flatline for tippmann 98 custom

[-ghOst-]

just wonderin what everyone thinks about the flatline?

[xPropheTx]

It's a gimmick product and is way overpriced.

[*Stitch*]

i'v got one on my 98 custom and i think it's amazing. i LOVE hitting people far away before they can see me. but if you plan on playing within around like.. 100ish feet get an AA or a diffrent barrel. because the flatline SUCKS up close. and if it's not installed correctly it will chop A LOT.

[P-StormSnakeMan]

i dont like them, ive shot a couple they arent the most acurate but they do shot maybe 40yds more. go with something cheaper i say, but hay thats just me.

wut ever you think dude. :)

[Louis33]

Get a flatline I just got one and they are awsome

[Lone Wolf 17]

The flatline is a great barrel for distance but for accuracy it has a flaw or 2 If your looking for a barrel I would suggest a Hammerhead they are rifled so they increase distance and accuracy. They cost about the same as a flatine.

[YaWanaBLikMe2]

FLAT LINES SUCK!! dont get me wrong they have a GREAT distance BUT they chop and are a butt to clean beacuse u have to take offf the bolts. i would get one if u didnt have the whole shroud thing. thats the most retarded thing. just get a 14-16in. Smart Parts All American.

oo i just rememberd the flatline doesnt do well with the responce trigger

[Old Chief]

Flatlines are good but you need to know some facts, issues, limitations, and make modifications.

One the 98 flatline as sold will not work well. Runyou finger inside the over sized front end of the barrel and notice how sharp the inside edges are to the suppressor holes.
The 98 flatline kit as sold and gun needs modifications to make hte flatline work consistently.

1. The barrel adaptor to the 98 can/will get loose allowing the barrel to twist - thowing your shots way off the the right or left. I drilled and tapped a set screw hole into my 98 so a set screw can snug down on the barrel adaptor threads into the 98.

2. The barrel retaining clamp uses an allen screw screw to clamp down on the barrel. This allen does not allow field cleaning of the barrel. I replaced this allen screw with a thumb tab screw/bolt. With the thumb tab you can quickly and easily loosen the screw and slip the barrel out the front of the shroud for cleaning. This is REQUIRED as an un-modified 98 flatline will rip balls and you will need to do field cleaning or die!

3. I've had three 98 barrels on this gun. The first came with the gun as used - this barrel had a MFG defect that caused it to rip nearly every ball - the suppressor holes were on top of the barrel at 12 O clock position. When I took the gun to Tippman - theyt immediately replaced the barrel - no charge. Tip went through 4 more barrels out of the box before they founf one that didn't rip balls - hmmmm an omen. The new barrel the suppressor holes are at 10 and 2 O'clock when the barrel is set to TDC.

I got the new barrel and adaptor installed and learned a few things about the flatline.
One thing was that Tipp dialed down my gun to under 240 FPS to get hte balls from ripping. And the barrel needs to be adjusted for best accuracy as it will move about 10 degrees either way from top-dead-center (TDC) position. I used this barrel and still found it ripping balls so I went back to Tippman and they gave me another new barrel - but this time I could not watch. Well this barrel ripped balls at anything over 250 FPS. This barrel still ripped at least 5 balls per hopper full.

I now have an A5 - I looked at the A5 flatline barrel and noticed the extra over sized suppressor piece are no longer on this flatline barrel. So someone at Tippman knows of the 98 flatline design flaw and has elimintated this problem from the A5.

So I cut the 98 flatline barrel just behind the last set if suppressor holes - leaving about 1/2" inch of oversized barrel on the flatline. Deburred the cut off.

NOW with a 98 set at 300 FPS "I'VE NOT RIPPED A BALL". The 98 flatline really works well - still need to tweek the barrel to TDC/best accuracy but it gets those balls out their EVERYTIME!

4. The flatline accuracy seems to go bonkers at about 100' - the balls seem to snap off the the right or left at this range. I do not think there is anything that can be done about this - I suspect the balls are slowing down and the air grabs them rotating the ball trajectory and then they make hard turns. Ususally the balls are flat/direct/accurate out to over 100' but this all depends on the winds I'm shooting into.

5. To give myself a lil more distance I swab my barrels down with RainX. This improves velocity as RainX reduces ball to barrel friction!

Hope this answers your question.

da Old Chief / Sniper :ph34r:

[dark_Omens]

I can never make up my mind about flatlines. Ya, they can shoot far, which as Ive seen is actually pretty helpful in some woodsball situations. However, most of the time at those ranges the ball isn't going to break unless you get really lucky and it hits their marker. Thats why I think a traditional barrel will work better. For almost the same price, you can get one of the top of the line barrel kits, which will always give you the best accuracy. Although they dont shoot as far, the effective range is still the same as a flatline.