Ordered this gun about two years ago, reviewed it twice, but now that I've had it for a while I can give you the full idea.
First Impressions: When I first got the gun, the simple CA Packaging held inside one of the best feeling Airsoft Guns I'd ever held. The gun is remarkably balanced, and feels great as far as the handle and foreguard go. The lighted foregrip button is easy to read, and the metal body feels and looks amazing. The first thing you'd notice though is that it's rather short. This is a good and bad thing, and we'll get more into this later.
Apperance: The MP5 is one of the sexiest and sleekest guns out on the market (IMO), and the Classic Army MP5A4 stayed true to this belief. The Tactical foregrip adds a, well, 'Tactical' look to the gun. The B&T Trademarks also give the gun that 'Swat Team, I'm so fuggin 1337' feeling. The selector's simple, MP5 design. The metal body has a matte finish, and the plastic foreguard/stock look and feel great as well. The only problem with the whole 'tac-light' is that the battery arrayment is rather hard to find, requiring a 'dud' connector, and two hard-to-find batteries.
Internals: The MP5s internals are rather difficult to get to. It requires you to take off the stock, foreguard, and undo about 10 screws or so before finally sliding off the upper reciever. Not exactly a great thing, but it ensures that some noobie won't mess with your gun ;) The internals are pretty basic, and there's not really much to say about them.
Performance: The initial performance was stunning. With a stock 8.4v large battery placed in the stock, the ROF is simply amazing. It's fast and smooth, even allowing you to fire as quickly as possible on Semi-auto. The FPS was a kickin' 315 approx, lowest being 305, highest around 324-25. The first thing I noticed about it was the range. It was incredibl for such a small gun. It wasn't competitive with the M16, but certainly did a kickass job of making a name for itself. The coolest part about such a small gun with such a large battery, is that the thing lasts forever. I can go to a two day game and have it last the entire time on one initial pre-charge. Probably the coolest part about the gun being so small is the lightness, and maneuverability. I'm not a very big person, so this was a big plus for me.
Over time: Well, after a while, the gun still performs amazing. I upgraded the Inner barrel to a Systema 6.03 Tightbore I believe, and it kicked the FPS up 15-20 percent and the range just sky rocketed. It now shoots comparable to a Soc 16 (By Tokyo Marui) and M4 (By Classic Army). The range and accuracy are amazing, and the compact size of the gun is just unheard of with such immense reach. After about a year though, the selector switch started giving me huge problems. It started out not switching well, so I'd have to try very hard to get it to switch to Full Auto (Switching back and forth to safe and auto). Eventually, it started being able to spin around in a complete 360 rotation (Not a good thing guys). Then at TTH, it finally happened. The selector broke off. I researched it on Google and it turns out the Mp5A4 has a factory defection where the selector plate breaks and the switch won't work properly. It's an easy fix, really, if you order the new parts for about 15 bucks. The gun still looks great, and after an accident in which the stock broke, it's performing ABOVE stock condition (Minus the selector, which I've yet to replace). It's outranging guns that are bigger than it, and now that CA has lowered the price, it's certainly worth buying at around $250 dollars. (As opposed to the 310 I spent).
Conclusion: The Classic Army MP5A4 B&T With Tactical Lighted Foregrip is certainly a good buy. It's lasted me two long years, and dozens of games, and I've yet to experience any serious problems besides the selector. After a cheap 30 dollar inner barrel, the gun performs amazingly above standard Mp5s, and with a 9.6v battery it can be shooting with an ROF comparable to that of a High-gear set upgraded gun. Slap a few cosmetic upgrades on it (Like an ACOG, which is what I did), and you'll be looking Rainbow Six Pro in no time.
Pros:
- Compact
- Aesthetically pleasing/Legit trademarks
- Nicely balanced/wieghted
- Range/ROF/FPS great for small gun
- Easy to upgrade with Inner barrel
- Reliable, long lasting
Cons:
- Compact
- Selector problems
- A bit difficult to dissasemble
- Battery problems with Lighted Foregrip
All in all, I highly reccomend this gun to any first time purchasers who are insistent on an Mp5 variant.
