For those of you that are interested in a one hitter quitter CQB weapon, the Classic Army M15A4 CQB is a tough act to follow.  I purchased this weapon about 2 months ago and was originally going to post a review of it the first couple of weeks, but I decided to wait until after one of the biggest testing phases 858airsoft.com has ever known.  To this date, this CA M15A4 CQB AEG has been through 5 games, 2 trainings and one Major OP.. and now it is time 858airsoft.com tells you how it held up.

Up until recently.. the thought behind a 'quality' AEG was that you would have to purchase a Tokyo Marui.. or you would have to spend a decent amount of money to make a CA or ICS airsoft rifle reliable.  I was very 'sketchy' about purchasing a Classic Army.  All of my weapons were TM based custom weapons that I had upgraded myself and I wasn't sure I wanted to 'trust' something that someone else has made.  I can honestly say that I was not let down with the Classic Army CQB.  Read along and I'll tell you why.

As with all of the 858 airsoft reviews.. I am not going to waste your time by telling you the 'basics' of the weapon.  You can find those anywhere and everywhere these days.  Instead.. I am going to tell you how the weapon performed.. what I did to it.. and how it held up.  As stated above.. I originally was going to post a review on this weapon the week after I purchased it.. but since the entire reason for purchasing the weapon was so that I would have a 'BACKUP' weapon at the infamous Lion Claws Airsoft series.. I opted to wait until after.  Now it's after.

I purchased my Classic Army CQB AEG from my local Airsoft store.  I bought the weapon, a 9.6 3600mah Nmhd battery and some BB's.  The weapon came with, obviously the AEG, Hi-Cap magazine, Tactical fore grip handle, Crane Stock, Metal body, RIS fore end, Tactical rear sight, rail covers, owners manual, front sight adjustment and probably some other stuff that I don't remember.  I think I paid somewhere near $500.00 for everything.  The price is a bit on the steep size.. but I think after you read the review you'll find that it is a decent price.

The first thing that I did after I purchased the weapon was to get a 'feel' for the balance of it.  I didn't yet have a sling for it and I really wasn't planning on putting a sling on it just yet.  This would mean that I would be carrying this weapon mostly and for the next month or so.. I did.  The weapon has a very nice front to rear balance.. ONCE the battery is in the stock.  If the battery is not in the stock.. then the weapon feels a bit front heavy.  So when you are holding the weapon in the store, don't worry too much about the weight distribution.  Now, remember I said I didn't sling the weapon?  Well.. holding the weapon in 'combat' isn't that big of a deal.. because you are always on guard.. but carrying the weapon when not in game can be a bit 'bothersome'.  On more that a few occasions, I found myself 'resting' the weapon against my chest harness with the sight mount 'hooked' on some PALS webbing.  So in short.. get a sling.. you'll want it.

The next thing that I took careful notice to was the 'rigidity' of the weapon. This is a really solid weapon.  Most of you know about the "TM Barrel wobble".  Well... first of all, this is not a TM and second of all.. the Classic Army M15A4 CQB has a metal body and metal one piece front barrel.  There is no barrel wobble here.  In fact.. the weapon felt so 'solid' that I had no issues holding it from the front sight without any fear of it bending or breaking.  I feel that the CQB is even more solid than the ICS and their metal bodies. 

The CA CQB comes 'pre-upgraded' from Classic Army.  Now.. in the past CA was known for their poor quality and even worse upgrading.  In that time though.. Classic Army must have hired someone that has a clue because the upgrading on the CQB wasn't too bad.  I'll get into this a little later.. but for the most part, the weapon came to me in a pretty impressive state.  I chrono'd the Classic Army CQB at 346 FPS with .20g BB's right out of the box.  Not to shabby considering that this is a weapon that was 'mass produced' by a tech that had to these over and over again.  The FPS on the weapon is a good solid competitive level and on a few occasions I made clean kills against persons using higher FPS weapons in the 400-420 range.  So, for out of the box performance, the AEG wasn't too bad.

Okay, now that I have told you about the factory upgrade, the included parts and the platform.. let me tell you how it worked.

The first game that this Classic Army Airsoft weapon saw was a game at the local airsoft field.  It was a monthly game hosted by a local team so there was quite a bit of people present.. I'd say close to about 120 people if I were to make an educated guess.  The weapon faired well against the masses.  I will admit though.. on that day.. I don't think I made a single kill.  Not entirely because of the weapon itself but more due to the fact that I wasn't really used to using a weapon with less than 350 FPS.  I had to 'readjust' my style.. which I did on a later game.  But what I am getting at is that I was used to using a weapon firing 410-415 FPS with .20g BB's and now that I had dropped about 60 FPS.. it took a little getting used to.  But if you are to think about it.. this is a CQB weapon and I was fighting in a large open area. 

During the game we were playing a 'medics' game.  If you were shot.. a medic had to get to your position, grab you and then pull you back to the regen point.  So, when I was shot in a game I was on the front lines.  When my medic got to me.. I knew that I couldn't just 'walk' back to the regen point.. I would have to run out of there with the medic.  When he finally got to me, we started to run towards the regen so he wouldn't be shot.  We came up to a line across the road.. our path.  I was originally going to run through it and break it.. but as I got closer.. I realized that it was actually a wire and it wasn't going to break.  So I opted to lean forward and duck underneath it.  Remember, I'm running.  As I lean forward, my Hydrapak shifts forward with all it's 100oz. of H2O in it.  Now I have to say.. although 100oz. isn't 'a lot' of water.. it 'IS' enough to throw you off balance.  The next thing I knew.. I was heading face down into the ground, being pulled forward by my Hydrapak.  In an effort not to plant my face into the ground.. which didn't work by the way (OUCH)... I threw my hands forward to break my fall.  Remember what I said about not having a sling on my CQB?  Yeah.. well.. as I put my hands forward.. I literally PLANTED the CQB into the ground.  Not by the barrel.. not by the butt stock.. not by the magazine.. I planted the entire weapon into the ground.  To get a mental imagine of what I mean.. grab your weapon at it's magwell.. then slam it firmly into the ground.  Then add the momentum of a 225 pound man.. with 65 pounds of gear to the equation.. There you have it.

I swore that I just destroyed my weapon.  But after taking a few test shots in the regen I realized that the AEG was fine.  No damage.. so the first test was an accelerated version of a drop test.  I will have to say that the Classic Army CQB passed with flying colors.  Now, I am not saying that you should go out and plant your new CA M15A4 CQB into the ground.. just take comfort in knowing that if you fall or take a 'spill' on the field.. that the AEG can handle it.  Of course.. certain instances, angles, circumstances and terrains may end up breaking it in half with less force.. so please don't write to me and tell me that you used the AEG as a stepping block and it broke.

Then next thing significant thing that I put this weapon through was a training session with my airsoft team the Quick Response Team (QRT).  For those of you that know.. QRT trains about as hard as the real military and Special Law Enforcement teams (SWAT as an example).  We do a lot of crawling, jumping, rolling, diving, dragging, etc..  In addition, we do a lot of live fire drills and mag changing exercises.  Basically stating.. QRT puts an average players worth of gaming of a year.. into one training session.

The weapon went through two training sessions.  The first session was mostly a live fire training.. which required us to go through a couple thousand rounds in both semi and full auto.  The reason I say that is because some weapons will fail within the first couple thousand rounds.. and even sooner if they are upgraded.  Those failures could be stripped gears, jams, burnt out motors, failed batteries, broken or worn hop up units and much more.  Basically, I have seen many new weapons and newly upgraded weapons work for about the first magazine and then fail miserably.  In this training, the CQB held it's own.  I was actually surprised because we did a lot of rapid semi auto firing, which has a way of stripping the pinion gear on the motor as well as putting added stress on the gears.  So if you want to break your new AEG really fast.. do a bunch of double tapping with your AEG for the first 1000 rounds.  Something will give.. if it doesn't.. your good to go.

In addition to the firing, we did a lot of mag changing drills.  The Classic Army metal body held all of the magazines we used nicely.  There was very little, if any, slop in the mags.  And for those of you keeping score.. a sloppy mag means misfires, jams and overall a pissy day.  The magazines that we used for this AEG were:

- Tokyo Marui 68 round standards - non painted & painted
- Tokyo Marui 80 round VM standards - non painted
- Tokyo Marui 300 round Hi-caps - non painted
- Classic Army Hi-cap - non painted
- G&P 130 round mid caps- non-painted & painted
- MAG 100 round mid-caps - painted
- Star 30 round low caps - painted

Now.. the reason I wanted to tell you what type of mags we used.. and why they were or were not painted, is to show you the versatility of the weapon and the magazines that you can use with it.  I had very little feeding issues with any of the mags on Semi.  Although I did have a few feeding issues with the G&P, MAG & Star mags while using them on full auto.  BUT.. I had also been doing a lot of crawling and there was small traces of dirt on the mags, so they could have been a little dirty.  As for why I said they were painted.. was because some weapons don't take kindly to painted mags and end up having an issue with them fitting.. or fitting correctly.  Some weapons I've seen even become a problem with painted mags when attempting to change the mag.  For example.. they 'stick' in the magwell sometimes and in combat.. that isn't good.  But for the most part.. all of the above mags worked without issue.

The next training that the CQB went through was a training that involved crawling.. LOTS and LOTS of crawling.  95% of the crawling done was through dirt.  I'm not talking placing the weapon on the ground.. I'm talking crawling through the dirt with the weapon in front of you acting as an anchor.. dragging the weapon through the dirt next to.. or behind you.  Stuffing the barrel of the weapon into the ground as you are rolling down a hill.. or getting up to move positions.  So naturally.. you'd think that the AEG got dirty.. which is did.  But.. surprisingly.. the weapon did not get so dirty 'inside' as I would have expected it to.  When the weapon was pulled apart for upgrade, cleaning and inspection, I was surprised to find that there was very little dirt on the outside of the mech box... and even less in the magwell and the cylinder.  Which I would have though there would have been quite a bit going down the barrel.  Even the barrel was realitively clean.  So in short.. don't be afraid to do some serious high/low crawling with this weapon.. even in the dirt.

The time had come and it was less than 24 hours before I packed up and left to go to Lion Claws.  During the last 2 months.. I had put about 12,000 rounds though the Classic Army CQB in multiple games a few trainings and a bunch of 'testing'.  I was happy with the performance of the weapon and I actually didn't want to mess with the weapon internally at all.  Kind of a "if it aint broke... don't fix it" type of thing.  I originally wanted to leave it alone.  After all.. it was my BACKUP weapon for Lion Claws anyway.  But deciding that since it was my primary back up.. I opted to install a Guarder SP110 spring into it.

Upon opening up the CQB.. I was originally just going to clean the gun as I went.. throw in the spring and reassemble.  But the cleaning bug got the best of me and I pulled out the piston so that I could clean and reseal the cylinder.  WOW.. I'm glad that I did.  upon pulling out the piston.. I found that the piston head was actually about to fall off.  Those of you that upgrade weapons will know what I am talking about.  The screw that held the piston head onto the piston had backed itself off to the last couple of threads.  I would guess that I had about another couple hundred rounds before the piston head came off completely and jammed the piston.. causing the gears to strip and overall the weapon failing.  That just would have sucked and I would have been really pissed if that happened.  Upon inspection, I found that the piston head screw had been stripped.  Now.. it wasn't stripped on the threads.. it was stripped on the head.  Meaning the part that you actually place the screw driver on.  It wasn't just a small strip either.  It looked as if the head of the screw driver had been spinning and spinning.. now the screw was just a big 'indentation' with no biting surface.  Unfortunately I didn't save the screw so I don't have a way to show you.  I replace the screw with one from my parts pin, tightened up the piston head and I was back in business.

The only other thing that I found wrong with the weapon was that the pinion gear on the motor was a little loose.  But after resetting it and a quick turn with an alan wrench... we were good to go.  So I dropped the SP110 spring in the weapon and reassembled.  Now.. the internal upgrade parts that were in the mech box were:

- Reinforced Classic Army Mech Box Version 2
- Reinforced Classic Army Standard Ratio gears (spur, sector, bevel).. BTW.. CA and ICS are the same reinforced gears.
- Poly Piston
- Aluminum piston head
- Cylinder - not sure what type but it's not stock
- Bearing Version 2 metal spring guide - Same as ICS
- Spring.. probably equal to a Systema M100.

The rest of the parts in the mech box were just standard. One thing that I was actually impressed with was the shimming on the gears.  I am really particular with my own shimming.. which make me even more of an 'HAG' when I look at other peoples shimming.  But on this one.. I was actually impressed with the spacing and overall shimming of the gears.

After I put the weapon back together.. I broke out the chrono to see what it would do.  I'll be honest with you.. I don't remember what it was shooting with .20's as the Lion Claws series chrono's with .25's.  BUT.. with .25 Excel's at 400 ft. above Sea Level.. the highest my CQB chrono'd was 365 FPS with .25g BB's.  The average that it Chrono'd was about 356.. which actually.. surprisingly.. was the EXACT number that it chrono'd at Lion Claws.. which was at 5100 ft. above sea level.  A difference in elevation of 4700 feet.  They were using the airsoft elite .25g BB's.  So.. I don't know if there was a difference.. but I was happy that it was pretty much the same from my chrono to theirs.  It passed.. that's all that mattered.

Now.. as luck would have it.. something.. happened to my primary for LC.  I'm still not sure.. but to make a long story short.. my primary was shooting about 306 with .25's on my chrono.. and when I got up to LC.. it chrono'd at 310.. then 285.. then... 186... Uh... so anyway.. this meant that now.. my Classic Army CQB was my primary for Lion Claws.  Scary.. luckily I had a good battery.. and I had a good feeling that the weapon would last.. especially now that I just 'reworked' it. Did my 'magic' on it.. haha.

I used the CA M15A4 all weekend long.. both Saturday... and Sunday.  It did not fail.. the battery lasted my all weekend long and I got 6 kills and one surrender with it.  I low crawled for about a total of 50 yards over the weekend.. High crawled at least another 150 yards.. spent quite a bit of time laying prone while holding different objectives.. but got a good amount of 'fighting' time during the weekend.  I went through about 3000 rounds the entire weekend.. A lot of my engagements were while using semi auto.. but there were almost as many short bursts on full auto.  For the weekend I had the weapon on a sling.. but there were times in which I had the weapon un-slung so that I could go 'hunting'.

All in all.. I have to say that the Classic Army M15A4 CQB is a solid weapon.  It has a metal body, RIS system, Crane stock battery system, tactical fore grip for comfort, it comes pre-upgraded from the factory and had a decent FPS level out of the box.  I did find a few weaknesses in the internal upgrading of the weapon, so I am going to say that I recommend that you at least have the internals 'checked out' with in the first few thousand rounds.  At that time.. maybe drop in a Guarder SP110 spring in.  The spring with NO OTHER internal modifications will put you at the 'ACCEPTABLE' FPS limit for the Lion Claws series.. which is what a lot of game organizers follow anyway. The weapon is a little on the pricey side.. but for a 'bargain' shopper.. you can see the benefit of the 'bang for your buck'.

If I absolutely 'had' to find some bad points or weaknesses to the CA CQB AEG, then I had have to point my finger at the battery and the way that it installs.  First of.. the instructions in the users manual are either really confusing.. or just plain wrong.  what I have found to work is that you should install the two larger batteries (wires first) into the stock.. then the smaller battery into the actual buffer tube.. running the wire along the 'battery' wire.. which allows some 'room'.  Then clip the battery in and carefully install the stock.  I have gotten the stock to close all the way.. but for the most part.. it will get to the first closest adjustment setting and then it's done.  It's really hard to explain without showing.. so I won't try.  But.. be careful as the soldering connections on the battery are weak.. and if you are 'rough' with the battery.. they will come out and short the battery.  I have seen at least 5 batteries fry inside the weapon.  So take your time when installing the battery.

Well.. to sum this review up.. if you are in the market for a new M-series AEG that you plan to use for CQB or Midrange engagements, you can't go wrong with the Classic Army M15A4 CQB.  I beat the hell out of it, did a small amount of repair/upgrade.. took it to a major OP and found that it can hold up with the best of them.  Good luck and play safe.

Here are some more pics we took: