Odin, i completely agree with you. Alot of new paintball players think that just because the barrel is longer, it will be more accurate. I can vouch for this, since the first barrel i bought was a 16" J&J Ceramic. I can say, its not the closest you will get to accurate. I just want an apex. Bad.

Sweet deal. Did you end up getting one? What barrel did you use before?

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Here is the low down on this barrel -

Our team was honored to field test these at Oklahoma D-Day. Each of us had to seriously adjust our chrono after putting these on. We were shooting more or less around 280 FPS from earlier in the week, but with this barrel we were all shooting hot at above 350 FPS. BTW - most of us used the .686 or .688 fin that came with the kit.

I've read articles from Tom Kaye and Glen Palmer, but this barrel defies some of that testing. You'd think a 16 inch barrel would have more drag, but not this one.

The barrel has a quieter sound signature down range than the BattleStix due to it's newer reverse porting. From my perspective, it's as accurate as the other Hammerhead barrels combined with the skill of the shooter as well as the air type and regulator.

All in all, 12 Hellions members and our tank (A5 DT) ran with these. There were noting but praises for this barrel.

It can also be used with standard HH fins and the tip will accept other Hammerhead devices like their mock supressor. I have an AC Fin set and the barrel worked great on my Ion (AC breech), Chipley, E-Tac and ye old $30 Autococker that I picked up at D-Day.

Robert from HH also had mentioned they will be selling a connector for the barrels to stack them - now, while anything over 10 inches in a barrel is usually a waste, I and some of you may like this for the uber cool MILSIM sniper rifle look.... likewise, Hammerhead will be sponsoring the team's tank and stacked Straightlines should look pretty pimp on the A5 DoubleTrouble.


Last - I own and have owned several different barrels - Scepter Powerlyte, HammerHead BattelStix; Freak Set; Evil Pipe; and Carbon Fiber CCM for my Chipley; OPSGEAR Fluted; Palmer Brass; JJ Ceramic; and even a Poison Arrow set. IMHO, the shear fact of the increased velocity, which translates to decreased air consumption and more shots per tank, I really dig this barrel.

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Not sure how a barrel would increase FPS by 70. Elaborate alittle more on how that is feasible. I'm interested.

How? I don't know. I just know where my markers were at and how much I had to adjust to get them down - just about 2-3 full cranks on the velocity screw on each of the A5s on my DT and on my X7. The DTs had Flatlines and the X7 had a J&J Performance.

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That's pretty interesting. Good write up by the way. I'd like to try it out myself.

I might be able to explain. This is one man's take on it, and don't take this as fact, please. Just as the musings of a man with a game to look forward to in 11 hours time.

The Straightline is made using the same methods used to make regular Hammerheads. Gun drilling and all that. This is a quality manufacturing process. It's bound to result in a slick, minimal friction inner surface. With less friction, it takes less gas for a push of the same force, or the same amount of gas can push with more resultant force, thus the increased speed.

In addition, due to to rifling, not all of the barrel is touching the shot. The parts of the barrel which do touch the shot are the "lands" (raised areas) of the internal surface. Less contact equals less friction.

I also think that the fact that there are air channels around the shot (the "grooves" of the rifling" allows air to gather around the shot, giving it a cushion of air to float on which reduces friction.

Remember, all the above is just speculation. All my points may be right, then again, all may be wrong. I do not own the Straightline, or a Hammerhead. I suffer in silence with a stock barrel. The above is mere conjecture based on fact. Caveat lector.

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Great theory at the very least. You very well may be correct on that. Well written.