Ares AST-01 Advice

7796 Views 30 Replies 6 Participants Last post by SiliconeSword, Mar 8, 2021

AirsoftAstra

Discussion Starter · Mar 2, 2021

Hello, I wanted some advice with the AST-01. I have heard mostly negative things about the AS-01, though have decided to get an AST because I want to snipe to have fun, and don't really care if it isn't the best performing rifle on the field. (Though I do want it to be good.) I am aiming for around 460-500 fps, if I can get it there. I plan on getting a new body pin, bucking, barrel, and cylinder to begin with. Ares makes a new "large" cylinder for the AS series ([CPSB-007]Upgraded C.P.S.B. for AS Series - Large) that comes with spring, guide, and piston included, and haven't heard anything about it online. My question was then what are some good bucking's that would work, what barrel's would be good, and if it is realistic to shoot for 500 fps (pun intended). was also wondering if I could get a shorter barrel but keep the long outer barrel or if that would cause problems. Thanks! (P.S., if anyone has a good guide for DIY mods like barrel spacers and where I would need teflon tape that would be appreciated.) Thanks!

1 - 20 of 31 Posts

SiliconeSword

· #2 · Mar 2, 2021

Alright.

If you want 500 FPS you'll want that cylinder, and a big spring, or HPA.
For barrels, I have a couple.
ESC Works 5.98X???
EdGi 5.98X???
Grizzly custom works 5.98X???
Action Army 6.01X???
Abd for buckings, the 2021 85° MR-hop is good.
For chambers, get the Action Army, and for a nub I would suggest the MASADA nub.

To put in a shorter inner barrel you just need barrel spacers, which you can make by wrapping painters tape around your inner barrel

Reactions: 1

AirsoftAstra

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 2, 2021

SiliconeSword said:
Alright.

If you want 500 FPS you'll want that cylinder, and a big spring, or HPA.
For barrels, I have a couple.
ESC Works 5.98X???
EdGi 5.98X???
Grizzly custom works 5.98X???
Action Army 6.01X???
Abd for buckings, the 2021 85° MR-hop is good.
For chambers, get the Action Army, and for a nub I would suggest the MASADA nub.

To put in a shorter inner barrel you just need barrel spacers, which you can make by wrapping painters tape around your inner barrel

Would a 5.98 or something like that require more maintenance and lose the wide bore advantages, or would I be fine. Also, is the MR-Hop bridged or not and if you don't mind explaining, what's the difference. What length barrel do you think I should go (stock is 550mm I believe), and do you think I would be fine without the Action Army hop up for now. (I'm on a budget but I plan on getting it later down the line.) Thanks for your help.

Skara

· #4 · Mar 3, 2021

SiliconeSword said:
Alright.

If you want 500 FPS you'll want that cylinder, and a big spring, or HPA.
For barrels, I have a couple.
ESC Works 5.98X???
EdGi 5.98X???
Grizzly custom works 5.98X???
Action Army 6.01X???
Abd for buckings, the 2021 85° MR-hop is good.
For chambers, get the Action Army, and for a nub I would suggest the MASADA nub.

To put in a shorter inner barrel you just need barrel spacers, which you can make by wrapping painters tape around your inner barrel

That is super wrong.

Do NOT buy anything from ESC, quality is abysmal.

Don't bother with the AA chamber, it's a bit hit and miss, in a lot of cases it leaked like crazy, I would rather keep the stock chamber and replace the arm with a GunSmithy one. Masada tensioner is a good option, if not, a standard ML Omega will do.
Maple Leaf rubbers are NOT compatible with bridged barrels, I would suggest an Action Army 6.03 x 300mm inner barrel, DIY spacers made of painter tape or printed and fill the void with foam/scotch brite/damping material. MR-Hop is (imo) the best rubber available right now. Failing that, I think the Modify X-Range series are decent rubbers.
Much than buying some dodgy super expensive, super tight bore barrel that requires cleaning every magazine fired.

The NEMO clone is hit and miss in quality, some are great, in some the guy who put them together forgot to weld the butt plate (yes, it happened more than once). Since you are going to get a shorter barrel, having an enlarged cylinder becomes useless (the NEMO has been designed to work with the long 500+ mm barrel)

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Reactions: 1

TenshouYoku

· #5 · Mar 3, 2021

No expert in what brand of barrels to use, but just to be here to correct that you will need 310mm, not 300mm barrels to fit into that outer barrel.

Also a NEMO clone is better (as long as the quality is decent) than a normie cylinder. Not wrong in more of dem air.

Skara

· #6 · Mar 3, 2021

TenshouYoku said:
No expert in what brand of barrels to use, but just to be here to correct that you will need 310mm, not 300mm barrels to fit into that outer barrel.

Also a NEMO clone is better (as long as the quality is decent) than a normie cylinder. Not wrong in more of dem air.

He's using the long 550 outer, so inner barrel length is irrelevant.
Even if he was using a short outer, 300mm fit well too (they just sit 1cm further back from the end, not a big deal as the spacer has plenty of room)

Reactions: 1

AirsoftAstra

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 3, 2021

Skara said:
He's using the long 550 outer, so inner barrel length is irrelevant.
Even if he was using a short outer, 300mm fit well too (they just sit 1cm further back from the end, not a big deal as the spacer has plenty of room)

I was wondering if the bb would curve up and hit the outer barrel, or is that not something I need to worry about. Also, how much does a new hop arm matter. Thanks for your help.

Skara

· #8 · Mar 3, 2021

AirsoftAstra said:
I was wondering if the bb would curve up and hit the outer barrel, or is that not something I need to worry about. Also, how much does a new hop arm matter. Thanks for your help.

New hop arm lets you use aftermarket tensioners like Masada, Skeees or ML Omegas. Also being made of aluminium it's much more constant in applying pressure than the stock plastic arm. On top of that, most "modern" rubbers rely on long-ish concave tensioners to work properly, having a single point of contact will make them work, but it's like feeding a Ferrari shit gas, it'll still go okay but it won't go Ferrari fast.

Regarding the BB, if you go for a 300mm barrel you have roughly 250mm of void inside the outer that the bb has to cover.. I'd say it's not an issue regardless of the speed at which the BB will clear that distance.
My VSR has about 13cm of internal suppression (430mm outer, 300mm inner) and so far not a single bb impacted the end cap, let alone the wall of the outer barrel. If you are worried that the end cap could cause any issue, just bore out the hole to 10/12mm and you'll be good

Reactions: 1

TenshouYoku

· #9 · Mar 3, 2021

Skara said:
He's using the long 550 outer, so inner barrel length is irrelevant.
Even if he was using a short outer, 300mm fit well too (they just sit 1cm further back from the end, not a big deal as the spacer has plenty of room)

My experience with the 300mm is that they just so happen to slightly miss the barrel end spacer and isn't centered with the stock outer barrel (aftermarket ones like the steel/carbon one works though), but that probably is me being unlucky as heck

AirsoftAstra

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 3, 2021

Skara said:
New hop arm lets you use aftermarket tensioners like Masada, Skeees or ML Omegas. Also being made of aluminium it's much more constant in applying pressure than the stock plastic arm. On top of that, most "modern" rubbers rely on long-ish concave tensioners to work properly, having a single point of contact will make them work, but it's like feeding a Ferrari shit gas, it'll still go okay but it won't go Ferrari fast.

Sorry for all the questions, I am a noob. What is a tensioner, and where does it go in relation to the bucking, nub, and arm. I know how a gbb hop up works, but that's about it. Thanks again.

Skara

· #11 · Mar 3, 2021

AirsoftAstra said:
Sorry for all the questions, I am a noob. What is a tensioner, and where does it go in relation to the bucking, nub, and arm. I know how a gbb hop up works, but that's about it. Thanks again.

tensioner=nub

Reactions: 1

AirsoftAstra

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 3, 2021

Thx. 😊

AirsoftAstra

Discussion Starter · #13 · Mar 3, 2021

Skara said:
tensioner=nub

Sorry, one more thing. Would I need a maple leaf omega if I got this, since it includes a tensioner/nub. Pro Strike Hopup Arm + Rubber Nub For Striker AS01/AS02

Skara

· #14 · Mar 3, 2021

AirsoftAstra said:
Sorry, one more thing. Would I need a maple leaf omega if I got this, since it includes a tensioner/nub. Pro Strike Hopup Arm + Rubber Nub For Striker AS01/AS02

looks like you don't as that nub is already concave.

AirsoftAstra

Discussion Starter · #15 · Mar 3, 2021

Here is what my final list will likely be:

AST-01: ARES Amoeba Tactical 'STRIKER' AST-01 Sniper Rifle - Black
Ares Large Cylinder: ARES Upgraded C.P.S.B Compact Power Spring Bolt for ARES 'STRIKER' Sniper Rifle Series - Large Volume
Gunsmithy Hop Up Arm and Tensioner/Nub: Pro Strike Hopup Arm + Rubber Nub For Striker AS01/AS02
Action Army 6.03 300mm Barrel: Action Army 6.03mm VSR-10 G-Spec Barrel 300mm
Barrel Spacers: DIY I think?
Extra's
Magazine: [AS-MAG-001]AMOEBA "Striker" 45RDS Magazine - Long
Hop Up Wheel: Action Army Amoeba Striker Hop Up Adjustment Wheel
and maybe a different chamber down the line. If there is anything wrong/ could be better please let me know and thanks for helping!

1tonne

· #16 · Mar 3, 2021

Skara said:
Since you are going to get a shorter barrel, having an enlarged cylinder becomes useless (the NEMO has been designed to work with the long 500+ mm barrel)

Barrel length depends on bb weight. Lighter bb's need longer barrels and heavier bb's need shorter barrels. So there is no set barrel length for the nemo kit. If someone has quotes 500mm, that could have been the highest fps they could get with 0.2gm bb's.

Reactions: 1

Skara

· #17 · Mar 3, 2021

Mags get the AS-02 ones, they hold the same amount of BBs but protrude less. Since they hold a fuckton of rounds anyway, you might want to look at AS-03 38 round mags, slightly less capacity but much smaller package (easier to store)
Hop wheel get the AS-02 one, every striker apart from the original AS-01 uses the gen 2 receiver, which means AS-02 parts

1tonne said:
Barrel length depends on bb weight. Lighter bb's need longer barrels and heavier bb's need shorter barrels. So there is no set barrel length for the nemo kit. If someone has quotes 500mm, that could have been the highest fps they could get with 0.2gm bb's.

The stock ratio on an AS-01/AST-01 is really bad, it's like 1.8:1 or around that mark which is barely enough for 0.25s.
A 300mm barrel will pump it up to 3.15:1 on a standard cylinder, much more workable for anything above 0.2s

it's why I recommended it, but since our friend is buying the NEMO knockoff, this doesn't really apply.
It was designed to work with the stock 550mm inner though.

Reactions: 1

1tonne

· #18 · Mar 3, 2021

What is the ratio with the nemo kit and a 500mm inner barrel?

These are the ratios I go off:
0.32gm bb = 2.36:1
0.36gm bb = 2.51:1
0.4gm bb = 2.67:1
0.43gm bb = 2.92:1
0.45gm bb = 3.13:1
0.48gm bb = 3.42:1

AirsoftAstra

Discussion Starter · #19 · Mar 5, 2021

I have gotten some new info from ARES. They said the cylinder volume is 27469.7, and uses a AS-SP450 Spring. According to Airsoft Tech Calculator, the ratio comes out to 3.21, which sounds much better than the stock volume. Does anyone know what BB Weight I should use, and what FPS I would be looking at with .2s. Thanks.

Skara

· #20 · Mar 5, 2021

AirsoftAstra said:
I have gotten some new info from ARES. They said the cylinder volume is 27469.7, and uses a AS-SP450 Spring. According to Airsoft Tech Calculator, the ratio comes out to 3.21, which sounds much better than the stock volume. Does anyone know what BB Weight I should use, and what FPS I would be looking at with .2s. Thanks.

That doesn't seem right.
The stock Striker cylinder volume is around 27k cubic millimetres IIRC, the NEMO/Clone must be a lot higher.
Do you have it at hand? can you measure the inner diametre and piston travel?

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