A&K / Cybergun FN® Licensed "Middleweight" M249 MINIMI® SAW Machine Gun
(Model: MK46 / Dark Earth)

"I got this MK 1 mid weight m249 about two months ago and I’ve only fielded it twice but from what I can tell, this thing is solid. It has great range and perfect rate of fire. The box mag has only went through around ten thousand rounds but so far it still works. Changing the battery is annoying because of the location. The only issue I’ve had with it was a pin holding the stock fell out and I had to improvise in the field with a stick I jammed in the hole, and the contacts with the fuse had a bad connection but besides that it’s been amazing.

"So far this gun is great, Ive used it in a few games and let me tell you it’s been thrown around. I will say the battery shakes around in the stock when running with it and it can get annoying but other than that it’s a great gun. I love how to access the hop up but the magazine it comes with is a bit tough to put in and take out. Other than that great gun shoots absolute lasers and holds enough ammo to outshoot everyone

"This was my first ever real Airsoft gun. This mk1 has carried my through battles for so long, I was sad to see it go. This thing is probably the best option for a first machine gun, as it is much higher quality than the featherweight, and has the same internals as the heavyweight. I have a heavyweight, and when comparing they were honestly the same, except having full metal is just super sick. This was thing got put through THOUSANDS of rounds. This was my main for almost a whole year! I did do some upgrades, such as a mosfet and a scope rail, but that was only recently.

Pros:

Lighter than a heavyweight (could be a con).

Bipod stays in gun nice and is very sturdy when needed.

There are so many after market parts for these, you could change a mk1 to a mk46 if you wanted to.

Very realistic look to it.

Super durable internals and externals, I don’t think I had to clean the gearbox more than once!

Cons:

Not related to the actual gun, but the box mag that I came with broke during the first game. This wasn’t too big a deal since I had m4 mags on hand but it was a bummer.

The hand guard came loose after about 7 months, which is not a big deal but sometimes it would drop the battery and I would be out of service for a bit.

All in all, definitely the best machine gun for beginners, or even pros looking to add to their collection!