for me, the Tippmann and Angel, i shot before kits came into fashion as well as before paint got to be closer to .68 or less in size. i'll mix and match the ICD and cocker depending on the paint, but will tend to go to the ultralite. i just recently gotten the freak and only used it 1 time, so far. i use what the paint tells me, and if i want to be fashionable.
i think the paint and how much you play determine your barrel. if you play but not every week, the stock barrel is adequate. if you play every weekend and find that the paint you use is sorely too small and need something much better in the bore and barrel match, then a kit is better.
the answer is arbitrary as anything in paintball. why spend extra money on a new barrel when the stock is fine, or i spent all this money on the gun, tank and hopper, and have nothing left over for the barrel, or my gun is a specific colour and there are no barrels that match.
its best to ask the player that uses the stock barrel, why they use them.
