Echo 1 M249 PARA vs A&K MK43

[Coot_Prichards]

I'm sure G&P's are superior in every way to an A+K m249, but mine was $250 including mag with a solid metal body to boot (and it worked out of the box) So there... : ) I'll take the remaining money and spend it on whores, thank you very much.

[Coot_Prichards]

So stay away from support weapons unless you want to spend $500 to $900 on a CA or G&P?

Thank you all for dissuading my passion for LMG's/MMG's.

This can be locked now.
Thank you!

They just don't want another support gunner on the field, do what you want kid.

[Switchback]

Thank You Sir.

I'd rather not piss people off (by having a nice gun) so I'll stick to assault rifles. Worse things have happened.

[Airsoft_Rezidentura]

Honestly, I disagree. I put 10K rounds a game through my CA M249 for a year or more and it was still running strong, Haven't had good experiences with other brands (star! Yeesh!) but a CA wont do ya wrong. Get a good used one and stock up on pistons and bb's.

[SilentStalker]

I have an A&K M249 and it is running strong. But I have had some major work done to the gearbox to include a new motor. So cost of gun + gearbox rebuild = Price of New CA. If you really want a support weapon remember no matter what they get expensive. Everyone has talked about the gun itself but what about the feeding and upkeep. You figure I have somewhere around 75000 rounds through the original gearbox before I had problems and then an additional 7500-10000 through the rebuilt gearbox, plus and new trigger switch and a rewire so I can run longer. All this in mind I have spent almost 700 over a few years so it is not so bad, and the 700 is in parts now comes to feeding it. You can go through some BB's really fast and if you are at a small skirm you will end up feeding it at your cost if you are at a bigger game and using the LMG as a support gun your team "Might" give you bb's to so shoot if you are running low. I do not go to a big game without 20,000 rounds since I know I have gone through around 10,000 easily so I like to have spares just in case it gets crazy.
I guess what I am saying is if you really want one get it. I suggest going with a lightly used CA or New CA if you can afford it and then rebuild the gearbox when you have the money. Or if that is a little to much money get the A&K and start saving for the gearbox rebuild and have that done before you have to many problems, unfortunately that could be sooner than later with the Echo 1 or A&K brand just depends on the gearbox of the day when it was built. The CA will last longer but it to will break.
Good luck but make sure you really want to afford to use it right and remember you job is no longer eliminate the enemy it is more just to keep their heads down so you Squad can eliminate them.

[DJ]

http://www.airsoftextreme.com/store/ind ... ts_id=2501

Cheap....no, best quality available yes...
I own the MK II, very good and minimal problems. AEX does their little magazine mod that allows the mag to operate off of the main gun battery. That is why I would recommend the MK46 over the pars,you can use LARGE batteries.

[Jewish Ninja]

Just to break balls, its not really a Mk46, but its close

+1 to what Silent Stalker said about bringing lots of ammo. I went through 18,000 rounds or so at LOWII. Games before then usually average 2-4 bags of ammo per (I've only used it at big ops.

G&P make a damn fine SAW. I've gone through 60k+ rounds with the only problem being the hopup exploded. There have been some external issues. I lost the cotter pin that held the stock pin in (it was my own fault for not inserting it correctly), the whatamadoodle that sits above the charging handle came off randomly, and the box mag broke along the top when it was landed on. Its a weak point in any SAW (and would be a non issue if you could buy new box mag shells from G&P), but since the G&P feeds from the bottom, I had to custom mod a RS mag to work with it, whereas a CA/A&K can just take the guts of the box mag and be crammed into a RS mag. Another thing to consider with the G&P is there is no safety. Its just two buttons glued onto the side of the body. Also, the bipod came off (the legs were made of steel, but the mount was chinky metal) but its a non issue to me since I never used the damned thing.


If I had the money, I'd get the G&P, mainly because its been a great gun and its the only accurate Mk46 on the market. It also has the most RIDICULOUS stock ROF of any SAW out there. Putting an 11.1v lipo in there makes it a machine gun thats firing very angry bees at 400FPS. If I didn't care about it looking like a Mk46, I probably would get a A&K due to the price and that CA guns hate me. Whatever you do get, expect to spend more maintaining it/feeding it than a regular AEG.

[DJ]

The main issues I have seen with any brand of 249 is feeding, specifically with too high a ROF, the mag has difficulty in keeping up. As far a the CA 249, AEX specifically warns against a hyper ROF being hard on the gear boxes. JN , I knew you liked to lay down "lead", But I had no idea! On a busy training day where I am firing waay more than usual I rarely go through than 1 bag of 5000. I guess its just my LE training....If I do have a definitive target within range, I do not shoot. I guess thats why APST wiped my squad from the face of the earth at LOW