A&K M60 ponderings

[renegadecow]

Fancying myself in getting a pig, but I'm put off by having to use the box mag it comes with. What I'd like to do is use it with 'Nam attire and I'd really like to have a 50/100 round belt on it with the good ol' put-a-can-on-the-feed-tray mod. Of course this means not having an ammo supply and even a place to store the battery. So I thought to ask, would it be feasible to gut the top cover to house a makeshift midcap magazine and have the butt stock hold the battery? The midcaps themselves will be in stick form, think Uzi mags which you have to insert in the opened top cover and by closing the cover with a loaded mag engages the mag to the modified hop unit. This way I figured it'd simulate the loading process of the real thing plus maybe have a capacity of up to 180 rounds between reloads which isn't all that bad for something chugging along at 600rpm. So does the stock have enough space to fit a battery or will it have to be front wired into the fore grip?

[3vi1-D4n]

UZI mags on top cover:  No can do.

 

Room in stock:  None.  It is taken up by the mechbox and the faux recoil buffer.

 

Room in foregrip for battery:  Maybe, though you would have to drill a hole in the gas tube to get the wires to the foregrip.

 

 

The big box mag isn't that bad really as most of the time its not noticeable, its not as bad as the GPMG one which not only gets in the way but is cardboard.

[CatgutViolin]

There really is no room in the body of the gun, the gearbox is huge. What might be doable is removing the potentiometer from the gas tube, re-wiring somewhat to get the plug into the gas tube, and putting a stick battery in the gas tube. Then you just have the issue of ammo. Perhaps you could stuff a feed mechanism into a C-rat can?

[3vi1-D4n]

Chop an MP5/UZI hicap, stick it onto the C-rat can and create the hicap using some more cans and a spot welder, then reroute the hicap coil from the can to the M60.

 

You "COULD" fit a stick battery into the gas tube, but there should be space in the foregrip for a larger battery.

[renegadecow]

Not an actual Uzi mag per se, but something long and slim to give you an idea. To make a functional magazine it can be as slim as an AEP magazine lying on its back only a lot longer. As I haven't opened one (M60) up, I'm not familiar about the internals like the faux feed mechanism and recoil buffer in the back which I assume can be removed hence my asking. And if it comes to it, I may even consider using a lipo for space reasons.

C ration on the feed tray, I was thinking more on looks, but I suppose that can be made to hold bbs. If I'm careful enough I might be able to squeeze in a 180 midcap in it, but reloads won't be very easy (unlike popping the cover, swap mags, close cover).

[Wild_XIII]

I suppose you could remove the faux feeding parts from the top cover, but I'm not sure that would still leave you a lot of room. The only real places you'd have space for anything on that gun is the gas tube where the adjustable ROF parts are. There's a very small amount of space behind the gearbox, but it's very limited.

[Wingmann]

In my opinion the most elegant solution would be to make a magazine of the C-can, even a motorized one, then place a somewhat big battery in the foregrip.

 

My gas tube is completely empty, but there isn't much space there and it's quite unpractical to access. There might also be space for a LiPo under the top cover, but I haven't measured that.

 

If you need some pictures I'll try to snatch some before the weekend.

[renegadecow]

Pictures! YES PLEASE! Preferably a side view of the top cover up and down so I can gauge how much space it has (height) as well as a pic of where the gearbox ends. May as well add a pic of the feed tray without the box mag to gauge how a C ration can will line up. I remember seeing a pic of the stock before which seemed to me to have enough space for a 9.6V 1500mAh.

[Wingmann]

Measurements are in cm. If you need a video instead of pictures, I can take one too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[renegadecow]

That'll do, thanks! It's a tight squeeze but the top cover seems to have ample space provided about a pound of non essential bits will have to be removed. The area behind the gearbox is very small, but that's really just where the receiver ends. I was thinking of putting the battery in the plastic stock itself. Now to see if I could find a used 60 VN for cheap as well as a belt of ammo. If I can't find a cheap enough belt (the G&P 50rd belt is like $90) I may resort to making them from something else or make one of those prototype backpack-fed hoses.