It seems that everyone lately is producing new paintballs.  So now the question comes down to which paint to buy?  Well I have been sampling some of these new paints and I am here to give you the low down on the new Brass Eagle paint Top Brass.  With a metallic shell and neon colors Top Brass is quite noticeable.

Availability

        The availability of Top Brass is quite abundant.  You can purchase it at many local paintball shops and almost every Wal-Mart or K-Mart.  I actually purchased the paint used in the test at a local K-Mart.  Top Brass sells in 210 and 800 round resealable plastic jars.  The average price is $9.99 for 210 and $34.99 for 800.

Shell & Shape

        The Top Brass shell is quite attractive, ranging in colors from orange to purple.  The shell coating gives the ball a metallic and reflective quality.  Also Top Brass has a hard brittle shell that allows it to break easier on target with less bounce.  Yet looks aren’t everything.  The consistency of Top Brass is lacking.  Out of the 210 balls that were in the tube purchased approximately 45% were close to perfectly round, and out of these, about 10% were dimpled.  On average Top Brass had an egg shape making it over .74 in diameter in some locations on the ends, and well under .68 in other areas.  The ball deformaty could be due to storage conditions at the store, which would include the fact that they could have been left in a warm area, causing the balls to loose their shape.

Firing, Flight & Performance

        For the firing test a Kingman International Spyder with a 14” Smart Parts barrel, 9-volt Revolution,and dual regulated nitrogen was used, (for best consistancy performance).  The testing consisted of ten single-shot rounds to determine standard flight trajectory.  Then five-three round bursts were fired to determine field firing performance.  After this,  five-ten round bursts were fired to determine feeding rate.  To conclude the test a fifty round burst was fired to determine overall performance in a high fire situation.  All firing was done at a range of 25 yards.

Single Shot

        In the single shot test Top Brass performed relatively well.  All ten of the balls were placed in a four-inch group on a test target.  Top Brass also only had an average drop of six inches over the target distance.  Despite the imperfections detected in the balls earlier 80% of them flew perfectly strait without wobble or detour.  Also during the single shot test none of the balls broke in the gun, yet all broke on target.

Three Round Bursts

        During the three round burst tests Top Brass lacked slightly.  With the first three round test,  5 balls were fired.  Two during the first shot, two during the second shot, and one on the last shot.  This double feeding could have been the fault of the marker, yet the paint did not help.  When the second firing was started, the second and third balls broke in the gun.  The barrel was then removed and squeegeed clean. After that Top Brass preformed wonderfully.  They all flew straight to the target with flat trajectory and broke.

Ten Round Burst

        The ten round test showed great improvement over the three round burst test.  All of the paint fired during the test feed at a constant rate and none of it broke in the gun.  This was again surprising considering the paint’s imperfections.  Yet not one pinched, or broken ball turned up in the test.  The only draw back was that during the test some of the balls tended to zip around a little, yet this only increased the hit pattern by 2 to 3 inches.

Fifty Round Rapid Fire

        In our 50 round test we became impressed.  Half way through the firing one of the ball broke in a fine mist. We decided at the begging of the test if this occurred we would continue to fire through.  So we did and there was no more breakage.  Top Brass shot through a thick fill paint break and preformed like the barrel was clean.  This fact alone made a large impression on us.

Overall Rating

        Overall Top Brass preformed on the level of many other tournament quality paintballs.  The feed rate and fire/breaking test showed the Top Brass shines.  On a scale of 1-10 Top Brass scores an 8.  Reasons for this are Top Brass’s excellent flight performance and quick fire test results.  What earned Top Brass an 8 is the non-uniform shape and shell design. So if you want quality paint and your local paintball store isn’t open give Top Brass a try, you might find yourself liking Brass Eagle.  The fact that the paint is also being sold at local department stores also is a huge plus due to the paint being more available at your convinience.

Tony Sasso
MPN Columnist