We just acquired an A&K M60E4 Mk43 for Rhino. While not technically an M249 I will report back once the pig gets fielded!

For anyone else that owns one I would be curious as to recommended out-of-the-box reliability upgrades besides a shim job and maybe wiring. I'm also looking for battery recommendations.

Hop up bro Hop up, the mods for the A&K it worth it. I use a 7.4 20C 1800mah LiPo

I purchased an Echo 1 M249 para from Revoultion Airsoft a few months back and it's been great...granted I upgraded most of the internals right off the bat.

Items done...

-clean and shim
-completey rewired (16 gauge high grade wire and deans connectors)
-G&P 120 motor
-Modify Cylinder Set (M16A2 version adjusted first tooth on piston for aoe)
-Modify tappet plate
-7.4v 2200 mah lipo's
-nutsack mag
-prometheus soft (purple) chamber packing
-hop-up mod
-unknown spring (it's a modify spring I just wanted it to shoot 390ish on .20's)

So far it has exceeded my expectations:)

Are there any good reviews on the Echo 1 m249 para?

+1. And a "out of the box" review with no modification or upgrades.

Before buying mine I did some research online as well as talking to a gun doc. I knew what I was getting into and how much more I would need to put into it to have something "reliable".

For the current prices on the echo 1 I personally have no complaints.

Should anything be up graded?

Check post #48 to see what I did to mine. Open the mechbox and give it a one over. Check compression and aoe (angle of engagement).

Bare minimum would clean/re-lube mechbox, shim, and hopup mod. Next would be wiring, swap connector to deans, and upgrade the battery. You might want to consider a motor and the airseal parts.

Will it work out the box. It should....but for how long....who knows

A&K M60E4 Mk43 reliability report, post-rhino. (This is the one that was mounted to our vehicle).

- 60 was brand new, mechbox virginal and never opened.
- Installed hop up mod as per thundercactus and wildcard, using a small piece of 16AWG speaker wire insulation
- Was using 7.4v 2200mah 20C lipos
- Ran through almost exactly 10,000 rnds of and the rifle has conked out.
- Dead trigger pull. Power to box mag, I can hear it whirring. Absolutely nothing coming out of the rifle. Motor doesn't even try to turn.

Died halfway though Rhino :(
Bugger...

Had a similar situation on mine. The electrical connecter had slid of the post....I slid it back down and she was gtg.

Are you still running the fuse?

Thanks, I will check it out once I get her open. I'm hoping I didn't fry the switch, because they appear to be proprietary:
http://airsoft-guns-blog.pyramydair....-for-look.html and http://airsoft-guns-blog.pyramydair....o-battery.html (links are for 60VN, gearbox and guts should be the same on the mk43)

And yep, still running the fuse. I checked that in the field and it looked okay (still intact). And I had also been using the mosfet bypass connector, because I found it ran better without the adjustable variable ROF. Maybe that was a bad idea.

EDIT: After some research, the switches are similar to or clones of a Cherry NC/NO microswitch. I don't know how many Amps the OEM one is rated for. Some other info I found regarding these:
http://www.newark.com/jsp/search/pro...FC-GB100000001
http://www.omron.com/ecb/products/sw/11/v.html
http://extreme-fire.com/b/Micro-Switch-Bounce.pdf

Will report back once I roll up my sleeves and dive inside of her :P

What other brands are compatible to the echo 1 m249 para. I have an idea for turning it into a c9 but i dont want to end up ordering and the parts don't fit. Im ainly looking for the external parts like the stock and outer barrel really. Also who is a canadian retailer who sells parts for them?