel myself, i wish I got a 12 inch since 98's are very long guns.

There's more than just length though when it comes to barrels, I'm sure theres a FAQ section around here that will explain more.


Edited by tippmannnewb - 05 January 2008 at 11:44pm

To add to what Kicken said:  Your marker should be chronographed at the beginning of every day of play.  Environmental conditions and variances in paint can affect velocity differently each time you are on the field.

Get it chronoed and a new barrel.

If you're using Co2, don't expect it to be very consistent either