Ares M4 Gearbox shell failure

[straffham]

I bought an Ares M4A1 in 2010, brand new, from Action Hobbies as a back-up weapon in case my primary gun went down. Its had about a dozen skirmishes since then and still looks pretty much as new. Never had any issues with it, nor has it been upgraded in any way. Even the microswitch trigger works fine.

 

However, took it out of the box the other day and found it was down on power. Took the upper receiver off and a couple of pieces of metal fell out. Not good I thought! Looking at the gearbox casing/shell, the metal has fractured in several places on both halves of the shell just ahead of the cylinder, around the cylinder head, to the extent pieces were loose and would fall off. The metal here is unbelievably thin but it looks more like a case of metal fatigue / poor manufacture than stress fractures. Either way its bad on a 4yr old gun which hasn't had a lot of use. So it now needs a new gearbox shell. (See WANTED / PARTS if you can help or PM me)

 

Being a copy of its Star predecessor, does any one know where I can get a replacement shell (its different to most V2 boxes as it has a quick change spring facility, and of course the widely unliked microswitch.

 

Failing this has anyone dropped a standard V2 box into a Star/Ares M4, and was it straighforward?

 

Cheers,

Martyn.

[straffham]

Not had much luck with this, I've heard that backup with Star/Ares is lamentable in the past and this seems to be the case. Firesupport said to try Action Hobbies, Wolf Armouries or failing that Hong Kong! Neither of the Uk retailers mentioned nor Redwolf have the gearbox shell in stock and I can only assume from their reply that Firesupport don't hold any hope of restocking them.

 

I have just contacted Ares direct via their website so will see if anything comes of that . . . . .

[dex]

You could get a cheap/second hand v2 shell and see if it fits. I wouldn't want to throw another Ares one in there.

[straffham]

You could get a cheap/second hand v2 shell and see if it fits. I wouldn't want to throw another Ares one in there.

 

I'm inclined to think that may be the only way. I do have a spare V2 shell so will see if it fits if Star don't reply (pretty much what I'm expecting). The Ares M4 has various non standard V2 features though outside of the gearbox so I'm not sure how these will fit against a standard version hence wondering if anyone had done the conversion before.

 

Needless to say I'm now firmly in the "Don't buy a Star/Ares gun" camp!

[dex]

Needless to say I'm now firmly in the "Don't buy a Star/Ares gun" camp!

 

Its a pretty crowded camp...

[straffham]

Actually had a reply from Ares confirming I want a V2 case as opposed to full gearbox, no prices yet though.

 

So, if I'm going down the replacement route, Specna Arms do complete V2 gearboxes with 8mm bearings for around £50; are these anygood?

[straffham]

Actually had a reply from Ares confirming I want a V2 case as opposed to full gearbox, no prices yet though.

 

So, if I'm going down the replacement route, Specna Arms do complete V2 gearboxes with 8mm bearings for around £50; are these anygood?

http://gunfire.pl/product-eng-1152202321-Complete-v-2-Enter-Convert-TM-gearbox.html This is what I had in mind.

[ak2m4]

hey mate, I've got QD complete gearboxes on my site, also gearbox shells designed on the ARES model.

 

http://www.ak2m4.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=1_10

 

These may suit your needs, however you may just want to buy a drop-in like the one on Gunfire which is more standard etc.

 

Give me a shout if interested and I'll sort you out with some forum prices only :-)

[straffham]

hey mate, I've got QD complete gearboxes on my site, also gearbox shells designed on the ARES model.

 

http://www.ak2m4.co.uk/index.php?route=product/category&path=1_10

 

These may suit your needs, however you may just want to buy a drop-in like the one on Gunfire which is more standard etc.

 

Give me a shout if interested and I'll sort you out with some forum prices only :-)

 

Cheers for that, could be just the job, not heard of your website before tbh so thanks for letting me know. Ref the ZCI QD shell does it come with trigger and contact switch/wiring as the photo implies?

 

Edit: just read the full description which confirms it does!

Edited May 23, 2014 by straffham

[straffham]

Had prices from Ares finally, USD60 for the M4 shell or USD73 posted airmail - and then the lottery of how much extra I get ripped off for customs and admin fees when it arrives!

 

So - Ares can take a jump, thanks to ak2m4 for another possible route I'm looking into now.