The Freak barrel changed the game when it came out, instead of having multiple barrels or barrel backs that took up space in your gearbag. The Freak Barrel system uses a barrel back that accepts differently sized inserts that you can use to bore match your paint to your barrel for the most consistent and efficient shot possible by reducing the amount of room that paint has to move inside your barrel. The standard freak utilizes a 6 inch insert that slides into the barrel back, it can be quickly changed by removing your barrel back, sliding the insert out, and replacing it with the new correctly sized insert. After the success of the Freak barrel, the Freak XL barrel system was developed utilizing the same technology, but with a longer insert to give an even more consistent shot. These barrels have a refined look to them, they utilize the 8 inch insert which slides into both the barrel back and into the barrel tip. With the freak XL the original freak barrel back will not work with the freak XL barrel tip, they use different threads that make them not compatible.
Both the Freak and the Freak XL barrel systems are going to be some of the best barrels available as an upgrade from stock barrels on markers, but in order to see the benefit, you must correctly size your paint to your barrel. So how do you size your paintballs to your barrel? Usually the best way is to drop a paintball into a few of the inserts you have, you want the ball to glide through freely without it just falling straight through and without it getting stuck in the insert. If you are playing with an Autococker or a pump marker then you may want to “under bore” your paint just a little bit, so it may have a little more resistance and it does not just roll out of your barrel, however typically if you are playing with an electronic marker you will likely want to be slightly over bored to ensure that at fast rates of fire your paint will not get bound up in your barrel and cause barrel breaks.
