So far 300 trouble free rounds through the ARES on my wifes 11.5" SBR.
I zeroed the Aimpoint and irons last night on my the loaner Bushmaster gas piston my boss gave me to T&E. I fired 150 rounds through it last night, not problems thus far. He gave it to me for a 1K round T&E. Compared to the ARES on the 11.5" this Bushmaster has a lot of felt recoil. I even added a AKConcepts DNTC to make the comparison more equal.
Hey M4, does that piston in the bushmaster look like a POF piston set-up? Chrome lined sleeve, no spring, etc.
Yes. It’s POF parts assembled by Bushmaster IIRC.
That Bushy bolt carrier doesn’t look like a POF one. It also doesn’t look like the key is even dovetailed in (from the angle of the pic anyway). The Leitner-Wise and the POF ones are dovetailed in and the Ares is part of the carrier. If screws are the only thing holding the key in place it may shear off over time with repeated battering by the push-rod. That was the major downfall of the old Rhino system from the 80’s.
Thanx man. 
This Bushmaster has the 1st gen POF carriers, the new ones have the key integral with the carrier like ARES. A few of the early POFs that some of our customers had trouble with had carriers like this. The newest ones (integral) run very well.
That is a very nice set-up!
We shot the ARES equipped upper yesterday on a Oly M16 and it worked for about 300 rounds and started short stroking, and then I noticed that the roll pin had gone AWOL, we stopped shooting it after that. The combination of a H buffer, AKConcepts DNTC and the ARES makes for a very controllable M16. I could keep all my rounds at 150yds in about a 2ft group will all 30 rounds shot in one long burst. The Bushmaster is still running fine. I put another 150 rounds through it as well.
Try putting a spacer to fill the gap in front of the gas tube, or try another front site base that fits the device tightly.
how hard was the install or the Ares system?
I had the same issue. To make a long story short, I ended up putting my old barrel back on because the gas holes didnt line up (from spigot to barrel), and the gas tube hole in the FSB was to large (in diameter) for the stem of the spigot. Now it cycles just fine, and everythings GOOD.
I took the upper apart today looking at it and discovered that the front end of the op rod got bent. This probably occured after the roll pin went AWOL which more than likely allowed the spigot to slide back and forth and bent the op rod which is probably why it started jamming. The top of the spigot show signs of rubbing on the heat shield from the upper handguard which was probably when it was moving back and forth.
I’ve emailed ARES to see if I need a RMA # to return it for repair.
WOW! :eek: Im definitely making a new, solid pin in the lathe. Trial & error man.
I have the same problem with my Ares spigot roll pins. They end up bending under the force and casuing a malfunction. I wonder if there is a solid pin I can use instead?
I think this is a question for ARES. Anyone?
I was thinking of some things. maybe drilling the gas tube hole out a little larger and useing a bigger homemade pin, hell, maybe two holes and two pins. You could also drill thru from the front of the front sight base and tap the hole and the end of the spigot tube and add a screw or bolt. You could always just clean it all up real good and use lock tite, useing all of the surface area of the spigot tube to hold it in… I dont know, just fartin in the brain.
well use a fluted piston base for the spring ride area -hardend high flutes lands
Do you have a pic, I need a mental aid. 
On that other board someone suggested using a 5/64 (I think that was the measurement) punch and cutting off a piece just long enough to act as a pin. Since it would not be too long you could still conceivably use the punch after that.
Oh, and the rubbing on the inside of the provided handguards must be standard. Both of the Ares kits I have rub on the inside. I’m sure it doesn’t help with “tackdriving” accuracy, but practical “minute-of-man” accuracy is fine.
Are these ARES piston systems really taking off or what? I thought it would never happen, but then again, look at what I had to base that off of- #1 a shitty website and #2 a pretty complicated upper…
I’ll let you know how they customer service is when they either answer my email or the phone.