The Howitzer is made of Polyoxymethyl (better known as "POM") which is an easily sliding and self lubricant plastic that makes any internal scratching of the marker impossible. The tip of the bolt is fade coloured orange. A second internal o-ring is sealing the air between the powertube and the bolt. The result is a higher (gas/air) efficiency and better performance of the complete system.
Product Availability
The Orange Paintball Howitzer Bolt is newer, so it should be commonly available, both new and used.
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Tippmann Custom 98
Dead-on Gold power tube
Be-oranged Howitzer
WAS board e-trigger
Dark Horizons Titanium Rear Hammer
JCS Combat Folding Aluminium stock with carbon fiber butt
BT Raised sight rail
Q-loader
All American back with Freak Front 12"
Browning A1 air cooled machine gun shroud 12"
All Polished internals to mirror finish and smooth as silk
Milled off rear sight rail.
Pure energy High Pressure 6800 4500
Palmers Regulator
Strengths:
Style, function, smooth operation.
Weaknesses:
None as long as you have the gun made to accomodate the howitzer.
Review:
Well we have purchased two of the howitzers for two 98 Customs.
the #1 Custom 98 fully modifiyed as you see above, the #2 Custom 98 bone stock.
Now #1 before the howitzer definetly outshot #2 in speed, accuracy and range.
When we installed the Howitzer in #1 we noticed after 2000 rounds we had an extra 10% of air left in our HPA tank. We tested this three times and came out with 10% better gas efficientcy. We also noticed a small increase on distance aswell as accuracy.
NOTE: WE ARE NOT USING FLATLINE AND PUSHING 250FEET BELIVE IT OR NOT.
ALSO: BOTH GUNS WERE OPPERATING WITH HIGH PRESSURE AIR
When we installed the Howitzer on #2 we noticed no change in performance if any it was a little worse. We noticed the howitzer creating a huge amount of friction with the stock plastic power tube. We also noticed a large amount of wear on the Howitzer from the chamber of the gun.
Conclusion:
The final conclusion we came to is, this product is good and will do what it claims IF!!!
It will do it all IF you have these items. 1.) You must have a aluminium power-tube of some sort. 2.) We reccomend polishing your internals to a smooth shiny finish, we suggest using a dremmel and Rolite Aluminium Polishing compund. Be careful don't take off to much.
With those two items you will notice the improvement although if you are running CO2 it will be hard to tell as CO2 fluctuates so easily with temperature.
Additional mods for best results would be HPA tank and any Regulator.
With the gun built right the Howitzer makes it that much better.
Marketing the plastic as "self-lubricating" could cause misconceptions about proper gun lubrication
Review:
The Orange Howitzer Bolt, to say the least, is perhaps the best cost-effective investment you can make toward your Tippmann 98 custom. My purchase was made at 23.95, and to may infinite dismay, I eventually discovered that it is not uncommon to see this product advertised at 19.99.
The Installation of this bolt was extremely simple. While it does require dismantling the receiver, it is not a marvel of mechanical prowess. You simply remove the bolt-hammer connection bar, remove the old bolt, insert the Howitzer, reconnect the connection bar, add 2 drops of lube and re-screw the 6 receiver screws. I have read the reports of some people having to sand their receivers to accommodate the Howitzer, however, this is not a problem of mine (My 98 custom is in the 810000 series of serial numbers. If that makes any difference whatsoever).
I then proceeded to fire 3 separate, ten-shot groupings at 25ft, as I had performed previously with the stock bolt.
The stock bolt stayed within a grouping of 12" on all three trials, with only 1 or 2 of the ten shots fired straying from a grouping of about 6 inches. These "rogue" shots have seemingly disappeared with the addition of the Howitzer.
The Howitzer groupings, on all three tests, never surpassed 4 inches, with the best grouping being 3 1/2". All rogue shots have been eliminated completely. (All MOA test-fire tests were performed with the stock barrel)
My gas efficiency has also gone up. Using a 9oz CO2 as my controlled variable, I was able to fire 394 rounds with the stock bolt before losing gas. The Howitzer upped the shots to a solid 515.
Conclusion:
As stated previously, this is a necessary product for your 98 custom. Between the outstanding MOA accuracy increase, as well as a sufficient increase in gas efficiency, the 19.95 will eventually pay for itself.
Rating:
10 out of 10
Last edited on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 4:57 pm PST
Improved accuracy, nothing life altering but there is definitley an improvement.
Weaknesses:
You do need to sand the power tube down.
Review:
Sand the power tube down a little bit to make sure the bolt will slide with ease. Also you do need to oil it well. Definitly worth the money, I picked mine up for 21 shipped. It did make the marker a little louder, but when I say little I do mean LITTLE. Its not going to hurt your game or anything, infact I personally feel it makes the marker sound more intimdiating but thats just my opinion. The manual states that it will improve air efficieny but I have not played enough to confirm that. I play with a 20oz tank and on my first day I only got about 400 shots through it. All in all a cheap mod that will improve the accuracy of your marker.
I am giving this bolt a 10 out of 10. Even though you need to sand down the power tube a little I believe that in the aftermarket world there is no true pefect fitting piece. Any modification you ever do to anything requires a little extra tweaking to make it perfect.
Conclusion:
A great little mod that will help you on the field!
Self lubing plastic, less air consumption and shoots straighter.
Weaknesses:
Little more noise when firing. Why not include some emery paper in the package?
Review:
I bought it for $30 (support your local shop, even if it hurts), took it home and "popped" it in. First off, go get some emery paper and sand down your powertube a little. Next lube it up really well and install it. Now, when I lubed the rest of the seals and put the marker back together it would not re-cock, I thought I had to sand more off of the powertube but I was wrong. Instead I found that if I tightened the screws across the marker evenly and made sure I didn't over tighten them that there was no internal slide problem. Before the howitzer was installed it didn't matter how tight I torqued them down but after the install I have to pay a little more attention when reassembling the marker.
Conclusion:
This is a good upgrade and it makes the marker (even) more solid and reliable.
