TOP M60E3 Review
By James Monroe (aka BigPhish038 and/or STALIN).




This is a review of the M60E3 made by TOP of Japan.

The M60E3 is the second newest addition to the M60 family(With the newest being the M60E4/MK.43). It is a light-weight, air cooled, link-belt fed machine gun. The M60E3 fires the .308 NATO round(7.62x51mm). It has a max effective range of about 2.3 miles. With a rate of fire of 550 to 650 rounds per minute. The M60E3 is manufactured by SACO DEFENSE.

Most M60E3’s are issued with a light barrel (Melts after about 200 rounds sustained) for assault mission and a heavy barrel for other missions where more sustained fire is required.

My particular model I received practically new. At the time I got it, it was used, however, a new bellows and new piston had been installed. There was a little rust on the outside, but with a little 3in1 oil, it was gone.

To be truthfully honest, When I first saw my M60E3 sitting on a glass counter I was surprised. The M60E3 is a large gun, but I had expected it to be gigantic.


(Note, Flash is used for enhancement. The gun does not actually look that color. I would also like to note that the gun is not that rusty anymore, I cleaned it up)

This is the M60E3’s safety. It’s located on the left side of the gun. It’s connected right to the pistol grip, and is about an inch and a half behind the trigger. The selections on it are SAFE and FIRE only, no semi-auto which is realistic: real M60’s lack semi auto feature. When the safety lever is up(as shown in picture), the M60E3 is on full auto. While it is down, the M60 is, obviously, on SAFE. If you're used to an Armaite, it may be hard getting used to the M60E3’s safety, as it is “backwards”.
Note, on the pistol grip, there are the letters “SD”. This stands for SACO DEFENSE.



Unlike the M60, the M60E3 has a different front hand guard as well as a forward pistol grip. I find this a great addition, being more functional then the earlier M60 hand guard. I have found the forward pistol grip is good for running and gunning, while the hand guard works better if your going slow, taking a shot, then moving. I also use the foregrip when going prone with the bipod deployed. The handguard is also used to store the battery; this will be shown later in the review.



This is the carry handle. Its great for simply carrying the gun around, or when your in combat and your trying to move the gun up to a better position. The carry handle folds up for carry, or down for storage. Let it be noted, that when the flip-up rear sight is flipped up, this will get in the way of the carry handle. It mounts directly to the barrel. It is full metal, except for the grip part, that is plastic. There shouldn’t be any durability problems here, as the plastic and metal used is strong. However, if needed, One can always buy the $99.99 GB-TECH steel carrying handle.



The front sight is attached right behind the barrel. It can be flipped up, or flipped down for storage. Another Item made out of plastic, but yes, it is strong plastic. It’ not adjustable, But I really don’t see why you would want to set your M60 air soft gun at 500m, since the TOP's effective range is 40-50m at most.



This is what I like to call “The front section”. It includes the front part of the outer barrel, the front sight, the flash hider, and the gas tube. Everything is metal, with the exception of the gas tube, which is plastic. This should not be a problem, as the gas tube is also made of sturdy plastic. Also, since it is shorter then the outer barrel, it shouldn’t get bumped by anything. A metal gas tube can be purchased for $99.99, Made by GB-TECH. Another worthless item really.



This is the feed ramp. If one wishes to mount an ammo can, or a link of inert rounds to their M60, This is where they would do so. It's made of metal, and attached directly to the left side of the receiver.



This is the right side of the M60E3’s receiver. The left side is the same, with some minor differences. Full metal construction used here. From what I can see, the metal is very thick, matte black, and appears to have some bluing. There are screws here and there, but they are realistic, as the real M60E3 has screws in the same place. The receiver accounts for about 1/3 of the M60E3’s length.




This is the cocking handle. On the TOP M60E3, it serves no function. If pulled back, it will go flying forward, producing a metallic clank. This clank doesn’t sound as good as one given off by an M16A2, or an MP5 “HK Slap” but it’s still good =). Full metal construction is again evident. The Cocking handle is attached to a long thin piece of metal on the inside of the receiver.



This is the feed cover. The one used on the TOP M60E3 is made out of plastic. I believe this to be the weakest part on the gun, as the plastic is thin and feels some what wobbly. To flip it up, you push up a “lever” (shown in this picture, to the bottom right of the feed cover). It is spring loaded and pops up when unlatched.






These are the Bipod legs. They are mounted in the front of the gun, about 2/3 of the way up. To fold them up, or put them down, you must press a button at the top of the bipod, allowing the bipod to slide up or down. Both legs are adjustable: to adjust them, you must press a button, just like the one pressed when deploying the bipod. There are a few positions for bipod height, but I only use two, all the way closed, or all the way up. I leave them set at maximum height when defending and the such, but all the closed when on the move. They bipod leg heights can be set independently, allowing one bipod leg to be set at an angle lesser then the other, to allow for a better shot angle.

HOW TO’s

1. How to load the gun.

-As with all air soft guns, the first thing ya’ must do is load it! The M60E3 is perhaps the easiest air soft weapon to load.


First, you must flip up the feed cover. (Note Flash is used to enhance detail)
Second, Just pour in Bbs. In the lower section, there is a rotating thing which pushes the Bbs up into a coil. The coil then leads to the loading tube, the loading tube then leads to the inner barrel, where the BB will be shot.
-The max capacity of the M60E3 is 1200 rounds, enough to last you for a while.


2. Installing the battery.


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-Mentioned above, this is the procedure to install the battery in the foregrip
First, that little screw must be taken out. Turn it to the left, then pull. Now, to get the hand guard off, slide it back, then pull down. Now you should see some wires, so hook up your battery, set it in place, and the put the hand guard back on. Finally, replace the screw and screw it in. The battery the M60E3 was designed to use is the Mini-type battery. I find this kind of sad, as one would expect a big support weapon to use a large battery with long life. However, a common alternative is the Custom AUG-Type battery. As this has more oomph. Note: a 9.6v version barely fits.


3. How to set the hop-up.



-On the TOP M60E3, You will notice there is a little nob in front of the rear sight. This is the nob for hop-up adjustment. For more hop, turn the nob clockwise. For less hop, turn the nob counter-clockwise. However, there is one problem. If you try to turn the hop-up all the way off, the nob will come out. It’s easy to get back in, but it’s a hassle that can be avoided, so take this as a heads up: DO NOT TURN THE HOP-UP TOo LOW.


4. Removing the flash suppressor.

-On most, if not all AEG’s, the flash suppressor can be taken off the gun. This is true on the TOP M60E3. To do so, one must turn the flash suppressor to the left. Obviously, to get it back on, turn it to the right. Simple enough.


PERFORMANCE

1. Power.

-There’s really not to much I can say about the M60E3 in terms of power. From what I can tell from first-hand experience, It seems to shoot the same, if not a little more, than a stock TM M16A2. I have no chronos of it yet. Retailer chronos tend to be 290 fps on up, right up TM’s alley.



2. Accuracy.

-Well. I’m going to be honest. I was somewhat let down by the M60E3’s accuracy. While it is clearly no a CYMA springer, I expected more. In comparison, my TM M16A2 was probably 2x more accurate then the M60E3. With a 444mm barrel, I expected much better groupings. While it is a machine gun, and isn’t meant for precise individual shots, TOP could have certainly done better. The accuracy can be best described as “While you may not hit your target with the first shot, there's a very good chance within 4”. A KN tight bore can be purchased, but expect it to run you around 110-120 dollars shipped. A common problem on some AEGs (Version 2 is a good example) is that overtime, the hop-up will actually slide to a lower setting. I can honestly say this problem does not exist in the TOP M60E3. I once shot a 500 round “burst”. The range was the same on every shot.


3. Rate of fire.

-What the M60E3 lacks in accuracy, it makes up for in Rate of fire. Simply put, the M60E3’s ROF is CRAZY. Quite a bit more then a stock TM M16A2 (which is about 800 rpm if I remember correctly). This is good as it gives you a better chance to hit your target. However, this crazy rate of fire is crazy unrealistic. As stated in the history/introduction, the real M60E3 has a rate of fire of around 550 rounds per minute. The TOP M60E3, about 950 rounds per minute. To be realistic, I estimate a 7.2v battery must be used (although a smaller battery would no doubt fit better in the handguard).

Appearance: 10. It’s looks may even intimidate the most common air softer.
Feel/Handling: 9. This really all depends on how large of a person you are. I’m 6’1 and I have no problem handling the M60E3. However, due to its weight, I cannot keep it sighted in will standing for very long. As for the feel part, I feel as is the pistol grip could be larger and longer.
Performance: 9. Can’t really argue about the performance. As of right now, I’ve had no problems. It shoots about the same as any other stock AEG(around 285 fps with .20g) but with a bit higher fps. As for the bellows systems. I view this as a good thing. If you try to shoot a 1200 round “burst” out of your M4 several times, It will eventually break. Causing you to pay 70+ for a new gearbox shell, and there may even be some busted internals. I would rather pay 15 bucks for a new bellows kit and piston, then ~90 for a whole new V2.
Value: Undecided. While expensive (Around 800~ shipped from red wolf, Around 900+ shipped from www.airsoftshop.com ) Its one of the rarest air soft guns out there. Hell, As of right now, it’s the only complete M60E3 out there.

Pros
-Rarity, honestly, how many M60E3’s have you ever seen on your air soft field?
-Bulk, very heavy
-1,200 round capacity
-Built in bipod
-”How many 1,200 bursts have you let off before?” =P

Cons
-Expensive
-Big for smaller guys
-Heavy (I recommend buying a sling)
-Special gravity


Please note, the M60E3 is a heavy weapon and if you want to use it like an assault rifle, you’ve got another thing comin’.

Well, There you have it, The TOP M60E3. I recommend it for Big guys, who likes big guns, and people who like being intimidating and envied.

So, I end this now on a happy note, knowing that after about countless hours, and over 2000 words typed, that my review is finally finished. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and found it helpful.

Special thanks goes out to Fmsteve for trading me his hog, TehLlama for helpful editing, my mom and dad, for letting me order the air soft guns in which I traded for the M60E3, and you