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

[Valdorian]

I'm not sure where Fiddich got his from, but I know you can get them from http://www.airsoftatlanta.com.

 

I've personally bought here multiple times with no problems, but as you said, not sure why you'd want another plastic cylinder.

[Airsoft-Ed]

Yeah I thought there'd be some places that sold it overseas.

I'm not really prepared to import from the US, the customs fees are ludicrous.

[Fiddich]

I got mine right from PDI. Their website is www.x-fire.org Up in the right corner is a link for the English version of their site. The palsonite cylinder is really nice. Much better than the silver one the gun comes with.

 

I still would like to get a suppressor on the end of the barrel. Not sure if anyone has tried anything to make something work....????

 

Also, I haven't had any issues with my feed mechanism. Haven't gamed it yet thanks to our wintery weather, but the target shots have fed flawlessly.

[Valdorian]

Finally received mine in the mail, interestingly, it has a couple of things I was not expecting. First, it came with an extra spring....an M120 to be exact. Not sure why, did yours come with this Ed? Also, do you know what the stock spring is? Second, mine came with a different tip rather than the awesome muzzle break yours has. I'd like someone to take a look at these pics and tell me if this tip looks removable...it should be cause there are no threads on the orange part that I can see, and I can't see past that to the actual barrel to see if it's threaded.

 

 

 

After testing, I have to agree how pathetic this gun is. Won't fire unless I basically point it straight down. Have half a mind to call and get my money back...

[M_P]

Probably a stupid question, but have you tried twisting it?

[Valdorian]

Probably a stupid question, but have you tried twisting it?

 

Lol no worries, and yes I have, albeit not very hard. I'm always afraid of breaking something when I first get a new gun .

[Airsoft-Ed]

The awesome muzzle break on mine does screw off, and it has a thread on the muzzle break itself too, so you probably just need to twist it a little harder and hope for the best. Kinda lame it doesn't come with it though =[ I think it's one of the best features of the gun lol.

 

Mine only came with 1 spring, but it came shooting at 400fps on the dot, which sounds pretty M120ish to me.

[Valdorian]

Thing is, from other pictures I've seen of this gun, it looks like the muzzle break is supposed to go ON TOP of the orange tip of my gun....which doesn't add up since there are no threads there...

[Fiddich]

I find you have to fill the mag up entirely to get good feeding.

[Airsoft-Ed]

Thing is, from other pictures I've seen of this gun, it looks like the muzzle break is supposed to go ON TOP of the orange tip of my gun....which doesn't add up since there are no threads there...

It would go on top yeah... I'll have to get a photo up of mine with the muzzle break off, see if that helps anything.

 

It looks metal, is it? Have you tried just straight up pulling on it? Maybe it's just slid on over the threads? If your's is feeding like a POS out of the box then I would send it back. I had some mag fitment issues with mine, and slapping them in broke a part of the feeding mech, which is when it started being shit, but since I'd broken it, I couldn't return it...

 

That said, I've DIY'd the piece that broke and it's still not feeding right.

 

I find you have to fill the mag up entirely to get good feeding.

 

Tried that, thing with doing that as well, is that the more BBs there are in the mag, the more careful you have to be about accidentally touching the release button, 'cos if you do you'll lose even more BBs than if you'd under-filled it.

 

I plan to experiment with metal washers and unscrewing all the screws a bit, see if I can adjust the sitting height of the mag in relation to the feed tube.

 

Not going to bother until I've got some upgrades though. Just bought a full upgrade set for £50 second hand, so fingers crossed I see an improvement or I'm going to be insanely depressed.

[Fiddich]

Something you might want to try is changing the spring in the hop-up unit feed blocker thingamajiggy.

 

So...hyper unique upgrade.....Viperskins for the AI chassis. I'm not sure about fitment but god damn its almost worth a try at the very least. Ares says it's 1:1 with the real steel..or almost...so I'm a little concerned about buying something that just might not work at all. Anyone here heard of someone trying one of these?

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

I bought the gun for its aesthetics out of the box, I personally think that body kit looks utterly hideous.

 

In that picture it's also a Remington 700 that's sat in the stock, not an L96 derivative, so I'd be doubtful of it fitting. Especially the mags.

 

Good call on the hop unit blocker spring thingy though, that might be up for modification. Clipping it a bit might sort my issue out.

[M_P]

The rifle in that picture's stock is and updated AICS by The looks of things, which as Ed said isn't for the l96/aw.338

[Chris j]

Hi all, created an account so I can join in this topic. Had my gun now for about 2 months bought the ares upgrade kit. Played 2 games all be it with a 170 spring. Sear broke 2nd game in. Hoped they would have lasted a bit longer. Any idea if vsr sears fit in this gun? Oh and as yet had no probs with the mag.

 

Cheers chris

[M_P]

Post an image of them we'lllet you know.

[Airsoft-Ed]

I've bought some upgraded VSR sears anyway, so once they've arrived I'll let you know if they fit. I've still not opened up the trigger mech though, so I hope it's not too complicated.

[M_P]

If its anything like a vsr's ed, it'll be a doddle. Nothing even to spring out and lose or anything as all parts are held in under the springs retention.

[Chris j]

This is the sear that's gone, will a vsr sear fit?

[M_P]

As I can't measure both to check I can't be one hundred % sure. BUT it does look identical so I would assume its the same.

[Airsoft-Ed]

Looks the same to me:

 

http://www.actionhobbies.co.uk/VSR-BAR10-Steel-Sear-Set_A11N5R.aspx#.UVWSz1uAuFc

[Fiddich]

It does look a lot like the VSR sear. I've got some Speed Airsoft ones in the shop that look exactly like that.

[Airsoft-Ed]

So as an update, I received the parts today.

 

Springs, pistons, spring guides - all fit.

 

VSR sears do not fit, and cylinder heads don't fit either, as the Ares cylinder has different threading. However, if someone else finds that VSR cylinders fit, then obviously the cylinder heads will too.

 

I also tried to sort out the feeding issue by sticking some washers around all the screws to adjust the height of the feed tube in relation to the mag, in an attempt to make the holes line up better - I failed. It wasn't down to lack of trying either. I went bloody mental for over an hour trying about 500 different combinations, different numbers of washers on different screws.

 

No joy.

 

I also encountered an issue I'd previously forgotten to mention, which is that when the bolt is to the rear, BBs can fall out of the back of the hop unit into the area the bolt fills when it's forwards. Meaning when you push the bolt back forward BBs get caught between the hop unit and the cylinder head, getting crushed to buggery in the process, as well as preventing you from pushing the bolt full forward without forcing it, which then ruins your air seal, prevents proper loading of the next shot (if it's even working properly anyway) and most annoyingly, can't be fixed without dismantling the gun and taking the barrel off.

Which wouldn't be so bad if you had faith it wasn't going to then happen again immediately upon trying to use the gun again.

 

All I can say is that this is the single worst gun I've ever owned and it has become an exceedingly expensive (£550 with the scope, mags and upgrade parts) useless, wall hanger.

 

I've emailed JDAirsoft, where I bought it from, and if they'll take it, I'm going to return it for a refund.

 

If they won't, I will murder everyone on this continent.

[TPI]

*Switly Leave's continent*

[Fiddich]

Phew....I'm across the pond and then across some more land mass.

[Styrmirsson]

Hello Ed, and followers of this topic... I am a fellow from Turkey.

I recently bought a ASG .338 AW this monday, which is a rebrand of your Ares .338 spring,
anyway, ill come to the point,

 

( its equiped with a 3-9x40 scope ) ( also bloody thanks on the info about tightening bolt/cocking indicator screws , i thought it got busted, you made me relieved a lot with that info and your disassembly info's )

i will play & chrono it this sunday , tho, with turkey currency it got to me about 1000 liras ( 370 pounds ) and i want it to last long, have good performance and durability...
as much as i can say, i finished about 400 rounds , ( 200 .20bb, and 200 .28bb ) without any chambering problems ( after 50 rounds, remaining 20 in feeding tube doesnt chamber , same as yours, so i am just shooting 50 and reload after )and after reading your review, i got quite sad, I am a big fan of this L96-155 platform and, I want this to be my fav-main loadout ... Our airsoft regulations for spring sniper rifles is about 550 fps, min shooting distance for 25 meters and max for 100-120 meters ( im not good with imperial systems )

what would you advice me to do ?

what i can think of is a new spring and a spring guide with new piston , a tight-bore barrel for accuracy and thats about it right ?
would a stronger (1.6-1.8 joule ) spring blow my trigger away ?
and since i am new to sniping, what does this Sear group does ? whats its importance, and would stock spring and sear get damaged as i play with it ? How much compatibility does this merchandise have with VSR group parts ? and how good it is straight out of box ?

Thanks for your time and advices , in advance.

cheers,
Styrmir

 

 

PS : This is my toy

 

 

PPS: Forgot to add : 25m practice shoots after zeroing is about 5 shots to the 5cm diameter, didnt tried farther, but 10m grouping 5shots to 2cm as well.