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Freedom Ordnance FM-9 owners rejoice (Page 3 of 3)
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Originally Posted By amphibian: Is the re-introduction considered a Gen3 or whatever? If so, any notable improvements? No this is a complete redesign you won't be able to upgrade the current Gen1/Gen2 FM-9. Honestly I am not involved in the mechanical side. Im working on the box design lol I do marketing and sales so when its done and pretty I will get all the data so I can effectively articulate that information just like I did on the first one. I have also been trying to not put out too much information until I have the final final version in my hands. The first one hit the market without anyone knowing anything. We were making and shipping every week while the internet said it was vaporware as I am sure you remember. Since we do have a history of just releasing things already in production before speaking on them I am maintaining as much of that as I can. No deposits, no upfront payments but when its ready you'll know and you'll be happy. We understand how important it is to have everything dialed in before they ship and that will always take front stage. |
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Originally Posted By Alaska-Shooter: It’ll be interesting to see the design changes. I wonder why they’re making changes You learn a lot in 10 years of manufacturing. For example there the quick change barrel system isn't necessary on a 9mm, something we learned after starting production and firing the 1000 round belt. That system also adds about $500 to the cost of manufacturing. The rail is an extrusion instead of billet that reduces costs as well and improves what we can do with the design as well as having multiple design options. Again I will explain everything when we get to that point. |
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Originally Posted By Alaska-Shooter: Thanks for the early info! I look forward to the release No problem I have mentioned some of this stuff on the forum. Don't remember if it was on this thread or another one as there are 3 or 4 spread out through arf lol its hard for me to keep track |
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Originally Posted By Ryo: Do you know when you might be building them for sale? I understand it takes time. On page 2 I mentioned late October early November. Still looking good for that time frame. We are finishing on the last few issues we are finding and have already started production fixturing on parts we know wont change. |
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Originally Posted By BAD_CAD: It's been a month since your last update and I haven't seen more on the socials yet. What's the latest? Must be getting close now! Couple new features were added to the feed tray for reliability in feeding the last round and ejecting the last link. The original was hit or miss on feeding the last round. This one feeds the last round and kicks out the last link so the tray is completely empty. Yes we are getting close but also not rushing anything. Currently working on sourcing a soft case or we may just brown box it if we think most customers are going to toss our soft case on top of the pile from their other guns lol if anyone wants to chime in on soft case or brown box feel free. |
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Originally Posted By -JC-: If it reduces the overall cost, brown box is fine. If no change to customer costs, then a bag would increase perceived value of the package. It won't change the cost either way but we don't want to waste money either. Nothing exciting about putting energy into packaging to have it thrown away if it wasn't intended to be. I designed the original box and it was well received but not cheap but people were impressed and when they go on gun broker people talk about having the original box. |
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I second brown box. My opinion is worth exactly what you payed for it but I've got a stack of cases collecting dust in the basement. I'd rather not add another to it. I know people like to include original packaging when selling but it's not something I care about when buying used, as long as the item itself is in good condition. Any word on an approximate drop date? I'm buying parts to build it out a while. Can you tell me if it takes standard hand guards? And will it be capable of feeding from glock mags or something as well as belts, or just belts? Just trying to decide which parts to get. Thanks! |
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Originally Posted By -JC-: If it reduces the overall cost, brown box is fine. If no change to customer costs, then a bag would increase perceived value of the package. Similar opinion. I like getting a soft case but am fine with a box. I tend to keep the original packaging and soft cases usually take less room while still being readily usable for transporting, storing spare parts, etc. |
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Originally Posted By BAD_CAD: I second brown box. My opinion is worth exactly what you payed for it but I've got a stack of cases collecting dust in the basement. I'd rather not add another to it. I know people like to include original packaging when selling but it's not something I care about when buying used, as long as the item itself is in good condition. Any word on an approximate drop date? I'm buying parts to build it out a while. Can you tell me if it takes standard hand guards? And will it be capable of feeding from glock mags or something as well as belts, or just belts? Just trying to decide which parts to get. Thanks! The complete system which will release first is duel feed with glock mags and belt. The upper can then be used on an AR15/M16 lower to be belt only. We don't have a definitive drop date hoping for December at this point but we aren't releasing it until its 100%. It is worked on every day by all 5 of our engineers and our shop hours are 6am-8pm so there is 14 hours a day going in to it. We are going as quickly as possible. I believe we are still using a BCM barrel nut but this is also why I haven't put out a lot of specifics as things change daily on some areas as we shoot high speed video etc. Only parts I can guarantee will be something you can change is the trigger group, grip and buffer tube/stock. Past that I don't want to make any claims just yet. |
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Friendly monthly update request! Whats the status? In your previous comment you said the complete system will be available first. Still aiming for a December drop? How long after until the upper can be purchased by itself? Will customers on the waiting list have an option? Please let your engineers know we all appreciate the hard work and long hours they're putting in! Your fan base eagerly awaits the fruit of your labor. I am prepared to remit payment in the form of bribes, kidneys, fistfulls of unmarked small bills, precious metals, Dogecoin, or of course Visa. |
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Originally Posted By BAD_CAD: Friendly monthly update request! Whats the status? In your previous comment you said the complete system will be available first. Still aiming for a December drop? How long after until the upper can be purchased by itself? Will customers on the waiting list have an option? Please let your engineers know we all appreciate the hard work and long hours they're putting in! Your fan base eagerly awaits the fruit of your labor. I am prepared to remit payment in the form of bribes, kidneys, fistfulls of unmarked small bills, precious metals, Dogecoin, or of course Visa. We're at 90-95% there. Not much is being shared as we have possible patents to put in place and file. If this week goes well we are hoping to have 5 production units for marketing in December. We are now shifted to Q1 2025 for full production. I don't have an ETA on uppers on their own as it will all come down to demand of the complete unit. I would guess 6-12 months. While I don't have final pricing the difference in price between the upper and complete system should be around $500-600 as the lower isn't where the bulk of the parts and manufacturing are. I also don't know if we will give the waitlist an option to buy just the upper ahead of anyone else as currently buying material is thought of as a complete system. We have talked about it though but all focus is on getting it to the finish line. Our main goal is being 100% on the finished product once the boss is happy we can figure out costs and options. |
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Originally Posted By BAD_CAD: Thats all great news! Glad to hear things are coming along well. Any word yet on a price range for the system? Hoping to see some FM-9 media content soon! We won't have final pricing until we run production. Regardless of final price it will be the most affordable production beltfed anything on the market. |
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Originally Posted By BAD_CAD: Whats the word? Will we see some media by Christmas, or do we have to wait for SHOT Show? How's production ramping up? We don't go to SHOT. Christmas is a no. I understand everyone wants updates but there is a reason we never said a word until they were on the shelf shipping the first go. I promise it will be worth the wait and are 100% focus is on the beltfed. Our shop currently runs 6am-midnight Monday Friday with 4 engineers focused on the beltfed while we still make our FX9 (have to keep money coming in). We are at 99% and fixtures are in design process to make the first 5 production units for getting assembly lined out, final testing on production units and pretty units for pictures/video. |
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Originally Posted By FBATFE: I just noticed the waitlist tab on the website  And the waitlist is not in any particular order. When we hit production, they will go in stock, an email will get set out then people who hit buy now first get that batch. We will keep doing that every week when it's in production. |
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Originally Posted By 9mmBeltfed: And the waitlist is not in any particular order. When we hit production, they will go in stock, an email will get set out then people who hit buy now first get that batch. We will keep doing that every week when it's in production. Probably looking at 30 a week to start as we get all the production processes dialed in, then bump up to 50 or so. Tooling is being designed for robot machine tending on most of the parts then we can run 24/7 if necessary. Is the picture on the waitlist the new one? Will these use the same links as the old one? |
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Originally Posted By FBATFE: Is the picture on the waitlist the new one? Will these use the same links as the old one? No that is the original. The new version uses the same links and 150 round belt bag. It will have a new 100 round belt bag as well that I don't believe will be backwards compatible because of the shape. |
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Originally Posted By 9mmBeltfed: No that is the original. The new version uses the same links and 150 round belt bag. It will have a new 100 round belt bag as well that I don't believe will be backwards compatible because of the shape. . |
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Originally Posted By 9mmBeltfed: No that is the original. The new version uses the same links and 150 round belt bag. It will have a new 100 round belt bag as well that I don't believe will be backwards compatible because of the shape. Thanks for the reply. Any plans on making a bag that utilizes the 249 tabs? It would be nice to be able to use them with lowers like the Cryo BFAR. The magwell adapter works but having a more compact lower like the cryo lower is absolutely worth the cost when spending this amount of cash on a dedicated beltfed. Just my opinion as an MCR owner. I have no desire to use a standard AR lower for this type of firearm. |
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Originally Posted By FBATFE: Thanks for the reply. Any plans on making a bag that utilizes the 249 tabs? It would be nice to be able to use them with lowers like the Cryo BFAR. The magwell adapter works but having a more compact lower like the cryo lower is absolutely worth the cost when spending this amount of cash on a dedicated beltfed. Just my opinion as an MCR owner. I have no desire to use a standard AR lower for this type of firearm. The new beltfed is a complete duel feed firearm with it's own lower. You can take the upper off and put it on an AR15 or more importantly for the full auto M16 owners but it's not necessary. It does not have a mag block like the original. Honestly the original and the new one are not the same aside from they use the same links and youll be able to use the original belt bag. |
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Originally Posted By Mee123: I hope the project is going well, you've got a lot of people rooting for you! Any updates? @9mmbeltfed We have sent the first 5 units made with production tooling to anodizing, heat treat and nitride. When these 5 units come back we will take pictures, video and then each unit will have 10k rounds minimum put through them. Some of the heat treated parts have been heat treated at different hardness levels so we can see how many rounds till they break. I imagine whatever units make it through 10k rounds we will keep going. The original r&d units has had about 18k rounds through it. I don't have a date for when the first units will be for sale but asap is our timeline. asap but when it's ready lol |
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Originally Posted By fordkicksass: Good afternoon @9mmBeltfed are there any updates you can share on the project? I don't have pictures I can share yet. Just got back from a distributor show this week, hopefully next week I will get the opportunity to shoot video and pictures. We are currently working on the first batch of units off production fixtures. Our goal is to launch at the GOA GOALS show in August with 200 units on the shelf. Teaser videos will come before that. |
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Here it is go see what we have been working on FM-9D Beltfed 9mm |
Freedom Ordnance FM-9 owners rejoice (Page 3 of 3)
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