Couldn't help it, so I posted it for everyone....

Jeff


LAPCO Barrel Challenge.
CREDITS:
LAPCO: AutoSpirit & Helpful Advice.
B&M Paintball: OTP-G1 & Sizers.
J&J Performance: Stainless & Step/Sizer.
Eric Nghiem: Assorted Barrels.
I&I: Excellent On Time Service.
Smart Parts: Thanks Adam.


Intro:
This complex Test & Evaluation of 2 factory stock barrels and 11 aftermarket
barrels developed due to a challenge I made to Colin Thompson. I asked him
to prove his LAPCO bbls. were the best.

Two months or so later we have some answers. Unfortunately we also have some
new questions: Do guns operating at low pressures, app. 200 psi. require
large bore bbls. for best effect? How does porting affect performance? Do
the materials used really matter? How does barrel weight and rigidity affect
accuracy? ?? I bet you can think of a few more yourself.


Ambient Conditions:
A portable weather station was used to keep track of temperature, air
density/barometric pressure and humidity. The weather was our most
frustrating experience. We could not test in the rain and tested only during
similar ambient conditions.

This gave us only a few hrs per clear day to perform numerous tests.


Equipment:
Measuring instruments were all recently calibrated. All are top of the line
and in excellent condition.


Guns:
96 Race Cocker. 540 psi. HPA.
(Race Cocker Weight: 4 lbs. 11 oz. as tested w/o hopper, paint, stock or
bbl.)
Stock 97 Cocker. As a control. 800 psi.
Stock Rainmaker. As a control. 450 psi. HPA.
Race AT85R. As an accuracy standard. 800 psi. HPA.


Barrels:
Armson Rifled, BOA Tournament, Brass Eagle Rainmaker, DYE Stainless, J&J
Rifled, J&J Stainless, LAPCO AutoSpirit, OTP-G1, PMI Perfect Ceramic, Smart
Parts AA Rifled, STO Cocker, TASO Pro Series, WGP Cocker.

Why these specific bbls? They were there. (With apologies Sir Edmund.)

Bore IDs were measured with the Mitutoyo digital calipers. This gave us
accuracy within one tenth thousandth of an inch. Close enough for our
purposes. Otherwise I would have had to purchase a $300 bore gauge. Which I
probably would never use again.

A J&J "Barrel .680" "Step" was also tested in all of the above mentioned
bbls. (This step is actually a screw in breech sizer. It adds 1.5" to the
bbl. length and 3 oz. to the weight. More on this later.)

The OTP-G1 bbl. Uses interchangeable slip on, breech sizers. We were able to
obtain three different sizes. Other sizes will soon be available. (More on
this later.)

This meant 12 different bbls. Tested twice. Once with the J&J sizer and once
w/o. As well as three tests of the OTP-G1. One test for ea. of three sizers.
Total: 27 accuracy tests ateach of three distances.

All results obtained with the Race Cocker were compared, under controlled
conditions, to the other three guns. This ruled out anomalies. Particularly
when it came to the most important factor. Accuracy. We have a mountain of
data on ATS series guns and this was very helpful when setting accuracy
standards and weeding out "flyers."


Chronographs:
PACT MkIV, professional. Digital readout. Printer. Statistical functions.
First screen @ 3" from the muzzle. Screen separation 24".

ChronoTech: First screen @ 10' from the muzzle. Screen separation 12".


Chrono Procedure:
Each barrel's velocity was set to an average of 295 fps. At the PACT chrono.
Levels were used to insure that the trajectories wouldn't be affected. A
line level was securely, but temporarily, glued onto the top strap of the
gun. The ten five shots group were fired at 25 yds. with ea. bbl. and sizer
combo. Any shooter induced or explained flyers were deleted. The PACT's
statistical calculator then took over. Results were printed and filed for
future study.

The velocity readings at the ten foot mark were noted simultaneously. More
on this later.

These tests was then repeated, minus the ten foot chrono, at fifty yards and
at fifteen yards.


Backstop:
A 4'X8' sheet of plywood. Set parallel to the ground. Lengthwise. Onto this
sheet standard IPSC silhouette targets were attached. The targets extended
18" over the top of the plywood giving us a 5', 6"X8' surface. At fifty
yards an additional target was placed with 8' high aiming points. This
allowed us to use the same sight setting for all bbls. at all distances.

Note: At fifty yds there were regular bouncers. The ball didn't break.

Well over six thousand rds were fired during the course of this test.
Including the "other" paints and chronoing the bbls.


Sight:
Aimpoint 5000.


Paints:
Marballizer. Cobalt/Magenta. Marballizer was requested by LAPCO. Barrels
were then purchased with the understanding that Marballizer paint would be
used.

RP Scherer Premium, ProBall Platinum, Zap Select and Nelson Challenger were
also fired for comparison purposes.


Paint Average Weights
: ProBall Platinum @ 50.2 grains. ZAP Select @ 49.7 gr. RP Premium@ 49.3 gr.
Marballizer 48.8 gr. Nelson Challenger @ 47.3 gr. Only the ProBall was able
to match the Marballizer's overall consistency.

Balls were hand inspected. Culled for obvious flaws and placed in ten round
tubes. They were left in a portable cooler out doors for one hr prior to and
during the testing. Full tubes were placed in a cardboard box during the
course of the test. To simulate being kept in a Hopper.

Paint sizes were not documented. Instead we hand fit breech sizers to the
paint where applicable. We also noted relative sizes. Since we were testing
bbls not paint and since Marballizer was the requested paint we felt the
time spent was not worth the limited use of this info.


Flyers/Defects:
Only two bbl breaks were noted throughout the test. Unexplained. One ball
was chopped. Due to shooter fatigue mostly. Shooter induced flyers were
deleted. Seldom happened. (I took frequent rests. Which further delayed the
tests.) The Marballizer was obviously fresh and free of dimples. Very few
unexplained flyers were noticed with this paint.


Rating System:
Splats were awarded for ease of cleaning, noise levels, & finish. The more
splats the better rating. One to five was the standard used. Ie. Loudest = 1
splat. Silent or nearly silent would be 5 splats.

Appearance was not rated. We consider appearance a purely subjective factor.

To simulate a broken ball we used a razor knife to cut a notch halfway
around the circumference of the ball. Then placed in the bbl by hand.
Sometimes we had to do this several times to break a ball in the bbl.
Marballizer is thick shelled stuff!

We fired five shots to try and blow out the paint. Then we pressed the
muzzles firmly against a stiff cardboard surface and fired "blanks."

Our homemade, fleece like, push thru squeegees were then used along with
shop rags. A light solution of water and Dawn were sprayed on to finish the
job.



Miscellaneous:
Mitutoyo Digital Calipers & Micrometer. Lyman bench rest. Yardage Pro Laser
range finders. Line Level. Professional leveled tripod. MaxFlow HPA remote.
PMI Perfect GTS. ACI HD coil with SS qd fittings.


Shooter:
Your most humble (Not.), servant, Ronin. In this case perhaps it should read
Gunga Din.


Participants:
Team Ronin. Jason, Jeremy, Rob & Tony.

Honorable mention for her patience, forbearance, perseverance and input
throughout this ordeal: My wife and raison d'etre, Raine.

Bias, favors owed, sponsorships sought? Nope. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. The
barrels donated by LAPCO & J&J Performance will be given as prices at the
end of the SOFMO. Winners will be announced. Team Ronin is exempt from
drawing for the bbls.


RESULTS


NOTE:
Raw data has been filed along with photographs. It is kept available for the
doubting Thomases or the curious. It would have been impractical to include
it here. The barrels are listed, (In alphabetical order.) individually and
rated likewise. Then the accuracy results are listed separately.



Barrel Name: Armson


Cleaning: 3 splats.

Noise: 1 splat.

Bore Size: .688. Huge muzzle break.

Actual bbl Length: 12.938"

Barrel Weight: 5 oz

Materials: Aluminum

Inside Finish: 5 splats.

Flaws/Defects: None.

Unported bbl. length: 10.375"

Notes: Flat Black. Non reflective. Huge, belled muzzle break starts 10.375"
and ends @ the muzzle. Internal spiral porting is reminiscent of the rifling
used in firearms. It is tightly spaced and shallow. The twist appears to be
a "one in twelve." (Not measured. Just a guess.)


Barrel Name: BOA Tournament

Cleaning: 4 splats.

Noise: 3 Splats.

Bore Size: .684 to .684

Actual bbl Length: 12.250"

Barrel Weight:10 oz

Materials: SS

Inside Finish: 3 splats.

Flaws/Defects: Some small lines and tool marks.

Unported bbl. length: 11.5"

Notes: Shiny Black. Highly reflective. small but nice crown. Lots of rough
spots near the chamber. On the barrel itself. Not in the chamber tho. Spiral
ported for the last 2.750".


Barrel Name: BE Rainmaker
Cleaning: 5 splats.

Noise: 1 splat.

Bore Size: .683 to .683.

Actual bbl Length: 10.250".

Barrel Weight: 6 oz.

Materials: Thick Aluminum.

Inside Finish: 4 splats.

Flaws/Defects: Very minor tooling in bbl.

Notes: Excellent stock bbl. Shiny black finish will reflect direct light.



Barrel Name: DYE Stainless

Cleaning: 1 splat.

Noise: 4 splats.

Bore Size: .680. Huge belled muzzle break.

Actual bbl Length: 11.938"

Barrel Weight: 10 oz.

Materials: SS.

Inside Finish: 5 splats.

Flaws/Defects: None.

Unported bbl. length: 7.0"

Notes: Shiny SS finish. Highly reflective. Small crown and small chamber
lead in. Three straight rows of ports start @ 7.0" & end @ 9.750" from the
chamber end. Bell then begins 0.250" later for 2.0".



Barrel Name: J&J Straight Rifled

Cleaning: 3 Splats.

Noise: 3 splats.

Bore Size: .684 to .684

Actual bbl Length: 12".

Barrel Weight: 9 oz.

Materials: Brass with chrome plating.

Inside Finish: 5 splats.

Flaws/Defects: None.

Unported bbl. length: 10. 975"

Notes: Brushed Chrome. Very reflective. Nice crown. Has four straight,
shallow grooves along the inside length of the bbl. Also has small muzzle
breaks. Start @ 10.925." Are 1.0" long and 0.250" wide.



Barrel Name: J&J Stainless

Cleaning: 2 splats.

Noise: 4 splats.

Bore Size: .682 to .685

Actual bbl Length: 11.875"

Barrel Weight: 10 oz

Materials: S/S

Inside Finish: 5 splats.

Flaws/Defects: Surface shows tooling marks.

Unported bbl. length: 7.625"

Notes: Porting starts @ 7.625". Consists of four equidistant lines around
the circumference of the bbl. App .064." End app .5" from the muzzle. Shiny,
very reflective SS finish. Bright satin black finish. Highly reflective.
Barrel Name: LAPCO AutoSpirit


Cleaning: 3 splats.

Noise: 1 splat.

Bore Size: .680 to .715

Actual bbl Length: 11.5"

Barrel Weight: 5 oz

Materials: Aluminum

Inside Finish: 4 splats. Some tooling marks.

Flaws/Defects: Very faint lines in bbl.. Beautiful crowns.

Notes: Huge ports in two staggered rows. Muzzle opening huge. Ports start at
9. 625 and end @ 10. 065". Bell starts at 10.250

Bright satin black finish. Highly reflective.

Unported bbl. length: 9.625"



Barrel Name: OTP G-1

Cleaning: 2 splats.

Noise: 4 splats.

Bore Size: .693 nominal. Uses Slip on, anodized aluminum breech sizers in
the following colors and sizes:

Yellow: .679. Green: .683. Blue: .687. Red: .691. Black: .693.

Tested the following sizers: Green, Blue & Red.

Actual bbl Length: 12" with sizer.

Barrel Weight: 6 oz with sizer.

Materials: Aluminum & Steel.

Inside Finish: Flawless.

Flaws/Defects: None.

Unported bbl. length: 7.375"

Notes: Two piece. Not much crown. Straight porting start at 7.375". Slip on
sizers have milled flats for easy removal if glued in place. Recommended
bonding agent: LocTite 242. Do not use more than one small drop.



Barrel Name: PMI Perfect

Cleaning: 2 splats.

Noise: 4 splats.

Bore Size: .686 to .686

Actual bbl Length: 14"

Barrel Weight: 6 oz

Materials: Aluminum. Ceramic coated.

Inside Finish: 4 splats.

Flaws/Defects: A couple of small, thin lines..

Unported bbl. length: 9.750"

Notes: Non reflective gray. Small crown. Spiral ports start @ 9.750" & end @
0.063" from the muzzle.



Barrel Name: SP AA Rifled

Cleaning: 2 splats.

Noise: 4 splats.

Bore Size: .693"

Actual bbl Length: 11.375"

Barrel Weight: 4 oz

Materials: Aluminum

Inside Finish: 5 splats.

Flaws/Defects: None.

Unported bbl. length: 4.750"

Notes: Shiny Black. Highly reflective. Nice crown and chamber lead in. Small
crown at muzzle. Small spiral ports start @4.750" & end @0.185" from the
muzzle.


Barrel Name: STO Cocker

Cleaning: 3 splats.

Noise: 2 splats.

Bore Size: .681 to .681.

Actual bbl Length: 11"

Barrel Weight: 4 oz

Materials: Aluminum

Inside Finish: 5 splats.

Flaws/Defects: None.

Notes: Shiny Black. Highly reflective. Muzzle break starts @ 9.5" and ends @
0.5" from the muzzle.

Unported bbl. length: 9.5"



Barrel Name: TASO Pro Series

Cleaning: 3 splats.

Noise: 3 splats.

Bore Size: .683 to .683

Actual bbl Length: 12"

Barrel Weight: 9 oz

Materials: Stainless Steel

Inside Finish: 4 splats.

Flaws/Defects: Some fine lines are visible.

Unported bbl. length: 10.375"

Notes: Bright polished Stainless. Highly reflective. Small crown and chamber
lead in. Small straight ports start @ 10.375" & end @ 11.875" from the
muzzle. Very heavy bbl.


Barrel Name: WGP Stock

Cleaning: 5 splats.

Noise: 1 splat.

Bore Size: .680" to .680"

Actual bbl Length: 11"

Barrel Weight: 5 oz.

Materials: Aluminum.

Inside Finish: 5 splats.

Flaws/Defects: None

Notes: Shiny back finish. Will reflect direct light. Generous chamber lead
in and nice large crown.


ACCURACY

Accuracy was greatly improved by using the correct sizer for Marballizer.
Marballizer is on the small end of the scale in paint sizes. ProBall being
the smallest we know of. Brass Eagle is the biggest we know of.

At ranges beyond fifteen yards the differences are great. Proving that
tighter bbls work best beyond this distance. Surprisingly within fifteen
yards looser tolerances seemed to work best.

This became clear before we even fired the first shot. The chronographs
showed considerably smaller deviations and greater speeds when using either
the Green sizer with the OTP-G1 or the "Step" with all bbls. with one
exception: The OTP-G1 did poorly with the J&J sizer installed. We feel this
is due to the "jump" the ball must make thru the larger diameter portion of
the bbl., which the OTP sizer would normally occupy.

You will notice that the larger bore bbls. did poorly with Marballizer. We
almost left out the Smart Parts AA Rifled bbl. altogether. The team was
adamant about including it. (4 to 1 vote). They felt that it helped prove
that the bbl's ID-must- be matched to the paint OD.

NOTE: Smart Parts provides their bbls in three sizes: Small, Standard &
Large. Choose the correct size for the paint you use most when ordering.

The unported Rainmaker bbl. was also a surprise. This bbl installed on
either of our two Rainmakers would group into 4' w/Marballizer and ProBall.
Overall it did seem to prefer ProBall. Installed on the Cocker it would not
hold as tight a group at any distance.

Unfortunately we were unable to test how the rifling, porting etc, designs
affect accuracy.


Average Group Size @ 150.0'

J&J Stainless. W/Sizer 12.5"
LAPCO AutoSpirit 15.0"
TASO Pro Series 19.4"
DYE Stainless 21.7"
OTP-G1. W/Green 25.5"
J&J Rifled. W/Sizer TIE PMI Perfect 30.0"
Armson Rifled 32.8"
BOA Tournament 33.8"
WGP Cocker 36.3"
STO Cocker 38.4"
Smart Parts AA Rifled 45.3"
Brass Eagle Rainmaker Not Tested @ 150.0'


Group Orientation

J&J Stainless. W/Sizer Vertical Rectangle.
LAPCO AutoSpirit Vertical Rectangle.
TASO Pro Series Vertical Rectangle.
DYE Stainless Vertical Rectangle.
OTP-G1. W/Green Square.
J&J Rifled. W/Sizer Horizontal Rectangle.
PMI Perfect Vertical Rectangle.
Armson Rifled Horizontal Rectangle
BOA Tournament Horizontal Rectangle.
WGP Cocker Vertical Rectangle.
STO Cocker Vertical Rectangle
Smart Parts AA Rifled Horizontal Rectangle
Brass Eagle Rainmaker Not Tested.


Average Drop @ 150'

More surprises here. One would have thought that the tighter grouping bbls.
would also shoot "flatter" this was NOT the case. The J&J sizer seemed to
have little effect on drop. It did tighten up groups somewhat. The effect
would have been more noticeable if we hadn't set the velocities at 295 fps
average. The average gain in velocity was app 10 fps. Some bbls that were
grossly oversize for Marballizer, i.e. the PMI and the Large bore Smart
Parts gained over 20 fps.

Armson 51.0"
STO Cocker 54.0"
TASO Pro Series 58.0"
WGP Cocker 60.0"
BOA Tournament 60.0"
DYE Stainless 63.0"
PMI Perfect 63.0"
OTP -G1 W/Green 66.0"
LAPCO AutoSpirit 66.0"
J&J Stainless. W/sizer 72.0"
J&J Rifled. W/sizer 72.0"
Smart Parts AA Rifled 75.0"

Average Group Size @ 75'

Here again we see that in most cases the use of J&J's sizer or the proper
fitting OTP-G1 sizer improves the group's size.


Armson LAPCO DYE TASO 4.0"
OTP -G1 W/Green 4.5"
J&J Stainless. W/sizer 5.0"
.STO Cocker WGP Cocker 6.0"
BOA Tournament J&J Rifled. W/sizer 6.5"
BE Rainmaker 7.25
PMI Perfect 8.0
Smart Parts AA Rifled 10.0"


Average Group Size @ 45'

At fifteen yards the plot thickens and we really see that firearm ballistics
are of little use in predicting how a PaintBall will behave. Note that the
J&J sizer either didn't improve the group size at fifteen yards or in the
cases noted made the groups larger.The exception being the SP AA Rifled bbl.
This barrel was an older production large bore bbl. not suited to
Marballizer.

LAPCO AutoSpirit 2.0"
PMI Perfect 2.0"
STO Cocker 2.0"
OTP-G1 W/Green 2.0"
OTP-G1 W/Blue 2.5"
TASO Pro Series 3.0"
DYE Stainless 3.0"
WGP Cocker 3.0"
Smart Parts AA Rifled W/sizer 3.5"
OTP-G1. W/Red 3.5"
Armson Rifled 4.0"
BOA Tournament 4.0"
J&J Stainless 4.0"
BE Rainmaker 4.0"
J&J Rifled 5.0"
OTP-G1 W/J&J Step 5.0"

Maximum Expected Velocity Loss @ 10'

Totally unreal! It -seems- that some bbls do accelerate the balls as they
exit! Wish we had taken the risk and set a chrono at fifteen yards.

Notice that the TASO lost the least velocity. That the OTP lost less with
the Green sizer and that the unported STO was in the hunt.

TASO Pro Series 15.0'
LAPCO AutoSpirit 17.0'
OTP-G1. W/Green 20.0'
DYE Stainless 21.0'
STO Cocker 23.0'
BOA Tournament 28.0'
WGP Cocker 30.0'
J&J Stainless 32.0'
Armson Rifled 35.0'
OTP-G1. W/Red 40.0'
PMI Perfect 42.0'
Smart Part AA Rifled 44.0'


CONCLUSIONS:

This the portion in which I am allowed to give subjective opinion and
speculate as to the relative worth of ea bbl., and other thoughts and
feelings. The most surprising things learned where:

Knowledge of fluid dynamics is mandatory if one seeks to predict PB
behaviour. Firearms ballistics are of little use.

Some bbls. appear to either exhibit retained velocity or, more likely, are
still accelerating the ball as it leaves the muzzle. WHY? Not enough data.

Properly matching the ball's ID to the bbl's OD is crucial. It appears that
a .001" tolerance is best for long range use. While a .002" tolerance will
give slightly worse results at long range, it will improve groups at closer
ranges to a large degree. Barrel design has some influence on the tolerances
used.

Smart Parts, offers us three sizing choices. OTP by B&M Paintball offers us
five sizing choices. J&J custom makes sizers. This is an excellent service!
Kudos.

Side Note: LAPCO's Modular Barrel System will allow for the most
versatility. It offers a wide variety of user assembled lengths, sizes and
styles thru the innovative use of modular screw in components and adapters.
Hurry it up LAPCO!

The TASO Pro Series did so well.

The stock bbls were pretty good considering the prejudice against them.

The BOA did not seem to like Marballizer.

The J&J Straight Rifled bbl. was not as accurate as claimed by some. While
the J&J Stainless bbl. did great.

Materials did not seem to affect a bbls. accuracy. Proper sizing, bbl.
design and finish were of greater importance.

There was no clear winner. This didn't surprise me. I've tested hundreds of
firearm barrels over the years. Never did I find a bad bbl. from a well
known mfg. that didn't have a quality control or similar defect.

ProBall Platinum shot as well as Marballizer in most bbls. It was preferred
by some bbls over Marballizer.

MY CHOICES: Although there were several outstanding bbls in the test, J&J,
LAPCO, OTP, TASO I prefer quiet and light-weight bbls. A quiet bbl, i.e.
sixteen inch Aluminum, AA Rifled bbl., (We have several.) in a standard bore
with a selection of J&J Sizers would be a good compromise. (When LAPCO comes
out with their MBS I might change my mind.

Ronin.