I've never tried a CP barrel, so I can't really compare it to my Palmer. Here's the deal with the Palmer though... if you're using field paint, old paint, varying sizes of paint etc. then the Palmer is the way to go because it will shoot anything accurately (no joke, I tried it out with a hopper of old mixed, dented paint and it all shot accurately with no breaks). However, if you always use the same paint and you like your friend's CP barrel, then it sounds like a pretty good deal... I've had other CP products and they seem to be good quality.

I'd guess that the reason you're not seeing a whole lot of reviews for Palmer's stuff other than here is that they're really not all that widely spread. Nine times out of ten you won't walk into your local paintball store and see a bunch of Palmer's gear sitting on the shelf. Also, I think a lot of people here don't hang out at other sites like PBReview or PBNation because of the childishness on the forums, and therefore the word doesn't get out to other people.

I can tell you from experience that the stock Apex barrel is not very good. Unfortunately you can't buy the tip seperately, but you should be able to pick up the standard Apex (without the fancy M16 or AK barrel) for about $75. Then at least you have a spare barrel kicking around that you can cut down or give to a friend or something. One thing you have to remember with the Apex though, is that it will negatively affect accuracy unless you have it turned off (at least that is an option, unlike the Flatline). I was able to consistently break balls today on a barrel sized target with my Apex and Palmer Brass in high winds from about 200ft. I figure that's pretty decent.

Anyway, the bottom line is, the Palmer barrel is very accurate and will shoot any paint. I would recommend it for that alone... to me it is worth paying $20 extra for that option because you never know when you'll get stuck with a case that sat in the shop too long.

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