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Old December 5th, 2015, 13:59   #1
Magwell
 
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Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Edmonton, AB
Magwells Classic Army MK46 / M249 Guide

Ladies, Gents,

Some of you may have read through what I'll call my build thread of my A&K Mk43 Mod 0 (M60-E4) The A&K and Classic Army gearboxes are nearly identical, it's worth a look for some interesting discoveries, tricks, etc.

http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=168879


Here is a PDF guide to the CA 249, useful: http://www.airsoftdanmark.dk/Brian/CA-M249.pdf

Anyway, on to the Classic Army. I had trouble finding really anything for the CA MK46, the internet seems to be flooded with information about A&K, but not CA. The following is a result of extensive internet research and personal experience. If you have a differing opinion, please voice it. I too am human, I too can be wrong.

Brand/model comparison:

G&P: V2 gearbox, regarded as the best externally, criticised for the V2 design which is more suitable to front end gearbox stress. It should be noted that the other brands use standard V2 parts in a different configuration, but the V2 design advantage would be the Lonex drop in gearboxes. The CA/A&K style gearboxes are actually much easier to work on than a V2.
Classic Army: Appears to be a Top/Star clone, solid build quality, good externals but not quite as good as G&P externally. Excellent gearbox design.
A&K: Classic Army Clone. Lower quality, but is quite a bit cheaper. On my M60 I found that I had to take the entire gun apart and apply locktight to all screws or the thing would flex like a mofo. I would anticipate the same here. A team mate has an A&K 249, I'll update when we tear into that one.
Echo 1: Re branded A&K

Differences:

Realism: The real SPW modified version of the 249 had the AR Magazine feed system removed to save weight, along with the front mounting points for attaching to vehicle and fixed position mounts. The G&P appears to be the only version which truly represents this as it is a direct bottom feed system whereas all the others use the AR magazine system to feed BB's - in Airsoft I see that as a plus, although if you want realism the answer is pretty clear.

The CA MK46 comes with a 'ranger' style stock whereas the others come with a true MK46 retractable stock. This is due to CA cutting a corner and not engineering a proper battery compartment. As the basic CA 249 is rear wired it appears they just went 'meh use a nunchuck' and that was that. If you want a brick battery the wiring will need modification. I'm not sure where the other models store batteries however.

Oddly enough the MK46 was a later modification of the 249 after the SPW. As a result some images I have found appear to be M249's converted with various SPW parts. The point being the SPW and MK46 are not the same weapon, but the CA lists the airsoft gun as an MK46 SPW when in reality it appears to fall into the category of a 249 with updated parts.

Weight: Based on weight listings from distributors the CA appears to be the lightest at 5900g (13lbs). This may be due to the fact that the CA does not come with a box mag, but only a high cap AR magazine. Regardless it has the lowest listed weight. When I weighed it with an empty A&K box mag and no battery it weighed in at 13.3 lbs (6030g)

G&P: 6750g
CA: 5900g
A&K: 6400g

Price: The G&P is by FAR the most expensive. The following prices are per one Canadian retailer which stocks all three, not including GST/HST or shipping:

G&P: $999.95
CA: $589.95
A&K: $779.95 (Sale price of $479.95 [add $20 for tan], which appears to be a semi permanent sale as other retailers carry it for about this price)

Conclusion: Any of these models will make for a good support gun. Deciding which one is for you should be done by yourself. Determine what characteristics are important and go from there. As an SG you should know how to take the entire gun apart and rebuild it yourself. The intent of this guide is to assist you and will focus primarily on the CA MK46 which has many features in common with the A&K.

The CA MK46:

I'm pretty pleased with the overall quality. The gearbox design is much better than my A&K M60. All the pros with none of the really weird design features. Out of the box it was shooting 425-430 FPS @ 16 RPS



Gearbox internals were not that great, but the shell is excellent. The spring guide is plastic but mine was cracked. Cylinder had a big 'string' of metal sticking off the end remaining from the manufacturing process. Both the piston head and spring guide have thrust bearings. Gears look pretty standard, the trigger switch is a much better version over my A&K M60, and by better I mean the quality of the plastic. The A&K triggers will crack easily when you tighten the '60's gearbox screws which leads the trigger switch to literally disintegrate. Wiring is solid and simple but it will be replaced with a higher quality of wire. It does have what looks like an aluminium cylinder head with sorbo pad though, similar to the modify series but a different hue of blue.







Above picture shows a new spring guide attached, the original is to the right.

Box Mags:

I purchased an A&K box with the MK46. It fits but wobbles badly. Applying electrical tape to the shoulders of the mount on the box mag will solve this.

I re wired my entire gun with a GATE mosfet... split the wires running to the motor and routed them above the hop up to the feed tray. Then modified my box mag (super easy to take apart). I wired two wires directly to the motor contacts and routed them through the AR end cap where the sound sensor went. Drilled a hole, brought the wires back out, then around behind the magwell and they plug in via deans to the wires run from the gearbox motor. This means when you pull the trigger it runs the gearbox and box mag in tandem.

You can easily store a brick battery in the large type M249 box mags if you like but keep in mind this removes the possibility of dumping the box and using stick magazines if you need to (ie out of ammo, team mate supplies you)

A few links on different ways to wire up the box mags:
http://www.illinoisairsoft.com/index.php?topic=13232.0
http://www.scalerocketry.com/m249boxmag/m249boxmag.html
http://arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/in...-box-magazine/

The Mag brand 'nutsack' 100rd (2500 bb) magazines appear to be one of the best built mags but are very expensive.

Edit: Do not buy new trigger switches from an airsoft retailer. The CA switches are listed at around $20 CAD, when in reality they are an extremely common micro switch. Do a google or eBay/Amazon search for: XV-152-1C25 micro switch. For example I purchased 5 of these switches for $7 last week.
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Last edited by Magwell; April 22nd, 2018 at 14:26..
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