Trigger Happy M240G/B

Trigger Happy M240G/B

Postby Nocte » Mon Feb 13, 2012 12:00 am

The first thing I noticed while assembling Trigger Happy's M240 was that every part is precision-made CNC anodized aluminum. The finish on each part is even-coated and smooth, but not glossy. In short, it looks like the real thing, and like the real thing, it won't stay perfect looking for long. The wear marks you'll get from opening the feed tray cover or simply handling it will give the M240 its signature worn, battle-tested look. This is less of a design flaw and much more aesthetically favorable, since any sort of medium machine gun in the real world will likely be attached to a tank or a helicopter, an environment where equipment isn't known to stay polished and perfect.

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Since each part is made to fit precisely together, putting it all together was a bit of a challenge, but the provided CD manual contained a video of the entire unit being assembled at a speed that was easy to follow along with. Once whole, I was amazed at how study the body held together with no wobble (and I mean zero wobble) - especially considering that the body and barrel are two separate parts.

One unpleasant point I did notice while putting it together was that the stock interferes with the electrical contacts to the motor when attaching it to the body. The metal contacts stick too far out from the rear of the housing, hanging past where the stock needs to slide to lock into place. This causes the contact to get bent and the plastic insulation around the wiring can be damaged. I feel that the contacts to the motor could have been placed elsewhere in the relatively spacious interior of the body as not to interfere with the stock's range of travel. Since the battery is inserted in the stock not from the buttcap, but from the same place it attaches to the body, repeated removal/reinstallation of the stock is necessary to change batteries. The only other negative experience I had with the body was that folding the bi-pod into the collapsed position caused the entire bi-pod to fall apart on three different occasions.

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Trigger Happy has also manufactured a heat shield to turn what comes normally as the M240G, or the "240 Golf," into the Army-specific M240B (aka the "240 Bravo"). This piece, like the rest of the M240, is made of CNC anodized aluminum, and high quality polymer, and has two accessory rails on either side from which to add a PEQ or similar accouchements. This part will run an additional $200 from AEX, and will complete the die-hard airsofter's Army impression kit to perfection.

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The hop-up chamber is a barrel-mounted style, but unlike the characteristic underperforming barrel-mounted hop-ups on AEGs, this one has a firm rubber ring keeping your hop-up setting tightly in place - in fact, it's actually pleasantly difficult to adjust the hop-up. On the other hand, and, considering the length of the barrel (627mm), the accuracy of Trigger Happy's M240 leaves quite a bit to be desired. Granted, a machine gun isn't particularly known for its accuracy in the real world, so perhaps this can be forgiven. We measured out a 50-foot range and fired some test bursts (there is, understandably, no semi-auto function). About half the bbs didn't even hit the 12" square paper target, those that did hit paper were quite erratic. However, given enough bbs downrange at your target, you're sure to take out the guy you're aiming at (and each guy to either side of him), and that's certainly within the scope of the weapon's design.

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The loading mechanism for Trigger Happy's M240 operates similar to how the TOP M60 feeds bbs, by activating when the trigger is pulled. The feeding mechanism is powered by your main battery, eliminating the need to carry extra AA batteries around, or to push a button on the bottom of the box mag. Like the rest of this M240, the box mag is well built and sturdy, despite the minimal contact point is has with the body. The frame is connected to a sturdy, olive drab, nylon pouch, which houses a cardboard box (just like the real thing) where the bbs are dumped. Inside this cardboard box, the spinning feed mechanism pushes the bbs up a metal spring tube, similar to the M249 into the hop-up unit, which feeds from the side. The feeding itself isn't the most reliable, although this may have something in part to do with the brand of bbs used. The AirSplat bbs I fed into the M240 stopped feeding after about 100 rounds.

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Overall, Trigger Happy delivered a very impressive show piece with their M240. The body and external construction of this AEG is spectacular, and it looks great with inert rounds hanging out of it. The addition of the optional heat shield also shows a great attention to detail in favor of the manufacturer, although the price may be a little steep for such an insignificant addition in terms of practical use. For use in airsoft play, I would have liked an included tri-pod to mount at a more central position to the gun in relation to the center of gravity as opposed to the bi-pod option. Pivoting along a wide arc of fire is difficult without moving side to side a lot, and since the bi-pod likes to fall apart, I'm hesitant to trust moving it around a lot. I'm less concerned with the lack of accuracy and muzzle velocity since this isn't a marksman platform, and is designed to sling a large volume of bbs downrange, and that it can probably be rectified with a tightbore barrel and an upgraded spring, but for the $1400 price tag, I feel that these shouldn't have been issues in the first place.

You can pick up a Trigger Happy M240G/B for yourself from [url="http://www.airsoftextreme.com/"]www.airsoftextreme.com[/url]. Thanks, again, to AEX for their support in allowing us to review this piece.

Additional Photos

Editors Note: So, we had this awesome gun in the studio for a video review, I figured... Why not have a girl out to shoot some photos with the AEG? Here's a little something to put the size of this AEG into perspective.

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