I know I'm late to the party but I'm in the same boat as you... Except I bought the airsoft version for training lol. Did you end up with the real steel version? If so how are you liking it?
Great video! Thanks for your video and tips, especially the modified cheekpiece window! One of mine RDB come WITHOUT a single drop of grease inside the gearbox and even drop a star washer between the cylinder head and the gearbox shell.... Also no air seal due to loose air nozzle and piston head O-ring. This maybe a good new for you and Ares ECFS owner. I found that Classic Army gear set for their ECS line is same as the Ares one, even the magnet is installed at the same position. I bought a set of CA ECS gear to give it a try and swapped out with a new set of bearings, tapped and put a 2mm screw on the hopup adjusting reel to stop the over spin problem, changed out the piston head O-ring to a correct size. Hope it helps the player who really love RDB!
Hey dude. Would it be possible for you to make a video on how to disassemble the gun /gearbox? And which replacement parts you bought such as the motor and gears as I want to upgrade mine and fix the issues you presented.
Parts I added were: XT High Torque Motor 22TPA (short With Fan), SHS bearings, ZCI AEG Inner Barrel (450mm), FPS Airsoft POM double O-ring piston head, Prometheus purple hop rubber. I think there are already a few disassembly videos out there already. But it's quite simple, just takes a long time compared to other guns
Thank you for this video. It's a real shame that so many airsoft guns that aren't M4s or AKs suffer from shoddy build quality on either their externals or internals. I'd happily pay more for an RDB that works fantastically.
what a Don! I was torn between the RDB and G&G L86 A1 ETU. now I think im leaning to the L85, as I really want a bullpup. Thansk for your review mate. but what bullpup would you recommend besides from the above?
I don't know that I would feel comfortable fully recommending any Airsoft bullpup to be honest. I can't think of a single bullpup that I've had experience with that I've really loved...maybe the best of a bad bunch was the TM aug high cycle. That thing had really nice performance and was very reliable
This is the video I've been waiting for the the channel I've been dying to see more from! I loved my RDB, your video is still the best on RU-vid. After about 1000 BBs, I started getting some nasty jams in my hopup unit and it wouldn't shoot right with anything more than a standard Krytac flashhider. Trigger got a bit squishy after a few games too. I have a few parts I've been meaning to install to fix some of the issues. For my fellow American viewers/commenters, please note that the US version of this replica is a DMR on 80% of fields with an OOB chrono average of 430fps, so make sure you buy a drum/small caps, magnifier, and suppressor so you pass the dress-up test after chrono ;)
Thank you for the kind words. Yeah for a "premium" gun this is kinda shoddy. I didn't know the US version was so powerful. At least you've got that quick change spring just in case lol
Definitely do the hop window mod. 100% worth it. I also replaced the bushings and reshimed and put in a neo ht motor. Watch out on using the spinning sling point with a metal clip sling - interfere with magnets on sector gear and causes weird shooting. My Ares gears are fine. for now, probably 5,000 rds so far. Thanks for the update!
I have a really good motor in there w strong magnetic power. The metal sling clip extends the magnetic field and messes up the hall sensor. That took weeks to figure out why it was intermittent work/fail/work... Pretty sure a stock motor does not have this problem.
The RDB 17 has several proprietary parts. It really needs to stay a stock or mild upgrade (motor, barrel, hop rubber). The polymer is great, trigger is nice (just light release after first shot and squeeze again, it is subtle), shoots straight and far hops bbs well, do the hop window mod! Maybe a battery space mod? Mine is going well and is a keeper for a while. Glad to have a good non M-4 in the options.
I am currently bullpup shopping and was narrowing it down between the IWI Tavor CTAR Elite vs. ARES Kel-Tec RDB curious to know if you have had any hands on with the CTAR to compare.
I have very little experience with Tavors. Used one about 10 years ago when they first came on the market but that's about it. I know my mate who's a tech absolutely hates them because the gearbox design is very awkward to work on if that helps 🤷♂️
Holy crap I'd literally was gonna buy this as I love bullpups, so how much where the fixes you made and do you think that those gear bushes will have to be changed often, arghhh I don't know what to do now, but I really do appreciate your input.
So the bearings, piston head and new gears (the fixes) weren't much in total. About £25. The hop rubber, barrel and motor (the upgrades) were about £70. Keep in mind however this is what I've done after 6 months, I'd be naive to think this is the end of the problems 😅
I use this as my primary and I love it, great range and fps. However after 4-6 games, fps dropped like crazy. My tech think its a gear issue. My mate had the same problem and his was gear issue aswell. Its a really good RIF, honestly I recommend them but over time you will need to take it to a tech and get things upgraded
After 4-6 games you need to pay someone to repair it? In my opinion that's not what I'd call a great gun. She's got her charms but she's not exactly reliable lol. Hopefully he's good tech and can get the gun fighting fit again 💪
Parts I added were: XT High Torque Motor 22TPA (short With Fan), SHS bearings, ZCI AEG Inner Barrel (450mm), FPS Airsoft POM double O-ring piston head, Prometheus purple hop rubber. Since then I've also added an r hop and a new 3D printed hop arm
Hello dude, this video was great, loved the fix of the rif to get it sounding that way. Would you be willing to do the mods on my rif if I paid for your time and all the parts ?
Thanks for your kind words and I appreciate the offer but unfortunately I don't do tech work for others due to the possibility of things going wrong 😅 However if you live anywhere near the south east I know a brilliant tech based in Bristol. I can hook you up if you're interested
So with the real RDB theres a double tap issue and a misfire use with the 5.56 cal. one. So the bolt will slam foward when you relase the charging handle, and has numerous double tap misfires. That the same with the airsoft version? And do you even still own it? Or did you dump the hump of junk? Lol
It does not have that fault. The internal workings of an electric airsoft gun is significantly different to a real gun. And yes, I still have it! It's definitely the problem child in my collection but I still love it lol
@nevercool3877 hahaha. Okay obviously I am clueless on the airfile side of things. Lol. Only dumb questions are the ones not asked. Lmao. Thanks for taking the time to answer. Catch ya rd Happy Thanksgiving!!
This hasnt put me off the RDB17, in fact it has made me want it more so that I can tech on it. Compared the the issues I hear about the MDR-X this is going to be quite fun to toy around with.
@nevercool3877 got my rdb in and love it. I am now looking to do my upgrades. Any good sources of learning how to do these so I can do it myself? I have not put a few thousand rounds through it yet so everything is working but I am fully expecting it to break down (realistic expectations)
At rest: in which position is your tapet plate? It bothers me that it is retracted all the time and just expand when I pull the trigger ;/ I barely go into 1,5J category with some cheap M130 spring. That is incredibly weak. To maintain the air seal I changed piston head, nozzle and added teflon fix on hopup chamber. Did you also had problems with some bucking blocking the BB at the entrance (bucking lips?) every maple leaf I had this issue, BB shoot and range between 1J -> 0.2J ;/
That's annoying.. as I bought my RDB a few months back and have only taken it to one game, and also some garden plinking and so far works really well. I have got the hop set nicely for .25 bb and only run the riff on a 7.4 lipo, although this video has now made me a little anxious moving forward to future games with it... and considering the premium price tag, I will be some what annoyed if and when I experience these issues for myself, as I am no tech myself. Cheers for the honest video.
Great vid mate - Its a shame the RDB isn't all its cracked up to be, but totally agree with you that its a great looking piece - especially in the green like yours.
Thanks! After all, isn't looking good all that matters in Airsoft? 😂 Side note: after filming it I now know exactly what you mean when you said it fells awkward to maintain constant eye contact with the camera lol
i know a frie,d that upgraded his rdb with spare gear other than ares : he dremel out the magnet and placed it in the new gear and it work fine, but i agree it take time. And in my opinion : the rdb isn't 11.1 ready if you had all these problem before upgrading it for the hop up, there is a 3D print model that allow to use nubs on cult3D
Yup. My buddy has since 3D printed me a new hop up arm for my RDB which accepts standard nubs. But I agree, she's certainly lacking reliability out the box
The problem with the rotary hop is the same with the Ares SCAR-H. The worse is that, if you aren't aware this is a feature, you'd freak out thinking that you broke the dial. Strangely, this isn't a problem with their G36/UMP hop-ups, which will lock after reaching their max settings. Ares just loves to needlessly complicate proven designs.
That's a damn shame, I have a real RDB and thought it would be nice to have an airsoft version it but it looks like Ares quality is all around shite. 3 of my friends had the Ares L1A1 (wood) and they've all regretted their purchase. All had issues related to poor QC.
What diameter SHS bearings did you use? 8mm? My bearings are also becoming shit in addition to the sector gear also breaking after its 3rd time being fielded.
The cylinder head/cylinder is completely unforgiveable. You can't rly install a sorbo pad the proper way to adjust the AoE which will mean a lot more noise near your ear. All other issues like the magnet in the sector gear are possible to solve, and worst case you can get a hop-up arm 3D-printed to fit a normal nub. I wouldn't really pay the retail price for a gun with such incredibly clunky "solutions".
3 weeks ago I took delivery of the L85A3 and it has suffered a broken tooth, its a15-18cm inner barrel and should be 51cm - the spring looks chopped and it never fired straight. LAND WARRIOR are not interested and say its not a warranty issue as I had a local tech look at it and solved the issues... I raise this with them and they don't care! So its £440 of scrap... Today spent almost £400 on the G&G L85AFV and its so much better built - and and didn't buy it from LAND WORRIOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
That's so weird, I've personally not had a bad experience from them. Such a let down! And yeah, what does the L85a3 and the Keltec RDB have in common? ARES! Such a shame cos they look so beautiful Btw I had a G&G L85AFV back in the day. Have they fixed the semi auto fault?
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. I've been looking to buy my 1st Airsoft to get in to it and decided on this......This is the 1st real Neg vids so far.......Damn. DAMN!!! :(
I AM NEVER COOL! DESTROYER OF DREAMS!!! Seriously though If you're shopping around for your first gun id recommend the G&G CMF-16K. Full review coming soon...ish
@@nevercool3877 ah you see, I'm not into the whole Beginner, 1st Gun psychology. It makes no sense to me. I've had guns etc all my life. I know what they are. Although I've never involved myself in Airsoft I have done paintball and i own Airguns....I'm bascially Rambo! Anyway, Looking for something that I can upgrade, if and when, plus I'm also a Lefty. I prefer the BP design for the longer internal barrel. Best of both worlds. My second choice was the G&G WildHog 12", but it's not Ambi....Boooo.
@@scratchmyjunk9931 longer barrels In real guns give many advantages that don't translate to Airsoft guns. So there isn't much practical reason to own an Airsoft bullpup beyond aesthetic preference. I get what you're saying about "beginner gun mentality" I don't recommend the G&G CMF-16 because it's a good beginner gun, I recommend it because it's a good gun period 👍
@@nevercool3877 cheers pal. Yeah I understand the barrel length airsoft argument but there is a sweet spot in barrel length vs power output which is easily visualised by using a 10 meter barrel vs a 1inch barrel.. It's where the Hop comes in to effect. We must assume the bb may momentarily touch the inside of the barrel. Creating spindepending where it touches the barrel. When it comes fin contact it effects the spin. The Hop minimises contact with the internal barrel, hence shooting straight. If the bb catches the end of the barrel on the way out this generates the erratic spin........sooooooooo.seen a few videos suggesting this phenomenon and a barrel length of around 400 is optimum.....or was is 300, hence why I want a nice 12incher....;)
hi, great vid, i got my hands on one aswell and i gotta admit it runs great, but i will follow by your example and change the motor and bearings, cause boy it be screechy
@@nevercool3877 you had any experience with shs high torque motor ? U3000 i think it's called. I can't find the one you link in the video unfortunately,least not here in eu.
@@Roundgoggles sorry for the late reply, I do have experience with the SHS high torque motors. They're very good, highly recommend, specially for the price. Although by now you've probably already bought one so this recommendation is probably useless now lol
It’s such a shame, I’ve replaced the barrel hop rubber and motor so far, compression was pants from the nozzle also … but that hop unit is such a pain ! Was considering hpa but still have the hop issue , guess I’m waiting for the silverback mdr 🙄
It's a offset nozzle. Don't know which one to use. Bc standard will not line up. Also yeah the hop unit. It's nearly one of a kind. The Ares M45x uses it and the EMG Jack9 (M45x twin) uses it. But nobody sells these units separately.
I'm sitting here like "he owns this thing in the UK??" "why have I not heard of this hop feature" "since when do these things have electric motors in them?" Then I'm like "ohhh it's an airsoft version" 🤣🤣 good video anyways!
Yeah lol, I’m a actual rdb owner and was consuming a lot of rdb content lately, so algorithm sent me here lol, still good video, I’m also a fan of airsoft and had no clue they made this thing!
@@nevercool3877 parts seemed "off", one by one.... the full realization was actually hilarious.... hook line and sinker, lol.... was just left bummed you dont do firearms as well 😂 awesome review style man
Great video I almost bought this thing over a krytac m4 based on it being the most modern of the bullpups on the market but I'm def getting the krytac now lol if I even LOOK at a gearbox outside of a gun it goes all fuckey 😂 so tech work myself is out of the question
