M249 purchase

[kromtar]

Hey ASC,

I am really keen on getting a new m249 but I don't know what make to go for. I've seen a&k, echo 1, classic army and ares. I would go for the ares but I'm not sure if the price is right.
Any input would be appreciated. Thank you.

[Drake]

AFAIK ECHO1's is an A&K rebrand and the A&K is a clone of the Classic Army, which is itself derived from the old TOP one (along with the aftermarket gearbox that was made for it).

The other alternatives would be G&P and the ARES/STAR version (the ARES/STAR one is all plastic and thus much lighter).

I have an A&K one and it does the job. Almost identical to the CA, about 1 lbs lighter. Excellent bang for the buck. CA one might be a tad more robust.

[Ozone06]

249's are cool in theory but they chew through BB's like no ones business if you're not careful. I know someone who went through 6000 rounds in a 10 minute fire fight. He had a pile of fun but that can get expensive quick.

[theshaneler]

the A&Ks, i have heard mixed things about their quality, some swear by them some say they are broken, out of the box. never owned one, so i cant say for sure, that just seems to be the general trend. as said earlier, echo1 is just a rebrand of A&K

G&P m249s use a V2 mech box, which i am not a fan of. again some say its fine, but its well known that V2 mech boxes are not really all that strong. i personally wouldn't want a G&P 249. that being said, they are the sexiest looking.

ARES/STAR i would avoid, far to much plastic for its own good.

CA m249s, my personal choice, seems to be the best all around good 249. great quality, nice externals, a quick change spring system and a strong mechbox.

[durak]

CA is the way to go, its a hell of alot tougher than the echo1/A&K model.

one thing though, if you play in wet conditions, wipe it down once your done, and dont store it in a soft case, they rust like nobodies busisness.

[Brian McIlmoyle]

I have an A&K and a CA .. a team mate had the ARES ( junk.. stay clear of it)

Both have turned out to be workhorse guns..

These guns are handed off to whoever is assigned to our support section.. so they get ridden hard a put away wet..

the A&K was torn down and rebuilt when I got it as it was a used gun.

Trigger switches go on a regular basis and should be considered consumables.

the CA is a bit nicer for externals

Box mags are a PITA.. so we run these guns of Midcap mags now.. which does 2 things..

Ups the robustness of the system because you are not worried about breaking the boxmag off the bottom.

made the system more tolerant of bad weather..

reduced the ammo consumption to something more reasonable

VA brand Midcaps .. 5 for each gun which is a reasonable simulation of a gunner loadout of 750 rounds.

you can still lay down some good cover fire.. but you can't treat the gun like a bb hose.

[TANKMAN]

i have an echo 1 and its a rebranded a&k and works well. just te be clear, you'll go through a shit ton of bbs per game and its a bitch to carry for long games. the only thing i dont like is the hopup is never strong enough. they keep dropping. theres a redneck way which is to put speaker wire on the hopup nub and thag gives you the right amout of hop. a friend told me he did it with his mk 43 and it works beautifully now. mine is an m249 para. hope this helped

[kromtar]

Yeah this Is all great info. I like my ares but it seems they dropped the ball on lmgs. Looks like classic army Is looking the best.

[TANKMAN]

classic army is the better choice. it is more expensive but worth it. second would be a&k (echo 1)

[ThunderCactus]

Go with a G&P.
It's the only 249 on the market that's 100% tm compatible internally and it uses the standard G&P V2 mechbox that's tough as nails.
It doesn't use any proprietary parts like the STAR/ARES 249s, and the CA's PGC mechbox isn't actually tm spec, it's very slightly off.
Throw a sorbo pad in the mechbox and you'll never break it. I run mine 380fps at 1500rpm for over a year now with no problems.
It's got the toughest body of any 249. After years of hard gaming and falling on it hard 3 times, NOTHING on my 249 has ever broken off.
The box is centerline feed so you have way fewer jamming problems than you do with the CA style feeders, the box mag has room for a large battery incase you want the para version, and best of all it uses an AUG style hopup chamber that's just WAY better in every way to the CA249 hop chamber.

[kromtar]

Center feed for the g and p. does that mean it won't take m4 mags in the side? Where are the g and p m249 sold?

[Drake]

Originally Posted by kromtar

Center feed for the g and p. does that mean it won't take m4 mags in the side?

that's correct (and the reason i prefer the CA/A&K ones)

Where are the g and p m249 sold?

please take that question to the AV section.

[Amos]

G&P is the best option.

Anyone that tells you that V2 gearboxes are weak doesn't know how to build them properly.

[L473ncy]

But V2 gearboxes are inherently weak if they aren't reinforced and/or don't have a Shock Transfer System.

That said I wouldn't not go with one since you can always get a reinforced gearbox and/or STS which will fix the shell from cracking then just build up the gearbox properly with high quality parts and you'll have no problems from it.

[Amos]

I have never seen a G&P V2 gearbox crack unless people were running them outside of standard operations (450 FPS at 20+ BB'sec in -10 weather)

G&P gearboxes are reinforced from the factory.