Hero Arms G36 C-Mag

[Darklen]

Originally posted on the RAAT Forums in Feburary of 2006.

I purchased my Hero Arms C-mag (for G36) about a year ago based on good reviews, primarily from ASC, but elsewhere as well. I'd heard of the mag stripping gears, but figured I'd only run 3 batteries instead of 4 to lessen the possibility. The fill issue was dealable as I never went through more than half a mag a game anyhow.

All was well in the land of C-Mags....for 1 1/2 games.

It stopped winding. Just stopped. Motor ran fine, just no bb's came out. Took it home and it took me about 2 hours to get the mag apart. Why two hours you ask? BECAUSE DAMN NEAR EVERYTHING INSIDE IS GLUED TOGETHER!!! WTF IS UP WITH THAT!!! So I carefully disassemble to find the winging spring broke right where it locks into the winding shaft (winder works like hicap mag). No biggie. I replace said spring & housing with a Guarder hicap winder, screw the housing together and install wedges to hold all other components together and in place once the mag is sealed up. This will make additional maintenance much easier.

All was well in the land of C-Mags....for the first five minutes of the next game.

Mag won't wind/feed. Take mag apart on field. Now takes 5 minutes. I find the tabs on the winding shaft that lock the winding spring in place have sheared off. Getting kinda pissed off at this point. I take the shaft to several machinists. Lowest quote I got...$300. That's right, $300 for to replace a plastic shaft on a $200 & change mag. Hmm. Fix original shaft with some small steel pins drilled & glued in it and repair the rest with JB Weld (wonderful stuff btw). Test rigorously to a few days in the shop. All seems well and I'm losing the feeling I'm in a bad horror movie.

All was well in the land of C-Mags....until the start of the next game.

Game day yesterday. It's about -5C. I'm admining but carrying my MG36 with me. C-Mag is loaded and inserted, but not wound. I set it down on the ground in a clearing I made so it won't get soaked in snow. I run the first game of the day (Push) and when the game is done, I pick up my gun to head back to heaven for everyone to reload. I notice bb's falling out from underneath my gun. The mag has physically broken at the two points it attaches to the C-Mag body!!! WTF kind of cheap plastic is this! It's just kinda hanging there, just held by the screws and not very tightly at that! I didn't drop it or even put it down hard. As far as I can tell, the gun hadn't been moved. I may or may not be able to fix this one.


Now I haven't heard of anyone having as many problems with the Hero Arms C-mags as I have, but based on my experience with this one product I doubt I'd ever purchase another Hero Arms product again. This thing was too cheaply made, too poorly put together and too overpriced to make it worth my while. Especially considering I've put a total of less than 3000 rounds through it, more like 2000 rounds.

I don't rant very often. Those who know me know I'm a VERY patient and layed back guy, but this is stupid. I feel extremely ripped off but this whole experience.

To Hero Arms, I suggest you pick one of the following:

1 - If you're going to glue your product together, make sure it's high enough quality so I shouldn't have to take it apart.

2 - If you're going to make your product so cheap, make sure I can take it apart easily AND have spare parts readily available.

3 - If you're going to make a cheap product and glue it together, price it low enough that I can just pitch it and get a new one. No one likes getting screwed with a sandpaper condom for a POS that spends more time getting fixed than being used.

Piss on it. I'm getting a First Factory 5000 round manual winder.

Which I did and have had zero issues with.

[crazycolin]

I have to say, I bought one of these for the M-4 series, and guess what? after less than 200 rounds, the frigging pressure switch fell off. OFF??? so.... i try soldering it... but guess what? the friggin solder is too hot and the plastic melts... useless friggin thing...

GRRRRRR.....