Board Thread:Questions and answers/@comment-26431461-20180807014840/@comment-27306930-20180807064815

I would like to invite anyone in the NIC with credible information to join in this discussion, because I have read so much contradictory info, even my head is spinning.

The first thing to acknowledge is there are three different types of barrels in Nerfdom. The first is brass and PVC barrels that maintain physical contact with the outside wall of the dart down the entirety of the barrel. The second is narrow gauge barrels like the Prox Barrel that are just slightly larger in diameter than Elite darts. The third is barrels like the Spectre Barrel Extension that are considerably larger than the diameter of the darts.

Oversized barrels like the Spectre extension have absolutely no effect on the darts. They are purely cosmetic. Totally awesome looking, but cosmetic. They are obviously too large to have any meaningful impact on the darts traveling through them. Any drag imparted on the dart would be negligible, if measurable at all. In the same way dropping a pea through a toilet paper tube isn't going to alter its trajectory, drilling a bunch of holes in it isn't going to make any difference either.

On the other end of the spectrum is PVC and brass. These barrels definitely introduce drag in the form of friction between the dart and the wall of the barrel. But because that creates an air seal, almost all of the kinetic energy of the compressed air is directly transferred to the dart. That energy is orders of magnitude greater than the drag of friction. Take the Caliburn for instance. Drilling holes in the barrel would simply wreck the blaster. All of the compressed air would leak out the holes and whatever's left over might not even push the dart all the way through the barrel. But without holes, Holy Mary Mother of Jesus - don't get in front of one.

That leaves the narrow gauge barrels like the Long Range Barrel and the Prox. These barrels are so narrow that darts create a small shock wave in the barrel as they pass through this small space. There are several schools of thought about how this all works, but little actual science.

The first group believes that at stock and super-stock levels the aerodynamic effect on Nerf darts is negligible. The weight, balance, and shape of the darts determine how well they perform. They claim it isn't until you get to three or four hundred feet per second that it makes any difference. To be honest, there's a lot of common sense to back up their claims.

The second group is convinced that buffeting and "rifling" have an impact of performance. Buffeting is essentially the blanket of air that forms around a dart as it passes through the narrow space in the barrel. They claim this relatively high pressure zone around the dart stabilizes the trajectory, but causes additional friction that slows down the dart and reduces range. The longer the barrel, the greater the accuracy, the lower the range. I'll admit, it sounds plausible. But in the same breath, these folks almost always claim that faux rifling in these barrels somehow affects the performance. These guys have obviously never googled "rifling", and don't understand the mechanics of how rifled barrels work. That, and they know for sure Chupacabra is real and no amount of factual evidence will ever sway them. Frankly, it's unclear.

The third group believes in something called T.I.T. (Turbulence Induced Tailspin). Turbulent high speed gasses exiting faster than the darts push the tail end of the darts to and fro as they exit the barrel, causing inconsistencies in accuracy and range. That's where venting came from. Extra holes means those turbulent gasses have a chance to escape, so the dart can emerge unscathed. It's plausible, but only for PVC and brass. For other barrel types it just doesn't make sense.

Personally, I don't think barrel extensions, or venting, have any effect on stock or super-stock blasters. Caliburns maybe. Stage II Retaliators, yeah, not.