Poison Arrow Barrel System Review

Recently through browsing the massive collection of paintball supplies for sale on Ebay I stumbled across a rather intriguing product. As some already know through my teaser post here on the forums it was a rather boastful find, a barrel system that would become the end all barrel systems for any paintball enthusiast. While reading the description of the barrel system on Ebay I found an address to the manufacturers website.

Intrigued by what I read already I quickly jumped to the site, www.smootherthanglass.com. The site left little to be desired but with most new products such as this, manufacturers tend to put the money into the product rather than fancy ad campaigns. Understanding this I read on. The name of the company is Poison Products and their barrel system is known as the Poison Arrow.

After being teased by what I would call the “wow factor” of the barrel system I simply had to email the company and ask for the opportunity to test their product. Within 24 hours the owner of the company replied to my email and said,

“I would be more than happy to let you test the Poison arrow bbl set. We started developing this product 2 years before the freak. I refused to run to the market place until I thought it was perfect. We then found the best people and materials to build them from. We use the same grade of aluminum that Smith and Wesson builds their handguns from. We also hard coat anodize not soft coat so the product will last a lifetime. We spent lots of time and money on research and development. As proof all our sets come with lifetime warranties. I personal inspect each and every set prior to them being packaged. Email me your shipping address and we will ship a test set for you to evaluate.
Thanks ‘
John Goepfert
Owner

The reply was, well as you can see, very positive. After a few more emails and a phone call to confirm some details the barrel kit arrived about a week later. And these are my findings…

First impressions
Having seen the product on the website prior to receiving it from Poison Products I was not all that impressed by the “look” of the barrel. However, knowing that I am not completely swayed by anything other than performance this was no big deal. If your looking for a barrel that will improve the “look” of your marker then you may want to find another system.

This barrel has been bread for performance, not to impress the ladies. When the package arrived I eagerly ripped into it as though I were a kid at Christmas. Not having seen the entire barrel system with case on the net I was wondering what my first impressions would be. Would it come in a cardboard case with a dandy little magnet holding the lid closed or would it come in a padded plastic case that would resemble the Freak® kit?

To my surprise the system came in a very nice and sturdy black plastic case with the company and barrel system logo on the front of the cover. Very nice, very rigid. This looks as though it came from a company that is as well established as Smart Parts® or any other high end product manufacturer. Opening the case I was pleased to see that it was well padded and neatly organized. I found that one of the best features to this system already was the smaller design of the case as though to make it easier to fit into an already full bag of paintball gear. This was a pleasing as I usually have enough equipment with me to supply a small team for myself alone.

Upon examining the barrel sleeves and such I found that this kit was not something constructed over night. This barrel was rigid, and that is putting it lightly. The barrel fully constructed has a similar weight to the stainless version of the Freak® system yet the rigid feel of the Boomstick. A barrel system like this makes it much easier to dive into a bunker knowing that your going to pop out blazing with the same accuracy you had before attempting such a move.

My first impressions of the Poison Arrow Barrel System were very good. From the “smoother than glass” finish on the ID of the barrel sleeves to the well padded and organized case this system looks to have much to offer in way of performance. Assembly: Assembly of the Poison Arrow Barrel System is as simple as any other barrel kit with the exception of one step. After selecting the sleeve or BAC (Ball Acceleration Cylinder) as Poison Products calls it, you simply slide the BAC into the BAC Retainer Sleeve and then insert and screw into your marker. Then with the BAC and BAC Retainer in your marker you simply select the tip you wish to use then screw it into the assembly already installed onto your marker.

With the Freak or any other kit you generally are able to assemble the barrel system then screw it onto your marker. It is rather simple and an effective way to eliminate the gap in your breach you find with most other barrel systems. Performance: I have had the opportunity to use many of the barrel systems out on the market today, none of which I have been entirely impressed with. The Scepter by Powerlite and the collection of JT barrel backs and tips were by far the best I have used IMHO. In using other products I have gained a little understanding as to what makes a barrel any good. Three characteristics that would best describe a good barrel would be
1. The Cylindricity of the ID and it’s size
2. The ID surface finish and
3. The barrels porting.

If you have a barrel that has an excellent ID surface finish, great paint to barrel match but lack good porting not only will the barrel be loud but you will have trouble clearing out debris or paint from a broken paintball. Debris and paint are your accuracy’s worst enemies.

Anything that may cause the ball to slow down or become uneven in flight will destroy your chances of making that single shot hit especially when snap shooting an opponent that is as good or better than you. The barrel you’re using may be the only thing that separates a win from a loss. The Poison Arrow excels in each of the 3 characteristics that would best describe a good barrel. The cylindricity of a barrel refers to the size of the ID being uniform throughout the first 4 to 6 inches of the barrel.

The BAC’s in the Poison Arrow are 5 inches in length and meet the required cylindricity throughout the full five inches of each BAC. In any case, finding the proper paint to barrel match is the first step in finding any barrels true rating in accuracy. The surface finish is a very important factor in the barrels shot to shot repeatability as it will be the deciding factor on how the barrel can “clean itself” as you fire your shots through it.

If and when you have a break in paint the smoother the surface inside the barrel the better the chances are that your next few shots will clean the barrel and allow your shots to be back on target in as few a shots as possible. The porting on the Poison Arrow is amazing. Very subtle porting is found on the barrel outside of its large muzzle break at the tip of the barrel front. The smallest of tips has no small porting, as it needs none due to the length. This allows for a quiet shot allowing for certain air dispersal and keeping the ball from finding any spin that may cause it to wobble or fly off target.

Final thoughts
Well, the time had come to give this barrel a run through in the test department. I decided to use two different paints and two different test environments. Living in Michigan I need to know how well a barrel will perform in the bitter cold weather. First paint used was Marballizer. The second was a cheaper paint by the name of TC Venom. The Venom was set aside a while back to allow for the balls to become slightly dimpled and egg shaped. This would help in our more gruesome testing… My favorite test actually!