1st gen Ares Shrike feedback??

Afternoon Gents,

Anyone have experience with one of these belt fed uppers behind the M16?? Looking at a used unit but said to be in excellent condition & honestly didn’t even know a belt fed upper was even available for the M16/AR receivers…nor do I have any sort of window of value other than a quick look & finding NIB pricing. What would you guys consider fair??

Having never shot or even fondled anything belt is there anything I need to consider or any comments regarding reliability going FA with this set up?? Honestly, it kinda falls into more of a novelty arena & wouldn’t consider it on a semi, but if I can pick it up at a price point where I can always get out of her without getting pinched too bad…at least I can say I owned a belt fed at one time. :cool:

Many thanks!!

I have some experience with one. In order to get it to work from the belt in FA, I needed a heavy buffer and I believe sprinco red spring. It also needed to be ran wet, well oiled.
From the magazine, no problems.

Thank you. I’m currently running a H2 & I think a tactical spring (blue) & will look into the suggested…this unit I’m looking at is an early production & while not a ton of 411 out there I am seeing some mention of different gens. I have a call into Ares just to confirm there are no obsolete parts / changes & I’ll have support if any issues. Not sure how much I’ll use it, but the $2k asking price seems reasonable & it appears really clean.

Any suggestions or comments regarding the use of belts in general or anything to keep an eye on?? I’m guessing the links can get damaged on occasion & cause a failure in the feeding if not visualized during assembly.

I would say just keep them well lubed, not rusty. I found that when wet, the gun loved to run. When dry… Not so much.

Thanks gang…picked it up today. Ares is sending me the extended bolt catch so it will matt & went ahead & got their heavier spring as recommended earlier. Looking forward to playing with her & appreciate the responses.

I’m already one of those who have always run these platforms over wet & responses are much appreciated!