FAMAS good or bad?

[Kensai]

I'm thinking of getting a TM FAMAS F1. Some people think they look horrible but I really like the overall shape.

I have heard a LOT of conflicting opinions on the FAMAS from both online reviews and personal testimony. The only consensus seems to be is the TM one is the best one to get as the others (such as the ACM) aren't that great. One of our locals at my site used a TM FAMAS and it seemed to work fine but I have not seen him for a few games so not had much chance to ask him any further questions.

People on this site really seem to know what they are talking about so I would love to hear your thoughts. It would be great to hear personal testimony from people who have actually owned a FAMAS at some point.

Cheers

[The Keeper of Secrets]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

I've owned about 3 or 4 in my time, both the SV and the F1. It was also my first airsoft rifle.

It's brilliant, no doubts about it. Buy one new and leave it alone internally and it will never, ever break. If you don't believe me, ask me in 10 years time when it's still working .

The V1 gearbox is essentially akin to having a car in first gear; a lot of speed with good trigger response, but not a great deal of torque. The Famas runs on an EG560 motor, which will turn the stock TM spring (280fps) over fine and quickly, but will slow down if you put an M100 in. A 1J is a safe bet if you really want to upgrade it. However with TM's usual awesome hopup unit, you won't need to. 40m stock range on these things with an accuracy to complement that.

The only real negative is the dreaded creaking. Yes, the externals are ABS and yes, it creaks when you flex it about. There are ways you can stop it that involve a lot of roughing the bits that touch with sandpaper and/or padding the gaps with kitchen roll, but it's far easier just tighten all the screws and live with it. It's really not that bad and the gun does still feel solid.

The 'negative' reviews on Famii (yes that's the plural) come from 15 year old American kids who see 'plastic' and '280fps' and therefore assume it's junk next to their 'full metal' Dboys M4. What they miss out is that the Famas will perform better and outlive the M4 by a good 9 years.

So, in my opinion, get one. And love it. Hope this helps.

PS, and to cap it off, if you buy it and don't like it, sell it to me. I want another one.

[Bachelarius]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

May I ask why everyone hates the JingPeng?

I know there are 2 versions of it, 1 which is basically a glorified lpeg, so plastic everything other than the gears, which really is terrible, but then there is a metal gearbox version as well, which takes v2/v3 parts, even including short shaft motors and comes in firing something like 380, which the marui could never do as the motor was pants.

Anyway, the metal gearbox version sounds perfect to me, as it's fixed all the original v1 issues and kept all the strengths, just with slightly poorer externals.

[Major]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

The V1 gearbox is essentially akin to having a car in first gear; a lot of speed with good trigger response, but not a great deal of torque

you mean 5th gear?

[Dan_s]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

He does mean 1st gear, which is where the power comes from

[ElSparko]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

I've got a cybergun/acm FAMAS so I'll give you my opinion of that, but I've heard the TM version is supirior in nearly every way.

I love my FAMAS, its not the most powerful or accurate gun but I really don't care because I love the gun. My FAMAS is self aware. It works brilliantly in the house or the garden, but the second I get it on to a site the BBs go every-which-way and it misfeeds.

The pluses of the cybergun over the TM is the body is less creaky, and it's a little more upgradeable as some of the propriatry stuff on the TM are stock on the cyber.

... There was something else i meant to say but I can't remember. I'll edit it later when I remember

[Flanbix]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

Own the SV one and it is a very reliable aeg, well balanced and compact. I just ask zeroone to put metal bushing and a 6.04. The rate of fire on 8.4V is very good and the FPS very very consistent. And with the 285fps it is safe for any site.

The only thing I have with mine is just the switching in semi mode. Sometimes you pull the trigger the motor turn but nothing append have to switch to auto again. It might perhaps to do with the fact that the cycle is not complet before switching to semi. The spring release button can be a plus but the particulary of the mag a minus.

[Sam89]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

Tm pros, reliable, cheap, accurate, simple, comfortable.

Cons, a bit creaky, iron sights are a bit difficult to use.

[Fizzy]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

The rate of fire on 8.4V is very good

That's because they were originally designed to run happily on a 7.2v battery

[laurence]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

I have owned an acm famas and it was a bit dissapointing, the externall was all plastci, unlike the tm metal barrel, and it had a painfully slow rof. Also, range and accuracy was not great. Get the tm, and maybe put a 1j spring in it and leave it, it will be fine.

[Rubberducky]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

My brother has a TM SV one that I've used a few times and I was very impressed with it. It does creak but I'll be honest I didn't really notice it in the field. Very good rate of fire standard and good range and accuracy. As TKOS said, get one and leave it alone and will outlast everything.

[grey]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

There isn't a gun I miss more than my TM FAMAS, it was such a great piece of kit and made such an awesome sound. An hour with a scalpel and some duct tape and you can sort out most of the creaking anyway, but it's rock slid and will not let you down

[ElZer0]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

I had a TM famas! there very good!

you will have to mod it and some M4 mags to get them to work, as there isnt all that many mags for it!!

but a cracking gun, very reliable!!

shame i sold mine, esp due to the fact the gun I bought to replace it, has never fully worked yet ( having to fix this up a bit)

If you like the Famas, def get the TM version

[col]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

I have a TM SV Famas, its only 3 to 4 months old, I love it. Granted its not everyones cup of tea looks wise but after using it for a few games its great. Yes it creaks a bit, but you won't notice it when you're using it. Its very accurate with a good rate of fire with good range. The hop is easy to adjust and it stays set. It's comfortable to use as well, which given its "unique" looks was a bit of a surprise.

Hi Cap mags weren't to difficult to find and with 3 of those, games go quite well. I fitted a cheap aimpoint (£13 from ebay) holographic sight to it. works really really well. The semi auto does sometimes misfire but a switch to auto and back fixes that. The semi/auto switch used to get turned off by my arm, but not anymore now I'm used to it. The only mod I may do is to fit a G36 handle and rail to it, but only if I can't resist the temptation to fiddle :-)

Overall with my limited experience I'd say a great gun, cheap and so far reliable. But if you want to upgrade a gun then buy something else.

Col.

[gsipete]

Re: FAMAS good or bad?

ive got the jp famas f1 & the tm famas f1. out of the two the tm one gets used more as i know its going to work every time i use it.
the tm has more metal parts over the jp ( pod feet, cocking handle & front outer barrel) but the body has creak where the jp dont as the main body is made from two bits where the tm is made up of more.
and the rof is a lot faster on the tm as there is two motor ( eg560 & the eg560hi-torque )