My new HALO

[Doobie]

*UPDATE further down thread*
Just got my HALO today!! I looked it over real good after I opened it. It is put together very well and does not feel "flimsy" like a Revy. Not that a revy is weak, mine is good and all, the HALO just feels tougher. It must be the polycarb shell and the screws going into metal instead of plastic. The finish on the HALO is a nice touch and slightly shiny. Looks real good. A very clear lid lets you look inside very easily. Speaking of the lid...this thing closes VERY tight! The instructions say to sweep your thumb under the lid tab and the HALO body to pop the lid off, but I thought I might bruise my thumb! Maybe this will get easier with repeated opening and closings. If not...dremmel or sandpaper. I looked at it head on along side my revy and it is just slightly wider in the back. (close to the shooter) It seems to have borrowed a little of the ricochet idea, as the front comes to a point. Not as drastic as the Ricochet but noticable. Can't help wondering if I might get a few deflections off of it. :rolleyes: Of course...once I get a warp, I won't worry about that much anyway.
It fits real tight into my elbow, but that is a good thing...right? Some people have complained about the on off button. I kind of like it, and found it quite easy to use.
I don't like the idea of the auto-shutdown feature. It automatically powers down after 20 min of inactivity. It is quite possible during Big/Senario games to go over 20min with no action and suddenly be right in the middle of it. This is a feature that needs to have a way of toggleing on/off.
Installing the batteries requires the use of a screwdriver. It also takes AA batteries, so now I have to add those to my field bag as well as 9v for my hyperframe. It is supposed to be very efficient with power, but I can't report on that yet.I won't be able to put it on a gun test 'till this weekend, but I did do a side by side drop test against my revy.
140 rnds 3 times. Average them together and then take 140 divide by the average and get the BPS.
12v Revy (non-xboard)
1. 13.68 sec
2. 14.07
3. 13.35
average=13.70
10.22 Bps

HALO
1. 8.39 sec
2. 8.46
3. 8.65
average=8.50
16.47 Bps!

I can't wait to get this thing on my gun and put some paint through it in a game! I would have shot it off my back porch, but that's a no go on this military instilation. I outshot my revy a lot with my Hyper frame retrovalve combo and can't wait to see if this makes a diff.
I will keep you posted. :D

[Load SM5]

I could'nt wait, I sanded the rim of mine down. I could'nt imagine getting that thing open in a game with any sort of speed. Works a lot better now.

[Hysperion]

I haven't had problems getting mine off during a game. I figure it'll only get easier like what happened with my old revvy.

[MicroB]

I like mine way better than my revvy, even with intella feed. I have some observations though.

1. Polycarbinate is very strong it will take along time to wear it down so a little sanding on the lid didn't hurt.

2. It doesn't like cheap paint. I for the most part only use marbs. I was at my brother-in-laws and ran out so I tried using some of his RP Proball Seconds. Needless to say there were a few that were out of round and kept jamming the feed neck.

3. I sanded the feed neck down to fit in my bro-in-laws new dark angel (1600 dollar gun and 30 dollar case of paint go figure) to try in full auto @ 14 bps, it only popped once. I think it was the paint that made it pop though. When I put bach on my gun I didn't tighten the neck down enough and when I turned on the hopper it forced itself out of my vert feed with stack of balls. Just make sure it is tight in your gun or elbow.

4. Hopper rips on my RT! Would have paid more if I had to. Totally stopped out shooting the hopper. A definant must have for high rate of fire.

Thx, B

[RoadDawg]

One thing I've noticed with the HALO that I am kinda not liking is the weight. It is heavy for a loader. Don't get me wrong I think I could deal with the weight with that fast of a bps.

[Doobie]

Thanks for the feedback guys!
1. Those of you that sanded the lid. Did you sand the LID or the LIP of the hopper itself? I think adreniline will let me open it just fine, but why take chances.
2. My mag don't like cheap paint either so I think i'll be O.K. there. I'm going to try some smaller bore paint to decrease the chops. When I chop, it seems to be when the out of round or too large balls don't quite fit through the hole from my PF into the chamber.Anyone else have this prob? I'm wondering if the "Force feed" nature of the HALO will help. BTW, the drop test I did was with cheap, out of round BE paint. More round paint may feed faster?
3. As far as weight? I'm an infantryman and usally lug around a 7.5 lb rifle around the woods for 2 weeks at a time. I am worried that it may make my Mag top heavy, though. We will see.:cool:
Thanks for your input.
Doobie

[Load SM5]

I sanded the lip, not the lid itself.

[MicroB]

I also sanded the lip.

[media]

Those 6 AA batteries don't help with weight much. Anyone running a halo plus warp off their emag battery? I'm hoping when I get my c&c extreme that it can run a halo and a warp off it's main battery.

[-Jôker-]

...mt 9vt sucks i need a 12vt atleast..1.8 bps on my 9

[-Jôker-]

no ones gonna make fun of my 9vt?

[Load SM5]

*points* Ha Ha! Stupid 9 volt!

Feel better? :D

[GallagherAtWar]

Does The HAlo Richochet balls?

[-Jôker-]

:D muuuuuch better

[Doobie]

GalligerAtWar: I don't think it was designed as a major selling point like the R2K but it does have a pointed nose much like it. I can imagine a paintball coming at just the right angle might glance off. I'm going to be playing with it in a few hours so i'll let you all know my verdict tonight or tommorrow.

[Doobie]

I'm in love with this thing!
Alright...I was actually testing a few thing tonight, 2 of which could have an effect on paint breakage. 1) the HALO 2) the plastic nubbins
I shot a combination of 3 different types of paint. Diablo Midnight, Diablo Blaze, And... wait for it...Brass Eagle!
I only had 200 rnds of Midnight, but if fed like a charm! I could not out shoot the HALO. I put the Hyperframe on semi and 13Bps (it's max) and fanned the trigger as fast as I could. No problem. The HALO kept the balls stacked up and ready. I have a clear elbow and the paint was moving through in one continuous motion. "Everybody out, one exit, no waiting!" Most of what I shot was Blaze. Once again, the HALO fed effortlessly. I had one break on the day and it was down the barrel. The HALO is a bit heavier than the Revy but having the batteries up front and the electronics in back balences it out nicely. The only time weight became an issue is when I had to tilt the HALO out at an angle to get a shot. The weight was noticably different here than the Revy. Not incredibly heavy, but noticable. I got used to it quite easily. I had many people wanting a chance to look at it or ask how it worked. Some said they heard it was incredibly loud. It is louder than a revy, but it only turns when the gun is fired. It is not louder than my mag when shooting. One of the refs, Justin of Outer Limits Paintball in Rolla, MO, fired it on his Bushmaster. "On" may not be the right word. The feed neck of the HALO is rather thick by design. This way, all you have to do to get it to fit is sand it down for your feed neck. If they had made it smaller, it may be too small for some necks and need an insert. It was too thick for Justin's feed neck on his Bushmaster so I just held it up to the neck while he faned the trigger. He was going quite fast, but even with me just holding the HALO in place, there were no dry shots and no breaks. I then ran 140 rnds of BE paint through. I looked at this stuff before loading it and saw many mis-shaped balls. I thought to myself, "Why am I putting this $&*# in here, it's just gonna jam or break" Guess what? No jams, no breaks. I have never, and I mean never been able to shoot BE paint fast with my revy and not chop a ball. I do wonder if the plastic nubbins helped at all. That is the drawback testing 2 things at the same time.
During play I shot on semi, burst @10 Bps, and Hyper at 9 Bps. Not once was I able to out shoot the HALO.
As for any Ricochet capability... not tonight. I had 2 break on the very front of the HALO. My fault for leaving it hang out there. (I know...a warp would fix it, but cha-ching$$$)
The 20 min auto shut off only cut the loader off on me one time after a long break in play. Luckily I checked to make sure it was still on before the game started. I still believe this feature may be a draw back during Big/Scenario games.
Over all impressions...I like it...I like it a lot. It's rare that one piece of equipment can change the function of your marker as dramaticaly as this did. I'm very impressed and reccomend the HALO to anyone who shoots long strings of paint in the 12 Bps+ range quite often.
Any questions? Ask away! :cool: