ARES Licensed MSR Bolt Action Spring Powered Sniper Rifle (Model: MSR-700 / Black)

"Copy-Pasta from my longer review over at AirsoftSniperForum:

Bought the gun new and didn't even test-fire it stock before gutting it.

I had bought the PDI Palosonite HD cylinder set before buying the gun due to stock numbers on the cylinder, last one from Red wolf, plus a Springer trigger to match. Had a massive air leak, pulled the orange plastic flash hider off to put my finger over the barrel and test.

Bpught the rest of my build list not sure where the leak was but did not want to deal with that further. Tested everything as I reassembled it, and after doing the finger test (finger on the end of the barrel, shoot, wait and see if compression holds) wrapped her up into a bow.

Literally getting 320' range with .48 even though (optimally with barrel vs cylinder volume) I should be running .4 or .43 (IE I still have some range to gain imo), effective on body-sized targets at 300' since I consistently shot through a door of a turret at 305' right through the middle where I aimed even though the opening is probably 2x human size.

I was honestly questioning it at the moment, not believing my eyes at that range since it can be hard to see (deff need to invest in a real scope now), but seemed like they were sailing right through the door which my fellow team member that was on the opposite team for the day later confirmed: Landed right where I put it with a load slap at the back wall.


300' seems to be the gold standard that everyone shoots for, I did it with my first BA build on the second build attempt with a gun many deemed unworthy to begin with so I could not be happier!

Love it, was my aesthetically favorite gun but now my favorite in all categories. I think it's going to make a BA-boi out of me. Heavy tho! I like the weight personally.

Parts list below:

PDI HD cylinder set (Palsonite Cylinder SET HD / For ARES AW338,MS338 – AIR SOFT GUN CUSTOM PARTS SHOP)
PDI spring but forgot which, was aiming for 500 FPS and only slightly over at 2.4J
Springer V3 trigger (Springer Custom Works - Airsoft sniper parts I S-trigger MSR338/MS700)
stock hop unit
custom one piece concave nub (Ares MSR(338/700) Hop Up Arm STL [Release] , orbits .4s so I plan to edit it a bit hopefully even though I am 3D design noob....)
PDI 6.01 460mm barrel (6.01 INNER BARREL(VSR) – AIR SOFT GUN CUSTOM PARTS SHOP)
Elvishtac R hop patch (R-Hop Modify Baton Flat-Hop Bucking Hard Type S-Nub Airsoft RHop Hopup Nub | eBay)
Modify flat VSR bucking (Modify Sora R-Hop Bucking for VSR-10 Airsoft Rifles & ...https://www.evike.com › products)
Teflon tape around where the front of the bucking and barrel meet, sandwiched in the stock hop unit which is great for that
Made sure piston stayed back when I shot and had my finger over the barrel end, main issue with the V1 build it wouldn't seal worth a damn

"A disclaimer first. This is my opinion of the Msr 700 black you may feel differently about it. I have to say out of the box you can feel the power radiating from it. It’s around 9lbs so prepare to get a little more strong carrying this bad boy around the field. I got it the night before I got to use it on the field, so I popped a bipod, a 16x40mm scope, and spray painted that horrible orange tip. Mag says 75 rounds, but don’t believe that since it’s brand new. Pretty effective on the field as long as you stick with team mates. This gun is a solid build (besides the silly hop up placement) and good but won’t make you a god. I wanted to feel the full effect of the weapon so I didn’t go with a pistol. Only a ghillie and the rifle. I must say I managed to survive the game even hitting a Marshall in the gut on accident (he really felt it)

Pros:
Solid build
All eyes are on you
Pretty good range out of the box (380fps with .3s)
Good weight to keep stable
Makes you strong (I didn’t put a sling on)
Foldable stock for carrying or storage
Hits hard

Cons:
Heavy for most players
Holds around 60 rounds (new spring so it’s ok)
Horrible hop up placement
That orange tip covers a large portion of the front
A little pricey

In closing, would I recommend this rifle? Probably not if you can get your hands on a VSR10 (which I have one) and possibly get it upgraded. If you just love the look of it and are pretty willing to stay as a solid attack force of five to seven players go for it. I give it a 4 simply because it’s a nice rifle that can effectively deal out long range precision shots at the enemies. It loses points for the little things that could easily be over looked.

"Badass gun brings back memories of the old MW3 days. But buyers beware. Pros: it’s cool looking, feels good in my hands. Cons of the gun: heavy gun, for me the bolt won’t go all the way back and lock in place (could have have a faulty one), it double feeds like crazy for me cause of my bolt, wouldn’t recommend in a gun fight unless you get it to shoot correctly. But it could just be mine guns.

"Buy it for looks, buy something else for function.

Pros:
solid build
looks great

Cons:
Almost 12 pounds
Breaks easily
Walmart quality stock parts
Upgrades hard to find

Let me save you the trouble...
Needs a new barrel ($105)
Needs the steel cylinder upgrade kit ($95)
Needs a new bucking and nub ($7 and $11)
Needs half a dozen replacement sears (their steel sears wear out quickly ($8 each)....if you can find them
Needs an upgraded and almost impossible to find trigger assembly (in order to avoid ordering so many sears...$150)

Just know that they go through trigger sears like crazy and if you want it to perform as good as it looks.z ""
;

"Hope this review helps anyone looking for a cool looking gun. Sorry for the long read....

Pros:
1. Looks cool
2. Decent stock internals (minus hop-up design)
3. Heavy/sturdy

Cons:
1. Absolutely worst hop-up design in the history of bad airsoft ideas (see below)...
2. Heavy
3. Pricy for what you actually get (gun only)
4. No designated upgradable parts. If you want to upgrade you have to research and do the work yourself. Some custom work required - especially since novritch quit selling his upgrade kit for it.


I would like to start by saying that I bought this gun cause I was looking for something a little different than your normal every day gun - like the VSR-10 or M40 series. To me the review on this gun is pretty accurate. It really does look cool and is mostly sturdy. On sturdy the only real disappointment is the folding stock is kind of wobbly when locked open unless you put a bushing or something there (like thick tape or something). But the gun really is heavy to lug around. Especially for a game.
As for the price, the stock internals and style of gun are not worth the $400+ for the gun. Its worth maybe $300 - and that's a really heavy maybe. Why, you ask? The hop-up and lack of marketable upgrades make it so. Sure there are some parts you can interchange from the VSR-10 line and others...but the problem is you have to find them yourself. As for the hop-up it really is the worst design ever. ARES made the hop-up with a long adjustable screw-key and has to stay in the top, middle of the gun at all times. It sits right in the middle of your scope/optics (totally unrealistic) and obstructs even the top view (if you have iron sights above or below a scope). You can see through a scope, but otherwise it looks stupid and is in the way. Not to mention if you accidentally hit something and bend the key or strip the small screw threads. And there are no replaceable keys that I can find on the market. I took to re-drilling the hop-up adjustment holes and using the striker hop-up knob (with a lot of modifications). That was a lot more work than I bargained for though. ARES seems to have a knack for making cool looking guns; just without good working, game-play functionality.

All in all I give it a 2 out of 5. I would have given it a 1 but the weight and looks have to count for something. If ARES had put a little more thought and effort into this product (and others of theirs...) it would have been worth double the price to me. But they really dropped the ball on a marketable, upgradable, field functioning product. If I had known how much work I would have needed to put into this to make it what I was hoping for I would not have bought it. Again it looks great and feels great. But that's about as good as it gets.

"Don't buy!!! This is trash the price is absured and the only thing your paying for is the carrying case and the collapse ability. The fps is low for a rifle and the range is less than 175ft. Tested at the Range. The bolt action constantly jams.