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Stealth · October 10th, 2013, 10:30

Companies manufacturing tightbore barrels use marketing tools to advertise that tighbore barrels increase accuracy. It's mostly true but not for the fact that the bore diameter is reduced but because different materials are used and bore consistency is improved. But of course, they can't exactly advertise the fact that the same effect could be achieved via barrel lapping because who would buy their barrels? Also, psychologically-speaking - would you be more inclined to purchase a barrel of the exact same bore as the one you are replacing with the promise that it will improve accuracy or would you purchase something that's quantifiably better ("0.05mm tighter bore!"). Then there's the notion that precision fitment and tightness somehow translates to accuracy coupled with the fact you're dealing with essentially firearms enthusiasts who naturally reason that somehow real steel ballistics apply to a spherical object when in fact the axes of spin are completely different. But hey! Milsim, right?

Then there's the FPS-junkies whose sole intent is to get as close to the mythical 400fps limit as possible and they've read somewhere that adding a tightbore barrel will boost their FPS by 30-40. Again, this isn't as much to do with the bore diameter restriction than the fact that most people change hop-up rubbers/units and/or perform some sort of hop-up mod in addition to adding the barrel which has a side benefit of creating a better air seal - something that should have existed in the first place.

The point of recovering lost FPS by using a "widebore" barrel - while valid, is not widely accepted by most because it involves performing mechbox modifications. Simply put - it's easier and faster to install a barrel than to swap a spring and to quantifiably identify the improvement via a barrel upgrade. Also, despite what their internals can actually handle, most players are not keen to add additional stress to their mechbox to recover that lost FPS.

You add all of that together and you can begin to understand why "tightbore barrels" are so popular.

Compound all of this with the fact that you're dealing with different hop-up technologies which change the way the BB rides over the hop-up bump, how the ammo is fed, etc.

October 10th, 2013, 10:30	#4
Stealth Mr. Silencer Trader rating Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Toronto	Companies manufacturing tightbore barrels use marketing tools to advertise that tighbore barrels increase accuracy. It's mostly true but not for the fact that the bore diameter is reduced but because different materials are used and bore consistency is improved. But of course, they can't exactly advertise the fact that the same effect could be achieved via barrel lapping because who would buy their barrels? Also, psychologically-speaking - would you be more inclined to purchase a barrel of the exact same bore as the one you are replacing with the promise that it will improve accuracy or would you purchase something that's quantifiably better ("0.05mm tighter bore!"). Then there's the notion that precision fitment and tightness somehow translates to accuracy coupled with the fact you're dealing with essentially firearms enthusiasts who naturally reason that somehow real steel ballistics apply to a spherical object when in fact the axes of spin are completely different. But hey! Milsim, right? Then there's the FPS-junkies whose sole intent is to get as close to the mythical 400fps limit as possible and they've read somewhere that adding a tightbore barrel will boost their FPS by 30-40. Again, this isn't as much to do with the bore diameter restriction than the fact that most people change hop-up rubbers/units and/or perform some sort of hop-up mod in addition to adding the barrel which has a side benefit of creating a better air seal - something that should have existed in the first place. The point of recovering lost FPS by using a "widebore" barrel - while valid, is not widely accepted by most because it involves performing mechbox modifications. Simply put - it's easier and faster to install a barrel than to swap a spring and to quantifiably identify the improvement via a barrel upgrade. Also, despite what their internals can actually handle, most players are not keen to add additional stress to their mechbox to recover that lost FPS. You add all of that together and you can begin to understand why "tightbore barrels" are so popular. Compound all of this with the fact that you're dealing with different hop-up technologies which change the way the BB rides over the hop-up bump, how the ammo is fed, etc. Last edited by Stealth; October 10th, 2013 at 11:32..