Best M249 Out there
 

So Ive been out of the airsoft scene for a while. Someone asked me the other day what the best M249 on the market was seeing as I spent a season on one, and I couldnt even answer them properly! got me thinking... so,

What do you guys think the best brand M249 is out there to date. And im not talkin value, im talkin over all quality. The CA249 was okay, but the air nozzle seemed to be a big problem, makin them hard to work with :(

Frank says G&P's M249

Never looked at one myself, but apparently it uses a standard V2 mechbox... Only down side is that it can't use AR magazines.

Also the G&P M249's safety switches do not work.

I vote for the CA M249

Ken

I own a CA 249 and I used to own a Star. I've seen some friends with Top and G&P aswell. To me it feels that the CA is the best choice out there since their mechboxes are rock solid and they're pretty good out of the box.

I'd say CA is the best option of the ones I've seen. I rock an A&K (which is a CA clone) and in terms of its internal design and mechbox, it's about as solid as it gets. The CA is even better internally, and MUCH better externally. It gets my vote. Then again, I'm a huge fan of anything CA, as they produce some really great stuff for the price.

I have a CA M249 Para and i love it. I messsed up the piston, by my own fault twice. Other than that It works like a charm, I scare the bad guys with the rain of bb's on them, LiPo even works better.

I originally played on a CA249 and every CA user I knew (including myself) had the same problem. The air nozzle would break and that was the end of the gun. REplacement 249 air nozzles werent made the same as the stock ones and basically translated to FPS loss in the 75 - 150fps range. ONe of our best gun techs spent months working on his, had to use a 450fps spring to get 350 fps out of it.

In all honesty I would rate the CA as the best out there. I own a A&K M249 (CA clone) and my friend has a CA M249 and personally I can't tell the difference between the two, but one thing I did notice was that the hop-up assembly on mine wasn't performing as well, so I'm sure there are a few other areas the CA shines even more. As for the G&P M249 I haven't seen it in person myself, but that V2 gearbox is a big turn-off compared to the monster inside the CA/A&K M249's.

I knew a guy with a CA M249, he let me use his STAR one for a couple of days, then his CA.

I prefer the CA over the STAR day but the STAR is decent.

Inokatsu M249 is a BEAST.

Theirs also a new one with a GBB drop in kit, not sure which one it is.

I've seen and handled an Inokatsu M60 but I never heard anything about them having a M249 in their lineup. You have a link to that ?

I own a CAM249 MKII, I have gone through a couple of thousand rounds with a madbull piston and it is showing very little wear after a few thousand rounds. Everything on this gun is solid as a rock, the gerabox can probably destroy an M1Abrams tank in durability.

G&P's M249 are a joke, why would u buy a huge gun thats is supposed to be a support weapon with a V2 gearbox? thats just ridiculous.

Ive used and played with a A&K m249, and there is almost no difference, although it does fall short on its idiotic hopup rubber and certain casting flaws with its hopup. everything else is almost a 100% copy.

if u can get ur hands on a CA then do it and pay the extra price for the perk of knowing that u own one of the bst airsoft 249's, but if u are money smart and dont care about a stupid bran name, then get the A&K 249 and drop in a new hopup into it...simple as cake.

cheers

You are right it was a Inokatsu M60 that i saw. Beast of a gun...

My G&P has gone through over 200,000 rounds in the same G&P mechbox shell, no signs of breaking yet
And the plastic box mag survived getting landed on after tripping at full speed. That alone is a freakin marvel.
There's NO 249 that has a tougher body than a G&P, and that includes the bipod. Not to mention its the only 249 with a reinforced carrying handle, and the only 249 that's real steel weight ;)

But if all you want is pot metal built around a rock solid mechbox and a wobbly bipod then go buy a CA :p
Obviously the internals will wear out before your shell does, no doubt about that!
CA's good, but it's still just #2, just like their line of M4s ;)

And don't even get me started on A&K, it's one level above STAR, mechbox is better, but it's just as tough as the plastic 249

Might as well speak up to the TOP, I've had mine for a while and it is a solid all metal gun BUT it's not for a beginner. It needs alot of TLC to get it to where you need it to be but once it's dialed in it's a strong solid gun. I've completely rebuilt mine and if you want a gun that is as close to the real steal than this is a good option. If you want one just to play with where you don't have to worry about taking it apart to clean and update than the CA seems to be good option.
Just my 2 cents
Jakster

Anyone here wanna point out what's wrong with having a V2 mechbox in a support gun? The only "problem" I can see is the extreme availability of parts...

+1 lol. V2s are solid. Put one of those mechbox spacers/shock absorbers if you are that worried, otherwise just don't use a crappy shell. And nobody is using a support gun at high muzzle velocity anyways. I would much rather have a V2 in my support gun than a proprietary box.

Ive had Star, Ca and A&K, ive used the G&P.

no v2 can compare to a properly built solid support airsoft gun mechbox. the CA is the best IMO hands down. it takes parts jsut as widely from v2/v3. and the carry handle of the CA is reinforced, how do I know? I carry it, run with it and have drop the gun on it a couple of million times and no signs of breakage and wont be any. as for A&K they are extremely durable and also outbeat most of 249's out there simply because of their great price efficiency for what you get, and yes they are built like a brick...I dropped his gun off the table onto concreate and nothing..


CA and A&K forever.

I've picked up an A&K only to have the carry handle snap off, and the outer barrel mounting system break from the 3 foot fall onto the ground...

Now.. I've seen some one (thundercactus) run full tilt, slam his shin into a solid piece of metal and go barrel rolling forward all over his G&P 249... and it was fine.

And I still don't see any downsides to a gun being built off of a standard V2? A V2 box can be built to run a longevity fire box...

This.

I don't consider myself an expert gun doc like you amos, but i simply don't understand why having a V2 is such a downfall. I have seen some guys running V2 AR-15 box's putting out well over 20 RPS.

The only consiquence i see from a V2 box is maybe breakage near the cylinder head.

although that shouldn't be an issue, because if your saw is shooting hot enough for you to break a G&P mechbox, your doing something wrong IMO

I've spent 6 hours doing an upgrade on an A&K249 because of all the casting faults in the mechbox and on the hopup chamber, it's made of pot metal, and they have the weakest metal bipods.
Sure if you just want to get a gun that shoots reliably and your going to baby it in the field, buy an A&K. If you want a gun that's a bit more durable, buy a CA. But if you want a tank, buy a G&P.
Did I mention it comes with the awesome AUG hop chamber and that the box mags don't feed through an external tube?
Everyone in manitoba that's owned a CA249 has had a box mag problem at one time or another, I've never heard of G&P box mags having issues

I had the G&P 249 Para,Sorry I ever sold it! Solid Beast :)

Both my son and I own Stars which are crap and now collect dust due to constant hop issues!!

We now both own A&K'S since Jan/08, the A&K's are close to the real thing in weight..well.. close! (C-9's I have humped) so they are heavy..too heavy for most people, I wish I had the reliability of the A&K in my light weight star!

The A&K though metal, will not stand much abuse, as mentioned before it is cast pot metal, but we all got to remember what we got! airsoft guns for $400-$700 are not forged real steel!

As for A&K shooting performance, I bought a CA para Auto mag, new hop rubber and run a lipo battery at 360fps all day, I just don't use the weapon for a crow bar, pole vault or shovel.

Yes Stars are not very popular due to reliability issues.
A&K is a very very lame attempt to copy the CA version.

G&P M249's do not have the real safety switch working!! end of discussion (at least for me :P)

Again, my vote is for CA.


Ken

"M249s only have 2 settings, off and KICKASS!!"
"well mine's a G&P so it really only has the one setting..."

And the G&P 249 is actually the closest thing on the market to real steel weight, infact they're 100 grams over at 7.6kg :)

The G&P M249 is a solidly built gun, but if you happen to break your hop-up unit (and it does happen), you will find yourself needing a MODIFIED AUG unit to replace it. Let me tell you, that's a colossal pain in the ass. Otherwise, they are built well and they tend to be very reliable.

For the best mix of price, value, and ease of acquisition, get a CA M249 (any one of the three versions) and you should have a good time with it. The air nozzle will be most likely to give you issues, but that is easily remedied.

If you want to try and save a few bucks, get the A&K M249. It is basically a CA clone, but it is not made nearly as well (there are individual unit exceptions) and will have more flaws. They're cheaper, but its up to you to decide if you want to risk it.

If you buy a STAR M249, don't bother showing up at a field with it. It will be blatantly obvious that you are a support gunner wannabe. Best to use STAR M249's as shovels, hammers, or canoe paddles.

This is my opinion as I have owned and/or extensively used all of the above guns.

lol I used to have a STAR M249, it was ok after a couple of hundred bucks into it, I even have the posted project up o nthe forums somewere...plastic guns...well...are shit. When u hear STAR 249...just turn and walk away lol

The Classic Army is it. end of discussion. Go buy one already and enjoy it for years to come...you will probably die before it does.

I'll weigh in with a pair of A&K Minimis on my workbench right now.

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/econolod...20(Medium).jpg

As you can see, I have stripped them both down, and am working on some rather substantial replacement parts for them. The front bipod support block has been machined from a solid billet of steel, and will be welded in place.

The main trunnion is being replaced with another solid block of steel.

I've installed a "Gas Tube" (too long in this photo, the part is mocked in place, not yet complete) which gives additional strength/stability to the front end, and ties the fore-end into the main body of the receiver shell.

The original bipod support at the front end had a 1.010" diameter hole in it, and the fake gas plug that was bolted into it was 0.985", a .025" slop. (Read as FLOP.) This is why it's loose up there in the front end, especially if your bolts start to get loose.

The new hole is 1.002", with a 1.000" steel tube going thru it. I think that'll be a bit more stable/strong. (.125" wall thickness....steel is GOOD ;) )

Oh, and as an aside, the end result of this is going to be that it won't fire 6mm any more, it's going to fire 5.6mm.

NS

Oh, as a followup, the pot metal parts on the original gun (trunnion, bipod support, etc) were and are junk. Buying one of the metal/steel upgrade kits for these guns would make them probably about 25% or so more durable.

NS

Well doesn't G&P sell the exact hopup chamber that's on their 249?
I mean they make an AUG hopup chamber, the same one that's in their 249, but they don't make an AUG lol

I run a stripped down G&P MK46, fantastic aeg! It sports steel in all the best places making it tough as hell. No safety is kinda odd but dont trigger until you mean it. No AR mags also sucks but i really dont need to worry about running dry. The box mag feeds fantastic unlike the A&K's ive had and its been very reliable.

I followed the advice of many reviews and opinions of other airsofters and purchased a CA249 Mk2 eailier this year.

I was very excited and eager to use it in a game and spent $1100 on it only to strip the piston on the first few rounds. I was using a 9.4v large battery and a MAG 2000rnd box magazine. So after disassembling it and replacing the worn piston, I tried it again.... the box mag jammed up and I ended up stripping another piston.

So 2 pistons and about 250rnds later I've got a big CA249 heep sitting in my basement waiting for me to have enough patience to try and fix it again and pray the next piston lasts more than 5 shots. Aside from that, it seems to be a solid gun.

I bought a CA M249 MKII a few months ago. Put maybe 30,000 rounds threw it with no problems. The guy I sold it to last week put about 10,000 rounds threw it with zero problems. Very solid gun inside and out. I regret selling it.

I own a A&K m249. It's alright for the money. I opened it up to replace the motor w/ a better one, and to re-shim it. I couldn't believe what I found. The gear bushing holes for one of the gears was actually not even lined up right! At first I thought it was my eyes, until I measured them-they are definitely out of spec. I put everything back together. I'm currently a chairsofter due to neck surgery, so I havn't really used it any. I'm reasonably sure the gears will get lunched one day,but hey, for $250, not bad. I do like the brick GB design, especially the electric switch trigger. I have six CA rifles of diffrent design and have had minor to major problems w/ every one of them. All in stock configuration.

I don't have CA or STAR or G&P, I only have the Echo1(A&K) M249, since day 1, I replace the stock battery with 11.2V 20C Lipo battery with no fuse, change the connector from mini to large, replace the hopup nub. First milsim, I put through 7500 rnds with stock gears, not even 1 misfeed. I then put in the G&P M120 high speed motor and a Systema M120S spring, another skirmish, another 5000 rnds, no problem.

The third time, just before the first game starts, it stripped some gears. Took it apart, the stock sector and spur gear are gone!! I bought two china high speed gears from ebairsoft, put it in, it doesn't align perfectly, it still turns, not as smooth as my Marui or G&G. I then put in the Systema ball bearing Area1000 piston head, TM cylinder, TM piston body, TM nozzle (dun ask why mix and match, coz that's all I have right now). I have tested it with a full clip of M4 mag, it works ok, no misfeed.

All in all, I think the A&K is well worth the price, i expect the gears to be stripped, that's why I did not spend 100 for a systema set, I'd rather chew through 5 sets of china gears than 1 set of systema gears.

You do realize running a LiPo battery with no fuse is really dangerous right?
Do you even have anything to warn you when your LiPo approaches 3.0v/cell?

And the reason your gears are stripping is because they're pot metal. If you had good gears you wouldn't strip them at all. I've ran over 80,000 rounds through my set of prometheus gears, and they still look brand new. I've also never had to change to prometheus piston.

I have no clue how people are stripping their gears and pistons...if u have proper shimming and proper internals the 249 WILL last very very very very long.

If they are stripping gears and pistons, it's usually due to bad aoe. Ask me how I know.