6 Years of full stop - Want to come back!

[Duprv]

Hi everyone!
I was playing Airsoft in Italy, for around 7 years, luckily for work reason I had to relocate around the world and I then had to stop playing.
I've been looking into the UK Airsoft community since I've arrived, 2 years ago, and it seems that is way more "Colorful" in terms of gun and laws.

I've bought everything I need in terms of loadout...Except... The rif it self!
So I'm here listening to more expert people, since I'm outdated!

I'm now undecided to go for one of those replicas:
Ares - KelTec RDB 17 (I'm scared since some parts are dedicated, so if this thing brakes, where will i find the replacement or reinforced parts?)
PTS Magpul MASADA (I Know it's quite old, but i'm in love with the ACR look)
CXP-APE (Always a Dream to own this, but unlucky stopped airsoft when it came out)
VFC 416d/c (Had them, quite fun and reliable with a 7.4v, I won't trust VFC with 11.1v tho)
TM Aug High Cycle (This was one of the most fun replicas i ever owned, and it's really tempting to buy it once again)

What do you guys suggest? Open to suggestions! Thanks a lot for your time

 

[Shamal]

Hi bud and welcome to the forum ?

Good to have you on board.

Enjoy your comeback into the sport?

I won't give you any advice on guns cause they are nasty,horrible things and I try to stay away from them but I dare say that there will be plenty of gun nuts on here that will give you some good advice?

Enjoy and remember to call your hits. ?

Regards 

Ares amoeba 013 is ok.

 

[Colin Allen]

Hi everyone!
I was playing Airsoft in Italy, for around 7 years, luckily for work reason I had to relocate around the world and I then had to stop playing.
I've been looking into the UK Airsoft community since I've arrived, 2 years ago, and it seems that is way more "Colorful" in terms of gun and laws.

I've bought everything I need in terms of loadout...Except... The rif it self!
So I'm here listening to more expert people, since I'm outdated!

I'm now undecided to go for one of those replicas:
Ares - KelTec RDB 17 (I'm scared since some parts are dedicated, so if this thing brakes, where will i find the replacement or reinforced parts?)
PTS Magpul MASADA (I Know it's quite old, but i'm in love with the ACR look)
CXP-APE (Always a Dream to own this, but unlucky stopped airsoft when it came out)
VFC 416d/c (Had them, quite fun and reliable with a 7.4v, I won't trust VFC with 11.1v tho)
TM Aug High Cycle (This was one of the most fun replicas i ever owned, and it's really tempting to buy it once again)

What do you guys suggest? Open to suggestions! Thanks a lot for your time

Welcome aboard!

Looking at your list of RIFs:

Ares KelTec: it is beautiful but it is an Ares and, therefore, badly designed, badly made and very likely to kill itself in strange and unusual ways.

PTS Magpul Masada: Guess what? it is beautiful but it is an Ares and, therefore, badly designed, badly made and very likely to kill itself in strange and unusual ways.  

For some reason, I own three Ares RIFs, including the AK version of the Masada, for which PTS managed to make the wrong mags as they are the 5.56 version rather than the AK ones; the hop unit is junk but, fortunately, SHS make a decent replacement.

I have found Ares to be very good to order parts from if they have them in stock.  However, their stocks seem to be very low, especially for parts for older RIFs.

 

[MrTea]

PTS Magpul Masada is made by Ares and has many unique parts IIRC. If you want a Masada with more generic V2 gearbox parts you can try and get your hands on an A&K Masada. I own the carbine and SPR/DMR version and i'll say, you'll 100% need to upgrade the hop unit, it's hilariously shit and the stock nozzles are prone to breaking/cracking. AirsoftPro and Wiitech make full hop unit replacements however, in my experience, the AirsoftPro one is the superior of the two. I'd also suggest getting the 'loading nozzle' and 'air nozzle' to pair with it, also made by AirsoftPro.

My carbine was a boneyard Masada that was completely dead. I went through the effort to rebuild and fix every little issue with it, including the wiring. Just waiting on the externals getting a custom paint job as it was extensively damaged. You can pick up A&K Masadas pretty cheap in most places but they're becoming increasingly rare and it's pushing prices higher plus spares are getting harder to come by. As stock the motors, compression parts and hop are absolute garbage.

As for the ICS CXP-APE, I can't comment on the RIF performance as I don't own one but I know ActionSportHobbies has a few different version available between £400 and £450.

 

[Duprv]

Welcome aboard!

Looking at your list of RIFs:

Ares KelTec: it is beautiful but it is an Ares and, therefore, badly designed, badly made and very likely to kill itself in strange and unusual ways.

PTS Magpul Masada: Guess what? it is beautiful but it is an Ares and, therefore, badly designed, badly made and very likely to kill itself in strange and unusual ways.  

For some reason, I own three Ares RIFs, including the AK version of the Masada, for which PTS managed to make the wrong mags as they are the 5.56 version rather than the AK ones; the hop unit is junk but, fortunately, SHS make a decent replacement.

I have found Ares to be very good to order parts from if they have them in stock.  However, their stocks seem to be very low, especially for parts for older RIFs.

I had the Masada in the past and at this point I was very lucky! I’ve heard people complaining about that platform in general, so I do believe it’s risky to get one at this point.

I’m really into the Ares KelTec it’s a shame it’s not that reliable..

thanks a lot for the explanation I didn’t even know you could order parts from Ares directly! 
 

PTS Magpul Masada is made by Ares and has many unique parts IIRC. If you want a Masada with more generic V2 gearbox parts you can try and get your hands on an A&K Masada. I own the carbine and SPR/DMR version and i'll say, you'll 100% need to upgrade the hop unit, it's hilariously shit and the stock nozzles are prone to breaking/cracking. AirsoftPro and Wiitech make full hop unit replacements however, in my experience, the AirsoftPro one is the superior of the two. I'd also suggest getting the 'loading nozzle' and 'air nozzle' to pair with it, also made by AirsoftPro.

My carbine was a boneyard Masada that was completely dead. I went through the effort to rebuild and fix every little issue with it, including the wiring. Just waiting on the externals getting a custom paint job as it was extensively damaged. You can pick up A&K Masadas pretty cheap in most places but they're becoming increasingly rare and it's pushing prices higher plus spares are getting harder to come by. As stock the motors, compression parts and hop are absolute garbage.

As for the ICS CXP-APE, I can't comment on the RIF performance as I don't own one but I know ActionSportHobbies has a few different version available between £400 and £450.

I would really love to see where I can find an A&K Acr, last one I found was completely wasted outside, apparently had problems with the trigger and they were asking nothing less than 180! Not that much of a bargain!

im really thinking of going for the ICS, seems the most reliable and reasonable choice 

 

[MrTea]

I would really love to see where I can find an A&K Acr, last one I found was completely wasted outside, apparently had problems with the trigger and they were asking nothing less than 180! Not that much of a bargain!

im really thinking of going for the ICS, seems the most reliable and reasonable choice 

They're, usually, pretty rare to find floating around, you may find someone willing to sell you theirs but then you'd probably be paying over the odds. I'd say I got lucky when I got both of mine as they were cheap and not in too terrible of a condition. BespokeAirsoft have a A&K Masada in their boneyard which has a snapped stock release, missing selector and is electrically dead and they want £150 for it which is a joke IMO.

If you don't want to fix anything and just want a RIF that works, then i'd suggest going for the ICS if you really want that Masada/ACR style of rifle.

 

[Tackle]

Elephant in the room guys ??? ?, 

OP has owned the TM Aug previously, got on with it & it served him well, to me that's a no brainer, it's tm ffs, get that so you can start playing again, everybody knows you'll need a second gun for backup soon enough, thats the one to research a bit more & scour the classifieds for. 

 

[Colin Allen]

I had the Masada in the past and at this point I was very lucky! I’ve heard people complaining about that platform in general, so I do believe it’s risky to get one at this point.

I’m really into the Ares KelTec it’s a shame it’s not that reliable..

thanks a lot for the explanation I didn’t even know you could order parts from Ares directly! 
 

I would really love to see where I can find an A&K Acr, last one I found was completely wasted outside, apparently had problems with the trigger and they were asking nothing less than 180! Not that much of a bargain!

im really thinking of going for the ICS, seems the most reliable and reasonable choice 

Regarding the A&K ACR, which colour (black or tan) and barrel length (short or long) are you after?

BespokeAirsoft have a A&K Masada in their boneyard which has a snapped stock release, missing selector and is electrically dead and they want £150 for it which is a joke IMO.

I have just had a look at their boneyard.  Bloody hell!  The prices are ridiculous.

 

[MrTea]

I have just had a look at their boneyard.  Bloody hell!  The prices are ridiculous.

There used to be two A&K Masadas on there, both at the same price but with different problems. They've actually sold one. IDK who's pricing their boneyard but I want a bit of what they're having.

 

[Duprv]

They're, usually, pretty rare to find floating around, you may find someone willing to sell you theirs but then you'd probably be paying over the odds. I'd say I got lucky when I got both of mine as they were cheap and not in too terrible of a condition. BespokeAirsoft have a A&K Masada in their boneyard which has a snapped stock release, missing selector and is electrically dead and they want £150 for it which is a joke IMO.

If you don't want to fix anything and just want a RIF that works, then i'd suggest going for the ICS if you really want that Masada/ACR style of rifle.

Guess what? I ended up taking the last CXP APE, apparently the new version comes with metal piston and metal piston head, that usually was what I was changing immediately on every ICS to make it ready to a 11.1v.

hopefully will arrive before the weekend, really excited to try this out, it was the rif I always wanted, but then stopped playing!

Regarding the A&K ACR, which colour (black or tan) and barrel length (short or long) are you after?

I have just had a look at their boneyard.  Bloody hell!  The prices are ridiculous.

As said above, ended up taking the CXP APE, but I’m pretty sure I’ll buy a PTS MASADA one day, again ahah or a WE MSK.

There used to be two A&K Masadas on there, both at the same price but with different problems. They've actually sold one. IDK who's pricing their boneyard but I want a bit of what they're having.

texted almost everyone in the forum who was selling Acr style rifs! And either sold or no answers, so bought a brand new one!

Elephant in the room guys ??? ?, 

OP has owned the TM Aug previously, got on with it & it served him well, to me that's a no brainer, it's tm ffs, get that so you can start playing again, everybody knows you'll need a second gun for backup soon enough, thats the one to research a bit more & scour the classifieds for. 

The TM AUG HC served me very well and it was extremely rif to play with, as a secondary fun, might go for this or the amoeba bullpup I mentioned in the post! Even tho, the HC is super reactive even with a 7.4v and that’s what shocked me when I had it