BT-16 Elite initial impressions

Bored383 · 02-04-2008, 09:45 PM

I got one recently - an impulse buy, shipped for ~$50 from ebay. I was thinking about getting a used A5 to use as a loaner and as more tinker fodder when I stumbled across a place liquidating overstock BT-16's, NIB, for cheap. Since it is essentially an A5 clone I figured why not? New, and cheaper than yer average used A5.

I do not have pictures now - maybe later.

First up - it is well packaged and comes with a decent manual. No hopper, no tank, no jimmy hat for the barrel, just the manual and the usual ziploc baggy of allen wrenches and extra o-rings.

My initial impression after taking it out the box was positive. It feels pretty solid. The one piece body, the metal grip frame, the even finish on it . . . I was thinking wow, they did the A5 one better. I like A5's, I've owned a few, I'll own them again I am sure . . . but they have always felt a little, how shall I say, flimsy to me. And even though I know they can take the abuse I dish out, they still give me that impression. This BT-16 does not feel flimsy.

The controls are all positive, the trigger pull was not bad for a blowback, the locking feedneck works really well. Okay!! Time to gas it up!!

and this is when the honeymoon ended. I toss a tank on - it hisses down the barrel. Well, I tell myself, its new - you just need to seat the o-rings. So I rip off a string of shots in the garage. The hissing gets worse. Hmmmm . . . maybe that tank is low. I toss on another - no change. Hmmmmm . . . maybe it needs some oil. Okay - a couple few drops of gold cup into the ASA and back on with the tank.

BANGhissssBANGHissssBANGHISSSS

hmmmmm. not good.

Okay. Its an A5 clone, it will be dead simple guts, time to rip it apart and see what I can do.

Here is where I started to get frustrated. First up - the inside of the BT-16 comes from the factory all gooed up with some sort of grease like they are going for the SKS fanboy side of the milsim market - seriously, I have seen less goo in a cosmolined milsurp firearm. So after taking out its tombstone, taking the frame off, removing the charging handle cover and the charging handle setup (which is neat, but complicated), I get down to sliding the valve out.

Well, you'd think with all that grease on the inside it would come slithering right out? WRONG. Yeah - it had to be coerced out, coaxed out, finagled out.

And then, when it came out, it did so in pieces!! WOW! The valve is made entirely of BUTTER!!

Okay - no big deal - you were gonna take it apart anyway - this saves you a step . . . so I grab the o-rings and replace the ones I can and then I go to put the valve back together. Thats when I see how the inner (soft) aluminum portion that is the valve proper has all its guts held in place by a washer and a butter friggin soft fat o-ring, and they are positioned in such a way that you really can't easily hold the guts in with the valve spring compressed and put the o-ring in and get it to seat down in its oh so shallow notch.

I pondered the problem a while - then had an idea. I grabbed a field strip screw from a VM and found that it would slot into the space and its head was large enough to fairly evenly press the o-ring down. It, and a small flathead, and patience, and time, and a couple attempts, and I got it back together.

Hadn't they ever heard of snap rings?

alrighty then! time to put the valve guts back into the plastic power tube and slide it back into the body. I follow the directions I found online and was immediately rewarded with the valve unzipping itself again. So, yeah, 2 steps back and all that

lather, rinse, repeat . . . and this time I decide to use a 'tool' to carefully press the valve home without the chance of impacting the valve pin and causing it to discombobulate itself again. My 'tool'? a handy dandy stock VM barrel of course! It worked fine . . . except that you have to pay real close attention or you can push the valve in too far. Remember all the fiddling earlier when I was taking it out? Its more tedious putting it back in. Of course I slipped and went slightly too far. Then it was a game of back and forth . . . because unless the planets are aligned juuuuuust right, the tombstone won't go back in.

Okay - got that done. Re-assemble the rest. That complicated cocking mechanism? yeah - there is a bushing that the screw that holds its cover on has to go through, but that bushing can float free if you aren't watching it like its guilty (and it is, oh yes it is). The second you think you are fine, it shifts, you go on yer merry way, the cover goes on, the screw goes in its place and tightens down, and you can't cock the gun.

lather, rinse, repeat...again

Okay - thats done, the frame is back on, everything works dry . . . time to gas it up.

and it worked, no leaks. Good thing too, cuz if it had leaked I would have been tempted to grab a beater VM and use it to truly 'fix' the BT.

I am sure it will work fine now . . . so long as I don't have to take it apart. Which it will have to come apart to be cleaned if I ever use it for its intended purpose.

going_home · 02-04-2008, 10:19 PM

I got a new in box BT 16 Elite recently off Ebay for 35.00 shipped.
Not bad I thought for a Tippmann clone.
Got it for a kid in the church youth group that couldnt really afford to buy one.
Great kid and I hated to see him get left out.
Well we went to play, he used it for 1 game, then when the 2nd game was over he told me it would fire but no paint was coming out.

Well it seems the bolt came off the attaching rod and was just flopping around,
blocking the paint from falling into the breach.
Several of us worked on it and got the bolt back on (Oh my gosh they are not fun to dismantle at all, what a mess) but then it was not getting CO2 to the power tube (wouldnt fire at all) .

Bottom line is I just sent it in to BT Paintball for repairs.
Brand new in box and it didnt make it for two full games.

Can you say pathetic ?
If I had it to do over again I would have just gotten a Tippmann 98.
They almost never break down.

Phantom Power · 02-04-2008, 10:26 PM

Our field bought 6 of these to try out for "upgrade" rentals. Within a couple days of light duty they were all broken. The front sights kept falling off on the field, the trigger guards snapped on 2 or 3 of them and the power tubes cracked in 2.

I can't say I recommend them at all. Though there are a few regular players who have them and don't complain. That I know of.

WardenWolf · 02-08-2008, 12:09 AM

I heard BT has since discontinued the BT-16 for the reasons stated above. I know they haven't listed it on their website for about 6 months. The BT-16 was the 98 clone. The BT-4 is the A-5 clone.

Marauder_Pilot · 02-08-2008, 09:35 AM

Yeah, the BT-16 has always been a box of fail. The BT-4 is MUCH, MUCH nicer.

jason_finnie · 02-08-2008, 10:28 AM

The BT-4 I won at a game got a cracked power tube within the first case of paint.

I called BT, got a new one, installed it, and it's fine now.

Anyone make a metal power tube for the BT-4?

02-04-2008, 09:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
Bored383 slacker elite Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Sandy Eggo by way of Mobtown Posts: 903	BT-16 Elite initial impressions I got one recently - an impulse buy, shipped for ~$50 from ebay. I was thinking about getting a used A5 to use as a loaner and as more tinker fodder when I stumbled across a place liquidating overstock BT-16's, NIB, for cheap. Since it is essentially an A5 clone I figured why not? New, and cheaper than yer average used A5. I do not have pictures now - maybe later. First up - it is well packaged and comes with a decent manual. No hopper, no tank, no jimmy hat for the barrel, just the manual and the usual ziploc baggy of allen wrenches and extra o-rings. My initial impression after taking it out the box was positive. It feels pretty solid. The one piece body, the metal grip frame, the even finish on it . . . I was thinking wow, they did the A5 one better. I like A5's, I've owned a few, I'll own them again I am sure . . . but they have always felt a little, how shall I say, flimsy to me. And even though I know they can take the abuse I dish out, they still give me that impression. This BT-16 does not feel flimsy. The controls are all positive, the trigger pull was not bad for a blowback, the locking feedneck works really well. Okay!! Time to gas it up!! and this is when the honeymoon ended. I toss a tank on - it hisses down the barrel. Well, I tell myself, its new - you just need to seat the o-rings. So I rip off a string of shots in the garage. The hissing gets worse. Hmmmm . . . maybe that tank is low. I toss on another - no change. Hmmmmm . . . maybe it needs some oil. Okay - a couple few drops of gold cup into the ASA and back on with the tank. BANGhissssBANGHissssBANGHISSSS hmmmmm. not good. Okay. Its an A5 clone, it will be dead simple guts, time to rip it apart and see what I can do. Here is where I started to get frustrated. First up - the inside of the BT-16 comes from the factory all gooed up with some sort of grease like they are going for the SKS fanboy side of the milsim market - seriously, I have seen less goo in a cosmolined milsurp firearm. So after taking out its tombstone, taking the frame off, removing the charging handle cover and the charging handle setup (which is neat, but complicated), I get down to sliding the valve out. Well, you'd think with all that grease on the inside it would come slithering right out? WRONG. Yeah - it had to be coerced out, coaxed out, finagled out. And then, when it came out, it did so in pieces!! WOW! The valve is made entirely of BUTTER!! Okay - no big deal - you were gonna take it apart anyway - this saves you a step . . . so I grab the o-rings and replace the ones I can and then I go to put the valve back together. Thats when I see how the inner (soft) aluminum portion that is the valve proper has all its guts held in place by a washer and a butter friggin soft fat o-ring, and they are positioned in such a way that you really can't easily hold the guts in with the valve spring compressed and put the o-ring in and get it to seat down in its oh so shallow notch. I pondered the problem a while - then had an idea. I grabbed a field strip screw from a VM and found that it would slot into the space and its head was large enough to fairly evenly press the o-ring down. It, and a small flathead, and patience, and time, and a couple attempts, and I got it back together. Hadn't they ever heard of snap rings? alrighty then! time to put the valve guts back into the plastic power tube and slide it back into the body. I follow the directions I found online and was immediately rewarded with the valve unzipping itself again. So, yeah, 2 steps back and all that lather, rinse, repeat . . . and this time I decide to use a 'tool' to carefully press the valve home without the chance of impacting the valve pin and causing it to discombobulate itself again. My 'tool'? a handy dandy stock VM barrel of course! It worked fine . . . except that you have to pay real close attention or you can push the valve in too far. Remember all the fiddling earlier when I was taking it out? Its more tedious putting it back in. Of course I slipped and went slightly too far. Then it was a game of back and forth . . . because unless the planets are aligned juuuuuust right, the tombstone won't go back in. Okay - got that done. Re-assemble the rest. That complicated cocking mechanism? yeah - there is a bushing that the screw that holds its cover on has to go through, but that bushing can float free if you aren't watching it like its guilty (and it is, oh yes it is). The second you think you are fine, it shifts, you go on yer merry way, the cover goes on, the screw goes in its place and tightens down, and you can't cock the gun. lather, rinse, repeat...again Okay - thats done, the frame is back on, everything works dry . . . time to gas it up. and it worked, no leaks. Good thing too, cuz if it had leaked I would have been tempted to grab a beater VM and use it to truly 'fix' the BT. I am sure it will work fine now . . . so long as I don't have to take it apart. Which it will have to come apart to be cleaned if I ever use it for its intended purpose. __________________ Check out my website http://www.bored383.com, hosted at http://www.angryhosting.com/ We need to save ourselves from those who would save us from ourselves. Tom Kaye '08 A book has moving parts. They're called pages. What will the future hold? smart parts = taco bell . . . Be Well!!

02-04-2008, 10:19 PM	#2 (permalink)
going_home Hebrews 13:8 Join Date: May 2007 Location: Valrico Florida Posts: 1,671	Send it back to BT I got a new in box BT 16 Elite recently off Ebay for 35.00 shipped. Not bad I thought for a Tippmann clone. Got it for a kid in the church youth group that couldnt really afford to buy one. Great kid and I hated to see him get left out. Well we went to play, he used it for 1 game, then when the 2nd game was over he told me it would fire but no paint was coming out. Well it seems the bolt came off the attaching rod and was just flopping around, blocking the paint from falling into the breach. Several of us worked on it and got the bolt back on (Oh my gosh they are not fun to dismantle at all, what a mess) but then it was not getting CO2 to the power tube (wouldnt fire at all) . Bottom line is I just sent it in to BT Paintball for repairs. Brand new in box and it didnt make it for two full games. Can you say pathetic ? If I had it to do over again I would have just gotten a Tippmann 98. They almost never break down. __________________ Say what you mean. Mean what you say. http://www.liveprayer.com/fitna.cfm

02-04-2008, 10:26 PM	#3 (permalink)
Phantom Power Pump Gun Dealer Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Pender Island, BC Posts: 1,905	Our field bought 6 of these to try out for "upgrade" rentals. Within a couple days of light duty they were all broken. The front sights kept falling off on the field, the trigger guards snapped on 2 or 3 of them and the power tubes cracked in 2. I can't say I recommend them at all. Though there are a few regular players who have them and don't complain. That I know of. __________________

02-08-2008, 10:28 AM	#6 (permalink)
jason_finnie Rec Poster Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Pottstown, PA Posts: 62	The BT-4 I won at a game got a cracked power tube within the first case of paint. I called BT, got a new one, installed it, and it's fine now. Anyone make a metal power tube for the BT-4? __________________ Proud member; Wolfs' AGD Manifesto Lt. on Red Raiders www.redraiderspaintball.com

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02-08-2008, 12:09 AM	#4 (permalink)
WardenWolf Newbie Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 6	I heard BT has since discontinued the BT-16 for the reasons stated above. I know they haven't listed it on their website for about 6 months. The BT-16 was the 98 clone. The BT-4 is the A-5 clone.