Doc Nickel posted this at the Tinker's Guild Forum a while back and I found it very informative. Paint-to-barrel matching seems to be a hot topic these days and Doc pointed out a few things that most people probably never think of. Just because a batch of Diablo Blaze works well for you one week end doesn't mean it will work well the next time you use it.

Paint-to-barrel match has FAR too many variables.

A "16 inch AA" could be .685, .688, .689, .691 or .693". And unless you measure it, you'll never know, since SP was intermittent at best about labelling barrels, prior to the Freak setup.

And what's it on? Cocker? Mag? Phantom? Alley Cat? Sovereign? Carbine? VM? Trracer? Defiant? Angel? Shocker?

Also, "my" paint isn't necessarily the same as "your" paint. Your local store might not carry Diablo, my local store might not carry RPS. Your store might make one huge order twice a year, so the paint's been sitting around for months, while my store might order it in small batches monthly so it's fresher. Then again, your store might order it from a distributor who's been shipping out of the same pile he bought late last year, while mine gets their straight from the factory less than ten miles away.

Your paint may have come right in from an RPS climate-controlled van, while mine was part of what sat on the West Coast shipping barges during the lockout for six weeks in the sun.

Your box of Hellfire might have come from the first run from one particular encapsualtor while my box came from the tail end after the dies had worn a little. Your box might be blue shell that breaks purple, while mine's a red shell that breaks blue, which means they came off different machines.

Basically, you have to go with what shoots well for you under your conditions with your setup.

Doc.