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The A&K M249 Review


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nice review. one thing worth considering though, is although you said you cant tell the difference by looking between this and the CA one (although i think CA ones have a black gasblock), is when you pick each one up, you can easily tell the difference. or at least i could. the CA is much heavier, and feels more like a big support gun to me. in a practical eorld, i suppose its better to run about with the lighter one (at least its not a plastic STAR one lol), but i prefer to know im carrying a big gun.

 

saying that, if i didnt already have a CA, i dont think i would buy one over this, just because of the price. but i do have a CA, and im glad i do.

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nice review. one thing worth considering though, is although you said you cant tell the difference by looking between this and the CA one (although i think CA ones have a black gasblock), is when you pick each one up, you can easily tell the difference. or at least i could. the CA is much heavier, and feels more like a big support gun to me. in a practical eorld, i suppose its better to run about with the lighter one (at least its not a plastic STAR one lol), but i prefer to know im carrying a big gun.

 

With the Eclan on she weighs in at over 7.5 Kg, not a weapon to be taken lightly......sorry I'll get my coat. :(

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Alot of the guys on the forums here who also play on the same team as me will vouch that I don't molly coddle my weapons in the field. They get treated the same way I would treat a real weapon in a combat scenario so if this weapon can withstand a day with me then its good to go! :D

 

If you check some of the white backgrouond images you should still be able to see dirt and mud that still hasn't been cleaned off from her last game. :D

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Got another question FarEast, is it entirely necessary to have a type 0 cylinder in there? I have a prometheus cylinder for 330-400mm barrels (M4/M249 Para length) and seeing as you have the full cylinder and what looks like a prometheus spring (or is it Madbull and what rating is it anyway?) I'm wondering whether to leave the cylinder alone or not

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It's due to sole distribution rights i do beleive.

 

In fact if you actually read the information:

 

*** Important notice!!! I can`t ship this gun to United States, Poland and Germany, because I have agreement with the manufacturer, so players in these country please buy from your local dealers.***
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Nice review.

A few questions:

What are the other main components made from i.e. receiver, top cover, feed tray, barrel, bipod etc - steel, ally?

Does the gearbox use ballrace bearings and what diameter are they? It would appear that the Sector gear has, at least, ballraces.

Do you know if the hop unit is compatible with other makes i.e. replace it entirely?

 

Cheers.

Edited by Tommygunn
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With the Eclan on she weighs in at over 7.5 Kg, not a weapon to be taken lightly......sorry I'll get my coat. :(

 

:o

 

no no no, dont take it harshly. i was just adding some information. can only be good for people wanting to compare the 2, no ?? :unsure:

 

as i said, if i didnt already have a CA one, i would be a fool to not get this one, especially at UK prices for a CA one. as it is, i got my CA from HK, for only a hundred pounds or so more than the A&K one in this country. which again, cant be sniffed at. i would weigh my CA one for comparison, as i also use an elcan and the full size mag and large battery, but alas i broke it and its currently being fixed :D if i hadnt of fiddled with it, it would still be running as good as the day i brought it.

 

again, sorry if i came across like a massive *beep*, was trying trying to add an objective opinion on the competition.

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aahhh.

 

i see what you did there.

 

;)

 

3 hours sleep between the end of a night out, then work slows my brain. i will weigh my ca249 anyway, im interested to know the difference now.

 

Mate don't worry I know how it is, I will be away from Wednesday doing some courses up in the mountains, probably get very little sleep in the next 72 hours so expect some really retarded post from me in the next few days!

 

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EXCELLENT REVIEW FAREAST!

 

I'm so glad this gun is on the market, even if it is overpriced in the US due to a certain company acquiring sole distribution rights...

 

Even being a CA M249 owner I'm glad to see this gun available to more players - I've always said there should be 1 support gun per every four man fireteam to make airsoft more realistic. The A&K means more players can get into the support gunner role without embarrassing us all with boxmags or c-mags on M4s or G36s, and WITHOUT sacrificing to the devil of plastic *cough* Star *cough*.

 

Well done.

 

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I might add a couple points:

- the gap between the cylinder wall and the gearbox does nothing to lose airpressure. No gearbox is airitght, and none are meant to be. The only presurrized space in an AEG is the volume defined between the cylinder head, the piston head and the cylinder wall. As long as teh cylinder head has a good wall seal and the piston head does not leave the cylinder during its stroke you are fine. I think you said that but I thought to restate it.

- if you're looking for good bearings see www.vxb.com. Mine have lasted >500,000 rounds in my CA. They are different shape than the ones in the CA, no flange, but the correct shape is available at VXB. You'll find no better bearings on the market anywhere in the world.

- The boxmag can hold a 9.6 3000mAh NiMh just fine and for the para this is an excellent choice. Moving the battery out of the foregrip improves the balance and the big battery gives you a full day's gameplay without swapping batteries, plus better amperage draw for high fps needs (non uk and japan). On the A&K you even alaready have a spring tube to run the wires down thru!

- The "CA" reinforced feedtray latch pins for sale at CobraAirsoft.com are reinforced steel and slightly different angle. Put these into your feedtray cover and you'll be able to "slap the lid down" like you see in movies and game and it'll actually latch. If you're into that sort of flourish.

- Don't over hop your A&K - jams can occur

- if you want to actually be able to pick up your saw by the "carry handle" and not have the quick release barrel feature automatically disembowel your 249 for you on the spot you can bolt it in: just locate the two bolts to either side of the outer barrel on the front of the receiver - one is directly in front of the charging bolt slide, the other is opposite it. Take these out and get come 1.5-2x longer at your hardware store. Then look in the hole as you reinsert the outer barrel. As you slide the barrel on you will see pre-drilled holes in it slide by! Line those up and drive in your bolts. Your outer barrel is now hard-attached. No worries using your carry handle now, but you can't get at your battery as easy if you didnt relocate it to the boxmag. Even if those holes in the outer barrel are not predrilled like they are in the CA, even if they're not tehre you can still put two longer bolts in there and just thru friction you now have 3 frictors on the outer barrel. MUCH more secure even if not hard-attached.

- the inner barrel will float, use some electricians tape around the tip AFTER you've put the outer barrel on the gun. Unscrew the flash hider and wrap one or two or three loops around the end of the inner barrel - you'll see a noticable accruacy improvement.

- for a better hopup to mechbox seal put some washers on the inner barrel in front of the hopup chamber - either before or after the spring doesnt matter.

- remember if you misfeed alot the mag port angle can be adjusted - locate the two bolts inside the receive fiddle the alignment

- you WILL wear out the bipod tabs. when you do, the steel CA or guarder parts kit is an excellent buy. even THEY will wear out but you'll probably have grey hair like me before they do

- be CAREFUL tapping back in the pins that hold the pistol grip subassembly to the receiver - get it even slightly misaligned and you will seam-tear one of the u-joints: i did exactly this because I was impatient. Again, the steel parts kit to the rescue. Steel>Pot Metal

- if you don't like scratching the bejeezus out of your front sling point's black metal finish a small loop of para cord will work great as a sling point.

- if you want the ranger look/feel don't buy another gun, just buy a real steel M249 pistolgrip and bolt it to the front thru the pintle mount hole, instant foregrip, RIS not required

- if you can't stand the fruity satin silver finish of the gasblock bracket and tard grey finish of the belt port as I do - KRYLON to the rescue. its just that easy.

 

That's all I have off the top of my head.

 

I may pick one of these up to augment my collection. After running the 2 days of Irene V with my 28lb (thats 12.7kg) CA M249MkII I am not about to diss light. In fact I went out of my way to run the STAR M60 which is light as all get out... if only it didn't self destruct during chrono.... *&%$

 

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ROCK ON FELLOW GUNNERS

 

 

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EDIT: ###### now that I read the whole thread I see many of my items were already touched on. beh. ah well, there it is.

Edited by Hillslam
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