I'd like to clear a little thing up. The reason the switch broke on Apoc's gun was because when we were first replacing the piston we managed to mangle the little metal lever then bend it back into place. This was BEFORE Stalker ever got a chance to look at it so when it broke easily for him, it had allready taken a huge beating beforehand.

What happened to the switch is really simple and stupid. The little metal leaf that hangs off the switch sits out over the mechbox gears that are exposed on the bottom. While handeling the mechbox to test fire it I pushed the metal bit too far and it got caught on the gears bending the fuck out of it... Normally the trigger can't push the switch that far but when pushing it with your fingers be VERY CAREFUL and you shouldn't have any problems...

G'luck all you M249'ers. It's an awseome gun with one of the simplest and strongest mechbox designes I have ever seen...

- Quantis

Heh, and I felt like absolute crap when it busted on me, and they let me stew in it for a couple hours before they let me know the switch lever was tampered with before I got it, so it wasn't 100% my fault. Buggers!! At least they bought the steaks for the Warmonger BBQ!

Anyways, the fix info still stands.

Hey John, I just dropped $2500 on my TOP 249. That comment hurts. Please take it back :-(

Hey man, that comment can't be taken back no matter how you beg for it! And $1600 is on the high end from what I've heard from a couple guys. Dunno if the boxmag is included though.

Sorry, some people just suck. Like me. Maybe my g/f sticks around and puts up with all my airsoft crap because I suck........... well. *shaking head, I am typing this for what reason?*

Sorry Alex. but I had a TOP m249 which I had spent over 3000g on and it wasn't as good as the CA's for 1/2 the cost. Not to mention all the extra time and hassle of putting the PGC gearbox in so it would match the CA setup.

So I really can't take it back. I am sorry that you bought a m249 so close to CA's release date though. :-(

I am sorry to have offended any TOP owners.

So, in essence, you are saying that TOP has fell to the bottom? ;)

Hello fellow CA249 owners,

Mine still has the stock piston, running on a Guarder SP110 spring and a 9.6V 3600mah battery. I put around 4-5K rounds through the gun so far, it feeds great. However, last weekend, I encountered the microswitch/wiring(?) problem - gun firing with the safety on, or firing extra rounds after the trigger is released.

Can anyone tell me what is the amp rate of the stock CA microswitch? TOP 249+PGC gearbox owners say the solution is a 25A (or 30A) rated microswitch.

The stock one is rated 20 Amp.

Hehe, the stock one is rated at 20 amps............. at 125VAC. Batteries are DC. The replacement switch we found was rated at 15A @ 125VAC, but only 1/4A @ 125VDC.

This is my experience with the CA m249.

after a about 1k rounds in stock form with a 9.6v battery, I opened it and saw that the piston was heavily worn.

I replaced most of the internals with sytema gears, silent head set, deepfire titanium piston and an m120 spring. Shot about 2k rounds then the gears and piston seized. To make a long story short, the titanium piston survived, the gears got eaten up and a bushing broke. First thought that came to mind was "crap! where am I gonna find an 8mm bushing?" So stick with "plastic" pistons. Cheaper to replace pistons than gears and bushings.

I searched online airsoft stores to no avail. Then I found a site that specializes in bearing bushings. I measured the stock bushings and found bushings that closely matched the dimensions of the stock bushings. Stock bushings are flanged, 3mm bore, 8mm outer diameter, and 4mm width. I found bushings that were 3mm x 8mm x 3mm. I got the bushings today and they fit almost perfectly...just need to add couple more shims than usual. But price was a staggering $49.95 for a set of 10.

Here is a link, http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/3mm/Kit6915

So now I have a stock TM piston, systema alum piston head,stock cylinder head, stock piston, and an 8.4v battery. So far, the gearbox is cycling properly. I haven't taken it out yet. Will let you guys know the results.

So what spring would you say would lower it to a safe ROF when using a large 9.6V? Or should you stick with an 8.4 even when upgraded?

I had a bushing go on me as well (inner sleeve jammed on the bevel gear axle, and had to pry it off), and luckily all the parts, bearings, sleeves, etc were found, so after greasing the bearing holder to stick the BBs in, I was able to put the bushing itself back together and it's working just fine now (did that the day before last Sunday's game, and Apoc blasted through a good couple box mags worth of BBs) so it's holding.

Good link to put up for reference. Might be expensive for one player to replace one bearing, but if that one player buys the set of 10, he can then sell to others to recover his cost.

I would think an m130 would reduce the fps down to a level comparable to an m120 with 8.4v. however, the m130 might bring fps to about 450...which is over the limit where I play. My CA249 is already chronoing at 420fps with the m120s. I somehow need to get the spring to settle to reduce yhe velocity a bit.

What upgrades you guys recommend if I want to run a Guarder SP120 spring?
SP110 seems to cycle fine with the stock parts...

how good is the ROF with an 8.4 and an M120?