G&P M249 Mods to make it more durable

[CanIplayDaddy]

I'm more keen in getting the G&P M249 over the CA M249 due to its full steel body, I saw it in a shop in HK and it was enough to convince me. However I understand that the G&P Ver 2 gearbox is faulty and is not suitable for prolonged usage

Are there any mods that can be done to make the G&P M249 more durable? Any that does not involve working on the G&P kit to accomodate a Ver 3 gearbox or such extreme methods. Thanks

[LUTNIT]

Nope, not really, its a fundamental flaw with the ver.2 mechbox. Any mods to increase durability will increase it very little. They do run for a while before any problems occur but not as long as a similarly setup ver.3 or CA249 will. I looked into this a lot when I was torn between a CA249 and a G&P M249 and even though it has a steel body I'd still rather get a CA any day. Why do you want the steel body over the CA one? The CA249 weighs an arm and a leg and is as tough as nails, the G&P one is heavier (heavier than a real steel M249 I've been told) and the difference in strength of materials isn't really noticed in airsoft unless you REALLY smash your guns around but then your an idiot anyway.

Even though the G&P guns have G&P reinforced mechboxes which are supposed to be a lot stronger than any other reinforced mechbox, I've still heard of several blown apart G&P reinforced mechbox shells. Best bet to increase durability is to decrease the muzzle velocity to around 350fps (support guns are for volume suppressing fire, not long range sniper rifles so 350fps is perfectly fine) with a Prometheus M110 spring or something similar. This will lower the stress on the mechbox shell, piston, gears, and everything else prolonging its life. Eventually you will still have problems because ver.2 mechboxes tend to require more maintenance than other later versions but everything needs maintenance eventually, even CA249 mechboxes.

[ThunderCactus]

I hesitate to refer to any ferrous metal coming out of china as 'steel', but so far I've only noted two flaws in the G&P 249s, they NEED TO SHIMMED ON ARRIVAL, and the rail on the feed cover is mounted crooked, pointing 2 or 3 degrees to the left.
I added 1.6mm of shims to my bevel gear. After the other 2 people in manitoba with a G&P 249 broke their bevel gears due to improper shimming I decided not to fire mine out of the box until I got my shims in lol

Other than the mechbox, if you know how to upgrade for reliability (as you should do anyway on a machinegun), it's an awesome heavyweight gun. It seems even heavier than a CA 249 due to the distribution of weight.

[CanIplayDaddy]

Thanks for the info. My friend told me one problem with the G&P M249 is that with ver 2 the motor is in the grip and it tends to overheat very fast due to the prolong ROF thus burning out the motor or something to that effect.

Looks wise, the only difference btw both M249s as far as Im concerned is one is full steel and the other is some aluminium alloy or something. I saw the G&P M249 in HK and I know why ppl are buying it over the CA M249 even though the gearbox sucks. It is a steel body and it really shows. Compared to the CA in the looks department it is in a class of its own...

I think I'll follow Lutnit's advice if I get the G&P and lower the FPS. I dont mind anyway.

However doesn't G&P know abt this design flaw and are they doing anything to rectify it? A updated version or something? Many companies release updated versions of their AEGs or GBBs after listening to feedback from the initial release I thought.

[Lakonian]

Originally Posted by LUTNIT

Nope, not really, its a fundamental flaw with the ver.2 mechbox. Any mods to increase durability will increase it very little. They do run for a while before any problems occur but not as long as a similarly setup ver.3 or CA249 will. I looked into this a lot when I was torn between a CA249 and a G&P M249 and even though it has a steel body I'd still rather get a CA any day. Why do you want the steel body over the CA one? The CA249 weighs an arm and a leg and is as tough as nails, the G&P one is heavier (heavier than a real steel M249 I've been told) and the difference in strength of materials isn't really noticed in airsoft unless you REALLY smash your guns around but then your an idiot anyway.

Even though the G&P guns have G&P reinforced mechboxes which are supposed to be a lot stronger than any other reinforced mechbox, I've still heard of several blown apart G&P reinforced mechbox shells. Best bet to increase durability is to decrease the muzzle velocity to around 350fps (support guns are for volume suppressing fire, not long range sniper rifles so 350fps is perfectly fine) with a Prometheus M110 spring or something similar. This will lower the stress on the mechbox shell, piston, gears, and everything else prolonging its life. Eventually you will still have problems because ver.2 mechboxes tend to require more maintenance than other later versions but everything needs maintenance eventually, even CA249 mechboxes.

Go by the "your weapon is your life" motto, and you should be good. Atleast it's not plastic

[ThunderCactus]

i dont think G&P really cares about their gearboxes, its more of a veteran player's company where you buy the gun for its body and replace all the internals anyway

[Death March]

I have two G&P's (one M-249&M4SO) it's the same gear box,I'm guessing different spring as my 249 is stronger in terms of fps.,but I'v never replaced anything in either gear box! But I do maintain them after every game.Maybe it comes down to maintaining them better,I'm not sure as one of my team members has gone through gears,pistons etc.Luck of the draw? Throw a nice piston in and a set of Systema gears in(good to go!).Just my two cents!

[CanIplayDaddy]

The systema gears can be added into the G&P M249? how about the systema motor? Besides swapping the spring to a 300 fpsish one, can I change the internals to mostly systema ones? What do I have to swap? Get a Systema FTK? May I know which one? Thx

[LUTNIT]

Other than needing to be reshimmed, G&P internals are great from what I hear except for their tappet plates.

[ThunderCactus]

they're the exact copies of V2 mechboxes, i have prometheus helical gears in mine, only problem is the tolerances are a bit out so i cant get them to mesh perfectly, but other than that you can upgrade whatever the heck you want in them.

[Death March]

Like ThunderCactus was saying it's all one and the same standard Version2 parts! Buy what you want or what you can give up money wise lol,it's not cheep! You can throw a Systema Magnum motor in if you want,but mine ran me around $150.00 Not the cheepest! You'd probley be better getting a normal High-torque motor for a third of the cost,Cheers!