Paintball Barrel Accuracy

1. Paintball Barrel Accuracy 9-4 Project 3

2. Purpose • My purpose is to find out which paintball marker barrel is the most ball on ball accurate between the Custom Products barrel, Smart Parts Freak barrel, MacDev Matchstick barrel, and the Dye Boomstick.NOTE: Ball on ball accurate refers to how close the spread of paint is to each other. An easier way of saying this is how close the balls hit to each other.

3. Hypothesis • My hypothesis is that the Smart Parts Freak barrel will be the most accurate. • I believe the Freak will be the most accurate because from personal experience I have found the freak to be the better product. I think the Custom Products barrel will be the least accurate because it is the cheapest barrel and cheapest usually means not the best.

4. Materials • Marker (07 MacDev Cyborg) • 500 Evil paintballs • Empire Reloader B loader • Compressed air tank • Chronograph • Chair • Small table • Metal pipe stand • Piece of ply wood • Measuring tape and ruler • Large indoor field • Marker • Paper • Smart Parts Freak barrel 14 inches 0.689 bore • Dye Boomstick barrel 14 inches 0.689 bore • Custom Products barrel 14 inches 0.689 bore • MacDev Matchstick barrel 14 inches 0.689 bore • Cases of paint • Tape • Cardboard • Thumbtacks

5. Method • I first got a piece of wood and put another smaller piece of wood on the bottom to keep the cardboard in the same place. • I then secured the piece of plywood to my metal pipe stand and put a piece of card board there to record the position of where the paintball hit. • I took a chair and small table and placed my marker tank and loader on them both and secured the marker, tank and loader to the chair and table with a large amount of tape to keep it in the same position for all shots. I then put cases of paint around it to offer more stability and put on the barrel I was testing. • I loaded the paint into the loader and placed the chronograph by the barrel to record the speed at which the paintball was traveling. • I moved my target for a while to set up the right speed of the marker which was 243 feet per second (fps). 6. I then placed the target in the right place at 35 feet away. I took off the cardboard to have a few practice shots to make sure everything was lined up correctly and then returned the cardboard to its original position.

6. Method continued • I repeated this exercise for all four barrels. • I then took five shots and repeated this three times. NOTE: The paintball leaves an indentation in the spot that it strikes. I used the cardboard for this reason. At 243 fps the paintballs leave the same size indentation. If it was traveling at 243 fps, I wiped off the paint and marked it with a black permanent marker. If it was not, I wiped the paint off and I did not mark it. If a shot that was not 243 fps overlapped with a shot that was traveling at 243 fps, I would discard the piece of cardboard and use a new piece.

7. Manipulated Variable(s) • Types of barrelsex. Freak, Boomstick, Matchstick, CP

8. Responding Variable(s) • The accuracy of each barrel

9. Controlled Variable(s) • Wind speed. I was indoors so there was no wind • Place of experiment • Temperature. The building is heated to 15 degrees Celsius and that is where the thermostat is set • Position of marker • Type of paintball • Size of paintball. According to the manufacturer the paintballs should be the same size and shape therefore giving an accurate result. • Type of loader • Material used. I used cardboard, and it was from the same box in order to ensure each piece had the same texture, thickness and strength. • Position of target • Speed paintball is traveling • Distance from target to paintball marker • Length of barrel: 14 inches • Size/bore of barrel: 0.689 • Marker used

10. Results

11. Analysis Custom Products barrel

12. In cm Analysis Freak barrel

13. Analysis for Dye Boomstick

14. Analysis for MacDev Matchstick

15. Analysis Average in centimeters

16. Conclusion • My conclusion is that my original hypothesis that the Smart Parts Freak was the best barrel was wrong, when the Dye Boomstick was the best barrel, but my hypothesis that the Custom products barrel was the worst was right. The Dye Boomstick was best, followed by the MacDev Matchstick, Smart Parts Freak third and the Custom Products barrel was the worst.

17. Sources of Error • When I got to the indoor field I started right away so the temperature in the car was different from the temperature in the building. The temperature in the car was quite warmer then the temperature in the building. As a result of this it’s quite possible that while I was doing the project some barrels may have had a chance to cool down and give different results than the barrel I started with. • The temperature may have also played a factor on the paintballs I was using. The paint that was in the warmth of the car may have cooled down and produced different results for the barrel I started with and the barrel I ended with. • The spin of the paintball and the way it is lodged in the breach of the marker. All paintballs have seams so when fired air may catch in the seams and put a rotation on the ball. The rotation could make the ball curve as the seam catches on the air creating an even larger curve because the already rotating balls seam would catch on the air and rotate even faster creating more of a curve. • The barrels had been previously used and may have had dents or scratches on the of inside the barrel that I was unaware.

18. Ways to Improve • A way I could have improved the experiment is instead of using a chair, small table and a large amount of tape and paint to hold the marker steady I could have bought a marker holder which would hold my marker steady while I shot without the assistance of tape or paint. • Another way was to have allowed the paintballs and barrels to cool in the room where I was conducting my experiment for a few hours instead of using them right away. This could possibly have given me a more accurate result.