Classic Army? Sportline M15A4 Carbine Review
Reviewed by Jason DeConti
Photos by Rachel @ Rae of Light Images
Supplied by the folks @ G&L Airsoft
Overview:
Classic Army has been known for producing great full metal Airsoft replica's for quite sometime and until recently, appeared to be quite content with staying in that market niche. That said, 2007 has seen a large influx of cheap and relatively good Tokyo Marui knock off? from companies like JG, A&K, and the American company Echo1.
With plastic bodies and decent metal gear boxes, these replicas have been cutting into the market share Classic Army had worked so hard to garner away from Tokyo Marui. That ends now.
Classic Army has decided to start creating their own plastic bodied replica? starting with their popular M15A4 line of carbines. G&L Airsoft was kind enough to supply us with just such a carbine for review, and we immediately jumped at the opportunity.
With a popular short barrel and collapsible stock configuration, Classic Army? reputation for great platforms to work from, and a terrific price of less than 160 USD, Classic Army is hoping to regain some of that market share. Let? see if the gun has what it takes!
Packaging:
The box itself has an aesthetically pleasing diagram of the carbine rifle tucked neatly within. Upon opening the package I was surprised to find egg crate style internal packing. In the past, CA always used a hard Styrofoam that kept the gun in place, so this struck me by surprise. However, in shaking the box, the gun stayed in place and the crate design of the packing allowed it to take some abuse with out bending or allowing the replica to become damaged. No one will be buying this for the packing however, so let? see what? included.
Classic Army has included a decent manual complete with English instructions for use and tear down, as well as a metal high capacity magazine, small bag of BB? and has included a duplicate metal flash hider that replicates the exact style of the plastic orange one required by law for sale and relatively safe use of this replica. It should be noted that the metal version of the same carbine does not come with a all black flash hider.
The only thing missing from this package for use is a small nun chuck style battery to be fitted within the hand grips.
Build Quality:
As previously stated, this replica is made of a strong ABS plastic, including the carrying handle. Oddly enough the rear site mechanism itself is made of metal. The guns dimensions are identical to the metal version of the same gun. Balance wise, the gun is more nose heavy than it? metal counterpart due to it? 1.7 lb lighter body and full metal outer barrel and front A-frame site.
The trademarks on the carbine are left unpainted and are simply formed into the ABS plastic body of the rifle.
Moving to the rear of the lower receiver, we find the selector switch. Each position of the switch engages with a satisfying click letting you know that you have the carbine set to it? desired firing pattern or safety.
The rifles butt stock extends and collapses with ease and locks in place at the desired location with no slippage. The stock tube itself seems sturdy and did not wobble. Speaking of wobble, Tokyo Marui M16 based replica? were known for barrel wobble, and as this is also a plastic gun, I figured I? investigate. I grabbed the rifle by the barrel and proceeded to shake it. While it obviously did not feel as strong as a 1000 dollar Systema rifles, it did hold it? own and I am happy to report I did not experience any wobble.
The hand grips covering the outer barrel were standard CA fare. They get the job done, feel strong enough and look the part. The D ring that holds the grips to the front of the gun however did seem far weaker than the piece on the metal Classic Army M15A4. I? not sure if it was just this particular gun, or if they included a weaker spring. It should be noted that this in no way affected use of the gun, it was simply an observation. The grips stay perfectly in place. The picture below compares the full metal M15A4 (top) to it's plastic bodied counterpart.
Flipping the rifle over you?l notice the dust cover on the ejection port. Happily, Classic Army decided to include a dust cover that opens when you pull back on the charging handle, just like on the real steel rifle. Not only does this look cool and feel bad ass, it allows for easy adjustment of the guns hop up.
While we?e on the subject, it should be noted that Classic Army opted to go with a plastic hop up chamber vs the metal one in it? 250 USD metal rifle. While inspecting the hop up chamber through the mag well, I decided to inspect magazine fitment. I? happy to report that mags went in and dropped out with no fussing. That? important when you?e fumbling around on the field. The rifles grip has the same metal heat sink on the bottom of the motor to alleviate excess heat. The two pics below shows the hop up chamber on each rifle, top being the ABS Model and bottom being the full metal.
Testing:
So how does it fire? Damn good from my experience. We loaded up a fresh battery, filled the standard CA high cap and locked and loaded. We were initially concerned as once we loaded the mag we saw bb? rolling out the barrel. I thought about it for a second and realized the hop up was likely completely backed off. Further inspection of the rifle proved my theory true and upon adjusting the hop up appropriately, all issues ceased.
The rifle sounded completely unencumbered as it fired round after round down range. It was relatively quiet and sent the rounds into a fairly tight packed grouping. Performance wise, I was extremely pleased, especially for a replica in this price range. We unfortunately were unable to chronograph the rifle at this point, but will revisit this review as the chronograph becomes available to us again.
Final Thoughts:
While lacking the sturdy metal body of it? hundred dollar more expensive brother, Classic Army? Sportline M15A4 Carbine is a hell of a bargain. This rifle will take the same relatively cheap upgrades that the full metal rifle takes and, used properly, should provide plenty of rugged use.
I was informed by G&L? resident airsmith and co-owner, that the gear box does have plastic bushings supporting it? gears, but aside from that and other small variance? it? basically the same gear box as the standard M15A4 Classic Army has sold for years. This alone makes this an excellent rifle for someone looking to get into the sport with an eye for upgrades. I, myself, would not mind using one for a low FPS CQB game, or backup rifle.
The knock off company? are going to need to add a lot of bells and whistles to their products to keep up once Classic Army begins rolling out further models in their Sportline brand. I can? wait to see what the future holds.
The Classic Army Sportline M15A4 Carbine can be purchased through G&L Airsoft by clicking here.
Feel free to comment or ask questions in our forums by clicking on this link.
Specs:
Brand: Classic Army
Model Line: Sportline
Model: M15A4
Weight Unloaded: 4.10 LBS
Magazine: Standard 300 Round High Capacity
Battery: Small - Nun Chuck Style
FPS: TBD
Price: <160 USD at this writing
Available: Now
