Comprehensive Ares AW .338 spring version (MSR-006/7/8) review.

[Liam Porter]

Taken a few pictures now I'm home to show how it goes, this is in my M16, but it's the same for pretty much any gun;

R-Hop patch on its own:

http://i.imgur.com/MR1tSwN.jpg

Hop rubber with the inside 'nub' removed:

http://i.imgur.com/DpI53MA.jpg

And the R-Hop patch over the hop window on the barrel:

http://i.imgur.com/dgeZSAB.jpg

Then you just put the hop rubber on as normal, and use a flat, wider and longer nub rather than the regular rounded ones.

 

I got the R-Hop patches from AirLab, here; http://www.air-lab.co.uk/products/hop-up/z-kit.html

You get three slightly different ones, with different outer and inner diameters, for different barrel fittings in different guns, but with careful filing using really fine sandpaper, you can get any patch to fit pretty much any gun quite easily, so if you get them and intend on only putting in one gun, then use the one that is second best fit first, as I messed up the best fitting one first try.

[Airsoft-Ed]

What are they made of? I don't see how the same couldn't be achieved by just using a particular nub with a specific shape or something. £12 seems pretty mental for some minuscule slivers of rubber. You'd have thought they'd at least provide the buckings with the nub parts pre-removed or something too.

[Fiddich]

So got the flash hider off...its not threaded at all. Its just a sleeve. Hopefully PDI will come out with one sooner rather than later.

[ScotlandSniperCB]

Hi Airsoft-Ed,

 

Firstly, thank you for your review on this rifle!

 

Like yourself, i love the looks of this rifle and bought it at an impluse without considering the upgrade and internal implications!

 

Taking this into account, i still want to proceed with some upgrades! I have spoke to people on other forums and some stores and from what i gather the rifle has some possible upgrades but maybe you could confirm if its worth putting this stuff into the rifle?

 

- PDI Barrel (Specifically for the Ares .338) However i am unceratin if i wish to get the 6.01mm or 6.05mm barrel?

- Raven Cylinder Set for Ares .338 (According to someone else i spoke to "You can use any normal piston and spring guide once you have the Raven cylinder"

- Would it be worth putting the VSR Metal piston in this?

 

What else would you put in this rifle?

 

One other thing, could you confirm if the barrel that was standard to this rifle is 6.03mm?

 

Thanks

Cb

 

P.S, i see your hoping to get a suppressor for yours, check this out.. http://www.airsoftsniperforum.com/44-others/6625-ares-338-255-mm-234-mm-suppressor.html

[Airsoft-Ed]

The barrel is an standard L96 cut, so there's no need to get the PDI 6.05 Ares specific one. I was going to get the 6.01 version but it was out of stock.

 

I've no idea what the stock barrel diameter is, I have a VSR compatible piston and spring guide fitted from ASPUK and the accuracy did go up as a result. No other changes though.

 

The Raven cylinder set is intended for 350fps set ups, which is a useless fps to have a sniper set to, so I'd give that a miss. Though bar the spring and related internal parts, the cylinder and cylinder head are probably better quality than the stock ones. I just don't think it's worth the price just for those components.

 

I'm planning on replacing everything, barrel, hop, cylinder head, cylinder, spring, piston, spring guide, trigger components/whole trigger. All to the highest spec possible.

 

At the minute it's looking like getting the actual Ares parts might be the best way forward though. I just can't find anywhere in the universe that sells them.

[ScotlandSniperCB]

"I'm planning on replacing everything, barrel, hop, cylinder head, cylinder, spring, piston, spring guide, trigger components/whole trigger. All to the highest spec possible"....

 

Would this be when the related parts come out, or is their stuff currently on the market that you can replace these too?

[Airsoft-Ed]

Once Ares specific parts are made. Sorry, ought to have specified.

 

Coming from a sniper forum I'd have thought you'd know more than me though tbh! This is my first spring rifle as well.

 

The trigger unit especially is beyond help at the moment. I've shelved mine because if the trigger packs in it's game over.

[ScotlandSniperCB]

Apparently, someone on the sniper forum said this to me, dont know if you agree with it thought..

 

"In terms of internal upgrades, the things you can upgrade are the inner barrel and cylinder. PDI makes inner barrels specifically for the AW338, 6.05 and 6.01. They also have a Raven cylinder set specifically for the AW338. No major parts are VSR-compatible which is why the PDI Raven Cylinder set for the AW338 only fits into this specific gun. You can however use any normal piston and spring guide once you have the Raven cylinder."...

 

Would using the cylinder with a new spring and piston not improve the fps from the 350 set up you speak of?

 

And have you tried the barrel for the L96? Also according to someone on the sniper forum, the barrel is visually the same but the "Notches" that lock onto the hop up are about 2mm of a difference... "the notches on the barrel didnt match the hop up chamber, they were about 2mm off. All I did was file off the locking tabs on the hop up chamber and then the barrel fit in fine. I added teflon tape around the bucking and barrel to keep it stable as hving no locking tabs allows the barrel to rotate freely."

[Airsoft-Ed]

You could get the Raven cylinder and get a new spring and piston for it, but the Raven cylinder is about £100 and the only part of the set I'd want would be the cylinder and the cylinder head, the spring, piston and guide it come with would be dead to me, so spending so much for 2 out of a 5 part set just seems stupid. I thought I'd made that relatively clear in my last comment.

 

I have a twist barrel cut for an L96 which fit fine and worked as it should. So any other L96 cut barrel ought to also fit.

 

Unless the person you were talking to on the sniper forums owns the gun and has tried fitting the barrel they're on about, I think it stands to reason that they're not a good source of info. The notches on the barrel are for the hop rubber, they don't lock into the barrel in anyway. The Hop grabs the barrel and then the hop unit grabs the rubber. They're the only retention pieces acting on the inner barrel.

 

Things I know are VSR compatible have been listed above in past comments;

Piston

Spring

Spring guide

Piston sear

Hop rubber

Hop arm

 

Everything else (trigger unit, trigger sear, spring guide stopper, the actual hop unit itself) with the exception of the PDI cylinder set, either has no alternatives available, or in the case of the barrel, is TM L96 compatible.

[ScotlandSniperCB]

Thanks Mate

 

Ordered a barrel today and the firely hop rubber, hopefully these will work.

 

Will hopefully buy the rest towards the end of the month and swap them out

[Fiddich]

Hey guys, so I bought a PDI VSR piston sear.......and........installed it. It works fine as far as I can tell. No hang ups or anything. I ant speak for other brands per se, but the PDI one fit with no problems. Now that said, who can say they are 100% sure the trigger sear is VSR 10 compatible?

[ScotlandSniperCB]

Hi Fiddich,

 

Can you link me to the sear you installed? And according to Airsoft-ED the VSR Trigger sear is 100% Compatible.

 

Both myself and Ed had a chat, here seems to be the conclusion!

 

"Ok, so i think that was just a mix up then. The piston sear fits fine however the trigger sear doesnt" (Unless anyone can say otherwise)

 

 

 

Here is also something that you all might be interested in.. only released this week http://www.actionsportgames.com/products-search-248.aspx?productid=17463@@SHOP1

[Airsoft-Ed]

Hey guys, so I bought a PDI VSR piston sear.......and........installed it. It works fine as far as I can tell. No hang ups or anything. I ant speak for other brands per se, but the PDI one fit with no problems. Now that said, who can say they are 100% sure the trigger sear is VSR 10 compatible?

It was a screw up on my terminology about the trigger sear, I got it mixed up with the piston sear.

 

I edited my last post to display the correct info.

[Fiddich]

Dammit......now I gotta change my order yet again with x-fire. hahah....

 

RE: that link...

 

I'm thoroughly impressed with the PDI kit and I'm not a fan of the shiny cylinder. I'd really like to see a complete trigger done by PDI....but alas....one can hope.

 

Has anyone heard news about the CO2 kit for these rifles?

[Airsoft-Ed]

That ASG kit looks like a nice find, might see if my regular site can get one in for me.

 

Shame it only comes with an M130 though, how useless is that? The rifle's almost at 425 fps from the box.

[Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies]

Ah,the ASG Kit for the Ashbury? I was just going to recommend that! I think it actually comes with an M150.

 

Just to clarify,this is the kit you're talking about,right?

http://www.airsofteire.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=1217&category_id=171&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26

[Airsoft-Ed]

No.

 

Although now you're reminded me that the Ashbury is also licensed by ASG and is based on a rifle of .338 calibre, I'm unsure whether it's actually even for the AW or the Ashbury...

[Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies]

It's for the Ashbury,made by VFC which is similar in design to the ares 338.

Maybe it will fit,but it's not really worthwhile to risk it to buy it on-line. I live near AirsoftEire and I can ask about it,maybe it does fit the Ares 338.

[M_P]

The ashbury bits are vsr spec, so won't all fit the ares.

[Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies]

Ah,I see,Ares pulled an Ares. Gonna actually read Ed's review and check on compatibility.

[Fiddich]

My teammate has the Ashbury 338 and the upgrade kit. The trigger won't fit, that's a given, none of the current triggers on the market will...but I'll try the cylinder tomorrow when I'm at the shop.

 

Cheers

Mike

[Fiddich]

Also, one of my distributors has informed me they now have the co2 bolt for the aw338 in stock.

[ScotlandSniperCB]

Hi,

 

Here is the link for the ASG kit http://www.actionsportgames.com/products-search-248.aspx?productid=17463@@SHOP1

 

It is specficically for the Ares/ASG .338

 

Cheers,

Cb

[Shaady]

Hi guys!!

I want to know is one reinforced 2nd exist for the aw338 ares spring?

http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/pdi-reinforced-2nd-sear-for-marui-vsr-10-1.html

Is this sear compatible?

Thank you a lot !

[Airsoft-Ed]

Yes, it'll fit.