m249 or similar for first weapon?

[bong0]

Hey,

just would like to have you opinion about it....

Im thinking of buying a m249 or similar to take on support role in games, but this will be my first Airsoft weapon...

What do you think? Ill never and "assaulter" but support seems good to me...

thanks for your insight.

[BioRage]

If you can handle carrying 15-20 pounds on top of your gear and running around then hell yeah!

[HackD]

Originally Posted by bong0

Hey,

just would like to have you opinion about it....

Im thinking of buying a m249 or similar to take on support role in games, but this will be my first Airsoft weapon...

What do you think? Ill never and "assaulter" but support seems good to me...

thanks for your insight.

As a first airsoft gun, i think you'll be disappointed.

There are good M249 brands, and theer are not so good M249 brands. The good ones aren't so cheap. Even the good ones, in terms of part-sourcing if things go fuckity with the gun, can be a hassle. SAW's/LMG's generally aren't very cheap to maintain, or feed..

Think 'infantry' first, for your first primary weapon, and then specialize to what you want, as a second 'go-to' gun. Whether that be a SAW/LMG, a sniper rifle, a DMR, a CQB rifle.. or what have you. You need to get a few games under your belt, try a few guns on for size and weight (fellow players generally love to show and tell in the safe area), figure out what you truly want to do.. and THEN specialize.

IMHO.

[bong0]

well there is always 2 c9 per section, 1 m203 and rest are rifleman.

And well from what i know people does not like c9 for the weight it gives, but to my opinion its really a cool thing.

But thank for pointing out that it can be costy to maintain or to get part to fix it...does it break often? I was thinking of getting the

A&K MK46 /w Retractable Stock or the G&P M249 Para (DX), unless you do not recommend either and should give me a suggestion of an other one.


m4 weapon are nice, i would consider the G&P Defender/viper) or G&P QRF M4

not sure as i never actually touched a Airsoft weapon

[Janus]

If you're actually looking to use one as a support weapon, I don't see much of a problem with it. On the other hand, if you're wanting one because it's basically an M4 with a really big mag and no sissy semi option then I would recommend paintball or laser tag.

[Jaco14]

m249 gearbox is its own design but is v2 compatable
All m4/m16 gearbox parts should fit
You need to lube the gear box religiously
Take down, clean and regrease the gearbox at least once or twice a season

[lurkingknight]

Everyone should be a rifleman first... something else second.

Why this matters is that a rifle is always a solid backup weapon to go to. Hey look the saw is down, pull out the m4. or what have you.

If you know you're going machine gunner, a great choice is to go with a super light weight aeg to compliment it. Something like an mp5 or a small m4. Light, easy to carry, you can dump lots of gear and carry a light load (mp5 you can carry an entire mag loadout on a belt and have room to spare) An m4 make sense because you can carry mags that will still work in the 249 if the box mags are empty.

Why might a light weight gun/rig be important?

When you're lugging around 20 pounds of gun for those extended games, you're going to run the risk of overheating, or just plain tiring yourself out. Being able to shed most of your gear, hand off the saw to someone for an hour or two maybe, and run a light weight gun for a break means a LOT. Sure you might not think that it's a lot to carry, but it grinds you down over the course of a day, add extreme heat or humidity... or rain... it will suck.

Also for any up close engagement or indoor, a 249 will not shoot semi auto for those games that have semi only rules for safety.

Even if you dont' think you'll be a hard charger, having a regular aeg doesn't mean you will or won't do an assault role. You do whatever role the situation will dictate.

Go play some games where you can rent a gun first or borrow. And ask politely to hold other player's stuff to see what you like. You may not like an m4 after holding it, you may not like the 249 after holding it, you may love it.. you'll never know until you do.

[Cliffradical]

Lots of good info here.
Couple small things:
The A&Ks are decent guns, but they'll require work out of the box to be 'reliable', and you can basically ignore the box mag it comes with for anything other than display. Good luck getting it to feed from STANAGs without mods. If you're thinking about buying one, factor in the costs of replacing the motor, compression system, and buying a 'nut sack' mag right off the hop or don't bother. Once you do that, a CA or G&P gets a lot closer to being a reasonable buy.
I don't look down my nose at A&Ks, but it makes a lot more financial sense to buy one second hand and fix someone else's sadness/ boredom at a cheap rate than to go new.

It sounds like you're pretty set on the NATO thing, but have you considered an AK?
RPKs are hands-down the best recommendation for a starter LMG, without question. They're functionally identical to any other AK inside and outside, V3s can be done up solid as fuck, and a 'cheap' AK variant from some companies buys a LOT more external durability than nearly any other platform these days.

I'm buying back my old 249 from a team mate and un-cursing it because I want to / have to, but if wishes were horses, I'd be dumping money into a tacticlol'd RPK.

[targetGspot]

M249's are intimidating to see on the field but really no more effective and much more cumbersome than an m4 with a box mag and long barrel. I've known them to be troublesome too. If you want a big gun I'd go with an m14, my g&gebr long is awesome! Still heavy but not as bad as m249, better rate of fire though not adjustable but has semi option. No box mag either but I think you'll find that if you are just sitting there as a support gun emptying a box all day long, everyone will simply avoid you and find another way around and you'll be bored anyway.

[ThunderCactus]

One issue every noob starting in a NON rifleman role runs into, is that roles in airsoft arent very similar to roles in the military.

As a machinegunner myself, I can tell you that the most effective way to employ a 249 is to handle it like a rifle. Lmgs dont help your team when theyre laying prone 100ft behind you. Back we had a pair of 249s, we were always at least 50ft ahead of our riflemen. They were there to cover our flank, so technically they were the support.

Anyway, as im sure its been said, having a full auto only gun starting out would be bad if you dont understand fire control yet. And theyre expensive to run. I recall getting a kill every 25-150 rounds, compared to my vsr's 1-2 rounds and my m4's 1-10 rounds

[Drake]

Originally Posted by targetGspot

M249's are intimidating to see on the field but really no more effective and much more cumbersome than an m4 with a box mag and long barrel.

This isn't always true as some [many in Quebec] forbid high cap mags on regular guns / restrict box mags and limit "support" setups to actual support guns. There's an increasing number of realcap games here, too.

Under those conditions a LMG makes a big difference.

That being said, OP I dunno where you play or whom you play with, but while having a support weapon can be an asset it can also limit you: many games limit the ratio of support weapons vs regular guns, support guns may not be allowed in certain games (there have been some indoor games were no full auto was allowed for safety reasons), maneuvering a LMG in tight quarters (CQB) isn't always the easiest thing and the box mags are noisy as fuck -- when you hear maracas everytime you shift your gun while trying to be as quiet as possible... very noise. much annoyed. wow.

I have an A&K M249. It's been very reliable. The mechbox shell is unique but somewhat common since it's a copy of the Classic Army one, which is itself a copy of the old PGC V2 conversion for TOP LMGs; the internals are mostly V2 compatible, motor is a standard short type; inner barrel is a normal AEG barrel, same hopup rubbers etc. The box mags can be a great a source of aggravation, however.

[bong0]

Well people, thank you for your answers,

I have decided to back off form my LMG idea and go with a m4 (to be determine) unless i try something I prefer.

As for me being oriented NATO weapons, is I am military, and, well, using c7-c8 is something i live with it every time, I open my vault...which quoted often

So im not sure id be comfy with an AK or something else...the body has a muscular memory and i would even if i know its not the same thing (airsoft and real life) continue to use the same "drills" as im used to the size of the weapon.

Not sure if im making sense or not as I never manipulated a Airsoft or been in a game, but...I talk about thing I know.

Now to decide what model to get

[Cliffradical]

For muscle memory, cross training with foreign systems is good personal development, no?
Grabbing an M4 is a good decision. Even if/ when you go to something else, there'll be a time when you need or just want to use it. I (mostly, kind of) hate the ergonomics of armalites personally, but I built a nice little Colt Commando just because any time I didn't have an M4, there was a huge gap in my gear as per options and capability.

[bong0]

One last quick....
there are tons of m4 available, in allot of different company, any suggestion? like any one, If i can get my hand on a one..who is cheaper then other...of course ill be happy

[Chillyrabbit]

Combat machines by G&G seem fairly good for their price and I think it might be a good starter point.