I think I read in a review somewhere that there was supposed to be a warning that came with the gun. It indicated that you should make sure to turn the hop-up off prior to shooting. The gun may come with the hop-up on (or partially on). Some users have reported they missed that step and it resulted in bbs jamming and killing the gears/teeths in the internal.

What I read in the e-mail sent to Apoc regarding a CA notice was to not turn the hop up on too far as it'll cause that problem.

Overall, the mech box is easy to remove (WAY too easy!!!!) and there are 8-9 screws to take out. Swapping the piston should take no more than 20mins from start to finish. Best to just put in a stock piston and have fun. Apoc's has been through over 5000rds so far and it's still banging along.

Oh, I should say that we tried to install an aluminun piston we had lying around as a spare, and it wouldn't work at all. Noticed the groove in the piston wasn't as wide as the rail on the mechbox sides and it was jamming up huge. We filed the piston groove wider and it worked, but not very well with that piston. From that point we put in the stock piston and perfection was achieved. Nutshell, avoid aluminum pistons in this gun.

What's wrong with that fuc@#* CA 249. I've just put a TM piston (not a new one but in really good shape) and look what append. By the way I run it on a large 8.4V Ni-Cad battery. Don't want to open the box every 300 rounds. :-x

I just did that to a piston a few weeks ago in my aug. But it was after 20k bb on an upgraded spring.

I got a polycarb as a replacement. much better build good for another 30k atleast

beats me

apoc put in a TM piston and ran about 8,000 rounds through it already without any problems

eventually people will learn... i guess

What do you mean Vond???

he think Classic Army are shitty guns... (from experience i guess)
I have a Ca33e and its works fine, shot over 8000 bbs with it.

btw Welcome back Vondnik, hope your coming to september 3rd DoW game :)

Getting a CA gun is like playing Russian roulettes...

Yes but in this case getting a m249 from CA will still cost 1000$ less then a similarly equipped TOP. So even if you have to spend some money on the internals its a good way to go to get a m249. As far as the AR's go I would never get one.

Let you know to watch out for the micro switch that triggers the gun. Apoc's broke last night. The metal bar that the trigger presses on to activate the switch is steel and bent at a sharp 90 angle. This one snapped off when trying to reinstall the mechbox, the wires decided to move where they would jam up, and trying to pull the mechbox back to reroute the wires caught the metal bar and snapped it. Try to fix or find a replacement? Good fucking luck!!! Great system overall, but it's without it's problems.

My guess is that even if the gun is never opened up, that micro-switch will fail just by using it regularly. Figures that they'd use some cheap jap/taiwan/chinese companie's custom switch, and nothing similar to other AEGs to make replacement easier. At least something that can be FIXED without much trouble!!!!

Mathieu - i'm going to go out on a limb here but it AINT the piston causing these problems anymore. Seems the gears are acting as shredders, not as gears. Compare to the minute detail the gears in the gun with another TM gun (count the teeth if you have to) because something isn't right.

How about use a Ver.6(?) TM mechabox instead? To me, that's an UPGRADE to a CA gun. What in god's name are they doing over there in that CA factory?

Poncho, you have no idea how different this mechbox is compared to other known mechboxes! It's a totally new design, it's completely rectangular and super easy to remove and take apart/reassemble. Best yet, the spring doesn't get put under any tension until after you reassemble the mechbox. It's not even a TM Version 6 that fits in the P90 (as assumed early on. I'll take a pic and post it, there are no compatible parts with this and other mechboxes except the gears and some other internals. Even comes with 8mm bearing bushings!

Edit: Here's the pic. Note I didn't bother putting the spring guide in this pic.

http://www.foxdenairsoft.com/images/...hbox.sized.jpg

Anyways, Apoc just took the switch to Active Electonics here and found an identical switch and dropped it off. Here are the replacement specs on it for those that want a spare or to replace the exisiting one. The stock one is XURUI XV-152-1C25 (good luck on an internet search!!!):

GC Switch #35-844
Momentary - Miniature Snap Action Switch
SPDT (Single Pole Dual Throw)
Actuator: Lever
Cost is $4.49

This switch is identical, even down to the mounting holes. Good news for all the new CA M249 owners out there.

I guess the one thing that would irk me is the non standard piston groove sizes - I find with all AEG's if something is off by so much as a millimeter, it tends not to work. Pretty amazing tolerances for such simple mechanics, but who am I to argue. I wonder then if this mechabox is similar to the Thompson M1 AEG, not the V.6.

Good work on the switch, Active has some pretty excellent stuff. Hope to see that M249 up and running on Sept.3 and not conking out in true AEG LMG form (past TOP experiences)