For anyone new to paintball that might not know what the Apex barrel does I'll start with a short overview. The Apex barrel uses an adjustable piece of rubber to put a backspin on each paintball as it exits the barrel. This adds considerable distance over any other barrel on the market today. The biggest reason I would recommend an Apex is the ability to adjust the backspin. There are 8 backspin modes with the lowest being no backspin, 4-5 can be compared to the Tippmann Flatline, and what has been termed the "Super Flatline" at the highest level of backspin. Not only can you adjust the amout of backspin but by turning the Apex shroud you can make all kinds of trick shots to curve around bunkers or dive bomb over obstacles. The overall barrel length unmounted is exactly 10 3/4 inches.

From my experience many of the "cheat" features of the Apex are fun to play with but are difficult to use effectively in the field. The true power of the Apex is being able to adjust the backspin. It would take considerable skill and practice to be able to consistently make the kind of trick shots that has gained the Apex a reputation as a "cheat" barrel among some players.

The Apex has a rather unique range of capabilities depending on the level of backspin being applied. With the Apex turned off your basically using the 8-10 inch large bore stock barrel behind the shroud which leaves a lot to be desired. As you increase the backspin you get closer to a Flatline mode. Standard barrels fire paintballs in a bell shaped curve trajectory. The Tippmann Flatline was the first barrel to use backspin to create a flat trajectory and gain distance. No matter what anyone might tell you, all markers firing at the same velocity, with the same paint, are limited to the same distance. The only fluctuation will depend on air movement. When a paintball has a backspin it appear to almost float through the air which creates an illusion that it's flying slower than paint fired from a standard barrel. The Apex can easily outdistance a Flatline but at the higher backspin level you start to see a drop in accuracy and the paint actually drops down 1-4 feet before raising back up and continuing on it's way. You'd really have to see it to understand what I'm talking about but a player lying prone on the ground using the super Flatline mode would send most of his paint into the ground.

If you compare the Apex and the Flatline barrel you will see that the Apex wins every time though there are some loyal Flatline fans that swear by their barrels. The A5 Flatline is heavy, difficult to clean, difficult to incorporate into a milsim setup, very picky about paint, are near impossible to clean in the field, they're notoriously loud, can only be used in the Tippmann A5 or 98C, and have a big learning curve to master. The Apex is light, easy to clean, easy to use with any marker or milsim setup, much quieter, adjustable, can use almost any paint, and easy to master in the basic modes. The Flatline barrel uses a curved barrel with a powder coated finished. The paint is forced to rub along the top of the barrel by the curve and picks up backspin as it travels through the barrel. This creates a lot of friction on the outside of the paint. You almost have to use small bore, non-oily, thick shelled paint to get the best out of the Flatline. The Apex puts the backspin on the paint right before it exits the barrel. This puts less pressure on the ball, makes the barrel easier to clean, and reduces the dependency on a certain type of paint.

So why should you put your Apex on a different barrel? The barrel is really the weakest part of the Apex, it's not bad, but it could use some improvement. Using a different barrel allows you to put the Apex on any marker, use barrels that fit your existing setup, and increase the performance of the Apex. The setup depicted below is considerably quieter than the stock barrel, allows me to incorporate the Apex into my milsim setup, and is more accurate in my opinion. It only make sense that the more consistently the paint reaches the shroud the more accurate your shot to shot consistency will be. I also saw a noticeable improvement on the "drop" caused but the super Flatline mode without a loss in distance.

The Apex barrel adapter is one of the cheapest, easiest, and most effective mods you can ever do. It requires a roll of electrical tape and a barrel with a standard muzzle and at least two inches of free space at the end of the barrel. Some great examples would be a J&J Ceramic or All American barrel. Clearly a Teardrop or Hammerhead barrel with fluted fronts or built in muzzle breaks will not work. Simply disassemble the barrel front by removing the four retainer screws. Wrap the front of the barrel with electrical tape like the photos below until the Apex shroud fits snugly and reassemble. There might be some minor trial and error but the end result is worth the extra effort. If you haven't already guessed you won't be able to spin the Apex should for dive bomb or trick shots but you'll now be able to combine the best features of the Apex with your favorite barrel and setup.