Star M249 Para Examined...

[stevofett]

Besides ya don't need a tightbore for a SAW.

I'm not so sure about that. IMHO, having tighter groupings (and slight added fps) only helps the support gunner do their job.

[freq88]

I'm not so sure about that.  IMHO, having tighter groupings (and slight added fps) only helps the support gunner do their job.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

True, but as long as you're able to keep the enemy in check it doesn't really matter how tight your groupings are or how much fps you have.

[Fodder]

I have used the "Level2" position since StaticZero first mentioned it and I have had no problems what so ever(except the issue two-three posts over this, but I doubt that has anything to do with using L2 position)

 

I am also using a PDI spring in mine that is slightly over forum limits(guessing about 350fps) and that seems to be working fine

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Thanks for the reply! Are you running an 8.4 or up to a 9.6 with your spring? I have an 8.4 4200mAh batt and wonder approx at what point I'm 'forced' to move up to 9.6.

 

Thanks,

 

Al.

[DarkLite]

Thanks for the reply! Are you running an 8.4 or up to a 9.6 with your spring? I have an 8.4 4200mAh batt and wonder approx at what point I'm 'forced' to move up to 9.6.

 

Thanks,

 

Al.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

In my experience, most V2/3/6 Gearboxes only need a 9.6v past 380-400fps ish.

 

Having no experience with the STAR Gb, however, I cannot precisely say.

[Gundrosen]

Thanks for the reply! Are you running an 8.4 or up to a 9.6 with your spring? I have an 8.4 4200mAh batt and wonder approx at what point I'm 'forced' to move up to 9.6.

 

Thanks,

 

Al.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I just use a 8,4 2000mah, but I will buy a 9,6 when I get some more money

 

 

I ask again; How do you remove the front sight? I have just ordered a TOP front sight.

[Fodder]

Just to note, I played on the weekend and pumped through about 6k rounds with my 8.4 4200 and it showed no signs of slowing =) It's an Intellect NIMH

 

I also just popped it up to Level 2 - man that's so bloody easy, I expected it to be somehow more difficult than that! Can't wait to try it out!

[Gundrosen]

I just ordered G&P M249 RAS Kit, Guarder PARA flashhider and systema M4 inner barrel

 

I'm going for the same look "trasher" has on his M249

[ovv]

One star para KIA.

 

My friend's unit stripped one of it's gears, shattered the nozzle and finally shattered the gearbox. He was running a nice guarder spring with not too much power and the weather was something along the lines of -2 to -5 celcius.

 

Just a heads up that it can apparently be broken without too much difficulty, with the gun lasting in that configuration roughly 15k rounds.

[Jason-Alaska]

He was running a nice guarder spring with not too much power

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

That means different things to different people. Any idea what spring it was?

[dynamic_e]

Any AEG has a good chance of fragging at those tempratures be it metal or a plastic gearbox. When I see a plastic gearbox fragging a normal spring time weather ie: 50-65deg, then i'd worry. At freezing temps, most materials become brittle

[-Dan-]

NEED TO SORT OUT PICS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! cant be arsed now tho

 

 

hi all

 

 

Just a few pics and info for those of you whos guns are not firing properly and think you need to make the air nozzel bigger, sorry for bad pictures i was doing it in a rush, hope this helps you.

 

First you need to remove the mechbox, this is done by unscrewing the two screws on the side of the gun, once there out, push the mechbox back untill the air nozzel is clear of the inner barrel. it may be a bit stiff so give it a hard push, but be carfull not to bend and break the air nozzel

http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/2316/takingoutmechbox0lk.th.jpg]taking out mechbox

 

 

once the mechbox is free you will need to unplug the Tamiya lead,

 

 

http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/7871/unplug4ae.th.jpg]unpluging

 

 

 

 

now you can put the gun aside and concentrate on the mechbox.

 

use the quick spring change feature to remove the spring and spring guide.

 

place the mechbox on a flat surface with the air nozzel faceing left.

first you will need to remove the anti reverse latch, undo the two small screws that hold it in, be carefull not to round over the heads as they are extreamly small. also note that a small spring is held under the latch as well, dont lose it! make a note of how it goes in. you will need to get it back in the same way or the anti reverse latch wont work.

 

 

http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/7240/antireverselatch6ai.th.jpg]anti reverse latch

 

 

here you can see the spring thats under the anti reverse latch.

 

 

 

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/9482/antispring9lr.th.jpg]anti spring

 

 

next start to undo the screws at the back of the mechbox first and work your way to the front were the cylinder is.

i found it best to keep the mechbox flat on the table and as you undo the screws the little nuts will just drop out onto the table, if they dont come out use a small screw driver to pull them out.

 

once all of the screws are out, lift off the top half of the mechbox, i found that the cylinder was holding the top half on tight, so give the cylinder a push down on the air nozzel as you lift the top half off.

also note, i like to keep the bushings on the gears when i work on the mechbox, make sure you push down on the bushings when lifting off the top half of the mechbox so that they stay on the gears.

 

you should now have the mechbox open with the top half folded over to the right,

NOTE i found that the anti reverse unit and spring stayed in the top half of the mechbox, be carefull not to lose the small spring that goes on it.

 

 

 

http://img466.imageshack.us/img466/8840/openmechbox19wz.th.jpg]mechbox open

 

 

 

here is the top half with the anti reverse unit and spring, do not lose these parts!

 

 

http://img465.imageshack.us/img465/7274/antireverseunti0tt.th.jpg]anti reverse unit

 

 

 

NOTE when you take the top half of the mechbox off, the spring that moves the tapped plate back may come unhocked, this is not a big problem, note this part and dont lose it. if it does come off use a small screw driver to hook it back onto the black peg that is at the front of the mechbox just under the front of the cylinder.

you may want to leave the spring un hooked while you work on the mechbox so that the gear that touches the piston is not under any pressure.

 

 

http://img345.imageshack.us/img345/8906/tappedspring0ez.th.jpg]tapped spring

 

 

 

 

remove the piston unit by pulling it backwards and out of the cylinder.

 

 

 

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/1179/pistonunit4oo.th.jpg]piston unit

 

 

 

now you can remove the cylinder, lift the back of the cylinder slightly and pull it backwards, this should make it come away from the cylinder head. place it to one side, the cylinder can go back either way.

 

next pull the cylinder head backwards out of the air nozzel, you will have to lift the cylinder head slightly to get it clear of the notch it sits in.

 

next you can push the air nozzel upwards and off of the tapped plate.

 

you should now have three bits removed from the mechbox, cylinder, cylinder head and air nozzel.

 

 

 

http://img455.imageshack.us/img455/5682/cylinderunit8jb.th.jpg]cylinder unit

 

 

 

NOTE you should be able to remove all of these parts with out touching the gears, motor and tapped plate!

 

now all you need to do is sand the air nozzel

i used a bit of fine grit glass paper rolled into a tube, i inserted it into the air nozzel and moved it up and down,

take your time when doing this as you want it to be a smooth fit, not to tight and not to sloppy. if you make it to sloppy you will lose compression, and ruin the air nozzel, meaning you will need a new one. some take your time!!!

 

 

 

 

http://img423.imageshack.us/img423/2640/airnozzel3yt.th.jpg]air nozzel

 

 

 

 

once you have achieved the right fit replace all of the componets in the reverse order,

make sure the air nozzel sits in the groves in the tapped plate

make sure the cylinder head is in its notch

make sure the cylinder is pushed forward into its slot

make sure the piston is straight in the cylinder and that it slides on its rails.

make sure the tapped plate spring is back on its peg

make sure all the gears and bushings are in place.

 

now you have to put the anti reverse unit back. take it out of the top half of the mechbox and put it into the hole in the bottom half. you will need to hold the spring down as you put the top half of the mechbox back on, a second pair of hands make come in handy

this bit can be quite fiddley so take your time and be patient.

 

once both halfs are together put all the screws back, fit the spring back in, then fit the mechbox back to the gun, in the reverse order it come out, put the two screws that hold the mechbox to the gun back in.

give the gun a try

hopefully your problem is now sorted.

 

NOTE my air nozzel was completely stuck to the cylinder and would not move at all!!

 

if yours is moving it may just need the slightest of sandings, if any at all.

 

this fix worked for me but may not for you

DO IT AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

i earge any one atempting this fix to learn about mechboxes and how they work befor you try it your self!!!!!!

 

sorry for bad spelling and lack of description, grammer, etc, etc. its late ive been up ages and need to go to bed.

 

if any of you have any questions please feel free to ask.

 

i hope this helps you all.

Edited March 7, 2006 by -Dan-

[Trasher]

SAW gunner needs no nice tight groups. Reliability, fire volume and range is over anything else (in this order of preference). The only use I see for a tightbore in the M249 is the +15-20 fps increase.

 

Below zero temperatures can kill any AEG. At the last big op, in -8 Celsius enviroment a couple brand new, stock Marui Beta Spets died (split pistons), two different brand M16/M4s suffered broken gearboxes (at the same spot). Two months ago, I broke one Guarder piston in my CA249 in -5 Celsius. It just happens.

 

Here is another teaser for Gundorsen, in case you missed it:

Edited March 8, 2006 by Trasher

[Cpl._Lao]

Hi Trasher,

 

Wow, I'm very impressed with your set up. Curious to know how your Elcan holds up on that? I'm looking into getting a STAR M249 as well, and am really curious to know how tough you find the construction of the top feeding tray. Do you find the weight of the Elcan stresses the body or the rail too much? I've got a real Elcan that I'd like to mount, and it's pretty heavy/beefy. It tore off my stock M4 rail. Now, i use metal bodies on my AR series of airsoft products. What are your thoughts?

 

Thanks,

 

Ted

[stevofett]

SAW gunner needs no nice tight groups. Reliability, fire volume and range is over anything else (in this order of preference). The only use I see for a tightbore in the M249 is the +15-20 fps increase.

 

"Range" being the key word.... Tight bores, while improving accuracy, also improve range. A straighter bb trajectory results in better range.

 

All for not, though..... After switching to a prometheus barrel I actually noticed better groupings with the stock barrel. Not sure why that is. I'm using Excel bbs, so those should be pretty good for tight bores.

[freq88]

The tighter the bore the more it needs to be cleaned in order to maintain groupings and reduce jams. Try switching to airsoft elites

[neubine]

The tighter the bore the more it needs to be cleaned in order to maintain groupings and reduce jams. Try switching to airsoft elites

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I use a standard barrel just because I know I can run any kind of ###### BB through it, I'm shooting around 5k-10k a day and that can add up pretty fast if I used expensive BBs.

[Wupjak]

Update to my ongoing tech piece here:

 

http://p3.forumforfree.com/viewtopic.php?p=5934#5934

[Trasher]

Curious to know how your Elcan holds up on that?  I'm looking into getting a STAR M249 as well, and am really curious to know how tough you find the construction of the top feeding tray.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have the CA249, so I don't know how strong is the STAR's feed cover, but be careful with the ELCAN. A team mate broke his Marui Knights receiver after he borrowed my Guarder ELCAN replica (weighs around 700g). Under a heavy and high-riding optic like this, the plastic flexes/twists and can break at the weakest spot (feed cover hinge, feed cover lock?).

 

So check out the STAR feed cover carefully before installing your ELCAN, or get a railed metal feed cover from GP or CA (modding required).

[Jason-Alaska]

I found the STAR feed cover to have a little too much flex for my taste. While mounting a rail for a scope I figured that was the best time to reinforce the feed cover.

 

I added a piece of sheet metal to the inside of the cover for reinforcement.

 

I have a guide and a walkthrough here:

Mounting a Scope on the STAR M249

 

Edited March 8, 2006 by Jason-Alaska

[rasheem]

my friend is offering to sell me his railed metal feed cover off his CA PARA SAW for a good price, but I'm not sure what I need to do to fit it on. anyone try modifying to fit a metal feed cover?

[stevofett]

Sorry this is unrelated to the Star....Some of you have the signature block that says "M4 User, G36 User, etc." Where did you get those?

[Fodder]

my friend is offering to sell me his railed metal feed cover off his CA PARA SAW for a good price, but I'm not sure what I need to do to fit it on. anyone try modifying to fit a metal feed cover?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Hear hear! I see the rail covers in the stores here in HK, but I wouldn't have a clue how to mod the beast to mount it. Is this something simple, or does it require dremeling and potentially serious damage to the AEG? Is any one 'better' (easier to install) than the others?

 

Al.

[D-O-C]

PGC V3S Gear Box For Star M249 175usd

on UN company

Edited March 9, 2006 by D-O-C

[Gundrosen]

Sorry this is unrelated to the Star....Some of you have the signature block that says "M4 User, G36 User, etc."  Where did you get those?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Most make them themselves, but I now StaticZero has a site were you can find alot of them free for use

[ovv]

That means different things to different people. Any idea what spring it was?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Above forum limits. But not really overpowerful, something you see in many guns all the time.

 

In finland usual limits for "basic"-weapons are m120, with support weapons sometimes being allowed to go for m130.