Post by prometheus on Apr 18, 2007 23:03:41 GMT -5
Here is a review plus two supplements I had posted on TNAirsoft and felt it may be put to some use here as well. I hope this helps someone.
Classic Army M15 CQB
suggested retail $410
The Classic Army's(CA) Armalite series has gotten allot better rep in the last couple years. I never owned one of the previous models so I can not compare the newer AEGs to the old. Allot of people have shown interest in the CQB due to its good looks, external extras and the high quality of the internals. At first glance you notice the chopped rear sight, RIS and Crane stock. Most would think this is where your extra money was spent but there are just as many parts internally that make this AEG the best bang-for-the-buck deal I have found yet.
Externally the plastic parts include the stock, grips, and rail covers, EVERYTHING else is metal on the gun. The plastic is far from cheap and weak, I find it best to describe it as a plastic fiber composite, strong enough to bend, and matte in finish. the iron sights function just as the real-steel and hold up very well. the front RIS is a standard 2-piece with a polished heat shield riveted inside the lower. It will hold whatever you like, including an m203. The markings on the receiver are all wonderfully done, very clean lines, and not too bright. the Crane stock is nothing special, very strong, and functional. It will hold any SC cell I have found; including Intellect 3800, and the Elite 4500mah cell. Allot of people have reported problems with getting the battery in correctly, but once you get it figured out, its very easy. While most battery packs are made correctly, some are not, without going too much into it, it depends on where they install the plug. Dogsoldier's packs he bought from Nashville Airsoft are made right, with the plug in the middle of the cells, or in the back once the pack is installed. with the right battery pack, installed correctly, you should be able to charge your pack without ever removing it from the stock. look for more about the Crane Stocks and their Battery Packs at a later date. The trigger has a good consistent pull to it, and the selector switch finds its home with ease. the forward grip is just like every other vertical grip you have seen like it. The pistol grip is strong and feels great due to the use of that "CA fiber composite" plastic I mentioned before. The grip end has heat sinks in it to dissipate the heat generated by the motor.
Internally this AEG is wonderful. (FYI, CQB compact version has the same internals) Classic Army lists these as the "pre-upgraded" parts you will find inside the gearbox (GB)
-Modified Wiring Switch
-7mm Metal Bearing Gear Box
-Bearing Spring Guide and Piston Head
-Reinforced Parts (Piston, Gear set and Van Sealed Cylinder)
CA's stock spring produces approximately 310-320 FPS in this gun. Most know that in order to upgrade an AEG beyond that you will need some internal parts including metal bushings to handle the pressure of a strong spring, like the m120. while in the past and currently most all AEGs come stock with 6mm plastic bushings, this one comes with 7mm metal bearings. this allows the gears to move more freely under the extreme pressure an upgraded spring introduces into the GB, as well as generate less heat than the plastic bushings would. Also, the GB comes with a bearing spring guide and piston head, this lets the spring rotate freely when it is compressing and depressing, also parts strongly suggested for upgrades to and beyond 400 FPS. not listed on the CA website, and found in the CQB is a ported aluminum piston head. The motor is labeled as "high-speed high-performance" and will really pull that spring fast. with a 9.6 volt battery installed a stock CQB will empty a low-cap in under 2 seconds. The listed Modified Wiring Switch, I can only assume since I am no metallurgist, is made up of better materials than the part they put in their other m16 variants. I can not tell that big of a difference with the m15 rifle I bought in '05, because they both have a very quick response when the trigger is pulled.
The Hop-Up unit is metal with plastic sprockets, and functions just as the Tokyo Marui. by rotating the accessible bottom wheel clockwise you increase the effect of the hop-up. With the unit being metal, it's sharp in spots, so be careful when installing a new bucking. It can get cut by the leading edge. Everyone of these units I have encountered in the past year, less one or two, have had a "loose" hop-up. Generally only a problem with upgraded guns, the hop-up will back off after time. sometimes as bad as every 20 shots! This has been fixed very easily by removing the one screw holding down the adjustment wheel and putting a GB shim under it, put the screw back in and you're hop-up should be as tight as a tick. the inner barrel is 280mm long and has surprising accuracy. I doubt I will get rid of it.
Noticed anything about this AEG? It comes primed for an upgraded spring, and I will tell you first hand of its durability. I have used my CQB for a year now and have done minimal internal upgrading. Had to replace the piston from normal abuse, but all the other GB parts are fine. It performs very well, it will take a fall with you and still shoot when you rise back up. Only once has this AEG failed me, and it was catastrophic. when I opened it up, the Systema m120 had 2 breaks, the piston was broken down its length and the pinion gear was shredded. no doubt it is back up and running and ready for spring. The body of the gun is strong, I have fallen on it with all of my weight(235lbs) more than a couple times, and it is fine.
Kept stock the CQB should last a person quite some time due to its high quality internals. Motrin's has been and has not had a problem in the year or more he has had it. Some keep this AEG stock as a back-up, or to use while at indoor/CQB facilities.
With a name like CQB you expect to find allot of things in the AEG; short barrel, high ROF, rail system, ect. well classic army delivers with the M15 Close Quarters Battle. With the stock collapsed, the 11 inch barrel allows you to cut corners like you have always wanted while engaged at close quarters. In my opinion the Classic Army CQB is a wonderful AEG. Kept stock or upgraded with a spring, this is a great bang-for-the-buck airsoft gun. Great looking, and performing. I'd buy another for sure!
Crane stock Battery Installation
After hearing tons of complaints about the Crane Stock, and its battery I have decided to post a walk through for installing the pack into a Stock. More and more players are taking advantage of this item, you get the convenience of a collapsible stock, and the capacity of a large battery, it will even hold a 12 volt. This guide is for the Classic Army, and STAR crane stocks only. The; SRC, King Arms, and the STAR Club Foot hold a differant battery pack, may be similar but I am not familiar with those. I know there are many ways to skin a cat, so this is far from the gospel, this is only the method I have found to be the easiest on me, and my equipment.
The Crane stock battery pack can be made in different ways and these are the two types I have come across. you can see in the images below that the connectors are in different locations. The one on top, the intellect, has its tamyia connector in the back, or the middle of the pack, and the one on the bottom, wrapped in black shrink has its deans connector in the end that goes into the stock tube. we will call these configuration one and configuration two for the purposes of this guide.
Config 1
Config 2
both function the same. It is convenient to have one made as in config 1 since when installed properly, you can just pop off the stock's butt and charge the pack from there. so once you have it in, there shouldn't be any reason to remove it. However with the pack made as in config 2 you can shorten the lead wires, thus, lessening any resistance those 4-5 inches of wire would have produced. more than likely not much, but some going for extreme ROF cut every corner they cross. As you see, there is more wire on config 1, allowing the stock to to have a full range of motion. Mine made by CheapBatteryPacks.com was an early Crane type battery pack, since then I have sent them images of how we airsofters want them made.
And here you see, Classic Army produces them in both configurations. We also see that as pictured they don't build the config 1 packs with as much wire as we see with the intellect pack. But with more wire as in config 2. The 12 volt packs pictured are built with a smaller cell, a 4/5 SC. Those cells have a lesser mah capacity than the SC, or sub-C cell. The Pack I am using for this guide is made with SC cells.
the only difference in the two, for installation, is when you plug up the pack. with config 2, you must plug the pack up then insert the pack's short section into the stock tube. with config 1, you have to hold the wire coming out of the stock tube(the one connected to the AEG) and push the short section of the battery pack into the stock tube, then plug it up. a tight fit, but it should go if you convince it to. you will notice I have put some tape on mine to help guard it from the edge of the stock extension tube. also, mine was ordered with a deans type connector, I find these to be more reliable, and create less resistance that the stock mini-tamyia.
notice the gaps in the stock to accommodate the wiring.
the middle gap is for the wire connecting the three packs, and the others are for the bulge in the side packs to fit in. the bulge you find running the length of all three pieces of the battery pack is from wiring found under the shrink wrap.
and here is how the pack will sit when it is all said and done.
some people put the pack in as shown here, plug it up, and carefully, with finger inside stock from back, work the small part of the pack into the stock tube. this technique is a little sketchy in my opinion since you could pinch a wire without knowing.
In this 1st step you are going to line everything up. if you have a battery made like in config 1 you want to hold onto the wire coming out of the tube and insert the small part of the pack, and plug it up. if you have a battery pack made like config 2, plug up the wire, and then push the pack in.
now you want to stand up the AEG, supporting the remaining battery pack so to not weaken the connection points, and and make sure 2 side packs are laying flat with the bulge from wire lined up to fit in the gaps pointed out above.
now take the stock and bring it down onto the batteries wires, guiding them into the middle slot, and then slide it over the battery.
you will have to push down on the adjustment lever to get the stock to slide on.
now you want to put the battery compartment caps back on. I generally just push them in there, or use a pair of pliers. you may think that repeatedly forcing these in and out of place would weaken them, I have not experienced any of this with my Classic Army stock. I find it easiest to remove them by rotating them away from the stock tube.
now obviously you can just remove the stock all the way, letting the wires holding the 3 together pull the middle pack out of the tube! but I would strongly discourage anyone from doing that, you are just putting strain on your battery packs wire connection points.
now if you have a crane battery pack made as in config 1, you don't have to worry about any of this, once installed, just pop the but off of the stock, disconnect the wires, and charge.
Hop-Up "Backing off" fix
As I stated in my CQB review, the Classic Army M15's have a problem with the hop-up backing off over time. It is more common issue with upgraded guns, but even a stock m4 will do it over time. so here is a quick fix guide for the problem. Once fixed, it will not move on its own.
1st-you want to locate the pin that holds the upper receiver onto the lower. described as the front pin in the image below. remove the screw holding the pin together with a size 2.5 Allen wrench, and push it out the other side.
2nd-With the mag removed, hold the stock/tube with your right hand and the front assembly with your left. with your left thumb push on the mag well so to bring the upper receiver forward. this is a little tricky because if you are not careful you can overextend the spring connected to the charging handle. Even being fully aware of this I still did it the 1st 2 times so don't beat yourself up, a replacement is cheap, or just use a rubber band. you have to slowly pull the two apart until you can bring the charging handle over the nub on top of the GearBox. now pull the upper off of the lower, taking note as to where the mock bolt is sitting under the ejection port cover, possibly still being held into place by its magnet. don't loose the bolt catch either, it may just fall out with the upper and lower separated.
3rd-remove the hop-up and inner barrel by simply pulling it out the back of the upper receiver. now take a small phillips head driver and remove the screw holding the adjustment wheel down.(shim in image)
4th-place what ever size GearBox shim works (.05 most of the time) under the screw and replace it into the hop-up unit.
you have fixed your hop-up unit, now just reverse the steps to get it all back together. You will see that there are two slots down in the front assembly that the hop-up will slide down into.
well, believe it or not, that is about it.
Some of my buddies give me a hard time about putting so much effort into helping spread the knowledge on these forums, but I learned a good part of the basics online, so I am just trying to pass it on.
-Matthew
Classic Army M15 CQB
suggested retail $410
The Classic Army's(CA) Armalite series has gotten allot better rep in the last couple years. I never owned one of the previous models so I can not compare the newer AEGs to the old. Allot of people have shown interest in the CQB due to its good looks, external extras and the high quality of the internals. At first glance you notice the chopped rear sight, RIS and Crane stock. Most would think this is where your extra money was spent but there are just as many parts internally that make this AEG the best bang-for-the-buck deal I have found yet.
Externally the plastic parts include the stock, grips, and rail covers, EVERYTHING else is metal on the gun. The plastic is far from cheap and weak, I find it best to describe it as a plastic fiber composite, strong enough to bend, and matte in finish. the iron sights function just as the real-steel and hold up very well. the front RIS is a standard 2-piece with a polished heat shield riveted inside the lower. It will hold whatever you like, including an m203. The markings on the receiver are all wonderfully done, very clean lines, and not too bright. the Crane stock is nothing special, very strong, and functional. It will hold any SC cell I have found; including Intellect 3800, and the Elite 4500mah cell. Allot of people have reported problems with getting the battery in correctly, but once you get it figured out, its very easy. While most battery packs are made correctly, some are not, without going too much into it, it depends on where they install the plug. Dogsoldier's packs he bought from Nashville Airsoft are made right, with the plug in the middle of the cells, or in the back once the pack is installed. with the right battery pack, installed correctly, you should be able to charge your pack without ever removing it from the stock. look for more about the Crane Stocks and their Battery Packs at a later date. The trigger has a good consistent pull to it, and the selector switch finds its home with ease. the forward grip is just like every other vertical grip you have seen like it. The pistol grip is strong and feels great due to the use of that "CA fiber composite" plastic I mentioned before. The grip end has heat sinks in it to dissipate the heat generated by the motor.
Internally this AEG is wonderful. (FYI, CQB compact version has the same internals) Classic Army lists these as the "pre-upgraded" parts you will find inside the gearbox (GB)
-Modified Wiring Switch
-7mm Metal Bearing Gear Box
-Bearing Spring Guide and Piston Head
-Reinforced Parts (Piston, Gear set and Van Sealed Cylinder)
CA's stock spring produces approximately 310-320 FPS in this gun. Most know that in order to upgrade an AEG beyond that you will need some internal parts including metal bushings to handle the pressure of a strong spring, like the m120. while in the past and currently most all AEGs come stock with 6mm plastic bushings, this one comes with 7mm metal bearings. this allows the gears to move more freely under the extreme pressure an upgraded spring introduces into the GB, as well as generate less heat than the plastic bushings would. Also, the GB comes with a bearing spring guide and piston head, this lets the spring rotate freely when it is compressing and depressing, also parts strongly suggested for upgrades to and beyond 400 FPS. not listed on the CA website, and found in the CQB is a ported aluminum piston head. The motor is labeled as "high-speed high-performance" and will really pull that spring fast. with a 9.6 volt battery installed a stock CQB will empty a low-cap in under 2 seconds. The listed Modified Wiring Switch, I can only assume since I am no metallurgist, is made up of better materials than the part they put in their other m16 variants. I can not tell that big of a difference with the m15 rifle I bought in '05, because they both have a very quick response when the trigger is pulled.
The Hop-Up unit is metal with plastic sprockets, and functions just as the Tokyo Marui. by rotating the accessible bottom wheel clockwise you increase the effect of the hop-up. With the unit being metal, it's sharp in spots, so be careful when installing a new bucking. It can get cut by the leading edge. Everyone of these units I have encountered in the past year, less one or two, have had a "loose" hop-up. Generally only a problem with upgraded guns, the hop-up will back off after time. sometimes as bad as every 20 shots! This has been fixed very easily by removing the one screw holding down the adjustment wheel and putting a GB shim under it, put the screw back in and you're hop-up should be as tight as a tick. the inner barrel is 280mm long and has surprising accuracy. I doubt I will get rid of it.
Noticed anything about this AEG? It comes primed for an upgraded spring, and I will tell you first hand of its durability. I have used my CQB for a year now and have done minimal internal upgrading. Had to replace the piston from normal abuse, but all the other GB parts are fine. It performs very well, it will take a fall with you and still shoot when you rise back up. Only once has this AEG failed me, and it was catastrophic. when I opened it up, the Systema m120 had 2 breaks, the piston was broken down its length and the pinion gear was shredded. no doubt it is back up and running and ready for spring. The body of the gun is strong, I have fallen on it with all of my weight(235lbs) more than a couple times, and it is fine.
Kept stock the CQB should last a person quite some time due to its high quality internals. Motrin's has been and has not had a problem in the year or more he has had it. Some keep this AEG stock as a back-up, or to use while at indoor/CQB facilities.
With a name like CQB you expect to find allot of things in the AEG; short barrel, high ROF, rail system, ect. well classic army delivers with the M15 Close Quarters Battle. With the stock collapsed, the 11 inch barrel allows you to cut corners like you have always wanted while engaged at close quarters. In my opinion the Classic Army CQB is a wonderful AEG. Kept stock or upgraded with a spring, this is a great bang-for-the-buck airsoft gun. Great looking, and performing. I'd buy another for sure!
Crane stock Battery Installation
After hearing tons of complaints about the Crane Stock, and its battery I have decided to post a walk through for installing the pack into a Stock. More and more players are taking advantage of this item, you get the convenience of a collapsible stock, and the capacity of a large battery, it will even hold a 12 volt. This guide is for the Classic Army, and STAR crane stocks only. The; SRC, King Arms, and the STAR Club Foot hold a differant battery pack, may be similar but I am not familiar with those. I know there are many ways to skin a cat, so this is far from the gospel, this is only the method I have found to be the easiest on me, and my equipment.
The Crane stock battery pack can be made in different ways and these are the two types I have come across. you can see in the images below that the connectors are in different locations. The one on top, the intellect, has its tamyia connector in the back, or the middle of the pack, and the one on the bottom, wrapped in black shrink has its deans connector in the end that goes into the stock tube. we will call these configuration one and configuration two for the purposes of this guide.
Config 1
Config 2
both function the same. It is convenient to have one made as in config 1 since when installed properly, you can just pop off the stock's butt and charge the pack from there. so once you have it in, there shouldn't be any reason to remove it. However with the pack made as in config 2 you can shorten the lead wires, thus, lessening any resistance those 4-5 inches of wire would have produced. more than likely not much, but some going for extreme ROF cut every corner they cross. As you see, there is more wire on config 1, allowing the stock to to have a full range of motion. Mine made by CheapBatteryPacks.com was an early Crane type battery pack, since then I have sent them images of how we airsofters want them made.
And here you see, Classic Army produces them in both configurations. We also see that as pictured they don't build the config 1 packs with as much wire as we see with the intellect pack. But with more wire as in config 2. The 12 volt packs pictured are built with a smaller cell, a 4/5 SC. Those cells have a lesser mah capacity than the SC, or sub-C cell. The Pack I am using for this guide is made with SC cells.
the only difference in the two, for installation, is when you plug up the pack. with config 2, you must plug the pack up then insert the pack's short section into the stock tube. with config 1, you have to hold the wire coming out of the stock tube(the one connected to the AEG) and push the short section of the battery pack into the stock tube, then plug it up. a tight fit, but it should go if you convince it to. you will notice I have put some tape on mine to help guard it from the edge of the stock extension tube. also, mine was ordered with a deans type connector, I find these to be more reliable, and create less resistance that the stock mini-tamyia.
notice the gaps in the stock to accommodate the wiring.
the middle gap is for the wire connecting the three packs, and the others are for the bulge in the side packs to fit in. the bulge you find running the length of all three pieces of the battery pack is from wiring found under the shrink wrap.
and here is how the pack will sit when it is all said and done.
some people put the pack in as shown here, plug it up, and carefully, with finger inside stock from back, work the small part of the pack into the stock tube. this technique is a little sketchy in my opinion since you could pinch a wire without knowing.
In this 1st step you are going to line everything up. if you have a battery made like in config 1 you want to hold onto the wire coming out of the tube and insert the small part of the pack, and plug it up. if you have a battery pack made like config 2, plug up the wire, and then push the pack in.
now you want to stand up the AEG, supporting the remaining battery pack so to not weaken the connection points, and and make sure 2 side packs are laying flat with the bulge from wire lined up to fit in the gaps pointed out above.
now take the stock and bring it down onto the batteries wires, guiding them into the middle slot, and then slide it over the battery.
you will have to push down on the adjustment lever to get the stock to slide on.
now you want to put the battery compartment caps back on. I generally just push them in there, or use a pair of pliers. you may think that repeatedly forcing these in and out of place would weaken them, I have not experienced any of this with my Classic Army stock. I find it easiest to remove them by rotating them away from the stock tube.
now obviously you can just remove the stock all the way, letting the wires holding the 3 together pull the middle pack out of the tube! but I would strongly discourage anyone from doing that, you are just putting strain on your battery packs wire connection points.
now if you have a crane battery pack made as in config 1, you don't have to worry about any of this, once installed, just pop the but off of the stock, disconnect the wires, and charge.
Hop-Up "Backing off" fix
As I stated in my CQB review, the Classic Army M15's have a problem with the hop-up backing off over time. It is more common issue with upgraded guns, but even a stock m4 will do it over time. so here is a quick fix guide for the problem. Once fixed, it will not move on its own.
1st-you want to locate the pin that holds the upper receiver onto the lower. described as the front pin in the image below. remove the screw holding the pin together with a size 2.5 Allen wrench, and push it out the other side.
2nd-With the mag removed, hold the stock/tube with your right hand and the front assembly with your left. with your left thumb push on the mag well so to bring the upper receiver forward. this is a little tricky because if you are not careful you can overextend the spring connected to the charging handle. Even being fully aware of this I still did it the 1st 2 times so don't beat yourself up, a replacement is cheap, or just use a rubber band. you have to slowly pull the two apart until you can bring the charging handle over the nub on top of the GearBox. now pull the upper off of the lower, taking note as to where the mock bolt is sitting under the ejection port cover, possibly still being held into place by its magnet. don't loose the bolt catch either, it may just fall out with the upper and lower separated.
3rd-remove the hop-up and inner barrel by simply pulling it out the back of the upper receiver. now take a small phillips head driver and remove the screw holding the adjustment wheel down.(shim in image)
4th-place what ever size GearBox shim works (.05 most of the time) under the screw and replace it into the hop-up unit.
you have fixed your hop-up unit, now just reverse the steps to get it all back together. You will see that there are two slots down in the front assembly that the hop-up will slide down into.
well, believe it or not, that is about it.
Some of my buddies give me a hard time about putting so much effort into helping spread the knowledge on these forums, but I learned a good part of the basics online, so I am just trying to pass it on.
-Matthew