The A&K M249 Review

[poison123]

Could you force the mag to feed faster by putting an extra aa battery in the battery box wired in series?

 

Maybe I'll have to look at it. It might be limited by how its gear pickup the bb's though to keep the positive pressure to feed them. Though a full box mag doesn't last very long as it is.

[cafemondo]

You can add more power to the boxmag by puting in a 4xaa batt holder, the boxmag motor will take 6v and runs better on it

[infected]

but will the electronics that handle the sound activation be able to handle it?

[poison123]

You can add more power to the boxmag by puting in a 4xaa batt holder, the boxmag motor will take 6v and runs better on it

 

How the heck did you get a 4xaa batt holder in the stock box mag?

[infected]

There's plenty of room down there where the batteries and electronics are.

[cafemondo]

Yep, loads of room down there, and electronics should be able to easily cope with 6v

 

[poison123]

Yep, loads of room down there, and electronics should be able to easily cope with 6v

 

 

Damn I knew I should have gone with the square one instead of the inline 4 *smacks head*

[SargeSTVI]

Excellent Review!

 

Do you think that the G&P MK46 Frontset could fit?

 

http://www.wgcshop.com/pcart/shopper.php?i...EM001_srch_mk46

[tgellen]

Great review, looking forward to the "How To".

 

Folks considering increasing ROF, if you want it realistic, the RS ROF is between 750-1000 rpm.

My Echo-1 M249 Para has a stock ROF of 660 rpm @ 354fps.

I'm planning on tweeking mine up to 750-800 rpm.

 

 

TJ

Edited January 21, 2008 by tgellen

[bjorn]

Cafemondo - any results and feedback on the 6v change to the boxmag?

 

Bjorn

[poison123]

Great review, looking forward to the "How To".

 

Folks considering increasing ROF, if you want it realistic, the RS ROF is between 750-1000 rpm.

My Echo-1 M249 Para has a stock ROF of 660 rpm @ 354fps.

I'm planning on tweeking mine up to 750-800 rpm.

 

 

TJ

 

 

Thats nice and all but in the world of airsoft it really doesn't hold up. Everything basically shoots the same round. The only real variance you can do is ROF and FPS. So if you really want to make the m249 a SAW then you need to make its ROF much higher than the standard weapon you'll see on the field. For instance mine now shoots at almost 30rps with the mods I've done to it, and I feel this is more true to the actual m249 in comparison to the airsoft world.

 

Bjorn-

 

I did the 6v mod last night. Don't even think twice about it...just do it. The feeding is much more reliable now and sound activated works perfect also. The stock A&K box mag can now keep up with the high rof of my saw now

[chas]

Hi! Afriend of mine wants to start off his airsofting-life with one of these (yeah, I've already told him he should be gunner first and then decide, but Counterstrike players dont take advice from noone).

Anyway, as he has no experience with AEGsor buying in HK, he has asked me to do the shopping and tweaking for him.

Now what teaks and upgrades do you think SHOULD be done to make this reliable, durable and efficient in a SAW role?

 

For example:

 

Do all theA&K M249s have slow stock ROF? Do you have to install speed gears to archieve 700-900 rpm? Or is a 9,6/10.8 battery enough now?

 

Is the hop up unit still as bad in the newer batches?

 

Is replacing the trigger switch a must?

 

If the NECESSARY tweaks are on the tricky side,do you know of any shops that will do them?

I knowairsoft-war4 only performs upgrades for membersand WGC USED to do upgrades only on high-end guns.

 

Thanks for the time, gents!

[poison123]

Comments inline.

 

 

Hi! Afriend of mine wants to start off his airsofting-life with one of these (yeah, I've already told him he should be gunner first and then decide, but Counterstrike players dont take advice from noone).

Anyway, as he has no experience with AEGsor buying in HK, he has asked me to do the shopping and tweaking for him.

Now what teaks and upgrades do you think SHOULD be done to make this reliable, durable and efficient in a SAW role?

 

For example:

 

Do all theA&K M249s have slow stock ROF? Do you have to install speed gears to archieve 700-900 rpm? Or is a 9,6/10.8 battery enough now?

 

Yes they all have ###### ROF. Putting in a 9.6/10.8v will up your fire by 2-6rps.

 

Is the hop up unit still as bad in the newer batches?

 

Everyone I've heard of has a bad hopup.

 

Is replacing the trigger switch a must?

Eh...I don't think anyone has really replaced the trigger switch....just added a mosfet to keep them from frying/fusing eventually.

 

If the NECESSARY tweaks are on the tricky side,do you know of any shops that will do them?

I knowairsoft-war4 only performs upgrades for membersand WGC USED to do upgrades only on high-end guns.

You can do most of the tweaks yourself. I don't really think there is a easier mechbox to work on than this one.

 

Thanks for the time, gents!

 

[chas]

Thank you very much, kind Sir!

 

Bout the switch: I heard it was kind of sensitive and that many people changed for an aftermarket one? Maybe it was the CA one, that broke in the first batches.

[poison123]

Thank you very much, kind Sir!

 

Bout the switch: I heard it was kind of sensitive and that many people changed for an aftermarket one? Maybe it was the CA one, that broke in the first batches.

 

Its possible. I know Spamman's died. But I haven't been kind to mine and it still works. I guess I wouldn't worry about replacing it till it breaks.

[chas]

Great! Thanks again!

[fathom1001]

I'm assuming some people have put mosfets in their SAWs, are they easy to install? And what's the best way to put it in? Solder it straight on or use some Deans? I was looking at getting one from the guy on the classifieds (here)

[infected]

I'm assuming some people have put mosfets in their SAWs, are they easy to install? And what's the best way to put it in? Solder it straight on or use some Deans? I was looking at getting one from the guy on the classifieds (here)

 

I have his in my M4, and it works great. He was a bit hard to get in touch with (he was in Thailand or some such place). He's back now so you might have better luck getting in touch with him. I've gone to making my own mosfet units. Might I suggest if you're going to get one, to invest in one with active braking. Your motor and gearbox will thank you.

 

Oh, and as far as the switch goes. Mine did die (the button would stay depressed). I replaced it with this unit:

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch...l?name=SW132-ND

 

Of course, I ate the piston and gears on mine, so i haven't had too many chances to tell you about the switch yet. Evidently the stock gears aren't that strong.

Edited January 21, 2008 by infected

[fathom1001]

OK cheers. I'll send him an email at some point then, at that price it definitely seems worth it for longevity.

[Bareknuckle]

Will your average 2-point or 3-point sling work on an M249, or do you need to buy a special sling? If so, where can you buy an M249 sling? I found one at airsoftgi, but they're sold out.

Edited January 21, 2008 by Bareknuckle

[poison123]

Will your average 2-point or 3-point sling work on an M249, or do you need to buy a special sling? If so, where can you buy an M249 sling? I found one at airsoftgi, but they're sold out.

 

 

Here's what I've got and I highly recommend it:

 

http://spectergear.com/saw_sop_sling.htm

[[BS]_MARS]

I am doubtful that replacing the stock hop-up nub with ANY aftermarket one will be a useful upgrade, particularly a soft one.

 

Thing is, as you'll know if you've examined the gun, the hop-up nub goes in end-on.

The adjuster wheel presses down on the nub as it rotates. A softer nub is probably just going to flex as you turn the dial to the left or right and could even get wedged in the adjuster dial.

 

Ideally, I'd suggest finding a ball-bearing about 2mm diameter and fitting it on top of the nub so it doesn't distort when yo adjust the dial. See sketch below.

Having said that, once you do fit the steel BB above the bucking, then you can start experimenting with harder or softer sleeves.

 

 

I tried adding in a bearing on mine but it just slips down into the nub and becomes usless. I then added a larger one which gave it too much hop up. I think FarEast will hook us up .

 

[RSM]

If you are getting too much hop with the 2mm bearing then just chop down your bucking, I have about a 2-3mm length of 16guage wiring insulation sitting on the hop sleeve with a 2mm bearing cannibalised from a ratchet screw driver thingy and it gives a fairly stiff adjustment all the way from no hop to what a normal hop unit looks like at full on.

 

I'm going to mod my box mag to take a 9v battery and then after that it should be set to rock and roll, I don't plan on using the M249 all the time so a 9.6v 2200mah nunchuck from component shot will do me fine.

[[BS]_MARS]

I'm running it with no bearing now and its actually just fine.

[bjorn]

Yep me too. I also put a homemade very nice mosfet into my AK M249 - so far so good. it was a little bit of a hassle with all the wires, but nothing more then it was on a regular ics m16.