FAQs
Topics:
- What is the purpose of the Fin (ball sizer)?
- Which barrel Length is the best?
- What is the difference between the Shark Tooth, Battle Stikxx and Bang Stikxx?
- How do I find the correct fin to use and how do I use the ball gauge?
- I want to get a barrel and one Fin (ball sizer), what bore size should I choose?
- How do I maximize accuracy with my barrel?
- What are the effects of rifling on ball breaks?
What is the purpose of the Fin (ball sizer)?
The purpose of a Fin is to provide efficient energy transfer from the tank to the ball. We have found a short ball sizer (less than two or three ball diameters) results in the best energy transfer and accuracy.
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Which barrel Length is the best?
Barrel length is really just a matter of preference. The performance differences between the 14" and 16" barrels are negligible. A 10" barrel is sufficiently long to efficiently accelerate a ball to 280 ft/sec. However, a 14" to 16" long, rifled barrel is recommended for players that want to insure ball rotation supporting "long ball" conditions. Speed ball players tend to lean toward longer barrels for the benefit of having more length to lean into air bunkers. The Hammerhead Shark Tooth was designed for the specific purpose of close quarters combat in mind. We are seeing many speedball players picking up the Shark Tooth barrels for their front players.
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What is the difference between the Shark Tooth, Battle Stikxx and Bang Stikxx?
The Shark Tooth is an 8.5" barrel that is rifled and counter-bored with no muzzle. It is a great barrel for close quarters, night play, and for speedball. The Battle Stikxx is a 14" barrel and is threaded for various muzzles. The barrel is a good all around barrel for all types of play. The Bang Stikxx is a 16" barrel and is the longest barrel we make. We also make a Link that allows players to link barrels together. This barrel is preferred by snipers and scenario players that want to reach out and touch someone and count kills/balls. All barrels are gun-drilled and made from billet 6061 aircraft aluminum. We make no barrels from pipe or tubing. Our rifling methods are done using state of the art technology exactly the same as that used to make real fire-arms. The longer barrels tend to get slightly more distance than the Shark Tooth due to slightly more ball rotation and time in the barrel.
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How do I find the correct Fin (ball sizer) to use and how do I use the Ball Gauge?
When sizing your paint it is best to measure more than one ball. Paint size varies even in the same bag of paint. The best paint-to-bore match allows the ball to slide through the Fin with a little bit of resistance from your pinky-finger or enough to blow the ball through the fin. A good rule of thumb for sizing your barrel is a little looser is better than too tight. You should be able to push the ball through the ball sizer with your pinky finger with some resistance. The ball should not fall through and you should not have to force the ball through. Also, remember close up your paint from bag to bag. Moisture and temperature will cause the water vapor in the air to be absorbed by the balls resulting in ball swell. All you need is a pin hole in your paint ball for vapor pressure to make its way into your paint. We suggest monitoring your paint size with a ball gauge several times a day when playing to confirm bore and paint match. It is also a good idea to store your paint in the shade in a cool environment if at all possible (an ice chest with no water is excellent).
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I want to get a barrel and one Fin, what bore size should I choose?
If choosing one bore size the .688 or .690 will cover more paint than the others. However, to gain the most efficient marker set up, choosing a sizer that fits the paint is the best choice.
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How do I maximize accuracy with my barrel?
Choose the correct Fin (ball sizer):The ball sizer and the barrel system all work together to provide the high level of accuracy we are striving to achieve. If the ball sizer is too small you will break paint. The correct ball sizer choice will allow just a little bit of resistance against the ball. Be sure to check the size of your paint if the humidity and air temp change a lot during the day. Temp and humidity affect paint size.
Paint quality: The most important criteria for paintball accuracy is paint quality. While our barrel has been shown to handle lower grade better than a smooth bore, old or highly dimpled paint is difficult for any barrel to perform well with. Old paint has a tendency to become oblong, swell and develop flat spots. Any barrel’s performance is directly related to the quality of paint you shoot. The Hammerhead system provides help in shooting poor quality paint over a polished musket barrel; however, good paint always gives better results. We like to see players use good paint but our barrel system will still shoot better than a polished bore due to the ball rotation. Our players say "save paint, shoot a Hammerhead!" You can choose to shoot accurate with fewer shots or spray and pray. Consequently, it is much easier to justify spending a little bit more on better paint. Players are able to put a lot more paint where they want it to go reducing the need to paint and spray with our system.
Muzzle Design: The muzzles we manufacture are all reverse ported. Hammerhead muzzles are counter-bored and have a greater bore diameter than the barrel. A muzzle with a greater diameter than the barrel has the effect of reducing air pressure at the interface of the barrel-to-muzzle transition. The reduction in pressure at the transition allows the pressure on the back side of the ball and the front side of the ball to become more neutral, allowing the ball to regenerate its shape, or become more "round again" since it shape became non-uniform when the force of the bolt was acted upon it. The reduction in pressure at the counter-bored barrel/muzzle interface allows air to enter the reverse ports reducing the turbulence at the muzzle exit. Less turbulence at the muzzle exit contributes to improved long-ball accuracy.
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What are the effects of rifling on ball breaks?
In the fire-arm industry, rifling is described in terms of "lands and grooves". During barrel development, we built barrels with varying rifling rotation rates, land widths and depths to develop a specific ball rotation rate when shooting at the legal rate of 280 ft/sec or less. The riflings of Hammerhead barrels are continuous from the marker breach to the barrel muzzle. The reverse-ported and counter-bored muzzles create a Venturi Effect when the balls pass from the barrel to the counter-bored muzzle. The Venturi Effect results in a reduced pressure at the muzzle allowing broken paint to travel down the rifled grooves to be removed at the reverse-ported muzzle. Typically, this design allows broken paint to self-clean in a few shots. However, there are some paints that are thick paints that are hard for any barrel to self-clean. A highly polished mirco-honed barrel with no riflings (musket-type barrel) has an area of high surface tension (like glass), that is difficult to clean by simply shooting balls through it.
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Muzzle Design: The muzzles we manufacture are all reverse ported. Hammerhead muzzles are counter-bored and have a greater bore diameter than the barrel. A muzzle with a greater diameter than the barrel has the effect of reducing air pressure at the interface of the barrel-to-muzzle transition. The reduction in pressure at the transition allows the pressure on the back side of the ball and the front side of the ball to become more neutral, allowing the ball to regenerate its shape, or become more "round again" since it shape became non-uniform when the force of the bolt was acted upon it. The reduction in pressure at the counter-bored barrel/muzzle interface allows air to enter the reverse ports reducing the turbulence at the muzzle exit. Less turbulence at the muzzle exit contributes to improved long-ball accuracy.
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What are the effects of rifling on ball breaks?
In the fire-arm industry, rifling is described in terms of "lands and grooves". During barrel development, we built barrels with varying rifling rotation rates, land widths and depths to develop a specific ball rotation rate when shooting at the legal rate of 280 ft/sec or less. The riflings of Hammerhead barrels are continuous from the marker breach to the barrel muzzle. The reverse-ported and counter-bored muzzles create a Venturi Effect when the balls pass from the barrel to the counter-bored muzzle. The Venturi Effect results in a reduced pressure at the muzzle allowing broken paint to travel down the rifled grooves to be removed at the reverse-ported muzzle. Typically, this design allows broken paint to self-clean in a few shots. However, there are some paints that are thick paints that are hard for any barrel to self-clean. A highly polished mirco-honed barrel with no riflings (musket-type barrel) has an area of high surface tension (like glass), that is difficult to clean by simply shooting balls through it.
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