The Best Paintball Sniper Gun/Barrel
Your Typical Sniper Misconception
I get emails every now and then asking what the best paintball sniper gun or the best paintball sniper barrel is. I guess that all depends on who you are and what you are using it for. Some people are playing a true sniper/sharpshooter and others are using their gun for a multipurpose weapon. So what makes a great paintball sniper gun or barrel?
I'm willing to bet most people would have a different opinion than mine and some would be very surprised to hear what I'm going to choose. I assure you that my opinion is strictly based on my experiences as a 20 year veteran of this sport. I've played with quite a few different brands and configurations of guns over the year. I've shot through many different types and lengths of barrels. But, it all comes down to one configuration that I shot a few years ago during a casual meeting of paintball playing friends.
It was a warm and lazy Sunday afternoon. There were about 20 of us that got together at a local paintball field and we were playing all sorts of different types of games. Speedball, Hyperball and some "made up rules" woodsball. As the day went on we were all playing with each others equipment(that doesn't sound right), including swapping barrels to other guns in an attempt to create the most accurate marker.
I remember shooting just about every kind of Tippmann, Spyder and Smart Parts gun that was ever created. There were several there with Flatline Barrels, Freak Systems and other random popular brands. As the day went on, we started to discover that the more expensive barrels definitely didn't mean it was more accurate.
Did I mention that it was a BYOP day also? We had been testing different brands of paintballs and finding out who made a more consistent ball and what brand would fly more straight.
Any barrel that was rifled, seemed to shoot a lot more inconsistent. Some of those rifled barrels shot fairly accurate, but not nearly as consistent as a smooth bored ported barrel that didn't try to spin the paintball.
Another thing we noticed was that all of the autocockers shot more accurate, and often farther, than any other type of gun. Including some of the higher end markers we had there that day(Ego, Matrix, Shockers, ect). Now I know there are a ton of misconception busters out there about closed bolt guns not being more accurate. I'm only talking about my experiences of that day, and that day the closed bolts were considerably more accurate.
Barrel length was definitely found to be most accurate around the 14 inch range with a noticeable increase needed in velocity for longer barrels. Which quite honestly, works against a sniper trying to be quiet.
Well, as the day went on we found the most accurate marker/barrel combo. It was a WGP Black Magic Autococker shooting through a 14 inch JJ Ceramic barrel with PMI Marballizer paintballs.
With the velocity at around 275fps on HPA(4500psix68cix400psi output Crossfire tank), this thing was completely unstoppable. It wasn't a marker that could sustain a very high rate of fire, but it would consistently put a paintball where ever you aimed it and with nice distance too.
Does that make this the perfect paintball gun and barrel for that sniper? I don't know about that, but it's definitely a great set-up for anyone serious about accuracy. And, if you're looking for a total sleeper set-up, this thing does not look threatening at all.
Also see:
Paintball Barrels by Dye Core Smart Parts JJ
Worr Games Paintball Guns WGP Autocockers
Sniper Paintball Guns - Best Sniper Rifles
Posted by Redwood on 05/05/2010
