Freak Deluxe Barrel Kit Review

What is the Freak Kit?

The Freak Kit is an interchangeable barrel system consisting of a front, a back and eight inserts.  The inserts are used to determine the bore of the barrel.  The following chart illustrates the insert color and it’s bore.

NOTE: The colors are not always consistent from one Freak kit to another.  Make sure that you read the insert size off the side of the insert.

There are two main advantages to the Freak Kit.  First is the obvious, you can get the perfect paint to barrel match no matter what paint you are using.   The second is not necessarily so obvious.   Because the pieces are all interchangeable, you can purchase a new back for a different marker and the entire kit is now functional for both markers. 

Do you like options?

If you’re like me, you like options.  With the Freak kit you have the choice of a Teardrop front with a total barrel length of 10”, 12”, 14”, 16” or 18”.  Remember that the back is a fixed length.  You can also get an All American front but it is only available in a single 14" length at this time.  For the back you can choose between a black aluminum or stainless steel.  If you like colors, you can get the front colored in black, green, silver, purple blue or red with splash colors available soon. 

Where to buy the Freak?

These days just about anywhere.  The Freak Kit is popular and can be found at almost any Paintball supplier.  Finding a Freak Kit was an issue when the kits were first released, but is no longer a problem

My Initial experience

After receiving my Freak Kit I went and played indoor using my Impulse and the new Freak. What I did was open the bag of paint (PMI Premium) and measured about 5 balls to the inserts. .689 (blue) was just about right but I figured that some of the paint might be a little bigger than others so I went with .691 (green).

Accuracy was all there. As a note, I enjoyed great accuracy with the stock barrel. We played a game where you had to shoot the cup from the opposing teams rear bunker. This is while the other team is shooting at you and your cup. At first I was coming close to the cup but was too far away. I moved up to a closer bunker and hit it with my first string of shots. The cup did not fall, but I hit it again (possibly someone else lots of balls flying) and it fell.

I had a ball chop. You know how the last one or two in your revy do not feed well. So instead of cleaning the barrel and loading I decided to try and shoot through it. I was not impressed with this. After about 10 shots they were still curving a lot. I ran a quick squeegee and everything was 100% back on the money. I think there was some paint in the breach causing this problem.

My initial impression is that I like the barrel. My two concerns are that the inserts are very thin and can easily get damaged. One of the refs told me how this had happened to him. And my other concern is that it did not shoot clean as quickly as I would have liked.

After thoughts

As I indicated I was happy but not totally impressed with the Freak the first time out.  Well things have changed!  Now I’ve had a chance to use it and test more.  I found that my initial logic was off.  When I went to the larger insert (green) over the correct insert (blue) I caused the problems.  The next time I played I used the .689 insert.   I again did not break a ball and maintained excellent accuracy.  As a test, I broke a ball in the end of the barrel and then attempted to shoot through it.   Three shots later I had no clue that a break had even happened.

I recently conducted a test, using only Blaze paint, I compared the following:

• Impulse with stock 12” Progressive
• Impulse with 14” DYE Boomstick
• Impulse with 12” Freak with Teardrop front and .687 insert

• Angel with Stock 14” infinity
• Angel with 12” DYE Stainless Steel
• Angel with 11” Mt Hux Rocket
• Angel with 12” Freak with Teardrop front and .687 insert

While both boomsticks performed well, the Freak shot a tighter grouping.

Who Should Get the Freak Kit?

I play tournaments so for me or another tournament player I would definitely strongly recommend the Freak kit. I've had to match barrels to three different paints so far, Inferno - small, Blaze - medium/small & PMI - Medium. For practice I also use a different paint (All-Stars) which is usually medium.

What about the cost?

Like I said earlier, I play tournaments and have three different paints that I have to size for depending on the field I play at. So I could buy 3 barrels averaging about $70.00 per barrel for a total of $210.00. In addition, I have two markers, an Angel and an Impulse, so I would need another 3 for a new total of $420.00. Now in reality I already have 2 of the 3 I would need for my Angel and the Progressive that comes with the Imp could work as one of the barrels. Bottom line, it helps me to match the paint to the barrel anywhere I go and after getting the back for the Angel I have a single barrel set that works for both guns. Let's say in the future I get tired of the Angel and sell it for a free-flow cocker (not that this will ever happen). Now I buy a new back end and the whole Freak system works with the cocker. I like options!!

But isn’t is cheaper to get a DYE Boomstick?

OK, let's say for the sake of argument that you play tournaments. One barrel is not enough because you will have different paint at different fields.

This math only works if you are going to have more than one barrel for your marker.

How do you know which insert to use?

There are two ways to test which insert to use. I generally use the first.