Barrel Length and FPS

[porkchop]

What's everyones opnion on barrel length? I've had good results with barrel extensions on cqb weapons like mp5's and m733's, giving them better groups at 100ft out, but what about on the really long rifles? Do you still see any improvement with anything more than 4 or 500mm of barrel? When I switched to a tbb on my s-system, I almost got the 509mm with a mock supressor, but I thought it would be to cumbersome in the dense brush we have in this part of the country, so I opted for the 390mm instead. Maneuverability better suits my playing style, but at a D9 game Cody had a rifle that could out-range just about everyone. The thing was as long as a boat oar, but he easily held the line at 200ft away. I've also heard that at some point you begin to actually lose energy with too much barrel length. What do you guys think?

[Dragon]

I don't know about length...

 Like Metal said before, because we are dealing with different model guns, with different set ups and internals... it's hard to nail down any "length" experiments.

 From all I can tell so far, is that some are better than others longer... some are not.

 I think as long as it's over pistol length barrels, almost all barrels give something to the AEGs...

 But I knew someone in Siloam Springs that had that very short JG gun...
This one:


and he had nice range and grouping comparable with my longer barrel systems.

[Metal]

The rule of 'thumb' is that the longer barrel will usually give more range but seldom more accuracy. This right here is where people get a little excited and get ahead of themselves and put in a longer barrel and the barrel then has more air volume in it than their cylinder and they then see a DECREASE in FPS and range. Make sure you have the proper cylinder before getting too crazy with barrel extensions.

Extended inner barrels do seem to add range most of the time, but not always. Recon's DMR has a 650mm inner barrel but it couldn't outrange my old SR12 DMR that was only utilizing a 510mm barrel and my SR was shooting at less FPS than his. Also, most of that 'holding the line' was due to the 3 members of our team shooting every bit as far as Recon was with his 650mm barrel 450fps DMR and we only had stock form CYMA AK's all shooting around 380fps with about a 450mm barrel. I think that once you get to the 450mm-500mm range you start to see deminished returns. I currently have a G&G blowback M4 with a 363mm barrel that falls just barely short of a couple of my team mates' SR10's with 510mm barrels in them.

It's my current opinion that there is absolutely no need for a barrel much over 500mm in any platform. If you'r after range and accuracy, look to your hopup first. Make sure your hopup unit itself is good. Then look to the bucking and be sure to have a quality bucking. You can look into special 'spacers' or 'h-nubs' but I've seen minimal to no results from these. If you don't get what you're after with those things, THEN look to your barrel. If you do decide to get something smaller than a 6.03mm, I STRONGLY suggest a brand that coats their barrels with teflon. I've seen time and time again the 'cheap' JBU and Madbull teflon coated 6.03's and 6.01's out shoot most 'high end' barrels. That teflon is really the only difference in those barrels and almost has to be what allows them to be more consistant.

[porkchop]

LMAO!!!!! Sorry Metal. Didn't mean count you out. Yes, I engaged a hailstorm of plastic when Benshee and I were first coming up from the creek toward the barn. I had alot better luck against you @$$#*!&$ when I hopped on the tin roof!! First half of the day was a blast, 'til Bigfoot ran over Christine! lol. But like her namesake, she's rebuilt herself and meaner than ever! Me and Joe crono'd her yesterday and she's spittin' out 980rpm at 370fps w/.25's! I'll bet this puts us within easy reach of 'ol Recon and his DMR. Only one way to find out.   

[Metal]

Recon would probably get more range if he would quit shooting .36g's and go down to .28g's or .30g's. 450fps w/.20g is just not enough to be slinging a .36g BB at extreme distances.