Jump to content

Star M249 Para Examined...


Recommended Posts

that are BEAUTIFUL pics!  We don't even have the luxury of having snow in hawaii =( beautiful =)  how does it operate in that cold weather btw?

 

There is not any noticable difference in the snow.

The battery goes out a little faster(last game I had to change my fully loaded 2000mah battery after just half a mag) so if you are playing in the snow, you should carry at least 1-2 extra batteries. :)

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 1.4k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Hey guys,

 

Sorry if I'm repeating a previous post, but has anyone upgraded thier STAR 249 yet? I just took mine apart and put in some High Speed Phoenix Gears, and a Guarder SP110. However when I chrono it, it only shoots like 260, down from 330 w/ .20g.

 

I can't for the life of me figure it out, I replaced the cylinder, cylinder head, piston, piston head... and still no improvement. Is there something I'm missing? I keep putting more money in it and it doesn't seem to get any better. I even put everything back to stock except the gears and springs and it still shoots 260...

 

Help me out here or did I break something?

Edited by neubine
Link to post
Share on other sites

This is a problem I've had with mine as well, though your situation seems much worse than mine. I just can't get the power I expect from a given spring. I suspect it's nothing to do with the gearbox and everything to do with the hop up unit and possibly the nozzle's interaction with it.

 

Did you actually chrono the gun stock? It seems strange for you to be that low with that spring if you actually were getting 330 stock. Also, did you test the compression? Poor or non-existent compression could account for some of this.

Edited by staticzero
Link to post
Share on other sites

I just finished reading every page and post of this thread and I am disconcerted by the types of breakages exhibited by the Star, and the difficulty in having them replaced or repaired. So far it seems the score is as follows:

 

- broken front sight

- broken rear sight

- broken feed connector

- broken trigger

- split piston

 

And none of those problems seem to be attributed to user fault, it either arrived that way or broke out of normal gameplay. I can appreciate Star using plastic parts to reduce weight and cost, although application of some conventional wisdom on their behalf seems necessary here regarding stress points and material strength. It's not fair to the user to have to buy metal parts to prevent something from breaking (or to repair it) because it was designed or constructed excessively delicately.

Edited by W.K.Shuridys
Link to post
Share on other sites
Sorry for the off topic question: Is the stock Star spring variable pitch?

No it is not (as I mentioned on the first page I believe :P ).

 

Top: Guarder Spring, Bottom: Star Stock Spring

IMG_7301.sized.jpg

 

I just finished reading every page and post of this thread and I am disconcerted by the types of breakages exhibited by the Star, and the difficulty in having them replaced or repaired. So far it seems the score is as follows:

 

- broken front sight

- broken rear sight

- broken feed connector

- broken trigger

- split piston

 

And none of those problems seem to be attributed to user fault, it either arrived that way or broke out of normal gameplay. I can appreciate Star using plastic parts to reduce weight and cost, although application of some conventional wisdom on seems necessary here regarding stress points and material strength. It's not fair to the user to have to buy metal parts to prevent something from breaking (or to repair it) because it was designed or constructed excessively delicately.

I'm not disagreeing with you per se but I think it's important to note that there have been no repeat offenses so far. And in many of these cases, the damage can be chalked up to defect, something that can happen to any gun. There needs to be more of a pattern to conclude there is a real problem with any of these parts. Also I'm not sure where you're getting the idea that getting parts has been hard, it seems like people have gotten replacement parts rather easily so far.

 

If it turns out there really is a persistent problem with one or more of these parts, the real test will be what Star does about it. Will they do as TM does and leave it alone, leave it for the user to sort out on their own? Or will they take action as G&G is known to do? For example.

Edited by staticzero
Link to post
Share on other sites
I suspect it's nothing to do with the gearbox and everything to do with the hop up unit and possibly the nozzle's interaction with it.

 

That was my next suspect... I wanted to put it off cause I haven't done it before and thought it might be a but involved...

 

Did you actually chrono the gun stock? It seems strange for you to be that low with that spring if you actually were getting 330 stock. Also, did you test the compression? Poor or non-existent compression could account for some of this.

 

I chrononed it at my house with the Guarder Speeder 2000 Chrono, stock it shot around 330fps which was pretty good for a stock gun. I didn't want to put a different spring into the gearbox without putting in stronger parts. I also have a STAR SOPMOD M14 and the gears on that broke within 3000 rds... The gears in both guns look identical and have identical markings.

 

I want to put everything back to stock, but I fear I've lost what bushings go where... you know how it goes.. and shimming this gearbox seems like a pain especially since you can't easily put the two halves together and test it without desoldering the motor.

 

I test the compression with combinations of Stock Cylinder, Area 1000 Cylinder, KM Cylinder, Promtheus POM Piston Head, and the Stock Piston head. Seems like the best combo was the Stock Cylinder with the POM head.. although the Stock Piston head and Area 1000 Cylinder was pretty good too. Both combinations resulted in a FPS of around 250.... which supports your idea that it's probably the nozzle or hop-up unit.

 

Have you taken the hop-up unit out yet? If so any tips? I'm so afraid of breaking some of these plastic parts.

 

Oh and just to add my own 2 cents i used the gun stock and put over 15,000 rounds through it so far without any problems. I've used a 10.8v 1700mah, 9.6 3300mah, and a 11.1v 1500mah LiPoly.

I've seen some excessive wear on the piston but no splitting, my gripe is that the stock sights are horrible to aim with especially since I can't even use them wearing a paintball mask.

Edited by neubine
Link to post
Share on other sites
I just finished reading every page and post of this thread and I am disconcerted by the types of breakages exhibited by the Star, and the difficulty in having them replaced or repaired. So far it seems the score is as follows:

 

- broken front sight

- broken rear sight

- broken feed connector

- broken trigger

- split piston

Broken bipod brackets will appear sooner or later... the design is the same as TOP/CA.
Link to post
Share on other sites
Here are a couple of images of me with the STAR M249(wit snow camo :P )

 

Gundrosen,

It looks like you've got the Star M249 Minimi MKII. How easily does it fit in the case? Or what is required to make it fir in the case?

 

Doeas anyone know how much additional accuracy is gained with the longer barrel of the MKII over the Para?

 

MKII (Inner Barrel Length: 455mm)

vs.

Para (Inner Barrel Length: 345mm)

 

110mm differance or about 4.375 inches to us silly non-metric folks. ;)

Link to post
Share on other sites
Gundrosen,

It looks like you've got the Star M249 Minimi MKII. How easily does it fit in the case? Or what is required to make it fir in the case?

The stock must be removed to fit the MkII in the case.

 

Doeas anyone know how much additional accuracy is gained with the longer barrel of the MKII over the Para?

 

MKII (Inner Barrel Length: 455mm)

vs.

Para (Inner Barrel Length: 345mm)

 

110mm differance or about 4.375 inches to us silly non-metric folks.  ;)

None.

 

Longer barrels do not increase accuracy, tighter ones do. Longer barrels do increase range however (the BB spends more time in the barrel, hence more time accelerating). The MkII's muzzle velocity may be slightly higher than the Para's because of this.

Edited by staticzero
Link to post
Share on other sites

Airsoft GI came thru and replaced my defective Star box mag. thanks guys, kudos. but the funny thing is, that once i slid it into the locking mechanism, i cant get it out now. haha. sigh. whatever. So my box mag is permanently stuck to my gun... there are worser things in life.

 

I fired it up and "awesome" is not the word. with the souped up battery i have (8.4v 3300mah) the thing puts out an amazing rate of fire, and covered my hallway with bb's. good stuff. So now it will have to perform just as well in the field, and i'll be a happy camper.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Good to hear. Weird about the mag being stuck though. No idea what's up there. :unsure:

 

I just wanted to take a moment to announce that I've re-compiled and re-written this thread into a complete article for ASGI. You can view it here.

 

While principally it's the same information that can be found in this thread, it's cleaned up a bit and there is new content there (so it's worth a look even if you've read this whole thread). On the TOC page you'll find links to two videos I made. There's also a section on accessing and removing the hop up unit which has not been posted here previously. Also you'll find a conclusion and finally, a FAQ.

 

It looks like my careful CSS formatting was lost in the transfer to their site so unfortunately it doesn't quite look like I intended it to. :( I've only skimmed it on their site so far, but it appears to be otherwise intact.

 

Also, I finished and sent off the article before I ran into the issue with my trigger breaking so that information is missing from it. That's something that will go into any update I may do in the future.

 

In the interest of full disclosure I'll tell you that I was compensated by ASGI for my work. However, I believe you'll find the article honest and objective - something I strive for.

 

Anyway, take a look and let me know what you think. :)

Link to post
Share on other sites

Let me start by saying that is a really fantastic piece of work that you did for AirsoftGI. There is no doubt that the review you did on this site is responsible for them selling MANY of these guns.

 

Now, for the videos! The ROF video is really unbelievable. The ROF with a 9.6 is nothing short of insane :o . I don't know if I have ever heard a ROF like that on the field.

 

Thank you for all the work you have put into this project. It has taken the mystery out of many operational issues for the Star M249.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Jason-Alaska:

It fits in the case like this:

Picture of the MKII with everything fitted in the box

What I dont get is why they shipped it with the mag in a stand alone box when you cna easily fit it inside the box :P

 

 

BTW, does anyone know which kind of battery I should use in my MKII? I have upgraded it with a 140% PDI spring.

Edited by Gundrosen
Link to post
Share on other sites
Jason-Alaska:

 

BTW, does anyone know which kind of battery I should use in my MKII? I have upgraded it with a 140% PDI spring.

 

You should use a large battery -- and in this case a 8.4V battery will do. If you plan to use a large 9.6V, you'll strip the piston because the gears will spin much faster than the piston can return to battery.

 

To use a large 9.6V safely, you gotta use a 4XX fps spring.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow, I saw the video on Airsoft GI about the rate of fire...

 

Staticzero, is there any wear on the piston from firing the SP120 w/ Intellect 9.6v 3800mAh NiMh battery? (1272 Rounds Per Second)

 

If so, can you show a pic of the piston.

 

From what I know about airsoft guns, when I hear a rate of fire like that I know my piston is being chewed up.

 

I will be fielding a similar setup, and I want to know that my piston won't mess up.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hey Static... or anyone else who knows... The battery i use for the MK2 is 8.4v 3800 mah. my Winstar farst charger however only charges 8.4v batteries up to 3000 mah. what does this mean? will i still get a full charge if i plug it in for the standard hour? or do i need to charge it twice?? i appreciate the help. thanks.

post-11530-1135402247_thumb.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and the use of session cookies.