[rntlee]

Been reading your compression testing thread and I wonder, do you think it would be possible to design a barrel that would intentionally score the shell of the paintball slightly to increase the likelihood of breaking on target and at lower velocity/longer ranges? Just a thought.

[brycelarson]

rntlee, on Jan 21 2009, 08:08 AM, said:

Been reading your compression testing thread and I wonder, do you think it would be possible to design a barrel that would intentionally score the shell of the paintball slightly to increase the likelihood of breaking on target and at lower velocity/longer ranges? Just a thought.

That's almost certainly going to simply break the ball in the barrel.

If you want to break more paint on people - buy more brittle paint.

[rntlee]

C'mon, that's the best you can do?? Am I not in Punkworks?

I think it could be done, perhaps if the ball was scored right at the end of the bolt stroke, or even at the end of the barrel where the odd misfire wouldn't affect performance.

Imagine how the game would change if bounces became a thing of the past...

[Leftystrikesback]

I owned a barrel once that had a nick at the end of the barrel (I probably dropped it or fell on it or something). Paint would shoot straight some times, sometimes it would curve, and about 1 ball in 10 would explode at the end of the barrel. I didn't notice any decrease in bounces. I threw out the barrel.

[rntlee]

Whether scoring a ball makes breaks more likely is simple enough to test by simply bouncing scored/unscored balls by hand, I'll save you the trouble...they do break easier.

Can you shoot a scored ball...hmmm, simple test take a shrp knife and a few paintballs and put 8-10 score marks around the perimeter, put them in your marker and fire it. I'll save you the trouble...they shoot just fine from my mini, though the mini does have that nice rubber piece on the end of the bolt.
I put 20 balls through like this and no breaks whatsoever. No wingers, all nice straight shots. Not very scientific but didn't debunk the idea either. The scoring would have to happen in the barrel though, I could see serious trouble trying to put pre-scored balls through a force-feed loader.

This post has been edited by rntlee: 21 January 2009 - 01:44 PM

[EpikPb]

Just use a brutal loader. Use a velocity with the highest tension setting, or an empire B with high settings. This should damage the shell enough for you.

[LieutenantDan]

the score in the paitnball will probably affects its flight through the air the same way a dimple does by making it curve in the direction of the dimple. Since paintballs tend to knuckle in the air, it would be extremely inaccurate. but they would break real easy!

[GrenadeMaster]

So your sort of suggesting a reversed rifling type thing...

[chewiestmonkey]

i dont really think thats a good idea..it would mees up accuracy and break paint....
just buy some brittle paint yo!

[LieutenantDan]

He's right. Brittle paint is the way to go. A barrel like this would most likely shred paintballs, since they're not uniform in size.

[Lord Odin]

Actually, that's not a half bad idea! We currently have two issues that we're dealing with right now. Breaks in the gun and bounces on people. We make balls more brittle so they don't bounce as easily but they break in the gun a lot easier. If we use thicker shelled paint, breaks get reduced but bounces increase. What if we had the best of both? Use thicker shelled paint to reduce breaks in the gun but the end of the barrel will slightly score the shell so that it breaks easier on impact.

Now if you do get a barrel break or a chop, there may be an issue with cleaning the barrel. You may go through more swabs and squeegees wouldn't last a full day, I would think. Still, you might be on to something.

[brycelarson]

The problem with the idea is controlling how much you score the ball. Since paint out of the same bag might vary from .678 to .684. So, if you decide that you want to score but not cut - how close together are the "blades"? if you make them .683 you'll score the biggest and might miss the mid sized ones all together. If you make the blades close enough together to get the middle sized ball - you're almost guaranteed to split the big ones right open.

At that point you're going to have to use really top notch paint to get consistent size - and at that point you might as well just buy good, brittle paint.

[cockerpunk]

the guys at smoking products at CPX claimed the end game compression rifled barrel (or was that hammerhead?) pre-scored the paintball causing to break easier.

[Lord Odin]

What they could do is have it preset with underboring in mind. Then you don't have to worry about over cutting the shell.

[brycelarson]

cockerpunk, on Jan 22 2009, 05:42 PM, said:

the guys at smoking products at CPX claimed the end game compression rifled barrel (or was that hammerhead?) pre-scored the paintball causing to break easier.

they were selling the hammerhead.

[rntlee]

Lord Odin, on Jan 22 2009, 06:23 PM, said:

Use thicker shelled paint to reduce breaks in the gun but the end of the barrel will slightly score the shell so that it breaks easier on impact.

Now if you do get a barrel break or a chop, there may be an issue with cleaning the barrel. You may go through more swabs and squeegees wouldn't last a full day, I would think. Still, you might be on to something.

Thinking about it and I don't think it would be possible to score the ball once it is up to full velocity, the shells are just too fragile. I think it wouldf have to occur near the breech.

brycelarson, on Jan 22 2009, 06:40 PM, said:

The problem with the idea is controlling how much you score the ball. Since paint out of the same bag might vary from .678 to .684. So, if you decide that you want to score but not cut - how close together are the "blades"? if you make them .683 you'll score the biggest and might miss the mid sized ones all together. If you make the blades close enough together to get the middle sized ball - you're almost guaranteed to split the big ones right open.

At that point you're going to have to use really top notch paint to get consistent size - and at that point you might as well just buy good, brittle paint.

The scoring would have to happen near the breech end and what I would use are curved blades that are spring tensioned. Maybe it could even be rigged it up like the old Psycho-ballistic Aradus Barrel with an adjustable sleeve so the scoring could be increased or deactivated altogether. You boys aren't sold on the idea I see, but I am going forward with it.

[Lord Odin]

You should do a simple test to see if they could withstand it near the muzzle. Perhaps an Apex with a razor blade in the ramp with it set at 0 setting?

If that doesn't work, prescore some balls and manually load them and see if they can withstand shots from the breech.