Ares or Tanaka

[tanpanther]

If you were to choose between the Tanaka L96 or Ares AW338, which would you prefer? and state your reasons.
I've heard bad things about AW338 tho I'm not sure what is it, and I believe tanaka is a reliable brand for gas rifles.

[Amos]

I wouldn't choose either, Spring is the way to go for sniper rifles.

But, Tanaka's going out of buisness, so I'd choose the Ares.

[tanpanther]

I know tanaka was being sued for making revolvers that can fire live rounds, but I didn't know they went out of business :shock: Does this mean there will be no more tanaka replacement parts or any other tanaka products? much like what happened to asahi?

EDIT: I actually own a STAR AW338 (before the company rebrand as ares) but last week my rifle stopped shooting and something must have went wrong. So I'm thinking either I pay someone to help me repair it, or I could sell it (if anyone is interested getting a malfunction gas rifle) and get a tanaka L96 instead.
My AW338 was extremely solid and great quality build, externally it is the best airsoft sniper I ever own (I do own a couple high-end sniper rifles) so there are only two things that concerns me:
1. The availability or replacement parts, if anything goes wrong, some parts were broken, I can easily find replacement for it.
2. The performance of the rifle. I have skirimished with my AW338 a few times (the final game was last week, when the gun stopped shooting, I thought it jammed), I'd say the performance is fine, though I've never put to through serious tests, i'll be grateful if some experienced users out here have a detailed statistics regarding the rifle's performance.

[Skruface]

I have a Tanaka M700 AICS. With a few bucks in upgrades (tightbore, mag upgrades, perhaps a hopup upgrade if you really want), it is an AWESOME peice of kit. Not as consistant, FPS-wise, as a spring rifle, but I can load my second round with a flick of the wrist...and when you're concealed, you want the minimum amount of movement possible.

[tanpanther]

Originally Posted by Skruface

I have a Tanaka M700 AICS. With a few bucks in upgrades (tightbore, mag upgrades, perhaps a hopup upgrade if you really want), it is an AWESOME peice of kit. Not as consistant, FPS-wise, as a spring rifle, but I can load my second round with a flick of the wrist...and when you're concealed, you want the minimum amount of movement possible.

I'm not consider getting any spring sniper rifle, due the realism reasons and what you just mentioned.

[Skruface]

Well, there's a post somewhere on the board by Ilusion about his experiments with upgrading his AICS, trying to achieve consistency. His results were pretty good.

Honestly, I can say that I have never regretted trading for my AICS, and I gave up a sweet STAR L85A1 for it. The only thing I really dislike is the original hopup arrangement - IMHO you should never have the hopup adjuster exposed externally on a gun.

[LUTNIT]

Originally Posted by tanpanther

I'm not consider getting any spring sniper rifle, due the realism reasons and what you just mentioned.

Because its inconsistent and you can totally unrealistically reload? Have you ever pulled the bolt on a real rifle? There is a LOT more force required than on a gas airsoft bolt action. Also on an airsoft bolt action you can move the bolt just an inch and that cocks and loads a BB, on a real gun that wouldn't even eject the spent casing. The bolt pull on a spring rifle is harder than a real steel but a lot more realistic than a gas rifle, actually need to fully pull the bolt like on a real gun, not just a "flick of the wrist."

[tanpanther]

Originally Posted by Skruface

Well, there's a post somewhere on the board by Ilusion about his experiments with upgrading his AICS, trying to achieve consistency. His results were pretty good.

Honestly, I can say that I have never regretted trading for my AICS, and I gave up a sweet STAR L85A1 for it. The only thing I really dislike is the original hopup arrangement - IMHO you should never have the hopup adjuster exposed externally on a gun.

basically all tanaka rifles are built with the same system right? because I'm after the L96, so i'm not sure if any review on aics or other tanaka rifles can help.

Originally Posted by LUTNIT

Because its inconsistent and you can totally unrealistically reload? Have you ever pulled the bolt on a real rifle? There is a LOT more force required than on a gas airsoft bolt action. Also on an airsoft bolt action you can move the bolt just an inch and that cocks and loads a BB, on a real gun that wouldn't even eject the spent casing. The bolt pull on a spring rifle is harder than a real steel but a lot more realistic than a gas rifle, actually need to fully pull the bolt like on a real gun, not just a "flick of the wrist."

By realism, I meant the assemble of the gas rifle is far more realistic than a spring rifle. I understand how much advantages a spring rifle offer, you can pick it up cock the gun and shoot, no more gas to power it up (you know how much gas cost these days?) but my top prority is realism, nothing but gas rifles can offer.

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by tanpanther

basically all tanaka rifles are built with the same system right? because I'm after the L96, so i'm not sure if any review on aics or other tanaka rifles can help.

Generally... "sorta."

There is a much coveted Tanaka M700 gas bolt known as the "PCS", which stands for "Power Control System." It features an adjustable valve that allowed the user to fine tune the output from as low as 250fps on green gas/propane all the way up to 700fps by opening it completely.

After the Japanese government cracked down on Japanese guns that were capable of hitting high velocities, these bolts were no longer manufactured and there now only exists a "Domestic Version" bolt system, which is low powered to meet Japanese laws (and I'm assuming these are shipped to the UK as well), and there is the "Export Version" bolt system which would go to the rest of the world. However, this Export Version is still just a fixed bolt system - exactly the same thing as the Domestic version, but with the restriction removed. I believe the power of these rifles can hit around 500fps with propane/green gas.

A few lucky folks still have one of these PCS bolt systems which work on the same principles as all modern Tanaka rifles, except they have an added adjustable valve system in it to allow fine tuning of power.