Here’s one that slipped by all the watchdogs until the last minute. BT or “Battle Tested” kept this project under wraps throughout its entire development, even when I was at the invite-only special dealer’s exhibition this spring. I knew something was up because as I was sitting in the BT display room I could hear my reps saying to their supervisor in the hallway, “Can we show him? Can we at least show him the picture on the box?”. Obviously something big was afoot, and this month we got to see the unveiling of the BT TM7 Paintball Marker.
Usually when people think milsim/ woodsball guns they imagine a blowback marker. While a fine design it does have drawbacks in the performance category. Since BT is a sister company to Invert, both being under the Kee Action Sports banner, they took the proven system of the Invert Mini Paintball Marker and wrapped it in a milsim-inspired body of one of the hottest submachineguns in the world, the MP7. Of course, the first one in our warehouse had my name all over it and now its time to put it through the paces.
The packaging is top notch. It came in a sturdy box with foam cutouts for all the parts. I mention this because packaging is where some manufacturers cut corners and I hate opening something up only to see the parts scuffed and scattered during transit because nothing fit right. Besides the marker, barrel and feedneck you get a quality barrel cover, a well written manual and a tidy spare parts kit consisting of a nice plastic case with a Duracell 9vt battery, a change of o-rings and major screws, stock plug, ball detents and springs and grease.
Lifting it out of the box the first impression is “wow, this thing is light!”. The entire body and gripframe is manufactured from glass filled nylon, not plastic as everyone likes to think. If you have any doubts as to its strength or integerity, consider that its the very same material that most military weapon stocks and grips are made from. ‘Nuff said. Tactical rails abound, across the entire length of the top, under the barrel and two bolted on rails on either side of the barrel. What I like about these side rails is that they are slightly raised so you can run your pressure switch wiring underneath them.
A folding foregrip is included for the front rail. The stock is the same unit as on the BT Delta and BT Delta Elite. A plug is included if you wish to remove the stock. A 9 inch barrel with flash hider milling is included. By the way, the shroud at the front is 1 inch in diameter. I tried Smart Parts, LAPCO and Stiffi barrels on the TM7 and they all were a snug but solid fit! An easy to reach thumb selector switch is on the left side with four positions for Safe, Semi, PSP (Three semi shots then 3 round burst) and NXL (3 semi shots then full auto). The battery door reminded me of old school 12vt Revolution loaders, its a sliding plastic door that takes all of 10 seconds for battery changes… Brilliant!
The feedneck is the same unit as on all other BTs. It slides on and is slightly offset right so you can sight down the top of the marker, though with a loader on there isn’t much clearance for a red dot or optical sight so you might want to consider the BT 45 Degree Offset Sight Rail if you use one. The feedneck slides forward to expose the breech for easy access cleaning. A word on the BT Rip Clip Electronic Loader… it will not fit the TM7 at this time, though I’ve heard of an adapter in the works.
A word about the regulator/ ASA. As the TM7 is derived from the Mini design the ASA and regulator are one unit. They are preset to 200psi and you leave it alone! The air pressure is routed up through the gripframe so there are no external hoses. The TM7 is designed for use with compressed air (HPA) only… using CO2 will void your warranty! You can use a high output preset system, but a low output (400-450psi) output system is recommended.
Gassed it up, slapped my 45/4500 tank and Halo on there and took it out behind the warehouse for its initial spin. The trigger feel takes a little getting used to because there is no microswitch, just a Hall Effect sensor so there is no resistance when the activation point is reached and the marker fires. Wow, this thing is fun! It has a bit more recoil than some other electropneumatics but not nearly that of a blowback. Staying on target for quick follow up shots is no problem at all. The sound signature is a bit louder than some as well but again, its certainly quieter than most of the competition! A more heavily ported barrel will help with that if you want to quiet it down some. Switching between modes is as easy as a flick of the thumb. I put half a case of Core Prime Paintballs through it in minutes and didn’t chop any balls nor had any barrel breaks. This thin is going to see some serious use here in the near future.
One thing I’m changing out is the folding foregrip. Really, its not a bad unit but it does have a little bit of wobble to it that I personally find distracting (but I’m also very particular and obsessed with paintball gadgets!). I originally figured I’d put one of our Ergonomic Foregrips on there but then I remembered that I had a BT M16 Magazine Kit laying around from a previous project. Thirty seconds later and boom!… a mock magazine kit that forms a new foregrip and looks mean!
More to come as I start this new project…
