I love my Brass barrel. It does more than I can ever expect from a $55 piece. So when I started messing around with a friend of mine at the target range, I started to wonder how well my Brass would stack up against his $190 Hammerhead. From just snapshotting at the range, we couldn't tell the difference. That curiosity led to the following test.

The test compares my entire barrel arsenal, plus his Hammerhead. We used my A-5 bolted to a Workmate bench, giving one second intervals between each trigger pull. My A-5 was using factory internals, save for a Vortex and a Response trigger. To simulate a worst-case scenario, all tests were performed on the same 20oz CO2 bottle, screwed directly to the ASA. The paint used was Marballizer. Each barrel was shot 15 times in each set, 3 sets at each distance. To eliminate graduated pressure drop, each barrel was shot for one set, then repeated in the same order. Measurements were taken from the two impacts the farthest distance from each other. The measurements are the average of each barrel's total sets. After each set, the plywood target was hosed off to eliminate confusion. No variables were changed other than the barrels and the distance of the target.

The contestants are:

• 10" unported PPS Brass (.685 ID)
• 12" Hammerhead BattleStikxx (.686 fin*)
• 12" J&J S2 (.690 ID)
• 12" Dye Excel (.695 ID)
• Stock A-5 barrel (.695 ID)

*The .686 fin proved to be the best match to Marballizer, providing the best accuracy in a preliminary test.



The Results

At 75 feet, the average grouping measurements came out as follows:

1. Hammerhead --> 18"
2. Brass ---------> 18.5-19"
3. J&J -----------> 20"
4. Excel ---------> 20.5"
5. Stock --------> 26"

At this distance, the majority of the Hammerhead's grouping was under 14", with only 2-3 out of 15 outside this zone. The Brass displayed similar grouping ability, with all but 2 or 3 balls being within a 14.5" circle. None of the other barrels displayed any such grouping ability.



At 130 feet, the average grouping measurements came out as follows:

1. Brass ---------> 47"
2. Hammerhead --> 51"
3. Stock ---------> 55"
4. J&J -----------> 56"

The stock barrel was quite surprising in this test. The J&J was rather disappointing, not being able to maintain much of a grouping at all. Again, both the Brass and the Hammerhead were able to place the majority of paint fired in a relatively small grouping, with only a few landing outside that zone. We actually lost the Excel for this test, so it didn't participate, but we were confidant that it would not have performed with the top contenders.



Full Auto at 75 feet:
While we knew that firing rapidly with the Response trigger does not yield scientific results due to the R/T's inability to precisely repeat any rate of fire, we felt we should do it anyway. As the Brass and the Hammerhead were seriously outclassing the competition, and as these were the only two were were concerned about in the first place, this test was only performed with these two barrels. As it turn out, both barrels produce almost identical patterns. Interestingly, the higher ROF (probably about 9-12 bps) groupings were tighter than the groupings previously seen in the test.



Volume test:
We've heard that the reverse porting is supposed to reduce the amount of sound that is transmitted to the target. Since my buddy couldn't find his Decibel meter, we had to do this based completely on opinion. We listened to each barrel from directly behind the target, 45* forward flank, directly to the side, and directly behind. We both agreed that the J&J was the overall quietest barrel. The Hammerhead was as quiet as the J&J, but only from the position of being shot at. At any other position, it proved to to be every bit as loud as the unported Brass. The Hammerhead did seem to transmit more mechanical noise, whereas the "clink" of moving parts was inaudible with the Brass. We agreed that the Brass was a much more pleasant sound for the shooter than the Hammerhead.




So what does this all mean? Well, in our humble opinions, it means that if you want an incredibly accurate barrel that can adapt to any situation and can hang with barrels almost four times their price, go pick yourself up a Brass. The only real downside we could come up with is that the Brass IS a bit heavier than the rest of the barrels we tested. Also, because it is a softer metal, you do have to be a little careful with it. A good friend of mine has a Brass that got scratched when a remote line fitting began to disintegrate, sending metal shavings through the marker. Granted, he's noticed no difference in performance, but it's still not cool.

Whats the bore size of the apex?

only way i could see this being a better test would be to have a fresh air source for each barrel with a regulator set to a fixed psi level. however, this is a great test for "real world" conditions. + rep.

Mine varies between .694 and .696. It's basically the stock A-5 barrel with thicker tubing and an adapter on the end.

Brass FTW!

he he. I just love all that is palmers.

Thanks. We were going to use HPA, but we kinda wanted to see how they would perform in worst case situations. The idea is that if you repeat this, your results will be at least this good, probably better if you use a more refined air system.

I was asking because the paintball that is used my prefer field (high velocity) uses there own field only paint (Draxxus/Procaps) and they slide right out of the apex barrel, with a few being able to stick in with like 4 points touching. This helps with my decision to go for a .690 bore brass

yup

Thanks! I'm glad to help. I've got an Apex tip that I put on the Brass in the test above. It works great, cuz I can shut it off and have just the Brass, or I can ramp it up and use all the Apex features. I love it, especially in places that are more opened up with less soft cover. I've had great success with DraXxus paint too.

Good test, i have the hammerhead bahng stikxx with the fin kit thinking it would be better to match paint size. I wish i had saved the money and gottent the brass. Not that i don't like the barrel, but i could have saved a lot of $ and gotten more upgrades.

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Nice write-up! I allready got brass and a Blazer is on the way!