A&K M249 quality?

[RUST]

So I want to get a SAW, and I am looking at the A&K M249, but I don't want to spend the money on it if its going to be a lemon. Fro what I've read if I do buy it I should probably buy a new hop up, but that is all anyone mentions about the gun. I just want to know if an A&K saw will be a worth wile purchase, and if the internals will last. Thanks

[Greekas (TehG3A3)]

All A&K machine guns will highly benefit from a new motor and hopup, but I heard the M249s need more work than that. The M60s are built like tanks internally and externally, you just need to remove the potentiometer that adjusts the ROF and switch out the motor and hopup.

[Coletrain]

When I say that these things literally do not work out of the box I'm not exaggerating.
I wouldn't call them upgrades I would call them repairs. Tank's A&K 249 was a total turd brand new, like feeding 1 out of every 10 cycles. Now I bought mine second hand but I had all the same issues. Tank got a lot of advise from Casper to get his up and running and he put a lot of time into it. From what I remember Casper only recommends the E1/A&K because of how much cheaper they are. If you want a support gun on the cheap and don't mind reworking the entire damn thing then sure you can make one work for cheaper than a CA. Personally I'll never buy an A&K anything again. My time is worth more than the couple hundred bucks you save buying cheap guns and fixing them. This is not true for a lot of people though. Lots of airsofters are cheap and don't mind working on their gun. Or they are cheap and they get one and ask someone else to fix it. After Tank fixed his gun up there were at least 2-3 guys that contacted him within a couple weeks that wanted him to fix their 249s/M60s. So I'll stick to what I said. If you want a project gun then go for it.

Also, the A&K/E1 249 uses a micro switch too.

This was said by X over in the "I'm back,bitches." thread. I couldn't figure out how to quote it properly without involving a bunch of other stuff from other people but you get the idea.

[RUST]

Yeah I wanted to go with an A&K because they have the one with a retractable stock, and it seemed like a good gun, but the more reviews I read the less I liked it. The battery compartment is shitty and is hard to access, and like it was mentioned above, the internals are pretty much junk. I have found the classic army FN M249, which I actually like more and I know it will hold the batteries that I have, not to mention it will be a better buy in the end compared to the a&k

[Cats (Doom)]

One of my teammates owned one of the para versions for years, I don't remember much of what he said but what I do remember is: you will need to replace the electronic trigger switch (possiabaly multiple times), the grip will loosen and need to be tightened frequently or lock-tight it, stock internals are blah, gun is really heavy with steel receiver and other parts, paint was meh "ok", lots of battery space he ran an 11.1v lipo in it, quick change spring took less than 2mins to change, great modding gun. That's all I remember from talking to him and seeing him use it in the past.

[cqbr]

You can get the para stocks for cheap if that's the only reason you want an A&K. If you wanted it for the affordability it's just like any other clone gun. You could get one that runs out of the box the entire time you have it, or it could be a lemon from day one. You just gotta roll the dice.

After handling and looking inside the A&K 249's and 60's they really aren't THAT horribly internally, but they're no premium gun either. Just what you really should expect from a clone gun. Aren't they only like $200-230 new? That's dirt cheap compared to a CA. I'd definitely pick the A&K and roll the dice on the internals from the factory rather than getting a CA but that's just me.

Externally they're fairly nice too. This ones been beat up fairly decent and still runs solid as a rock. Gears and stuff are stock, just the hop and piston have been replaced.

[Zdybel]

I have a question as well. Does anyone get tired of keep turning on the box mag to feed BBs? For me it would be a pain, which is why I got the auto feeding mk43.

[RUST]

Feb 19, 2014 9:32:47 GMT -5 Zdybel said:

I have a question as well. Does anyone get tired of keep turning on the box mag to feed BBs? For me it would be a pain, which is why I got the auto feeding mk43.

Yeah I didn't want to have to get one with a pressure switch or one that continually feeds, so I am going to get one that has sound control and see how that works out for me

[Krutch]

From my experence with sound controled boxes it is really hit and miss. Someitmes the feature works great, but then other times it refuses too. But then again, you get what you pay for. For a $50 dollar box I guess it works alright.