A&K x SP Systems Custom Vietnam Era M60 Airsoft AEG Machine Gun

"I was incredibly skeptical of this MMG as I had one of the early a&k M60's back in 2011 and it was plagued with problems.

It seems a&k rectified a lot of these issues.

Pros:

-they have upgraded the gearbox with better quality beveled gears.

-they updated/upgraded the hop up/Hop-up unit(it now comes flat hopped stock and I don't experience the sealing issues I did on my old m60 from the barrel assembly shifting when lying prone with the bipod deployed. Great hop up our of the box, the thing has some serious range.

-the gun is shooting roughly 1.3 joules consistently with .25 bbs

-boxmag doesn't seem to give me any issues, even if it does attach to the gun at an awkward angle(surprisingly.

-the SP Systems version is historically accurate(the selector switch is the correct one vs the ambidextrous one that isn't). Also, the review above/below me complains it's plasticity(assuming they're referencing the stock and the foregrip), these are also historically accurate vs the matte black on the base a&k m60.

-overall seems more sturdy than my old one(no Allen screws have come loose or anything), but time will tell. I fielded it once so far without any issues.


Cons:

-the opening in the feed tray for the -boxmag is still in the incorrect position(the tube flexes, but I havent have any feeding issues. Still, I don't like it).

-doesnt come with the era-correct flash hider(luckily I had one from my old m60 to recycle, but still, for $725, this gun should definitely include it).

*This is more evokes fault than a&ks* when this gun arrived, it didn't shoot. I discovered the wires for the connector were apparently cut. I don't know if this gun was a display or a return, but I had to strip the wires, connect them with some electrical tape, and it fired right up. Evike accepted my return request, but I ended up keeping it because it hasnt been an issue since I fixed it. Still, Evike. What is Quality Control?

In any case, as I mentioned, I'm not faulting a&k for this, so I'm giving this gun 5 stars.

"To be clear, this is a direct upgrade from the normal A&K. comparing it to the original A&K I owned before:

-The gearbox is redesigned with sturdier internals and an aluminium nozzle
-The exterior paint finishes are far better
-The handguard, pistol grip, cheek rest and stock are now made of polymer instead of matte gray plastic. They offer more friction than plastic and look better
-The pistol grip has been changed for the accurate grip for an M60E1, normal ones have later variant grips.
-some other external details have been modified to make this as accurate to the M60E1 as possible
-The bipod, carry handle and the boxmag mounting plate are made of steel instead of pot metal.
-The boxmag has been completely redesigned
-THe stock hopup unit is now a flat hop system instead of a cylindrical nub. For some reason, it is now held to the outer barrel with only one screw instead of two

To summarize what I think of it:
Pros:
-Far more accurate looking replica of the M60E1 than the standard version
-external materials are far more durable and have better paint finishes
-Internals are a direct upgrade to the original A&K, yet are still as easy to work on. The gearbox has a quick change spring mechanism and mostly uses V3/V2 parts. The aftermarket upgrade part offerings for A&K M60s are still an option if you aren't satisfied and the original gun is so shit that there are plenty of options.
-THe Hop-up unit no longer uses cylindrical nubs and therefore isn't completely worthless. Changing for a bullgear unit may not be necessary out of the box.
-After a few event games with it where i had absolutely no care for burst control or trigger discipline, This replica held up to the abuse and didn't break down at all

Cons:
-This is to be expected of course, but all the steel and polymer parts add weight to the gun. several teammates tell me outright that they couldn't carry this around for a day. The steel bipod also makes it extra front heavy
-The new. boxmag design is great, but the material quality is just sooo, so bad. The wires overheated, splintered and shorted on eachother the second time i ever plugged it in to do plinking at home, causing it to smoke and burn a bit. Thankfully, they had a diode in there that exploded to save the boxmag from catching fire. I had to open the mag 2 more times to fix things on it. The feed spring tube lenght is also much shorter than an original boxmag, though it hasn't done too many issues so far. THe boxmag also has that issure where the control switch is where the battery are installed, leading to the battery moving the switch to OFF by swinging around.Putting a bit of tape over it solves the issue, but i'd consider getting a Bullgear boxmag insert the moment this thing gives you trouble.
-Despite the upgrades to match the M60E1 look, you stil don't get the correct muzzle device, rear sight and the feed tray cover still has some incorrect details. A&K muzzle flashes are fairly rare, LCT makes an accurate M60 rear right and the only way you will fix the feed tray issues is if you are crazy enough to file them down.
-The carry handle is very wobbly out of the box, tightening the screws at the base dosen't help, you will need to shim it.
-The feed tray cover latch and barrel release mechanism have extremely close tolerances that made them very hard to close or operate.You can either break them in or slightly file the sides of the hole the feed cover latch attaches to on the reciever to fix this
-On the boxmag mounting plate, the cut-out made to let the spring feed tube through is too small. The tube pinches or is blocked by it. I had to cut mine open wider.
-The accurate pistol grip is much shorter than the original A&K's grip. Anyone with gorilla hands might see their pinky finger run out of room a bit.
-The safety dosen't click at all, it just kinda slides up and down and looks like it might go on safe when i don't want it to someday. It hasn't done it so far however.
-SP Systems has not really mentionned what their gearbox specs are at all. if you want to know the specific specs, you'll have to open the gearbox yourself.



Overall, you should get this gun over the normal A&K. THe original M60 is really unreliable, cannot hop bbs well and whatever money you think you will be saving will be reinvested in internal upgrades and external replacement parts. You'll end up buying an A&K M60, throw upgrade after upgrade at it, maybe replace a broken pot metal bipod only to realize that the SP Systems x A&K M60 had all these upgrades already and more out of the box for a price that ends up being cheaper than the money you invested making the normal M60 durable.
I swapped the OEM hop-up and barrel for the unit that was in my original M60 as soon as I got it, and with a 6.05mm 595mm steel barrel and a Bullgear hop-up unit, I chronoed 350FPS at 1.55Joules using 0.28g bbs with an untouched gearbox.

It's worth the price, but dosen't fix all the issues the original gun had. It even brings some new issues. so i cannot give it a perfect score, but if you want an M60E1 this is absolutely the one to get Just please do yourself a favor and get a bullgear boxmag insert the second this boxmag gives you trouble.

"its ok not bad but ok i little snappy but plasticy