CA36 - ArniesAirsoft - Review Archive

Author

JJonth

Registered: September 2005
Location: Huddersfield
Posts: 23

Review Date: 9/9/05

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Everything
Cons:	Mini Battery?? None really, its that good!

I was wondering what to expect when I ordered the CA36, I heard aload of great reviews about the G36c, but I was worried that the full size G36 with it been longer would have some creaking and that carry handle also had some doubs, but as soon as I held it and had a good look around all those doubs were gone, this rifle is rock solid! There are no creaks, rattles or weakspots at all and that carry handle is alot stronger than it looks and at its about 4mm thick at its thinest point with most of it been about 6-7mm think, (you can lift the rifle easily with it and it won't buckle, bend or anything) so long as you don't intend on hitting it with hammers it should last. Same goes for the folding stock, once its locked into place it doesn't wobble, rattle or anything and most of the hinge mechanism is metal so again its more than strong enough for normal use. Most of the toughness is probably due to the fibre re-enforced plastic that is used all over the gun, it doesn't seem brittle like the polymers Marui use and has a rubbery quality to it which is probably a good thing as it might bend a bit before it cracks.

The weight is mainly centered around the reciever and pistol grip with very little weight over the front as the barrel is aluminium, the hanguard plastic and completely empty at the front. This makes it very pointable as there is no massive weight at the front making it swing around like a pendulum and with the stock folded it is overall just a bit shorter than an M4 with its stock closed. Even when the rifle is in its longest state it won't be completely useless at CQB (obviously there are better weapons for that), but thats not the point of the G36, Its range and accuracy is the point of it!

Although I haven't used the gun enough to test its reliability (only put a 1000 rounds through it so far) the only mis-feeding I have had was due to the STAR mid cap magazines and me over filling them, after spending a few hours easing bits off and introducing a spring guide to them they are 100% reliable now although the capacity has dropped from 140 to 100 now. The CA High cap on the other hand has worked a treat. The accuracy is great and the 1.5x sight works perfectly well for airofting purposes (I believe the reticle is a replica of the real thing??).

There are very few weak points on this AEG, the charging handle seems a bit cheap as its hollow and shiny, but to be honest its only use is to access the hop up and it makes a semi-decent noise when you operate it as the bolt cover is metal. The lack of HK trademarks doesn't bother me in the slightest and the Classic army text and logo is pretty small and not that deeply printed so its not that noticable. The mini battery may be a problem for some, but so long as you carry a spare it shouldn't be a problem, The 1200mah one like I have will be good for about 1800 shots so 2 of those is all you should ever need, so long as you don't have to change it mid battle as it is a complete arse to remove the handguard and get it back on, which leads me on to another slight problem, the barrel is easily spun around from inside the battery compartment causing the hop up mech to mess up as that remains stationary, not a big deal and can easily be solved with a bit of duck tape to make it a bit more secure. Other than those small tiny imperfections this gun is awesome and available in 3 different versions to suit your needs and there are hundreds of aftermarket parts for them.

Overall Im very very impressed with this gun and Classic Army especially as a year or two ago their products weren't quite up to scratch (I had an M24 and the hop up came off and mangled everything inside within a day!) Im so impressed in fact that I will never again buy a AEG from Marui especially with other companies such as ICS making real quality products lately. I would recommend this to anyone who does woodland skirmishes whether your a newbie or an experienced airsofter, its a quality tool that really will do anything you ask of it and it really excels at medium to long ranges. Go buy one now!

The Saint

Registered: August 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 860

Review Date: 12/5/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 8

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Solid build, tough internals, uncluttered beauty
Cons:	Picky with batteries, minor issues

Brief:
The CA36E is a large weapon suitable for medium to long ranged playing environments.

This gun is probably not the best one to get into airsoft with, although it is my first AEG. The minor issues the gun has can be rather disheartening for someone with little to no experience. It is nevertheless a good rifle once you get to know it, or take steps to avoid the minor issues.

Pros:
- Chronies around 330fps on 0.20g
- Long inner barrel allows for good grouping at distance
- Tougher internals allow safe use of 9.4v batteries for higher rate of fire
- Cannot creak
- Structurally solid
- Simple, clean apparence
- Easy to take apart

Cons:
- Picky about its batteries, cheap cells won't cut it
- Battery space is very limited even with the minis, getting the handguard back on with a battery installed can be a real challenge
- 1.5x scope is medicore at best; poor eye relief makes using it while wearing goggles difficult, 1.5x zoom is small and rather insignificant, scope windage adjustment is buggy
- Left side safety can come loose rather easily
- Lack of points for RAS panels
- Inner barrel has room for movement inside the outer barrel

Neutrals:
- Very long, even when folded up, essentially impossible to CQB with
- Can be difficult to shoulder for people 5'9" and below
- Flash hider bore is too small to allow a longer inner barrel to run through it without machining the hider

Remedies for the minor issues:
- Handle the gun before purchase to make sure it's your size
- Carefully superglue the left side safety on
- Rotate the bayonet lug 180 degrees to make the handguard replacement easier
- Find a good placement for the battery wires and fuse box and tape them in place
- Take a knife and carefully shave/trim areas of the handguard that gets in the way when fitting it back on with a battery installed
- Use Intellect brand minis exclusively
- Practice battery change
- When adjusting scope windage, tug on the front of the scope with your finger nail to adjust to the right, use the elevation screw to lock the adjustment in place

dl_wraith

Registered: December 2005
Posts: 107

Review Date: 13/12/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �240.00 | Rating: 8

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Solid construction, good performance, easily stripped
Cons:	Power hungry, fuse blitzer, loose fire selector, battery changes

The CA36 is an impressive AEG boasting several good features and a solidly contructed body. Immediately upon getting it out of the box I was impressed with it's weight (about 3kg) and the feel of the fibre reinforced bodywork.

The mags and foldable stock operate with a satisfactory 'clunk' and neither feel loose. The trigger pull is also satisfying but not as much as an ICS Armalite.

On the airsoft field, the CA36 does it's job, pushing 305fps out of the box and being accurate at a good range, although you may get the feeling that it's struggling a little in comparison to stock TM AEGs (more on this later). The design of the mags allows for 450-ish rounds (certainly not the 470 stated) but the mags are consequently large and will feel bulky to Armalite and FAMAS users. The mags do occasionally jam but the TM and Star mags jam a lot less often than the CA ones I had.
The solid bodywork can take quite a lot of abuse with falls from 2ft onto a solid floor causing nothing more than a wince and the odd scratch (don't ask how I discovered this). A falling CA36 from a standing against a tree position to a woodland floor suffers no discernable damage. Even the carry handle and scope housing is quite sturdy (unlike it's Star counterpart).

Internally the CA36 is just as solid, sporting 7mm bearings and fully steel bushings in it's V3 gearbox. Stripping the CA36 is super-easy with removal of the bodywork being taken care of by 3 main pins (by which time the handguard, mag well and pistol grip will come easily out). The gearbox and piston are all attached to the pistol grip with the motor housed in the grip itself so once you've removed the grip the whole workings are exposed for you to tinker with.

Now for the bad bits:
The first thing you must do with this AEG is fix the fire selector knobs onto their pin. These metal selectors have a habit of falling off and it's easy to lose the small spring and locking pin that help the selector lock to it's fire modes.
Next you must replace the fuse. The CA36 draws power from it's battery at an enormous rate and the 25A supplied fuse will burn out very quickly. Replace this with a 30A and you'll be fine, whilst still providing protection to your AEG.
The CA36 is hard on batteries and you won't get as much play-time from your cells as you might expect. Take a higher mAh battery than you would normally. The apparent 'underperformance' of the CA36 I mentioned earlier is linked to this and the way to solve both issues at once is to fit a custom 9.6V battery - not only will the CA36 sing, but it won't sap the battery as quickly. Simply put, this AEG struggles with 8.4v battery packs.
The next irritation you'll find with this AEG is the foregrip - getting it back on is a pain if you don't know the trick to it. This difficulty is caused by the second outer barrel section twisting too far and taking the guide bars out of alignment with the body. To resolve this, simply twist the outer barrel section one quarter turn back towards you to make the guides line up with the grooves on the inside of the foregrip. This will facilitate an easy installation of the foregrip and no swearing.
The last issue with this AEG is the scope. AT 1.5x its useful for airsofting but it's position makes it impossible to use with masks or goggles.

There are a few tricks that CA missed for this AEG. For starters, there's the scope issue but close second comes the lack of a bipod - at a tad over a metre long this AEG would benefit from one. A lack of RAS rail mounting points also causes a headache but thos wanting to fit their toys to the foregrip will find it easy to drill through and mount their rails or replace the foregrip with a variant with rails.

The uses of this AEG are varied. With a C-mag and bipod this AEG becomes a fearsome support weapon but when installed with a 9.6V battery an extended tightbore barrel and a silencer/M14 flashider it becomes an impressive counter-sniper option. When folded, the CA36 can function in CQB environments but you will leave youself wanting something a little shorter (like the CA36K or C)as it still tops the 670mm mark folded.

If you're looking for a non-Armalite AEG primarily for woodland environments or medium-to-long range engagements that has plenty of versitility and good out-of-the-box performance, this is the AEG for you. CA have done a good job that, while not perfect, is at least worth the price of admission.

Suggested upgrades/accessories:
Tight-bore barrel
9.6V battery
Uprated fuse!
'C' style carry handle and good scope
Under-handguard RAS rail
Bipod
C-mag

Note: Once a 9.6v battery and tight-bore are fitted, this AEG will push 320-330fps

TheJackal

Registered: November 2006
Location: Uk
Posts: 176

Review Date: 29/1/07

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �260.00 | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Solid as a rock! Nice feel, Strong carry handle( had no doubt it wouldn't hold), Nice long barrel
Cons:	hand guard pretty hand to put back on when trying to insert/change battery, Apparently 8.4v battery are not sufficient to power this gun so 9.6v batteries are needed!

After seeing this in a shop window I knew I had to have one because I have always like H&k guns and the G36 I find is much more futuristic than most guns out there.
Well after holding this in the shop I was amazed at how solid it was, no creaks at all. Being a picky person I tested the carry handle too, I was completely satisfied that it would hold the weight of the gun as there was no flex at all!
I was very eager to see how this baby shot and quickly attempted to insert my battery, I was shocked at how awkward it was the remove the handguard, as it seemed parts sticking out from the outer barrel (such as the bayonet lug) were getting caught! I managed to remove the hand guard and quickly inserted the battery. Much to dismay, it was even harder to get the hand guard back on without wires popping out and again bits off the outer barrel getting caught!

Overall really good gun! after you get used to the hand guard business you'll see what a truely awesome rifle it is! good range, awesome ROF and solid as a rock!

Suggested Purchases:

G&P Battery Stock - Will house a large battery, and will remove the hassle of the hand guard.

9.6v Battery - Apparently this gun under performs using 8.4v batteries.

Optional purchases:

G&P Hand Guard with Bi-pod ( for anyone looking for a support weapon but don't want to have to re-morgage yout house to get one! )

C Mag ( same reason is above! )

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Attention!! Serial Scammer Alert!!

Ferron

Registered: February 2007
Posts: 1

Review Date: 22/2/07

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Rock-Solid Gun, Very Accurate out-of-box, 3.5x scope, magazine, battery size
Cons:	Stock, replacement of battery

This is one amazing gun, right out of the box, I knew it would be great, but low and behold, once you put this sucker in your hands it's like a wave of light and chorus sings in your hands.

To begin, this gun is VERY comfortable, much to my surprise; I felt the gun in my hands for five seconds and any thought of replacing the handle vanished. The stock on the back has a rather comfortable rubber butt plate so you can really press it to your shoulder to steady your aim if you're standing.

The gun I got may have been a swap-job, or my retailer must have been nice to me since they screwed up my order, but it came with the $125 3.5x Scope which is already set dead on at 75 yards(big time plus), and a speed charger for a large-type battery, resulting in full charge of my 8.4v 1200mAH battery in 30-45 mins from dead.

One con is the stock. Mine may have been a little P.O.S. but the glue they used dried up and peeled, so my stock split in two at the locking point. Two quick wraps of duck-tape fixes this problem quick though. Another is the magazine, which in my eyes, is good over all, but is made of some pretty crummy materials, the plastic piece that holds the spring that helps hold BBs in broke after normal use in a week, but was fixable with a little super glue and a lot of patience.

A last, not-so-small problem for me was no RIS rails on this, or mounts at that! I was going to fit my $100 spring-loaded bipod onto this, but had to return it because there was no way to mount it to my gun. This was a huge disappointment as the other two models came with rails, or at least mounts, leaving this one to be questioned as to what the heck the designers were thinking when they desinged this one. An auto-sniper/assault rifle with no bipod? Blasphemy!!!

On a high-note, the absolute best, and most shocking thing I found about this gun is, that set at the LOWEST hop-up setting, it still throws my .20g PerfectBB ammo up!! Yes, this fires so hard at stock that .2g ammo still fires up when you set it to go down! I added .25g Matrix ammo, reset the hop-up accordingly, and let me tell you, it's a sniper's dream out of the box, dead accurate in semi-auto.

For everyone that likes customizing, this is a choice gun, there have to be just as many upgrade and replacement parts for this gun as the M4. For example, I'm getting a RIS rail covered front grip replacement, and folding/extending stock that holds a large battery, a G36C reversion kit(top rails to mount my 4x scope for the sniper and C-model grip and barrel for CQB missions), and a 20rd short mag for sniping. That, on top of countless other knick-knacks to add, makes this gun limitless in customization; no one G36 will be like another.

The con(and big one too)..... upgrades for it are hard on the wallet as all others are... those upgrades described will be $450+.

In general, this is an excellent gun for the price, and is easily upgradable if you have the cash. It mounts TM equipment externally, so that allows some nice variety, and is well-powered from stock. For beginners or experts, this is a well-rounded gun for all audiences/players, it looks good, and has specs to back it. I'd gladly pay $400 for this gun if that was the price. Perfectly weighted in the center, this gun is neither forward nor back-heavy, letting you aim it quickly and accuratly, and at the same time, not get thrown off by unballanced weight.

10 out of 10, a perfect gun for all.

gunnermaniac

Registered: August 2007
Posts: 1,141

Review Date: 19/9/07

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �220.00 | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Looks Amazing, Accuracy is outsanding,Scope is awesome,The range is awesome
Cons:	It uses alot of battery,scope is a bit confusing to adjust,The battery is a real hassle to fit in.

I am going to start off by saying this is easily the most amazing gun I have ever used! Everything is amazing!

There is only one problem that made it a little bit annoying sometimes, it is that this thing uses a hell of alot of battery,(I was out of battery using a 8.4v 1400mah battery in about 2 hours of skirmishing)Also the battery is really hard to get in. After much thinking I new I had to get a bigger battery but it would not fit in my foregrip so I came up with an invention. I looked at all the possibilities : Vstock (con-have to re-wire my gun also costs quite a bit!)Stick to bottom of gun (con-looks bad!).

My invention was to attatch a mp5 sd6 foregrip that I took off my JG mp5 onto the bottom of the standard fore grip and link the wire through the slits in the bottom of the gun and put the battery in the foregrip. I can now run a 8.4v 3300mah battery and it lasts ages.

There are many ways you could get your CA36 to take a different battery, I know lots go for the Vstock.

Even as standard this gun is great and with the battery just in the foregrip I would give it a 9.

The in built sight on the gun is perfect for the guns range, I use it whenever I want to take out a guy at distance.

The accuracy on this gun is unbelievable! I can hit a person 150 M away easily when using the scope! The range is also great.

The Hopup on this gun is amazing it is so easy to change and I love just winding it up and down making me more accurate or more ranged it really is so easy!

People say this gun is not for small people. Let me tell you now, I am small and I have no problem with this gun whatsoever.

It is the perfect weight not to heavy, not to light it is just manageable to lugg around all day without a sling although you do ache in the morning!

Overall I would highly recommend this gun even if you are not going to mod it for a bigger battery.

EDIT: Hi, I had a CA AG36 on this and as sexy as it looked practically I think it is a no no it just weighs too much making it alot less pointable than before because it is so front heavy.

After time my FPS has dropped to 228 which has obviously effected the range, also semi is hard to get and you have to fiddle with the selector switch lots and it comes out of it after a dozen or so shots. Having a look inside now, in all fairness I must have put atleast 70000 rounds through her so I am not dissapointed in the slightest!

One tip would be to remove two little clips that are on the outer barrel, then you can fit in a 9.6v stick battery and it will last a long time, beware though those clips stop the battery from falling out the end of the foregrip, I (I know it's not very neat but no one can see) ducktaped the battery to the outer barrel and hey presto you've got a great gun that will last you all day!

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[quote name='Elias' date='23 April 2010 - 01:29 PM' timestamp='1272025763' post='2318622']
They'll make trees illegal before long, heaven forbid someone should readily convert it to a bow and arrow...
[/quote]

ObsoleteAcey

Registered: October 2004
Location: Christchurch
Posts: 307

Review Date: 23/2/08

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 6

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Good build quality, High quality internals, excellent scope
Cons:	It's just a CA36C with a longer front end kit and stock, a little in the light side

I have little to add from what has been said above. Having owned both a Star G36K, Marui G36C and now CA36, i feel i can do a pretty good comparison.

First and foremost, the Internals on this gun are top notch. Great hop unit, great airseals (compared to the shocking ones on the Star). Also the scope on the CA is FAR better than the scope on the Star, as it has much better eye relief. overall feel of the Glass Fibre body is not to bad.

On the downside, this is just a CA36C with a longer front end and a longer stock. Yup you heard it right, this still has the G36C gas system in it. I know it's purely cosmetic, but seriously they could of done a new gas system for this. Also the gun is a little bit light, weighing in at around 2.8kg (real one is 3.3kg). Also the overall external build is no where near as nice as the Star model, feeling a little less sturdy.

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