Star M249 Para Examined...

[WarMonger]

I am new to this, I looked on other threads and saw nothiong regarding this. Is it possible to pad high caps to stop them from ratteling?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Yes, but you loose a good bit of capicaty.

 

If you used material like the dynamat i suggested you wouldnt lose much capacity at all its only .070in thick. It wouldn't be hard to do either. just unplug the wiring connector to the auto feed, and pull out the brass feed tube. then take out two screws on the bottom of the box and whole feed mechanism comes right out.

 

it actually doesnt rattle all that bad because star used a good thick plastic composite material for the box. it doesnt rattle real loud like most of the box mags out there for other guns. but i still want to pad mine.

 

PS, i finally got my ammo belt. check it out.

[staticzero]

Nice. My ammo belt seems to have been lost in the mail apparently. And I have to wait 21 days to claim the insurance. I guess I'll try and get one from somewhere else in the mean time. Did you have to do anything special to make it fit?

[SubSeven]

Hey thanks for the continuing reveiws on this product. I got mine last week, and have not used it for anything more than backyard shooting.

Tomorrow, my Team(GRB) and the USMC will be putting on a charity airsoft event for Toys for Tots, so I will get some very extensive use out of it for sure

I upped the spring quite a bit, and tomorrow is supposed to be cold, so I'll definantly post up how this beast performed.

 

We have 4 SAW/LMG's on our team(Aug H-BAR, RPK, CA249,Star 249), and I just wanted to say that the reason I decided to buy the STAR was based on its lightness. I usually run around with 50-75 pounds of gear, and did not want to add another 20 pounds to the mix. Fully loaded The Star weighs aprx 10 pounds. Much lighter than any my teammates guns.

Hopefully, the gun will hold up well compared to the others, though I am not really optimistic about it.

If its one thing I know, its that LMG's always break...Always! The only LMG, in my experiance that has never encountered any troubles is my mates H-BAR(knock on wood).

 

Anyway, Thanks for the reveiws. I will definantly be back here checking from time to time for new developments. I will also post anything good or bad with my experiances as well.

 

Cheers!

Mike

[WarMonger]

well, the gray feed tray thing doesn't hold them in the gun with the feed cover down they just fall out. so i left the link on the last round and stuck it over the edge on the the right side like so..

 

hope you can see this alright...

 

pretty secure, they arent goin anywhere. gotta move that last bullet out of the way to get the feed cover closed. this is a quick fix, i'll figure out a better way to hold em but i wanna take it to the game tommorow.

 

PS static, i used 13 rounds of ammo in the gun, and i still got 26 rounds left if you want me to send you some. i'm gonna keep about half for the soft 100rnd mags when they come out. but if you want some, let me know.

Edited November 19, 2005 by WarMonger

[Slo]

Hey Warmonger - . . .nice cat. And it seems as if he has a good taste in weaponry also. Hehe.

 

-Slo

[WarMonger]

I train my soldiers well and feed them well too apparently

Edited November 19, 2005 by WarMonger

[Trigger Happy10]

Hey Warmonger -  . . .nice cat.    And it seems as if he has a good taste in weaponry also. Hehe. 

 

-Slo

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It seems that peoples cats get in the way of thier pics. Especially mine.

 

Oh and warmonger cats love ghillie suits:

 

[Slo]

Hahaha - I know what you mean. Whenever I leave any kind of gun on my bed - be it real or airsoft - my one giant orange furball will actually sleep on the gun itself - dunno how that's comfortable - but hey, any cat that can sleep on an RIS IIed, Eoteched M4, is okay in my book.

 

Back on topic though - still waiting very unpatiently-like for my Para to arrive . . .grrrr . . .should've been here today, but Nooooooooo . . .especially seeing everyone take pics of theirs to rub it in - ARGH!!! STOP IT!!!

 

 

-Slo

[popeye]

Sooooo, did anyone else get to test out their new M249 this weekend? Love to hear some more opinions and maybe see some "action" pics.

 

I have to live vicariously through others until mine arrives.

Edited November 20, 2005 by popeye

[Foukus]

Does anyone have any idea that can you take parts from TOP/CA gun and install them to STAR? (sorry about my english)

[birddog]

Sooooo, did anyone else get to test out their new M249 this weekend? 

 

I used my Para this weekend and in the process uncovered a few issues.

 

First, the front sight is fragile. Mine was broken while being transported in the case and it appears it broke quite easily.

 

 

Second, the box mag connector has to be seated just right otherwise the gun won't get power. You can have it plugged in where it appears to be inserted all the way but it's not. The end result is the gun won't fire.

 

Third, the bipod legs have the annoying habit of popping ot of place at the worst possible moment.

 

The gun fires fine though. A simple upgrade brought the performance up to an acceptable level (380fps with .2's) and the ROF is excellent even with a stiffer spring. I also like the fact that it's light and easy to wield.

Edited November 21, 2005 by birddog

[popeye]

Was the upgrade just a spring change? How many rounds did you put through it today? Man, i'd love to see some pics of these on the field.

[Trigger Happy10]

Does anyone have any idea that can you take parts from TOP/CA gun and install them to STAR? (sorry about my english)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do you have any Idea how to read? Read the thread and you will find that we expect it will be possible, but we are not sure.

 

[eldelphi]

To those who own the M249, how do u maintain it? Do u silicone spray it after a day of skirmishing? Tighten all screws, etc. Just curious. ( my question goes to all AEGS as well, not just the m249) thnx.

[gunlady]

An excellent review. Well done that man!

 

Although I only collect and do not skirmish, I have had the inclination to get an M249 to 'round off' and area of the collection that is desperately short of kit.

 

having looked at the options from CA and TOP, and through your review, the Star, I still feel I would buy the CA M249.

Why? It has all the working parts to 'play' with, takes all mentioned mags. And mostly metal... an important point because from my radio controlled model boats I know that plastic deteriorates when in the open, and metal doesn't.

 

While it is heavier, I don't intend to use it in anger, only at a target, so the weight issue is irrelevant for me.

 

I may also get an M60 later from Honkers, but the CA M249 is next on my hit list.

 

Nice pics too, well done.

[Jimisin73]

IMHO this is a great gun!!!

 

Over the past weekend I got some hands on time with the STAR M249 and, in spite of the issues mentioned above, I was highly impressed. ROF is extremely high, build quality is excellent (even though its mostly plastic), Stock power seemes up to the task (at 10m it broke window glass...ooops thank goodness we were only test firing an an old shed on our game site, and it didn't happen during a game), and the lighter weight made it a pleasure to lug around the field (I'm in my 30's and must be getting old ). The most impressive feature, however, is not cosmetic. The feed system on this gun, in conjunction with the innovative battery storage system in nothing short of ingenious. Storing the Ammo and Battery in the same quick disconnect housing adds a level of realism which I feel has been missing from the other SAW offerings on the market...and to top it off it actually feeds reliably!! (Unlike the ammo hopper shake required on the TOP M-60s). My hope is that one of two things happen with this gun:

1. Someone builds a metal body kit for this gun, so that we can transfer the cool mechanicals into a more realistic body.

 

or

 

2. Other companies look at the way the internals on this gun are put together, and start putting the cool features into practice on their guns.

 

Before the arguments start, Yes, it is a bummer that this gun doesn't accept M4 / M16 mags, but in my mind its a small sacrifice to make for a practical M249 at 2/3 the price of the lowest other option.

[birddog]

I rationalize the cost of the gun by comparing it to other M249 models that are on the market.

 

1. It's reliable (so far).

2. A box mag is included (great design BTW).

3. It's extremely easy to upgrade.

4. It's light and easy to carry.

 

I figure the gun itself cost me $475 which is quite reasonable and the box mag is worth another $115. This amount is what it cost shipped to my door.

Edited November 21, 2005 by birddog

[WarMonger]

plastic deteriorates out in the open, and METAL doesnt? no offense, but what planet are you living on.

 

you've got it backwards, plastic lasts forever if it isnt broken or melted or something, metal rusts and deteriorates.

 

birddog- can you tell me what spring you used, i'm looking to put one in mine, but i dont want to lose and firing rate.

 

i dropped my saw on saturday, and broke the clip off the ammo box where it attaches to the gun. luckily, it broke off pretty clean and i work with fiberglass so i glassed it back on, from the inside of the top of the box, good as new.

 

by the way, the gun worked flawlessly AGAIN, even after being dropped and taped back together to finish the game.

[SubSeven]

Well, I got to use mine this weekend, and it was a blast! I shot around 2800 rounds probably, and most of my blast were in the 50-100 rd range. I provided ALOT of cover fire(as a good SAW gunner should do).

While nothing broke on my gun. My gun will not feed properly at all Its probably about every 5 to 10 shots it will dry fire. Really dang annoying

Have no idea what is cuasing this problem, but I would guess its probably a crappy boxmag. It seems the gears that push the bb's up, stutter from time to time causing the dry fire.

 

I would also like to say that there was another guy there that had a para, that lasted around 100 rds, before the piston stripped.(stock with 8.4)

 

Luckily mine held up, despite the annoying dry fire, but upon inspection of the gear box today, there are black shards of plastic inside the gearbox. Seems that CA and STAR cant go to the trouble of actually using a good durable piston in there SAWS.

 

For anybody who is interested, out of the box my gun chrono'd 330-340. With a upgrade to a PDI 150, it upped to 360.

 

All in all, I had fun, but Im a bit dissapointed in the way mine wont fire smoothly.

 

[popeye]

I wonder if the shavings in the gear box are a result of the upgraded spring? The stock piston probably isn't up to par with the upgraded spring. Out of curiosity, what type and weight bb's do you use?

[Slo]

Could the boxmag feeding issue be old AA batteries in the boxmag? Or did you put brand new ones in there?

 

Kinda sucks hearing about these two guns, especially when everyone else had what seems to be great experiences with them. I guess there are bad apples in every run of every gun, but I hope this doesn't become a trend with the STARs, especially since my Para will be here tomorrow (Finally).

 

I really wish STAR would hurry up and release spare mags, be it the cloth 100 round ones or the full size 200 round boxes. Hate to have that large chunk of change go down because the damn magazine refuses to work right.

 

-Slo

[SubSeven]

I wonder if the shavings in the gear box are a result of the upgraded spring?  The stock piston probably isn't up to par with the upgraded spring.  Out of curiosity, what type and weight bb's do you use?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Yea the piston seems to be junk, really dissapointing that neither STAR or CA can make a good piston, especially when Marui's stock pistons are so good.

 

For BB's I was using AE .20's. Ran out of those and got a bag of excel .20's

Edited November 22, 2005 by SubSeven

[WarMonger]

Well, I got to use mine this weekend, and it was a blast!  I shot around 2800 rounds probably, and most of my blast were in the 50-100 rd range. I provided ALOT of cover fire(as a good SAW gunner should do).

While nothing broke on my gun. My gun will not feed properly at all Its probably about every 5 to 10 shots it will dry fire. Really dang annoying

Have no idea what is cuasing this problem, but I would guess its probably a crappy boxmag. It seems the gears that push the bb's up, stutter from time to time causing the dry fire.

 

I would also like to say that there was another guy there that had a para, that lasted around 100 rds, before the piston stripped.(stock with 8.4)

 

Luckily mine held up, despite the annoying dry fire, but upon inspection of the gear box today, there are black shards of plastic inside the gearbox. Seems that CA and STAR cant go to the trouble of actually using a good durable piston in there SAWS.

 

For anybody who is interested, out of the box my gun chrono'd 330-340. With a upgrade to a PDI 150, it upped to 360.

 

All in all, I had fun, but Im a bit dissapointed in the way mine wont fire smoothly.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

take apart the box mag, and make sure all the wires are soldered good. Also check the contacts on the plug, make sure they are not recessed in at all, if they are take out the four screws that hold the plug together then put them back in and tighten them, this usually sets them right. make sure that brass feed tube is pushed all the way down as far in as it will go.

 

maybe this will help

[SubSeven]

Could the boxmag feeding issue be old AA batteries in the boxmag? Or did you put brand new ones in there?

 

Kinda sucks hearing about these two guns, especially when everyone else had what seems to be great experiences with them. I guess there are bad apples in every run of every gun, but I hope this doesn't become a trend with the STARs, especially since my Para will be here tomorrow (Finally).

 

I really wish STAR would hurry up and release spare mags, be it the cloth 100 round ones or the full size 200 round boxes. Hate to have that large chunk of change go down because the damn magazine refuses to work right.

 

-Slo

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Yea, I was using brand new duracell copper tops. I have yet to take apart the mag to see if there is anything jammed in there.

Figures I would get one that missfires, while everyone else talks about how beautifully theres fire. I definantly hope star releases the mags soon too, as you said it best...."Hate to have that large chunk of change go down because the damn magazine refuses to work right."

[ColSanders]

That was an interesting gun to see shoot... very fast ROF, a bit too light for my tastes when I held a para at T4T... might I say again Fairchild... some nice shooting on that second game ... albeit it woulda been nice having you down on the beach shooting up the hill .

 

Alex "Col Sanders"