How-To: Silence that Flatline!

[bulldog]

bulldog said:

Done any testing on if/how it effects the flatline effect?

Still waiting to hear how this effects accuracy and range. I'm a lot more worried about that than whether the ATF is going to be at a paintball game and think that a Tippmann with all the silencing in the world is quiet enough to bear a close look, especially with cockers and such for comparison.

[SWATORNOT]

This should not affect range or accuracy. The ports are all on the bottom and yet small enough to still generate the needed amount of thrust behind the ball to propel it out of the barrel. Instead of the gases being expelled out of the very end of the barrel, it allows some to escape from the ports. End result being a quieter barrel.

Some people will argue this messes with the "Magnus" effect. This is not true, Why? Simple the Magnus effect does not happen untill the ball is out of the barrel and in "flight"

How do you know that?

Let's examine the Magnus Effect....

A pocket of high pressure air forms under and slightly behind the paintball, pushing it up and forward, and a pocket of low pressure forms above and slightly in front fo the paintball. This is called the Magnus Effect and is the same force that is generated by an airplane wing, and the force that baseball pitchers rely on to throw curve balls and sliders.

The obvious reason why this mod does not effect the Magnus effect is quite clear. You simply can not generate the "lift" caused by the High and Low pressure pockets, inside of the barrel. The ball must be propeled out of the barrel before the Magnus effect can be set in place.

[ The magnus effect is what gives you the flat trajectory. How does the flatline generate the needed backspin to cause this effect to happen?

The ball is shot from the bottom side of the barrel, the air quickly forces the ball to follow the curve inside, starting at the bottom, just about half way through due to the force behind the ball and the size of the inside diameter of the barrel, the ball then moves from running along the bottom side to running along the top, thus, generating the needed backspin on the ball to generate the Magnus Effect once out of the barrel and in the air.

Having just somewhat explained those properties of the barrel you should easily see that this barrel becomes no different than any other ported barrel on the market (Except given its curve, and inside diameter).

[bulldog]

Sounds reasonable. Might have to try it out when I get around to picking up a UMS 98c/A5 flatty.