Anyone else take their spring out of their CA M249 for storage?

Hillslam · October 25th, 2005, 18:30

I'm curious how common this practice is.

Quantis · October 25th, 2005, 18:50

not that I know of. The one guy on our team keeps it in. Though it may be a good idea for over the winter or other long periods between playing.

Gryphon · October 25th, 2005, 19:12

Why on Earth would you need to? You don't take the spring out of any other AEG, so I'm curious as to why you'd do it with the CA249.

And "because I can" is not a valid argument.

yanhchan · October 25th, 2005, 19:36

I guess maybe people go a little overboard when they take care of their guns

CDN_Stalker · October 25th, 2005, 19:38

Meh, why not. For something that takes less than 5mins to do, not a bad idea just for the hell of it if you don't plan to use it for 6 months or so. "Because I can" actually has some worth to it here. Unlike any other AEG that is.

BTW, why you putting it into storage anyways? You are in the USA, and here in the capital of Canuckville, we still have another month of gaming to do anyways. Gmaes planned for the next three weeks. USA is more like a year round kinda airsoft country. Must be nice............... unless you are in Alaska! Lol

gandar · October 25th, 2005, 19:41

Y'gotta consider though, you're right, there's a good month at least left of gaming up here, but if he's in one of the northern states, they get winter just like we do...

MMMiles! · October 25th, 2005, 19:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hillslam

I'm curious how common this practice is.

I doubt it's necessary, as typically the loss in performance we've seen in airsoft springs, over the long term, is pretty minimal. If it REALLY makes no difference to you, then there's no harm. But it's not going to help you immensely.

MMMiles! · October 25th, 2005, 19:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDN_Stalker

BTW, why you putting it into storage anyways? You are in the USA, and here in the capital of Canuckville, we still have another month of gaming to do anyways. Gmaes planned for the next three weeks. USA is more like a year round kinda airsoft country. Must be nice............... unless you are in Alaska! Lol

Ehm... there are plenty of parts of the continental US that are much colder than Ottawa. Central, northern and mountain states have pretty long stretches of weather where you wouldn't want to play airsoft all that much.

CDN_Stalker · October 25th, 2005, 19:55

crap, edit lead to a double post.

CDN_Stalker · October 25th, 2005, 19:57

Considering that AEGs should be fired in semi to put the piston full forward (we all know that shooting in full the piston ends up in different positions when you stop, and that full retracted will cause the spring to weaken.......... proof enough teammates leaving their hot PDI 150% 420+ fps guns to settle down and weaken the spring between games, eventually making them just under 400fps) and the fact the CA M249 has two settings, "Off" and "Fuck Ya!", aside from looking right in the mag loading tube to see where the cylinder's nozzle has rested, removing the spring is the best way to ensure your M249 shoots as good next spring as it did last game. Five minute guarantee, wouldn't you?

Hillslam · October 25th, 2005, 21:51

CDN_Stalker called it: The saw has no real way of guaranteeing spring/piston location at the end of firing the weapon.

But really, removing the spring is not even a 5 minute operation, more like 30seconds, and no tools are required. Unscrew a cap, pull a pin, tilt the stock, lift the feedtray, press the lever, pull out the spring. Done. Wham, bam, thank you maam. And I mean in between skirmish weekends, not just for over-winter storage (btw- we're playing at least thru the end of November here in Ohio with at least two large events on the schedule).

It also doesnt just help preserve the spring but also for making sure there's no load on the rest of the gears/parts of the mechbox while the gun sits.

It seems to help - I'm still getting about 400-420fps out of a systema M120 and all other parts stock after much firing when by the charts I should be netting 360-390fps on a brand new spring.

CDN_Stalker · October 25th, 2005, 21:57

Gryphon · October 26th, 2005, 00:02

Ahh right, now that makes a lot more sense. I hadn't considered the lack of a spring release.

Though one must wonder, what kind of lousy spring steel are manufacturers using that their product can't stay compressed without losing tension? Springs are supposed to wear out from being cycled, not compressed.

Dustball · October 26th, 2005, 00:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by CDN_Stalker

USA is more like a year round kinda airsoft country. Must be nice............... unless you are in Alaska! Lol

Or Kentucky. Ha!

Hillslam · October 26th, 2005, 10:09

I haven't left the spring in and compressed for a long period of time in order to test spring weakening personally (as measured by my chrono). I may try that though. But it does seem to be the expected behavior for airsoft gun springs (I've seen what Stalker mentioned also: people leaving guns compressed thru the morning skirmishs to chrono under limits in the afternoon). Not that I think I'm safe anyway - the saw cycles the spring ALOT, heh.

Eh. Regardless I like the fact that the gears and whatnot are not under load while stored, helps me sleep better.

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October 25th, 2005, 18:30	#1
Hillslam Trader rating Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: USA	Anyone else take their spring out of their CA M249 for storage? I'm curious how common this practice is.

October 25th, 2005, 18:50	#2
Quantis Trader rating Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Ottawa	not that I know of. The one guy on our team keeps it in. Though it may be a good idea for over the winter or other long periods between playing. __________________ I take photos: www.fasttrackphoto.com

October 25th, 2005, 19:38	#5
CDN_Stalker Official ASC Bladesmith Trader rating Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ont.	Meh, why not. For something that takes less than 5mins to do, not a bad idea just for the hell of it if you don't plan to use it for 6 months or so. "Because I can" actually has some worth to it here. Unlike any other AEG that is. BTW, why you putting it into storage anyways? You are in the USA, and here in the capital of Canuckville, we still have another month of gaming to do anyways. Gmaes planned for the next three weeks. USA is more like a year round kinda airsoft country. Must be nice............... unless you are in Alaska! Lol __________________ STKR Knives http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/STK...17036668380871

October 25th, 2005, 19:12	#3
Gryphon Trader rating Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: MB	Why on Earth would you need to? You don't take the spring out of any other AEG, so I'm curious as to why you'd do it with the CA249. And "because I can" is not a valid argument.

October 25th, 2005, 19:36	#4
yanhchan Trader rating Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Scarborough/Richmond Hill ON	I guess maybe people go a little overboard when they take care of their guns

October 25th, 2005, 19:41	#6
gandar Trader rating Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Sault Ste. Syberia, ON	Y'gotta consider though, you're right, there's a good month at least left of gaming up here, but if he's in one of the northern states, they get winter just like we do... __________________ Ubique Quo Fas et Gloria Ducunt Alternatively, I could just light you on fire. - Me

October 25th, 2005, 19:55	#9
CDN_Stalker Official ASC Bladesmith Trader rating Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ont.	crap, edit lead to a double post. __________________ STKR Knives http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/STK...17036668380871

October 25th, 2005, 19:57	#10
CDN_Stalker Official ASC Bladesmith Trader rating Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ont.	Considering that AEGs should be fired in semi to put the piston full forward (we all know that shooting in full the piston ends up in different positions when you stop, and that full retracted will cause the spring to weaken.......... proof enough teammates leaving their hot PDI 150% 420+ fps guns to settle down and weaken the spring between games, eventually making them just under 400fps) and the fact the CA M249 has two settings, "Off" and "Fuck Ya!", aside from looking right in the mag loading tube to see where the cylinder's nozzle has rested, removing the spring is the best way to ensure your M249 shoots as good next spring as it did last game. Five minute guarantee, wouldn't you? __________________ STKR Knives http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/STK...17036668380871

October 25th, 2005, 21:51	#11
Hillslam Trader rating Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: USA	CDN_Stalker called it: The saw has no real way of guaranteeing spring/piston location at the end of firing the weapon. But really, removing the spring is not even a 5 minute operation, more like 30seconds, and no tools are required. Unscrew a cap, pull a pin, tilt the stock, lift the feedtray, press the lever, pull out the spring. Done. Wham, bam, thank you maam. And I mean in between skirmish weekends, not just for over-winter storage (btw- we're playing at least thru the end of November here in Ohio with at least two large events on the schedule). It also doesnt just help preserve the spring but also for making sure there's no load on the rest of the gears/parts of the mechbox while the gun sits. It seems to help - I'm still getting about 400-420fps out of a systema M120 and all other parts stock after much firing when by the charts I should be netting 360-390fps on a brand new spring.

October 25th, 2005, 21:57	#12
CDN_Stalker Official ASC Bladesmith Trader rating Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Ottawa, Ont.	__________________ STKR Knives http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/STK...17036668380871

October 26th, 2005, 00:02	#13
Gryphon Trader rating Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: MB	Ahh right, now that makes a lot more sense. I hadn't considered the lack of a spring release. Though one must wonder, what kind of lousy spring steel are manufacturers using that their product can't stay compressed without losing tension? Springs are supposed to wear out from being cycled, not compressed.

October 26th, 2005, 10:09	#15
Hillslam Trader rating Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: USA	I haven't left the spring in and compressed for a long period of time in order to test spring weakening personally (as measured by my chrono). I may try that though. But it does seem to be the expected behavior for airsoft gun springs (I've seen what Stalker mentioned also: people leaving guns compressed thru the morning skirmishs to chrono under limits in the afternoon). Not that I think I'm safe anyway - the saw cycles the spring ALOT, heh. Eh. Regardless I like the fact that the gears and whatnot are not under load while stored, helps me sleep better.

Anyone else take their spring out of their CA M249 for storage?

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