TokyoMarui
Car15 |
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I never thought I'd buy another Armalite, especially after selling my XM177-E2 a few years back, but then along came the CAR15. It looks like an M16-A1's little sister, almost cute in a sense. My girlfriend liked the look, so I bought it for her to use at a Memorial Day tourny here in Hawaii. Being she's a cute Japanese girl standing at 5'1", I figured it was about the right size... aside from my UZI, of course. She never woke up in time for the game, so I went with the CAR15 in hand. She missed out. But before I get to that, let's start on first impressions...
First
Impressions When you pick this puppy up, you're gonna notice
something right off the bat: the weight. She weighs in at two an a half
kilos which, if I remember right, is pretty damn close to the real-steel
weight. The source of the weight is obvious; everything is metal except
for the receiver, grip, and stocks. Now you might be thinking that the receiver
is a big chunk of plastic, so what difference could anything else make,
right? Well, as I mentioned before, I had an XM. I didn't like the "ribbed
for her pleasure" handguards, and the barrel and sights were made of
plastic. The rear sight broke when a vine got tangled in it a while back,
and the plastic muzzle looks awful because plastic, like some of my ex-girlfriends,
doesn't age well. The muzzle brake on the CAR15 is very hefty, and it has
the same threads as the AK, M4, and other AEG's. That means that any "fake"
suppressors you buy for a real-steel AK will fit on this baby. I have one,
but it adds a bit of weight to the front end. The battery goes in the front
handguard; just pull the locking collar back and remove one side. Connect
the battery, stick her back in place, and you're good to go. It's a helluva
lot easier than changing the MP5 K's battery, but nothing near the drop-in
simplicity like the UZI or AK-47 S. The grips themselves are very comfy,
especially if you have big paws. There is a bit of a wobble to the barrel,
but it really isn't as bad as on the M16-A2. The stock has two positions,
in and out. It's spring loaded, so keep it the hell away from your face
when releasing it. It looks solid, but actually has a slight wobble when
locked in the open position. The dust cover isn't spring loaded to release
like on the M4 or M16-A2, so you'll have to hold it open while adjusting
the hop-up. Unlike a lever like the UZI or AK, the CAR-15 (and other Armalites)
use a dial that is rotated to add hop-up. Rotate it too much, and it resets
to the no hop position. The front sight is adjustable for elevation, and
the rear sight is adjustable for windage. Like most guns, the CAR-15 front
sight requires a special tool that "screws" and "unscrews"
the front sight pin to raise or lower it. The rear sight is adjusted by
turning a dial on the right side of the carrying handle. Now that we know
what's what, let's get out and play!
Time to Play When targeting, it might take some time to get used to the sights. I use a scope on my CAR-15 (whom I've named Cheryl, by the way), and when it's not in use, I train the line of BB's into my target. Sice she comes with a 190-round hi-cap, you might think you've got ammo to burn. Wrong. The EG700 motor spits those BB's out at a very decent rate, so you'd better watch your ammo consumption. There is nothing wrong with firing in semi. The fire selector is at thumb level, but clearly designed with right handed shooters in mind. It is quite easy to change from semi to full and back, in fact, it moves very freely! Make sure the selector switch is "clicked" in one mode or another, or else you'll end up with a nasty surprise. The shorter length of the CAR-15 makes for easier cornering and the short 190-round mag stays out of the way. The 300-rounder will fit, and it might be a good idea to buy several if you play a lot of speedball-type games. If you're a conservative shooter, two or three of the short 190's should do. Magazine changes are quick and easy, you need only take your finger off the trigger for a brief moment and extend it up to the magazine catch. Pops right out. Weight is also an issue. The gun is heavy, but I wouldn't put a sling on her. The forward sling mount is located just under the front sight, a bad place to put stress on a gun with a reputation for barrel-wobble. If I had to mount one, I'd loop it around the carrying handle. For the field or CQB, this baby shines. Go for targets within the 100-foot mark, and you'll be fine. Now on to upgrades and mods...
My CAR-15 came with two 190-round magazines, the Marui M16 scope, Marui M16 scope rail, a mini battery, metal oiless bushings, and some sort of spring... all for $300 flat! She chronos at 350 on the .20 ammo, too hot for UK limits, but perfect for cutting through the foliage here in Hawaii. The mini battery seems to hold up well considering she's been upgraded, and the EG700 motor makes for a perfect balance of ROF (Rate Of Fire) and battery life. She'll go through a little over a thousand rounds before you notice any battery drain, but I'm planning on putting the full A1 or A2 stock on my CAR-15 because I like the sturdy feel of a fixed stock. For those of you intent on serious upgrades, stick a higher amp/volt battery in and go off on your mad upgrades. I wouldn't use the RIGHT thumbhole stock because it's very thin and poorly cut. For springs, anything past an M120 will require a reinforced mechabox. If you get the mechabox designed for the M4/M16-A2, you might be able to put a metal body on the CAR-15. My reasoning is this: the M4/M16-A2 mechabox is cut in a certain way to allow for the rear take-down pin to be removed so the upper recevier can be "hinged" upwards. If that's all that is needed, then perhaps a metal body could be installed after all. One of the gripes I hear about the Marui Armalite line concerns the rear locking tabs breaking off of the upper receiver. They're plastic, and don't hold up well. Marui should do something about this. For cosmetic upgrades, you can convert you CAR-15 to take Marui's UZI magazines or build an integrated suppressor. These features only look good on the XM and M4 in my opinion, as I have not seen them on any Armalite with the older triangular handguards. You can try painting the gun; I painted the stocks and handguards matte black, gave the receiver a coat of dark metallic charcoal paint, and inlayed the lettering in black. The "SAFE-SEMI-AUTO" lettering is done in red and white like on the MP5's for faster reference. I sent a pic of it with this review, and as you can see, she's a pretty small gun. You can barely make out the lettering and new paint. Finally, as mentioned before, anything that will screw on a Marui AK or SIG muzzle threads will work on the CAR-15.
All in all, this is one of the better Armalite's that Marui has made. Solid, heavy, minimal barrel wobble, and comfy grips make for one sweet gun. She can hold her own on the open field, but CQB and dense foliage pose no problems at all. Even though I promised myself that I wouldn't buy another M16 after I ditched my XM, this baby felt like heaven to touch. Buy one... after you buy an AK.
by David Jones (aka Inferno)
