Brother Oily direct from The BT Rangers UK Division shared with both The Milsim Empire and The Catshack Reports an interesting set of modifications to achieve what I would say is one pretty snazzy paintball marker.
I choose to use an Ion as my internals as you could split the main body from the trigger and extend any wires,tubing etc to where you needed it.
Strip down the M249 and get rid of the gearbox/electrics etc
First job was to mill down the Ion breech so it would fit flat against the barrel block and also it was to locate the feedneck over the boxmag.
Next job was to place a micro trigger switch from an Ion board and solder it to some Vary board,a type of PCB where you can have tracks running where you want them.Then I had to manufacture 2 brackets and braze them to the original trigger frame to house the new trigger micro switch.I used a product called Sikaflex to bond the switch to the brackets.
I soldered some wires to the switch and used some connecting strip so I could disconnect it if needed to strip it down. Next job was to machine the barrel block, carry handle housing and front sight to accept the new barrel. The barrel block and carry handle housing were easy
But the front sight was a pain as it was very hard to hold in the lathe,not much metal to grip!
Machining the front sight this way left a gap between barrel and sight(as you can see from the picture) so i machined up a plastic split collar.This had to be a slight interference fit, not to tight and just enough to grip both barrel and sight. Later on I chopped off the muzzle break of the 20″ barrel and made up a fresh plastic collar. Looking back I should have done this in the first place. I then changed the “20″ barrel for a Freak system.
That done, the barrel assembly was dropped into the main body so I could mark up where to drill the hole for the feed neck. I didn’t have a drill bit big enough so I ended up having to machine down the feedneck and grind out the last few mms on the main body.
The stock ASA was modified to accept a banjo fitting.
Next the stock was fitted with the Planet Eclipse Star regulator, I robbed this from my other Ion as I had no way of altering the stock regulator with the spanner once inside the stock unless I milled a slot into the stock which didnt appeal to me. The Planet regulator had a allen key adjustment at the bottom which made things a lot easier. The stock was marked up as to where I was going to drill the holes for the ASA, pressure gauge and the QD. The buttplate was also marked up and drilled at the required angle, to be able to adjust the regulator.The tubing was also fitted to the banjo at this stage.
Or if you want the Para version just drill and tap the stock to accept some banjo fittings and a QD
Once this was done, the next stage was to fit the Scenario Dreams T Board.I made up a bracket, then drilled and tapped the solenoid bracket and screwed the two together. I then soldered some wires with connectors on to the back of the main board, situated at the back off the micro switch, I then connected the trigger switch wires together.The battery wires were extended and beefed up at the same time as they looked a bit thin!
The daughter board (eye board) wires were extended and the Dye membrane pad fitted, well worth the $10!
A light pipe was made from perpex so I could see the on board LED without opening it up.
The feed tray had to be chopped to fit round the Ions body and the Clippard QEV.
All that was left to do was fit the Ion body along with the barrel assembly.
The box mag just slides into the already made bracket on the M249
And back to the final product and the end result
So there you have it….much thanks to Oily of The BT Rangers and Officer of the Milsim Empire where this kind of information can be had every day
Thanks mate
Cheers!
For this and other great modding tips please visit http://www.milsimempire.com/portal.php
