Mod physics

So I'm a FNG and I don't understand barrel modding. It makes sense to have a long tight barrel in a riffle because you want the powder to burn all the way down for maximum force. Nerf doesn't burn powder. It's just a PFFffft of air.

Why do I want a 1/2 inch brass barrel? Shouldn't the increased friction make it worse?

Brass can be quite smooth if you polish it, and you need the tight dart fit to have more air pressure behind your dart. Also, I think this should be in the questions thread...

My bad. Saw the mod forum and jumped at it o_0

Thanks for the protip

Powder, compressed air and spring pistons all do the same thing in the end, created compressed gas (air or otherwise) to move a projectile, so in that sense it's the same principle. The only difference is in the volume of gas and the pressure it's at.

For relatively low pressures/volumes a tighter barrel can result in worse performance due to the friction as you've noted.

On a side note, brass is measured in the OD, so a 1/2" brass barrel would be ridiculously tight with an ID of 15/32".