ARADUS from Psychoballistics

From the Web site:

The Aradus is the most sophisticated paintball delivery system ever designed with a collapsible inner sleeve that features a straight rifle system that will prevent unwanted non linear spin on the ball and with its twist & click sizing system, you can change the size of the bore on the fly.  No more changing sleeves.  The bore of this single barrel can be adjusted by simply twisting & clicking the barrel into one of it's 5 settings.  The barrel has been tested to the marker it was made for and a custom tailored length was designed for that marker.

The Aradus is entirely made out of aircraft aluminum and stainless steel.  At the current time, the Aradus is available in black and silver.

Pictures taken from www.psychoballistics.com

How does it Work?:

The Aradus uses a mechanism to "dial-in" the desired bore for the barrel.  Inside the barrel is a long "C" shaped tube.  When you dial a smaller bore, the opening in the "C" gets smaller and the inner diameter of the barrel gets smaller.  As you dial a larger bore, the opening of the "C" gets larger and the inner diameter of the barrel gets larger.

Available bore sizes:

.676	Smallest
.680
.684	To
.688
.692	Largest

Comments:

The Aradus Barrel is a two piece barrel.  At this time I do not know if you can purchase just the tip, but the Impulse version is available as both 12" and 14" barrel, referred to as Short and Long.  You can remove the front of the barrel for cleaning as it is threaded.  I also do not know if it is an options to purchase just an Aradus back to allow you to use an existing  Aradus barrel for more than one marker, but hey the price is right, just buy another complete Aradus so you have one for both markers.

While normally I like to compare aftermarket parts to stock parts, I did compare the Aradus to popular barrel system from Smart Parts.  Once my bore was set, and my velocity was reasonably the same, there was no noticeable difference in accuracy and shot grouping between the two barrel systems.

In comparing the stock Progressive barrel to the Aradus, when the paint to barrel match was the same, I really could not find anything different between the two barrels.  As I changed paint to something smaller bore, the Aradus maintained it's accuracy once "dialed in" while the progressive was a little less accurate due to the missing paint-to-barrel match.  Obviously I could not test with large bore paint since it would not even fit in the stock Progressive barrel.  NOTE: I have an older Progressive barrel when they were closer to .687 or .689 bore.  Most of the newer ones are .691 or larger.

The Aradus also comes with a red tournament locking ring that can be slid over the back of the barrel and locked down with two small set screws to prevent someone from adjusting the bore while on the field, intentionally or otherwise.  While I understand the need for the tournament locking ring, it is my opinion that in its current state it is not the best design.  First, the allen key for the set screws is tiny and not part of a normal set of allens.  Should you lose the allen key provided from PBI you will be SOL.  Additionally using the set screw in the locking ring repeatedly will cause small scratches in your barrel.  Especially if you do not un-screw the set screws all the way before trying to remove the ring.  With that said, I used the Aradus several different times, both with and without the locking ring, and did not inadvertently adjust the barrels' bore.  I put the locking ring in my tool kit and do not plan on using it.

Like all great barrel tests, I always want to know how well does this barrel shoot through a barrel break.  Since my Vision Imp never chops I decided to fake a chop/break.  So I took a single paintball and broke it in the base of the barrel.  Then I preceded to shoot another clean ball through the previous broken ball (still in the barrel).  It was messy at first, but after a about 3-4 shots accuracy returned.  As I continued to play I would still get a curve ball once and a while but for the most part accuracy was returned.  When I ran this test again, I broke a ball, took one shot and then squeegee'd.  Accuracy returned with the next shot and remained as I expected. 

Thumbnail of Aradus on my Impulse. Click to see larger version.

Conclusion:

This barrel gets the job done.  If you are a player that buys gear for status, there are other names that will make people jealous.  If you are a smart player and base your purchases on performance, then give the Aradus a try....you will not be disappointed.

The Details

• MSRP: $99.95 
• Options: The Base of the Barrel is black.  Currently Tips available in Silver (for $10 more) or Black.  Lengths are Short (12") and Long (14") for the Impulse with the Pro Design Tip only.  The original Fluted Design Tip is only available in one length and I believe is going to be discontinued.
• Pro's: The Aradus is an inexpensive way to get multiple bores without purchasing one of the more expensive barrel kits on the market.  While saving money you will not lose out on performance gained from a tight paint-to-barrel match.
• Cons: Using the Aradus will lower your velocity a little compared to the Stock barrel with an equal paint to barrel match.  This is not a secret as Aradus has stated this in the past.  In my testing my velocity dropped a little less than 7FPS.