CA Airsoft M249 Fixing, Tuning and Repairing

The Ca 249P is my favorite airsoft support weapon. Classic makes other models of the 249 and so does Star and A&K and by the time I finish writing this some other mfg will release another. For now my attention will be directed to the ones I personally "am hands" on familiar with. Shown below is the stock mechbox from the Star 249. Notice it is made of plastic, as is most of the rest of this model. Not really a bad thing if you are planning on becoming your teams airsoft support gunner and you have to lug this baby around the airsoft field all day. The rate of fire is very impressive and can rain a 1000 bb down on your opponents in less than 45 seconds. I also like the fact that the airsoft motor and electric box magazine switch are wired to the trigger on the star versions. On CA versions the box mag has a switch at the bottom to turn the feed for the magazine on or off that must be continuously turned on and off whilst firing your air soft gun.
But then there is the argument the star is plastic and it will break. This is true, plastic does break easier however most metals used in airsoft gun mfg are of a porous variety and are subject to breaking as well. One important note before I move on to the classic army model, I do not reccomend upgrading the star without purchasing the metal upgrade mechbox. The stock plastic body mechbox does not hold up well to increased forces applied by upgrades. I still like the feel of my 6.6kg CA 249. Add in the 2400 rd minimi box mag and a large battery and your pushing 8 kg of steel airsoft support weapon. I guess the real factor comes down to performance and I believe the CA out performs and outlast all the competition that I am familiar with.
The CA 249 is not without issues as it needs a little fixing out of the box. Brand new the CA 249 fires at such a high rate that it will self destruct its internals in a short time depending on amount of usage. If you upgrade to a CA m120 spring it resolves the issue and this weapon will fire smoothly for a year or better. The mechbox is an inline version and takes standard internals. The full metal spring guide takes about a second to pop out of the mechbox and you can do spring upgrades in about a minute.
Add to that the compact look of the 249p and you have a sexy support gun that will fire about 380 FPS with above mentioned 120 spring upgrade installed.
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