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The price $423.00 + shipping brought the total to $500.25. Airsoftgi.com has the gun for $499.99. But the gun from Ehobbyasia has full trademarks. If that is not important to you then buy from ASGI or your favorite local retailer.
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Initial Impressions:
I am very impressed with the gun so far. It is beautifully finished and assembled. Two small issues. They lost/left out two screws for the scope mount caps (recieved 6 of 8). No matter the screws are too short if you use a Leupold Replica scope w/ 30mm tube. Luckily I had others available. Secondly, getting the orange flash hider off in one piece is impossible. I used a heat gun, hack saw and pocket knife and it was an ordeal. The metal Flash suppressor goes on nicely though. This touches on my only real disappointment with the gun. I wished ARES had included a suppressor like the new suppressor Knights Armament created for the real gun. The SR-25 MOD0 fielded by the Navy Seal Teams has a suppressor that clamps to the gas block. Many Airsoft SR-25 clones include one. However, neither G&P nor ARES, (the only M110 SASS, XM110 clones I am aware of) supply one.
The suppressors for the real guns are not identical. The new suppressors length is 14-1/8" while the old one is 12-1/4". The difference being the length of the flash hider on the M110 which was something the Army specified in procurement. This would require both ARES and G&P to produce a completely new suppressor. There is another problem with the ARES as far as a suppressor goes. On the real steel M110 the suppressor slips over the flash hider an locks on the gas block. This would indicate that the flash hider and gas block suppressor mount point are of the same diameter. The ARES flash hider is significantly larger than it's gas block suppressor mount point. If a suppressor would fit over the flash hider it would be too large to securely mount up to the gas block suppressor mount point.
If someone is to rectify this it would require providing a new flash hider with the suppressor that is the same diameter as the gas block suppressor mount point. If anyone's listening, I'd pay $100.00 for a properly built suppressor and flash hider.
Anyway, I digress.
After opening the box and inspecting the gun I was extremely impressed by the fit and finish of the ARES gun. The G&P XM110 is $100.00 more and they throw in a replica Leupold M3 scope. I can't imagine the fit and finish of their gun being any better. In fact their lower receiver does not have all of the ambi controls that the real M110 does but the ARES version has included them. I think one would be hard pressed to tell the difference if you sat a real M110 next to the ARES. Although I have yet to see a photo of an issue M110 with black controls, I do like the contrast.
The gas block was slightly loose but a twist of an Allen wrench tightened it up. Separating the upper from the lower requires you to remove a push pin in the front of the receiver, as it should. (both A&K and G&P use screws) you can then slide the upper off the lower.
All the Ambi controls function as they should. The bolt locks to the rear and can be released from either side of the gun. The magazine fits smoothly and firmly. Many AEGs require you to rub paint off the mags till they fit, not this one, mags lock in perfectly and drop free when released from either side.
The trigger response is excellent due to the built in Mosfet. Rate of fire was impressive on a 8.4/1300mah small battery. Gearbox wiring is excellent. The wires coming out of the back of the GB and through the stock are protected by a plastic sheath. Their are 2 quick disconnects on the motor side of the fuse assembly.
I have not chrono'ed the gun but will report back when I do. ASGI shows it to be 350-370 FPS.
NOTE: the hopup is attached to the gear box. To disassemble the hopup from the GB you will need to remove the GB from the lower and rotate the hopup/barrel assembly 90 degrees.
If you don't already know, this gun use a version 2 sized GB, not the elongated V2 most SR-25's use. This has pros an cons, parts are plentiful for the GB, but it causes the hopup feed nozzle to sit about an inch back from the front of the magwell. This is why the mags are proprietary. Whether the GB is proprietary, I'm not sure, it has a built in mosfet and an extension off the rear of the GB to facilitate the Quick Change Spring Feature. It is possible to change the spring on this gun in less than 10 mins.
Watch Below:
http://www.youtube.com/user/davkenre...18/-PPR_wMTgmQ
I had hoped to use a Shock Transfer System (http://v2fix.com/) on this gun but the hopup sits too far back from the front of the lower receiver.
Gearbox Internals:
I haven't disassembled my guns GB yet but I found a Japanese web site that had. I could not read it, even after using Google translate, the Japanese syntax made it difficult to understand but I did grab all the photos.
GB Comparison, the ARES is the black one.
Standard V2 GB in ARES Lower.
GB Hole Alignment.
Quick Change Spring Guide Feature
Closeup of ARES GB
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Looking through Hopup
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Piston Assembly
Inside GB Shell, Trigger Assm.
Empty Lower Rcvr, Ambi Controls
GB/Hopup barrel assm. w/ Spring and spring guide removed.
Complete Assembled Lower Rcvr.
Upgrades:
Tightbore barrel can't hurt
Looks like a ported Piston head might be in order
Along with a Polycarb piston
I'll know more after I dissemble the GB.
Magpul PRS Stock
Tangodown Bipod
