I just saw an article on one. $5000. Why so expensive?

who knows, I don't.. but a real FN semi saw is twice that so it seems a bargain.

The various belt-fed AR uppers that I'm aware of were always more expensive than the semi-auto counterparts. I seem to recall the Shrike, when it finally made it to market, was in the same ballpark price.

As to why the higher pricing...my guess would be a combination of the costs involved for designing and manufacturing a reliable and durable feed system combined with standard market forces.

The only one I've ever seen in person was an Ares and it has lots and lots of machined parts, all unique to this and made I'm sure in small volumes. Add in the engineering work to get it to work and I don't think the price is outrageous. I think a bare bones one is just a bit under $4k (that was the price of the one I saw in the store, but that was awhile ago). The list of the FN 249 semi is nearly $9K so the upper is a relative bargain in the belt fed area.

Shrike kept people on the hook for a long time, it was kind of a cluster f...
I think they finally dumped the name and maybe took bankrupcy because of all the negative publicity it had and changed to Ares Defense and the upper is the MCR.

A buddy of mine had an HK23E which really gave me the itch for a beltfed, but like the SAW, they're expensive, $11,000 for a base model ... but it worked really well with my HK registered sear!

I found an MCR "lite" listed on Gunbroker for $2,600 ... it only had a 16" lite barrel and didn't come with sights or carry handle and maybe something else, maybe it was the mag adapter to hold a box or nut-sack?

I ended up getting a heavy 12" MG barrel, mag adapter and full auto bolt so I could run it on my M16 ... and it runs very well! It also runs pretty well with one of my binary triggers ... forget which one but its not the Franklin Armory.

I ended up with about $4,500 in it and it scratches the itch I don't take it out often but I've got several 100round belt nut-sacks and 200round boxes ready for when the urge hits.

....... Well, I was going to post a picture of it but Postimage is down for maintenance maybe later.

That sounds fun. I wish I could get some way to have my 249s make happy sounds even if its only temporary. How does the ares barrel change work?

The Ares has a feed tray, you lift the top, set in your belt and close the top, its all part of the upper, its similar to other belt feds however it can also be fed from the magazine with mags or drums such as the Beta-mag ... here's a close-up on a sbr'd semi, sorry its not very clear ... btw, the charge handle does fold and is not reciprocating, like the regular AR it just pulls out of a detent to chamber the first round.



And my M16 ...

Lots of proprietary parts, complexity, novelty, etc = high price.

and that explains the price of a 249s how? produced in volume etc. etc.

There’s a company called Freedom Ordance that makes a 9mm upper called the FM-9. The “Elite” version is only $2199. I have one on a semi auto with 16’ barrel (quick change barrels). A friend has one with an 8” barrel he runs on an M16 (full auto). They both run great, lots of fun.

They’re expensive because of the engineering and cost of manufacturing.

That looks interesting. I'd probably get one for fun and cheap ammo. but they show no links in stocks. Which is an issue I would think for running it.

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
That looks interesting. I'd probably get one for fun and cheap ammo. but they show no links in stocks. Which is an issue I would think for running it.

It takes the standard 223 link, same one the SAW and HK 23E uses. A seller on GunBroker has roughly 575 for $60+ shipping, another has 50 links for $15 ... usually they are once used military links ... both seem kind of high to be, but you can use them 8-10 times until they loose their spring.

You mean m27 links? I have a 249 so I have a zillion of those. I would not have thought they would work with 9mm but I certainly didn’t try it.

There seems to be some confusion here. The 9mm's will not run with the 5.56/.223 links. Freedom Ordnance routinely runs out of links, but will soon get them back in I'm sure. I have a few thousand. I also bought one of their loaders. Sure saves the thumb and works well!

quote:

Originally posted by hrcjon:
You mean m27 links? I have a 249 so I have a zillion of those. I would not have thought they would work with 9mm but I certainly didn’t try it.

My bad hrcjon ... I thought you were referring to the belt fed AR15 upper, yeah the 9mm's are proprietary ...

I saw those when they first came out a couple years ago(?) I'm not sure why, I haven't had any interest in a belt-fed pistol round. Now a beltfed 22LR, that's a different story but it's one that while I'd like to have but would never buy ... unless I won a few mil in the lottery!