Guide to the Classic Army M249.

Removing covers.

A - Unscrew the finger nut on the pin securing the stock, remove the pin, tip the stock down, and remove wiring from stock. B - Apply pressure on the lock for the top cover, and flip up the cover, flip up the belt feed bracket. C - Remove the 2 hex screws hold the right side hand guard in position, these are located on the inside of the guard. D - Pull back the loading handle, loosen the hex bolt behind the handle, slide the handle forward and remove it. E - Remove the Heat shield, its a tight fit piece, and needs firm handling, flip it up, and remove it from the pins by the front sight.

Removing the Gearbox.

A - Remove the 2 hex bolts attaching the box to the body B - Carefully pull back the box in the red arrows direction, releasing the nozzle from the Hopup housing. C - Lifting the nozzle end of the box up first, sliding it forward and out of the housing.

Removing Barrel.

In order to disassemble the barrel, press the release pin in the arrows direction. Pull the outer barrel, and make sure that the inner barrel follows, both is now releasable.

Disassembling the Gearbox.

A Apply pressure with your thumb to this point. B Release the lock, by pulling it back, you will feel it release, remove the spring guide and spring.

Loosen the hex bolt marked with a blue circle, that holds guide and spring for cocking handle, and remove guide. Remove all hex bolts marked with a red circle from the box.

Identification of the internal gearbox parts.

A - Motor > Drives Pinion Gear. B - Pinion Gear > Drives Bevel Gear. C - Anti Reversal Latch > Prevents release of tensioned spring. D - Bevel Gear > Drives Spur Gear. E - Spur Gear > Drives Sector Gear. F - Sector Gear > Drives Piston and Nozzle Guide. G - Switch Assembly > When activated Motor is energized. H - Piston > Tensioned by Spring, being pulled back from cylinder, and releases, when Sector Gear top row of teeth has passed. I - Cylinder > Compression chamber for the Piston. J Tappet Plate > Transfers movement from the Sector Gear to the Nozzle. K - Cylinder Head > Closes the cylinder and guides the pressurized air from the front of the piston out through the Nozzle. L - Nozzle > Guides airflow in to the barrel, and at the same time, allowing the magazine to feed the pellets in to the hopup Chamber. M Roller bearings / Bushings > Ensures minimum friction when gears are spinning.

A - Piston. B - Piston Head > Compresses the air in the cylinder towards the nozzle. C - Cylinder. D - Cylinder Head. E Tappet Plate. F Tappet Plate reversal spring > Ensures reversal of the Tappet Plate. G Nozzle.

Apply appropriate Grease (SuperLube fx.) on the spots marked with red on both halfs of the box. For the shimming of the Gears, it is all a matter of minimising friction, and maximising the grip between the gears, I learned the basics from another Airsoft mechanic, and via a lot of practice and learning from my own mistakes, I have become a fairly good shimmer, but the trick is practice and perfection. This guide might help you out. http://pageproducer.arczip.com/daedalus03/workshop.html

Insert the greased and shimmed Spur Gear.

Insert the greased and shimmed Sector Gear.

Insert the greased and shimmed Bevel Gear.

Assemble the cylinder completely, be sure to lubricate the cylinder inside before assembly, and lubricate the guides on the Piston, the pipe on the Cylinder head also needs lubrification before the Nozzle is mounted.

Insert the complete Cylinder in the box, notice that the Sector Gear teeth opposite the Piston teeth, this is very important, in order to minimize stress on the Gears when testing the box. The Tappet Plate reversal spring should be fixed with the screw to the box.

The wiring for the Switch assembly, I usually solder where no disconnecting is needed, in order to insure minimum resistance in the electric circuit.

Mount the Switch Assembly in the box, the thread for the Hex bolts are very fragile, do not over torque them, generally this goes for all threads in aluminium and similar materials.

A Adjustment bolt for the Motor, should be as far back as possible when inserting the motor, ensure that Positive pole on the motor is facing you when assembling. B Motor spring, adds dynamic pressure on the motor contra the Bevel Gear, make sure the spring is correctly mounted on the sleeve of the motor. C Pinion Gear, ensure correct grip in the Bevel Gear teeth, this grip will be adjusted after assembling the box, by adjusting on A.

Above is the correct assembly of the Anti reversal latch, the ends of the latch should be greased. A Correct position of the spring for the Latch. B Ensure that the latch is aligned straight with the middle section teeth of the Bevel Gear, it is the one with only 4 teeth.

Place the Spring Guide / Spring retention latch in top of the box, ensure that the spring is placed correctly.

A Check that the Piston and Tappet Plate are properly aligned in the slides. Now the box is ready for closing, again ensure that the Sector is disengaged from the Piston teeth, and lets close it up.

A These are the points were we need to observe that the pins from the inside, is correctly aligned for the holes, it might take a couple of tries, but dont loose patience, if anything falls out, you will have to open the box again, and insert it correctly again. B Ensure that the cylinder is correctly placed, you should normally be able to turn using your fingers, making sure it is properly aligned in the grove. C Exit point for the internal wires from the box. Closing the box takes patience and finesse, dont use brute force, let it click together.

Insert the Hex bolts, and ensure that the threads are correctly aligned, this is done by turning the bolt counter clockwise, until you feel the thread click, then start torque clockwise, you should torque the bolts across the box, as illustrated by the arrows, torque them separately bit by bit, avoiding over torquing any of the bolts.

Connect the wire from the contact to the Positive pole on the motor, I soldered this wire, due to a very tight space when inserting the box, and closing the stock, on all other boxes I use Prometheus Gold pins.

Fasten the wires in the grove on the box, using tape.

A Spring. B Spring Guide with bearing. C Locking grove for the latch. D Hex bolt for securing the Spring Guide, when loosening this, you will be able to remove the Spring Guide.

Insert the Spring in the box, you can feel when you catch the hole in the Piston.

Apply pressure with your thumb on the end of the Spring Guide, you can help the process by opening the locking device, and let it click in the Locking grove on the Spring Guide. Now it is time to connect the battery, and test the box, no reason to mount it in the rifle if something is not correct. Check that the Nozzle is moving and that the sound of the Box is correct, no mechanical squeals, or other unfortunate sounds. Do not run the box excessively; it is not good for the piston to run without barrel and pellets.

If you replaced the Switch assembly in the box, with a new part, you will need to align the 2 points marked B. Remove the Hex bolt marked A, the lower part of the receiver will have a gap of approximately 10mm from the bottom of the box, then insert the box in the receiver, now you have to align the switch lever, to the contact point on the trigger, if the lever is to long, cut it with a wirecutter, be careful not to damage or bend the lever. After the adjustment, remove the box again, and fasten the lower receiver with the Hex bolt again.

Insert the complete outer and inner barrel back in the receiver, there is a slot in the housing that fits the Hopup unit into place, the barrel will be locked in that slot, preventing it from any kind of movement. When the inner barrel and Hopup unit is fitted correctly, slide the outer barrel back in to the housing, the locking handle A will prevent it from sliding forward.

Slide the Gearbox back into the receiver, same way as when it was dismantled, the Hopup unit have a ring marked A that should be inserted into the Gearbox.

Now insert the 2 Hex bolts to fixate the Gearbox in the receiver, you will have to apply pressure from with your thumb on the end of the Gearbox in order to insert the 2 bolts properly in their threads.

Close the stock, and insert the bolt, tighten the finger nut, and now we torque the 2 Hexbolts that hold

the Gearbox, position A on the above picture.

Insert the guide and spring for the cocking handle into the hole in the Gearbox, and torque the Hex bolt firmly.

Slide the cocking handle on the guide pin, be sure that the handle catches the slot on the side of the receiver.

Slide back the cocking handle in the arrows direction A, and insert the Hex bolt in the thread, and torque it firmly.

Put the handguard back in position and fit the 2 Hex screws, be careful to catch the thread in the plastic.

A Close the ammo belt holder. (Located below the upper lid on this picture) B Close the upper lid. C Mount the Heat shield back in position, this might be a bit tricky, its a very tight fit, and may take Some patience before it succeeds.

This guide and the pictures used in it, are the property of Recon Squad, Denmark, visit our homepage at www.tsf-recon.com and our forum at http://recon.forumup.com

For those of you that need the part numbers from Classic Army here is the exploded view of the M-249

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