CA M15A4 Tactical Carbine

[losttourist]

Classic Army M15A4 Tactical Carbine
Reviewed

Having owned a Tokyo Marui M4a1 for a couple of years now, I've always wanted something more. Though I never experienced the infamous
barrel wobble with my TM, I always played airsoft "carefully" when it came to my AEG. Sure I had a lot of great games with the TM, had my share of
memorable firefights and such but there was always that fear of dropping my gun and breaking it etc. That little fear , whether it be the fear of barrel
wobble, plastic tabs breaking etc always took something out of my game. I'd like to describe it as though I were going through a mine field whilst carrying
a fragile baby at times...and that is just no way to play war. I knew that one day I would either upgrade to a metal body or buy a full metal gun.

Doing some research on upgrading my gun I found that first it was going to be time consuming. Then if I wasn't competent enough to do the upgrade I would have to send it to a gun doctor. That would lead to more costs. A full metal body , and a one piece barrel would'nt be the only upgrade I'd have planned once I open her up either. Might as well juice her up a bit to get a decent fps increase. All this would add up to some serious coin and when I bought the TM it cost me $600 so it's hard for me to justify the added costs.

So my quest was on for a full metal aeg. There were several choices including ICS , G&P , & CA. Not unlike many I have to work hard for my money so cost has always been a factor for me. Classic army has always been an affordable choice compared to the other full metal makers but their reputation for their internals has always been mediocre at best. ( the reason I bought a TM as my first gun ) However through their trials and tribulations and after each new version they put out Classic army was out to improve their aeg. After carefully researching various online reviews, most of which were very positive. I decided to buy a CA M15A4 tactical carbine (full stock).



The gun doesn't come with much, a manual, CA catalogue, sight adjustment tool, 300 round hi-cap mag (grey) and a cleaning rod. It didnt come with a barrel plug though or that cute little bag of bb's...


My first impressions on the gun were how good it looked in the box. (all reviews say this) The finish looked uniform throughout. The laser etched Armalite logo and the "unique" gun serial numbers are a very nice touch.

That said, if they could have put the "Classic Army " name simply in black so as not to stand out so much would have been aesthictally nicer though it's not hard to fix that. The charging handle doesn't release the dust cover as the TM version does. The dust cover is held by a magnet instead.


Now in all the reviews I've read about this gun they all say how solid it feels when you pick it up. All I can say is that when I picked up the gun it feels
TIGHT and SOLID. I mean you could throw this gun to me like they do in the movies you know the scenes where the base is under attack and soldiers
are scrambling out of the barracks or something and a guy is standing at the door throwing rifles at each soldier as they race out the door. You could
do that with this gun, of course if you did that to me I might drop it ( bad eye hand coordination sometimes) but I doubt any serious damage would occur.
The gun is built like a rock. It is nicely balanced throughout was pleasantly surprised how much I liked the solid stock. (since my old one was the retractable)
Shouldering the gun felt great it sure didnt feel like I was holding a toy.



Game day: Inserting the high cap mag into the magwell was a little tight at first but after a few more times of inserting the mag she was pretty smooth with the nice metal click sound. I tried other branded mags including the TM standard and the 30 round Star mags both of which fit with no issues at all.
A note about the Star mags , they worked remarkably well with the CA. Every bb loaded up which I never got with the TM. ( the last 4 or 5 bbs
would never load when I used it on the TM they would always drop out of the mag when I reloaded)
Now at some point midway through the day I experienced a little trouble with the mag release. However this was a brief occurance and after the one incident it didn't happen again. Playing with it was all I would have hoped it too be. I was confident that the gun in my hands was not a fragile one. The hop up was a little finicky at first. But once a fellow airsofter set it up in the heat of battle she was good to go. Actually I got the most kills
in any one day of airsofting that I can recall. I stopped counting after 10. At any rate my mind was on the game not on how careful I was with my aeg.
I used my 8.4 nimh 1100mah mini battery without any issues and it lasted the whole day. Firing the CA M15A4 tactial carbine was pure joy. Whether it
was at full auto or semi she performed flawlessly. It shoots a little louder than my TM M4A1 which I don't mind. The extra distance and 330 fps out of the box is also a nice quality. One thing I did find that though I'm the type of guy who likes to play with standard mid cap mags, as the day progressed I found myself relying more on the simplicity of using the 300 round hi-cap included with the gun. The only thing I did'nt like was the rattling of bbs as I ran etc. But I must fight this urge to use only the hi cap !

To wrap it up I found this aeg to be a very reliable gun. It's a sturdy performer with reinforced and upgraded internals right out of the box. She is a full metal baby and is made for some serious aggressive airsofting. Cosmetic upgrades are the usual norm for the M4 so you can customize your gun to suit your needs with aftermarket parts. She has the looks and feel that I like in a gun. After one day of airsofting with it , it's hard to imagine how I played with anything else. Time will only tell how durable and reliable it really is. But if first impressions are anything she will be able to take it all.

I did'nt bother trying to take her down though from all the other reviews I've read it's a pretty simple matter. I will deal with this when I have to. ( I never had to open up my TM ) I'm very happy with my CA M15A4 and Im sure you will be too. In my opinion Classic Army has left their shoddy past behind and jumped to the front of the line.

losttourist

Pics of it's final configuration

[tomsoderman]

did you find your front sling point to be wobbly?

[thephenom]

Originally Posted by tomsoderman

did you find your front sling point to be wobbly?

The front sling point isn't griped onto the barrel physically, it just sits under the front sight which is locked into the barrel by a screw and 2 pins. So i guess it's normal to feel somewhat wobbly. But it still works fine, I have no problem using a 3-pt sling on my M15.

[Vladthecossack]

Where did you purchase that bottom RIS on the grip?

[losttourist]

As mentioned by thephenom it isnt really fastend onto the barrel rather it sits on it. So yes it does move around but I've noticed no ill effect because of it. I cant remember how it was on the TM m4a1 but I don't think it moved at all. The Picatinny rail can be found on ebay etc , mine was bought from marstar canada who sell real steel accessories and guns .

[losttourist]

Here are a couple more pics

[tomsoderman]

can you provide a link to the ebay page that you bought your rail from i can not seem to find any

[losttourist]

http://stores.ebay.ca/eHobby-Asia-Ai...QQftidZ2QQtZkm

I got mine from marstar canada though you can get them from the above link. Ive also seen it available from one of the retailers in the drop down menu under gear, just dont remember which one.

note: you will need a bipod stud if you intend to mount a harris bipod onto your rail.

Would you mind taking a picture with the scope mounted to the flat top?As well as a pic of just the flat top with no scope? Thanks.

[schmuck]

and also, can you take pics if ever you will open up the gearbox, i want to know what the internals look like. thanks

[Arthraxis]

That looks very nice, how does the stock feel though? Is it sturdy?

[attack-beaver]

my friend as the carbine and i must say its a beast and feels like it can take more of a beating then his TM M16A2.

[LUTNIT]

I just played my first game yesterday with the CA M15A4 full M16 sized model and I have to agree with every point losttourist makes, these CA guns are as solid as a rock. Throughout the day I just couldnt believe how solid it felt and how much better the fiberglass furniture felt compared to TM's glossy ABS stuff. I adjusted my hopup when I first got to the field and fired about 2000 rounds during the day (using hicaps is a bad influence, need to get some midcaps) and the hopup was still exactly where I set it at the end of the day (my TM M733 I would always need to tweak the hopup every 1000 rounds or so.)

Great review losttourist, I'm considering getting the tactical carbine and sticking an M203 on it for my next gun.

[losttourist]

Thanks LUTNIT after having gamed my gun for a few games now I am really appreciating CA's quality. It's a funny thing because the games now for me have changed simply because Im thinking about the game and knowing that my gun will not fail me.
Arthraxis the stock like the rest of the gun is SOLID. Having used a retractable one for a couple of seasons ( TM m4a1) I wasn't sure how Id like the solid stock. All I can say is ...I love it.
I know Ive mentioned this in the review but I thought it's worth mentioning again. I play with a mini 8.4 1100 mah all day and have had no issues about the battery not lasting. I carry an extra with me but have never had to replace it.
Next year I plan on getting another AEG to add to my collection , I can tell you that it will be another Classic Army AEG.

[caboose36]

The only thing I can say is she is a beutiful gun! How much was she?