STAR are a bunch of asshats

[GuzziHero]

So I got a STAR SLR. Im thanking my lucky stars(!) that it was on special offer.

 

They ship these things with 430fps springs. Thats fair enough, I can downgrade it. It comes with NO manual. If it did, it may have mentioned the small fact that opening the gun in the realistic manner in which it is designed for WILL COMPLETELY **** THE NOZZLE. It hasnt even fired a single shot.

 

So, after working on this abominable thing (which is by the way one of the worst things I have ever worked on), I finally fit in an MP5K nozzle in the hope itll work. Nope.

 

On the way I have had adventures with the poor design stripping the wiring sheathing which is the weakest in all christendom, and the utterly stupid idea of soldering the wiring onto the motor connectors.

 

And of course, a request for assistance from STAR has gone totally ignored.

 

If you are considering buying one of these poorly supported pieces of junk, please feel free to spend your money elsewhere.

[sadigh]

But, surely its your OWN fault for breaking it in the first place? I mean, to break a nozzle requires a fair bit of force, no?

 

 

[ED-SKaR]

Not when you pull the reciever apart from the rear.

 

TM got the same thing wrong on the G36, it is now fairly common knowlage in G36 takedowns that you push the hop out of the way to prevent damage to the nozzle.

 

as for customer survace....

[kizza]

Sounds like a poorly designed gun, lame. I hear the STAR series are quite good?

[1st Commando]

Star have always had customer service issues and poor wiring etc which is the only thing stopping me from buying a FNC

[Vercingetorix]

So I got a STAR SLR. Im thanking my lucky stars(!) that it was on special offer.

 

They ship these things with 430fps springs. Thats fair enough, I can downgrade it. It comes with NO manual. If it did, it may have mentioned the small fact that opening the gun in the realistic manner in which it is designed for WILL COMPLETELY **** THE NOZZLE. It hasnt even fired a single shot.

 

So, after working on this abominable thing (which is by the way one of the worst things I have ever worked on), I finally fit in an MP5K nozzle in the hope itll work. Nope.

 

On the way I have had adventures with the poor design stripping the wiring sheathing which is the weakest in all christendom, and the utterly stupid idea of soldering the wiring onto the motor connectors.

 

And of course, a request for assistance from STAR has gone totally ignored.

 

If you are considering buying one of these poorly supported pieces of junk, please feel free to spend your money elsewhere.

Damn... That sucks... I was actually interested in one for a Falklands impression to

[Aod]

i thought that it was common knowledge that STAR sucked balls?

[PianoBlack]

That sucks that the nozzle is proprietary, have any pictures of the damage done? I think AI did a review a while back and ran into some of those problems.

 

-Piano.

[Azulsky]

I agree with all the sentiments Guzzi, but soldering the motor contacts, what problem do you have with that?

[GuzziHero]

Damn... That sucks... I was actually interested in one for a Falklands impression to

 

Oh externally, it is a peach. Just be aware that if you want to open it up to change the spring (which is fiendishly easy to do once the gearbox is out ), remember to remove the 2 screws for the receiver pivot and take the front of the gun away...rather than using the 'realistic break-down'.

 

Sadly I chucked the old nozzle. With the MP5K nozzle, it double feeds so of course jams. That suggests to me that my nozzle is too short to control my balls (fnerk!). Im living in hope that they will release the nozzle as a part later (they have with other guns).

 

Azulsky...I have never soldered in my life before getting this gun I actually am getting the hang of it - the SLR is giving me lots of practice - so I will probably re-wire it once I get a nozzle that works!

[enigma83]

I have always heard to speak well about star rifle...

What about reseller?

Is it possible that this rifle was used?

[Rob15]

Star have always had customer service issues and poor wiring etc which is the only thing stopping me from buying a FNC

I took a risk on an FNC ages ago, it was running at 380fps when i got it so i stripped it down to downgrade it, on putting it back together the hopup unit snapped because it was made of flimsy plastic and is attatched to the front of the gearbox meaning you have to be very carefull when trying to get the gearbox into the lower again. Since then its sat under my bed as a £330 paperweight and never been used :/

[Pariah_WP]

Aw man, Guzzi, sorry to hear that. That really sucks dude. Now I don't think ALL STAR guns have soldered motor connectors. Anyone know if it is just this model? Either that or a retail store sold me a bum G36. Nothing was right with that gun, so...take that as you will.

 

Wish I could help ya man.

[Rob15]

The FNC had soldered motor connectors too...

 

Bit of a nightmare gearbox overall. Its a plastic V3 box with a non-removable motor cage, uses a V6 cylinder head upside down and had a flimsy plastic hopup fitted into the front and more selector levers on the side than the WGC warehouse!

[GoLgO 13]

That sux but it really doesn't say much about the gun or it's performance.

 

All I know right now, is that you didn't know what you were doing and F*cked up your gun.

 

I never owned a STAR so i won't comment on their performance.

 

But The nozzle may have worked great but since you couldn't take it down properly, will never know,

 

The best wire on the market performance wise is silicone wrapped deans wet noodle, how ever silicone jacket , although flexible, is weak as f*ck.

 

I see Deans wet noodle being duplicated all the time by airsoft manufacturers, so the wiring may be great, but again you didn't know how to take it down and jacked it up.

 

I typically solder the motor connection on all of my guns so i am not sure why that is a bad idea.

 

It would have been nice of STAR to walk you through a takedown or give nozzle dimensions, but next time i would call them BEFORE opening your gun and jacking it up in the process.

[evansy]

That sux but it really doesn't say much about the gun or it's performance.

 

All I know right now, is that you didn't know what you were doing and F*cked up your gun.

 

I never owned a STAR so i won't comment on their performance.

 

But The nozzle may have worked great but since you couldn't take it down properly, will never know,

 

The best wire on the market performance wise is silicone wrapped deans wet noodle, how ever silicone jacket , although flexible, is weak as f*ck.

 

I see Deans wet noodle being duplicated all the time by airsoft manufacturers, so the wiring may be great, but again you didn't know how to take it down and jacked it up.

 

I typically solder the motor connection on all of my guns so i am not sure why that is a bad idea.

 

It would have been nice of STAR to walk you through a takedown or give nozzle dimensions, but next time i would call them BEFORE opening your gun and jacking it up in the process.

Or you could say it would have been nice if STAR had included a manual with the gun so people would know how to take the gun apart for basic mantanance without breaking it.

 

Guzzi, I've got a spare M4 nozzle you can have if you want to try that in the gun.

[DELTA]

The STAR L1A1 is one of the best rifles i have owned, Mine is well upgraded these days and i have no problems with it. It is my primary and it will stay that way for sometime.

 

As for the breakdown, yes it is odd they dont supply a manual, but a quick search on these forums will show threads on how to take it down, thats what i used anyway when i first wanted to crack it open.

Easiest way, unscrew the large circular disks on the sides of the reciever and pop the mag release pin and it all slides apart (no risk to the nozzel). Changing the spring, take the stock off, sight off, then change the spring as you would a CA M249.

 

If you need extra parts, the best bet is to try and get hold of someone that can go to the store in HK or give them a call as email is un-responsive.

[QQexDERA]

Er, ALL the STAR manuals are on their website. Hell, the last two i unboxed had a sticker in there informing you of that.

 

Regarding other issues:

 

1: They really need to start using sodding spade connectors on the motor wiring. Personally, I don't want to have to reach for the soldering iron on a brand new shooter

2: Some of their ideas are quite good. The "Easy Step Powerup" (or something like that) system is a cracking little idea. Some, like the captive hop units, are bad.

3: It's so important, i'll say it twice. SPARE PARTS, SPARE PARTS!!!!!

 

STAR will never get the market share they want till they have addressed - in particular - the non-availability of spare parts. If they get that sorted (not to mention redesigning certain other things) then we'll see a lot more of them out on the Skirmish field.

 

 

[beretta]

yes apon opening the box it will have a sticker telling you to go to such and such a website to download the manual.....

 

To be honest i wouldnt rate the gun badly just because you f*&ked up on stripping it down, ive had no problems with stripping them in the past and i think their a great gun. the FNC included. I did one of them the other day and there was no problems at all with the hopup. its just a matter of understanding how the gun is assembled. both of them do have soldered motor wiring though. as does the star scar. Its a real pain the way star use exclusive parts too. ive been looking for some stuff for my scar and its impossible to find. they also are hopeless at returning emails.

[Rob15]

And there is the problem, it was a long time ago when i got it, back in the day when they didn't have any manuals on their site and the only guide i could find was on these forums.

 

Used that guide and i ended up with a worthless gun.

 

Hindsight is a wonderfull thing, sadly it was no *fruitcage* use when i was downgrading the FNC because there were no manuals, the takedown guide was useless and i didn't understand how it was assembled untill i did strip it down and it was too late.

 

Still, it does fire about 380fps less than when it came out of the box now ¬_¬

[Punkypink]

Anything that requires you to read through pages and pages and pages of manual for something as simple as changing a spring is a bad design. I've never been too impressed with star's products. Just a simple comparism of their G36 locaps with the CA or TM ones shows that they've not put too much thought into the actual functionality of the design and gone more for unnecessary aesthetics. A TM or CA locap will feed a few more BBs into the gun as it runs empty than the Star ones. small detail you might say, but honestly it gets a bit annoying to lose 5 or 6 BBs per mag. in a G36 locap, 5 out of 50 is 10% more of the total capacity going to waste in a Star. It's things like these that shows their design philosophy. It might be a fantastic machine, but not user and maintenance-friendly, and that makes it a bad design.

[beretta]

Hindsight is a wonderfull thing, sadly it was no *fruitcage* use when i was downgrading the FNC because there were no manuals, the takedown guide was useless and i didn't understand how it was assembled untill i did strip it down and it was too late.

 

Still, it does fire about 380fps less than when it came out of the box now ¬_¬

 

I fairness though, very few guns come with a manual to tell you how to strip them down, its usually down to trial and error to open it up. I did the FNC with no problems at all and infact found it much easier to do than some other guns out there. its kinda like the Type 89 in a way.

 

I might actually start making guides for some of these less common guns since info is a bit scarce on them.

[Rob15]

Off the top of my head the only guns i have that did not come with at least an exploded diagram are my Colt .25 NBB, Colt Python, FNC, G18c AEP, Sig SP2022 NBB and my VSR-10. All the others have had various diagrams showing how it all goes together iirc.

[GuzziHero]

The STAR manual for the SLR just has front page, back page and an exploded diagram. Nothing to warn you of a retarded hop design. I can see WHY theyve done it...theyve just over-engineered it.

 

Oh, the selector plates are flimsy as hell too. It relies on a tiny edge of the plate to hold the trigger in semi...that broke as soon as I looked at it.

 

Evansy - cheers Ive tried an M4 nozzle, and a bevelled MP5K one and neither work. The offer is greatly appreciated though

[Lance Jackass]

Tried fire support? They managed to get STAR SA80 parts in, so surely they must be in contact with STAR.