ARES?

[kalnaren]

Frankly if you're not doing something really stupid with your gun -like running a hot spring or high ROF setup without proper supporting components- even proprietary stock guns should last a good, long time.

In the 6 years I've been playing, the only internal part of an airsoft gun I've actually broken was the stock KWA cylinder head on the KWA G36, which was not an uncommon failure.

Hell, my 6 year old CA G36 is still running it's stock tappet plate. Some things WILL break eventually, but being a highcap n00b with today's really hot guns is a great way to prematurely break stuff.

[Regulator]

I own an ARES M4 SIR and I had the bolt release break. I contacted support and yes it took a few emails but they mailed me the part. I have no complaint about their service. I say buy the TAR21, and enjoy it.

[pitivier]

I have a L85 from ares and I play every time with it: solid and the quick change for the spring is very easy. No issue, very glad.

[SF_Chewy]

I have the TAR-21 (the standard ver. without the shitty MARS sight replica). It's ok. Overall the body is relatively solid, no wobbles. Relatively stock it has performed ok. Here are some thoughts I have about it:
- stock nozzle is poop, replace immediately with an M4 type (this will fix some compression issues
- there is an issue with the selector switch, sometimes it sticks. There is a post on airsoft mechanics that looks at this and has a solution. Otherwise you have to do the whole full then semi trick
- learn to hold the gun properly, otherwise you will hit the silly mag release a lot. Not cool in the middle of a firefight
- mech box design prevents certain types of pistons from fitting
- trigger has a mushy feeling. Not exactly my liking, but could be yours
- unique, proprietary hop up and trigger mechanism
- quick change spring is nice
- tension release feature is nice
- butt stock rubber gets worn easily

Have fun

[BluntlyDumb]

Thanks for everyone's responses, and my final decision is that I will be going with the TAR-21. Now to wait for pay day..
This should be an agonizing wait..

[Crunchmeister]

If you want a Tavor, then ARES is your only option. I've had a chance to try one out and they're nice guns. Didn't care much for the feel of the trigger (feels very toy-ish and soft). But otherwise, it was a nice gun. As far as I know, the owner hasn't had any issues with it
yet.

[McFearsom]

I've ran mine enough at this point to tell you that its been pretty solid thus far. I was at a hundred feet running a consistent 4-6 inch grouping. I have been nothing but pleased with it. No regrets in paying for this gun. Ares tar 21 +1

[g`fry]

+1 for ares. I'm a tavor owner and I love it. I've only had 3 issues with it.

-The mag release was too easy to hit... I kept bumping it with my gear so I cut about half of it off on the field. No more problems hitting it.

-The fire selector is annoying. I constantly bump the ambi-indicator when readying the weapon, which moves the fire selector part way between auto and semi... which in turns causes it to not fire, until I notice and bump it back into place. I'm sure there is a simple fix for this.

-Magazine compatibility. And I want to expand on this because I seem to see this come up a lot. This is NOT specific to Ares, despite what some of the more ignorant people on this forum might have you believe. This is the kind of problem you run into with all makes/models of airsoft guns. Tolerances in airsoft parts always leave much to be desired. With any airsoft gun this normally just turns into a process of elimination. I've only tried 2 makes so far. My greenbox pmag's have feeding issues. I got some King Arms mags which seem to be working better. I'd still like to try a few other magazines.
Unfortunately the King Arms mags have feeding problems with my KWA M4, (they also didn't work in a VFC M4 which is how I ended up with them). This whole thing about proprietary parts is rubbish. These guns are just as upgradable as others. Anybody saying otherwise is not worth your time.

Finally, Ares has great externals, AND great internals. The most important thing I think you can do is ensure that ANY Ares product you buy is the legally imported Canadian market version. The "Made For Canada" Ares products are built to run 400fps. They don't just toss a heavy spring in and then ship them out of China. They specifically engineer the gun to run at 400 fps, reliably. This is the same thing KWA does with their products. So when you replace the spring you're basically getting a fully upgraded gun. The only downside would be that because the gear ratios are designed for maximum torque you you'll have a slightly slower rate-of-fire than equivalent guns. I could say more but this is already far too long.

[Fuzzy]

On my Canadian specific Ares g36c, all that they did to make it shoot 430 fps was add a 1 cm spacer behind the spring. Everything else looked stock.

[THe_Silencer]

Originally Posted by g`fry

They don't just toss a heavy spring in and then ship them out of China. They specifically engineer the gun to run at 400 fps, reliably. This is the same thing KWA does with their products. So when you replace the spring you're basically getting a fully upgraded gun.

Care to Elaborate? Tavors coming out of China are already shooting 380+ FPS. G36s are shooting 400+. I can't imagine the extent of the upgrades that are supposedly being done to Ares and KWAs for the Canadian market that they are now being considered "basically fully upgraded".