armoury
SPECNA ARMS SA-249 PARA CORE
panacea it might appear to be at the outset.
Ultimately, your BB-spitting monster will be at the
same power level, with the same range, as most
AEGs out there and a well setup carbine could
easily outrange you, let alone a DMR or bolty…
Sometimes “more” is most definitely “less”!
There is a time when you can have both the
firepower AND be a valuable team player though
and a decent support gunner, who knows what
they’re about, will be the friend of every other
player on their team! IF you are prepared to put
in the “gruntwork”, both in terms of physically
carrying a support gun AND properly learning the
“gunner’s trade”, then you can be an invaluable
force multiplier - both in attack and defence!
The key word here of course is “support” and if
you are using your “LMG” to effectively help the
rest of your team to achieve objectives, to lay down
accurate, effective and controlled suppressive fire
whilst your teammates either advance, retreat or
flank, then you’re doing the job right and you’ll be
an asset that everyone wants to have play alongside
them. A good gunner needs to securely park their
ego in the safe zone and in play they need to get
work done - and this is equally as true in a skirmish
setting as it is during a MilSim.
Of course, the other part of this until relatively
recently was that a halfway decent support gun was
in itself a hefty investment. I remember having my
first, the old STAR M249 with the plastic gearbox
that was actually surprisingly good (when it worked)
and that cost me big bucks at the time. I mention
there “when it worked” as the strain put upon any
support gun is such that everything needs to be
of reasonable quality and actually work together
to get both durability and reliability and, sadly,
although the parts in the STAR were all solid on
their own, they rarely worked in harmony together
for very long…
That has now all changed and although support
guns still have a reputation for being “finicky”
that’s really a hangover from the old days, when
well set up and well maintained the average
modern “support AEG” is going to give you good
service and, apart from certain Japanese models
that cost an arm and leg, there are some very, very
good models to choose from. You don’t have to
take out a second mortgage to own one!
POLISH GRUNT
To illustrate the point that a solid support gun is
now within the reach of most players, I point you
firmly towards the recent release of a series of
M249 SAW AEGs from Specna Arms in Poland.
It just goes to show that many of you like a good
LMG as much as I do (my Stoner is still one of my
faves to play with!) and at the price they came up
at on the Gunfire website, the first production run
soon sold out… In fact, they sold so quickly that
we couldn’t get one direct from Specna Arms to
evaluate, so I ended up borrowing one from my
teammate Ian (“Sapper” to his friends), who was
generous enough to loan it to me on the proviso
that I treated it nicely…
So, a few box mags later I bring you my
thoughts… just don’t tell Sapper!
To get this out of the way straight away, I will tell
you that the SA-249 PARA (Specna Arms also offer
“standard” 249s, MK 1 and 2) is from the Specna
Arms CORE range and, as such, is aimed squarely to
be in the reach of ALL players. As they are currently
available at Gunfire for under UK£260, I am not at
all surprised they’ve sold out of the first batch!
CORE is designed to be an exceptional series
of AEGs that introduces a new quality to the
market, combined with (as Specna say themselves)
“an attractive price in combination with good
performance” that with “high-quality materials
make this replica suitable for beginners and
seasoned airsoft players alike” …and oh my, have
they got it right with the SA-249!
The CORE line makes good use of polymer,
alloys and steel in combination to create a solid and
durable AEG that, in the form of the PARA, weighs
in at a not insubstantial 4,970g with the empty box
in place. It feels superb when you first pick it up and
although the main body is polymer, it doesn’t feel at
all “plastic”. Some elements in the CORE LMG have
been purposely made of polymer in order to reduce
their weight and make them more “user friendly”
and the polymer parts here include the receiver, top
cover with a RIS rail, front sight with a base, stock,
magazine and the pistol grip. On the flip side, alloy
parts include the outer barrel, magazine well (which
can at a push use a STANAG mag), buffer tube
and the flash hider and several steel parts are in
evidence in the form of the bipod, external barrel
lock, stock support, trigger guard, transport handle
as well as all pins and assembly elements.
Internally the SA-249 benefits from Specna Arms’
excellent and truly usable ESA quick spring change
system, which enables a rapid and quick adjustment
of power without the need to access a workshop,
or use special tools, so you can adjust your power
16
OCTOBER 2020