FS accuracy testing

[Allu]

For the sake of testing the section, and because i actually want opinions on the matter:

FS testing, what to consider: anything from how to setup the range, factors that seem to affect result, ideas along the lines of what color backdrop one should have to best see the round, high fps cameras to record it and so forth and so on.

[Allu]

And using the search function i found the thread accuracy, witch seemed to have veered of topic, I guess Ill try to extract what I can when I get the time, In the meanwhile post away ppl

[DJmatt123]

One thing I'm planning on trying out for FS testing is using a sheet to shoot into. Most of the time FS's won't break if they don't hit a harder surface so it will allow them to be reused a few times. Maybe hang a paper target in front of the sheet to help with shot placement. I'll be trying this out soon as soon as I start to get the DAM set up for FS's also, I've mainly just been shooting regular PB's.

[Allu]

Might work for rough testing
If I am not missremembering there is a slight issue of compromised integrity on the round after it's been shot once, good luck but be prepared to clean out a few breaks tho.

[chicago]

I have my own theory on why FS do better in a riffled barrel.

I believe that in a smooth bore (because of the First Strikes fins), the FS acts more like a paintball and is buffeted from behind and on the sides by the air/co2 behind it and leaking randomly past it. It doesn't even have a chance to start spinning properly til it sees the resistance/impedance of the atmosphere outside the marker. That's when its fins can real start working for it (and not before).

However, in a rifled barrel two things can happen depending on the bore size:

1) Underbored barrels like the Tiberius/Lapco grab the FS and force it to spin before it exits the barrel and allows little to no air/co2 to leak past the FS so the atmosphere the FS sees (the air and pressure inside the Barrel - in front of the round - is the same atmosphere it will experience when it exits the barrel. This encourages an accurate flight. But, depending on the particular rounds size, causes it to occasionally drag inside the barrel leading to the famous Tiberius/Lapco occasional "drop short" of target phenomena.

I believe the slightly overbored Hammerheads act diffidently. Yes, they encourage the round to spin in the barrel; but, allow a little air to leak by the round. However, this "leak" is not random like in a smooth bore. I creates its own vortex in front of the FS as the shock wave of air/co2 exits the barrel and acting as an impedance match to the exterior environment. This allows the first strike to continue to fly straight as the slight exterior vortex dissipates.

There is no occasional drop off like in underbore and the round is spinning when it exits the barrel leading to greater consistency and efficiency as well as accuracy just as good if not better than the underbored barrels.

That's my theory anyway. Remember both get the job done. Underbores however have one more draw back. If you are going to mix paintballs and first strikes, the underbores are unforgiving as far as regualr paintballs and say right on them, "For first strike use only!" I believe that's why the newly introduced first strike ready markers that say they handle first strikes or paintball all come with hammerhead barrels (which are slightly overbored and therefore more gentle on paint!)

[Allu]

I can appreciate those theories.

[Wolfen]

There is at least a few factors to consider before you even start shooting too.

For best accuracy store First strikes nose down in a space that has even temperature. For maximal effect you should keep first strikes like this for some time before actually shooting them. I've been testing this for about two years and it definitely makes a difference.

Make sure your gear is well maintained and clean.

Do not load your first strikes into the marker until just before your ready to shoot.


As for the the testing range my opinion is that it's nice to be able to vary the distance, but you should be no closer to the target then 30 m (i personally think about 40 m is the sweet spot for testing). The reason for this is that you can't really see a accuracy impact on short distances. Doesn't really matter what marker you use, if it's first strikes or regular paintballs if your shooting at 20 m since any setup should be able to put ball on ball at that distance.

Have tried to color the back of the first strikes, didn't really make any difference at all for me. What did work for me though was painting them with the liquid that's in glow sticks. worked really really well when you shot them in the dark. I remember someone else said that they too had tried this and it didn't work well for them so there might be a big difference on what kind of glow sticks you use.

If this post is really really fuzzy it's cause im writing it on my phone and i can't really see what i write

[chicago]

Many people do what wolfen suggests. I think he probably just forgot to mention that they should all be the same size and properly fitted to the barrel (preferably riffled). Surprisingly, all first strikes are not equal. They vary in size may be 0.001 to 0.002 in either direction giving you an almost 0.005 variance (within a 40 round box). Now admittedly that's a lot better than dimpled regular paintballs; but, if you are serious sniper, it will make a shot to shot difference. and, rejject any after that that have weird fins, that's another real problem.

And secondly, and I've been guilty of this till just the other day. People actually weigh their FS rounds. And still others boil their fins (I haven't gone that far yet). But, I was happy to find a little scale in grams (only $6.95 US on amazon or ebay). So, after you size them, weigh them. Now, you got the best round possible in paintball. Use the rounds that don't pass muster for chrono and other adjustments. But, hunt for Canadians with only the most precise rounds!

There's still stuff like variances in reg pressure, etc. we can get into at another time. Anything that varies adds an element of uncertainty including your breathing! Then there's the dam cross wind, humidity, and elevation. People with OCD make great FS snipers (Did I mention that?)

But, as far as when I'm testing, I prefer to use new boxes of 100. The variance are part of the testing for a lot of people who don't do the above. It's like so many things, you want to know the mean or average so you can compare; not the absolute best you can ever expect! and, I believe that 100 is a good "sample" size for our "hobby!"

At least that's my opinion and how I test; not how I shoot, how I test.

[Wolfen]

Your absolutely right (both about what you said and that i forgot to mention it). First strikes are between .684 and .686 (i've had 3 in my time that were .683 too...) Actually measured all first strikes this year and noticed that out of the roughly 400 first strikes i had the majority were .685, however the amount of .684 were double the amount of .686, (if i remember correctly it was 28% / 57% / 15% ratio), now this might not be an accurate ratio overall but still.

[skullcandy1993]

In terms of testing FS rounds, I would most be interested in what the ideal barrel specs would be. I know someone did this for regular .68 cal and they discovered that a smooth bored (and slightly underbored) 11" barrel without a muzzle break was the ideal barrel for standard paint. What would it be for FS rounds? Length? Rifled vs Not? Muzzle break or not? Match bored? Under bored? Overbored? You get the idea

[chicago]

Hey Skully, check out this thread for some FS length, rifled vs not, bore and breaks.

snipertalk.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=upgrades&thread=469&page=1

[trinity]

Nov 20, 2012 14:16:03 GMT -5 Wolfen said:

As for the the testing range my opinion is that it's nice to be able to vary the distance, but you should be no closer to the target then 30 m (i personally think about 40 m is the sweet spot for testing). The reason for this is that you can't really see a accuracy impact on short distances. Doesn't really matter what marker you use, if it's first strikes or regular paintballs if your shooting at 20 m since any setup should be able to put ball on ball at that distance.

We have different opinions on this. After I get the sight/scope zeroed and the velocity chronoed properly, I can tell the accuracy of any rifle after firing just a few rounds at 20 yards from either a bench or in the prone position with a bipod. Because of velocity differences and the lack of uniformity in the first strikes, I have never seen a rifle that puts rounds exactly, precisely, one on top of the other. There is always a grouping size for the pattern and that pattern only gets bigger at longer ranges. I have actually tried to standardize all my shooting at 20 yards so that I become real familiar with the accuracy levels of guns and barrels at that instance. The other thing I like about shooting at short range is that the impact of the wind as a variable is greatly reduced.

Here is an example of what I am saying. When another tester here posted up that he was shooting a 3" - 4" groups with first strikes at 20 yards with a Hammerhead barrel mounted on a new Dye Dam, that tells me almost everything I need to know to figure out how accurate that gun is going to be at longer ranges.

Now, you may have two rifles whose shot patterns at 20 yards are so close in size (both shooting 3" groups for instance) that it may take dropping back 10 more yards to see how much those patterns open up and, therefore, which is actually the more accurate gun, but that happens less than you might think.

[Wolfen]

Nothing wrong with different opinions . I shoot pretty much same pattern with pretty much any gun with any configuration at 20m, and have done so for the last 10 years which for me means that if i want to compare accuracy i need to be further away. I do use short range when i sight in my sights and scopes though.

[Allu]

I agree on the point of impact being less subject to wind, and I also think that being familiar with a certain range is good because the ability to compare.
However when talking about accurate platforms, I do believe that most of the times the case is as in trinitys second example, they are just to close to be conclusive, therefore a longer range might have to be used. If I see different patterns at 20 yards, then the accuracy difference between two markers is rather large (if the difference is between established patterns, and not just a fluke) and in that case its back to the drawing board, ofc staring at 20 yards is a good place, but I feel its just the beginning.
The wind is ofc a large factor on such a slow projectile, and a benched gun or prone position is definitely a must, in the prone position one should be in the clear with once breathing patterns,
wolfen might disagree on that last one, but he is one of the few shots I know with a special knack for accuracy, (his groups standing can be in the same size as my prone groups),
still when able to eliminate a variable, do it, just my 2 cents.
Then when one knows that the marker is accurate, it feels allot better to go on the field knowing that once own shooting skill is the limiting factor. (Believe me, in my case it's limiting enough, I'm just a slightly better than average shot, 75-85% military wise, wolfen is high 90's if I'm not mistaken)

[Wolfen]

Actually i pretty much agree with everything you say. two things about wind though. First of all if you really want thorough testing then i'd suggest waiting for a calm day . Also i did alot of test shooting this year and i took wind readings (wind direction, wind speed...) for every single shot. Here's a very interesting and good to know conclusion i reached. First strikes isn't affected by wind nearly as much as one would think and far less then regular paintballs. with crosswind speeds around 5-6 m/s the deviation were only around 40 cm at 40 m when using first strikes. Still you do need to take it into consideration when shooting

[avengingangel]

Maybe you guys all have OCD. My first strike fly fine.

[chicago]