Freak Barrel System Review

The Freak barrel system proves to be a winner.

The inventors of aftermarket barrels have innovated again. Smart Parts, a company long known for its aftermarket barrels has come out with the most impressive barrel yet. The new Freak System from Smart Parts has arrived and is taking the market by storm.
The idea behind the Freak system was to design a barrel that would shoot any paint under any type of conditions. Paintball players, internet websites, and countless articles always proclaim that the paint to barrel match is the single most important factor contributing to accuracy. Smart Parts wanted to create a barrel that will shoot any paint.

The solution was creating a variable bore barrel. The two-piece barrel has interchangeable inserts of variable thickness that change the inner bore of the back end of the barrel. The design is quite unique and unlike any other on the market. Other manufacturers have designed barrels with different sized back pieces, but nothing as complicated or advanced as the Freak.

The inserts are made of thin aluminum and are anodized in different colors. Each insert has a number printed on the outside that indicates its size. The front ends are also unique in that they are interchangeable as well. One can use a Teardrop, All American, or any other Smart Parts front. Furthermore, if you have more than one paintball marker, you can simply buy another back end to fit.

So, if you have an Autococker and a Spyder you can purchase a complete Autococker Freak System for $235 (MSRP) and an extra back end for a Spyder. This is comparable to buying 20 different barrels for the price of one. If you are budget conscious, this is the barrel for you.

Smart Parts has recently come out with the Econo Freak which is a lower end version. Same great barrel, but lower price and the inserts and parts are still interchangeable with the more expensive one. The only difference seems to be a lack of extra milling on the back end of the Econo Freak. It comes with the .691 insert only and retails for MSRP $89.

Our Freak arrived in a black plastic case with the clear case cover intact, contrary to some consumers reporting cracked covers. The back of the barrel was made of aluminum and finished with a shiny black anodizing. The back has the word ‘Freak’ and two horizontal diamonds milled out. The words and diamond shapes show really well when a colored insert is inserted into the back.

Our Freak came with an All American and a Teardrop front, which afforded us the opportunity to compare the various fronts.

Our staff, after a few hiccups, was extremely impressed with the Freak. Initially, we had difficulty matching the paint to the barrel. This is the most crucial part of the Freak System. Allocate extra time each day to match the paint properly. If you are going to a tournament purchase your paint right away and have one of your players begin the matching procedure right away. Furthermore, after a game or two, rematch the paint because temperature and humidity may have changed.

Having an improper match is not horribly bad, until you see the results that a good match produces. In fact, an improper match produces results that your average barrel would normally produce, so you probably would not be able to tell the difference. At it’s worse, the Freak still outperforms most other barrels.

We have completed some preliminary testing of the Freak and are quite pleased. But we won’t stop there. The Freak will be included in our comprehensive barrel test. Over 14 different barrels and 5 brands of paint will be tested side by side and head to head.

Matching:
We have found that the best way to match the paint to the barrel is to take out all of the inserts. Then take 3 paintballs from the paint you will be using that day and try to fit them into the inserts. The next part is tricky and very crucial. The key is to get a snug fit into the barrel. We have found that the snuggest fit possible, without forcing the ball into the insert, is is the best option.

Also don’t forget that one side of the insert is beveled while the other is flat or flush. The beveled end is the one that should be in the breech. This little bevel helps the ball feed into the barrel better.

Some have suggested that the best way to match it is by using the insert as a blowgun and if it blows through, then that is the best fit. This may work for some people, but we feel that it should be tighter than that. Of course, if you want to do it right, the best way is by getting an approximation by hand then actually shooting the paint through the barrel. If the balls are curving or are not hitting the target consistently, then switch to a tighter fit.

Kolby Gallagher of Toledo Indoor Paintball, who plays for Team Freak Factory, recommends choosing a larger insert for blow forward and higher pressure markers. “You really should choose the bigger sized insert if your gun has a high pressure or is a blow forward design, like Angels, Spyders, and Tippmanns. You were testing the Freak with a very low pressure.”

Another way that we used to match the paint to the insert was by shooting a few shots over the chronograph. If you are using a high quality air supply and quality paint, your velocity readings should be as close as possible or in the tightest range possible. That is an excellent indicator of paint to barrel match. Initially we were shocked when the first three shots fired out of the Freak were 283, 283, and 283fps. We were dumbfounded. No other barrel throughout our comprehensive barrel and paint test of 2001 did that. We tried it again, just to make sure we were not imagining things and had 283, 283, and 284 fps. That last one was probably due to our Radar Chrono turning slightly in the wind (or something).

We have found that the new Marballizer paintballs manufactured using the Advantage ® process work well with the .679 insert at 84 degrees and 24-29% humidity. Ditto for Zap Performance Plus paintballs. But you will never have the same exact conditions, so do a little work before play.

The test:
We were very impressed with the Freak. We tested the Freak in the midst of our comprehensive barrel and paint test of this year. We are in the process of gathering statistics and results of a 14 barrel test with 5 different brands of paint that run the gamut from recreational paint to the top tournament performing paint. Complete results will be published at a later date.