A&K M249 GBB?

[Super64]

Has anyone heard any more about the planned A&K M249 GBB? There was a video release before Christmas, but there’s little to no recent info. I heard a planned release date of March this year, but as usual that’ll probably mean nothing. I thought there was some mention of a drop in kit for current AEG’s. Does anyone know if this is the case or is it going to be a full GBB only?

 

[Wo1f]

I was really excited about that too. It’s apparently going to be a kit form for those who already had the aeg and a built version. Presumably meaning that they’ve just made a gas system fit the AEG body they already have. 

 

[proffrink]

Green gas just doesn't deal with full auto like that too well, and if you want a bolt that cycles hard enough to 'kick' on an M249 then you've another thing coming. I don't hold much hope for it.

If you want a real drop in for a blow back M249 that's at least reasonably competitive then go Daytona Gun and HPA; the real battle here is the power source unfortunately.

 

[Super64]

Yeah, I’ve seen videos of the Daytona kitted out M249’s and it looks great, but the idea of running lines and bottles as well as the gun itself doesn’t appeal. I know hpa is supposed to be really good and much more reliable in low temps, but I was hoping a self contained GBB M249 may be available soon and may be at least somewhere near as fun as an hpa version. No doubt I’ll still be investing in the drop in kit, because it’ll at least make the gun more fun than just the normal AEG.

 

[proffrink]

If that's your only concern with HPA then I'd urge you to give it a try. It is nowhere as bad as some make it out to be and reaping the benefits of being able to use a DG M249 is pretty great - the last thing on your mind will be a hose that you won't even remember is there after 10 minutes. There is an underlying problem with compressed propane that just means it's not viable for something with such a large reciprocating bolt as the one needed to move an M249 any more than something that feels like electric blowback. Indeed the movement I've seen in a couple of videos I've just watched looks spongy like an EBB (and those are beyond disappointing).

 

[Super64]

As well as the, possibly, disappointing recoil I guess gas efficiency is going to be an issue. I would expect the bolt will be fairly weighty and so use a fair bit of gas to cycle. It’s not going to be much of a support weapon if you have to gas it up every 30 rounds or so. I’m not sure what kind of gas reservoir it’ll use, but I’d expect it to be quite large. So gassing it up and using it in game is going to be expensive. It’s not such an issue for me, because most of my guns are collectors pieces anyway, so it’s unlikely it’ll get much game play. I’m after one mainly just to have a more realistic functioning M249 than the regular AEG.