A few months ago I picked up a CA MP5A5 to use for the zombie game, I figure it was the perfect weapon since it’s small enough for CQB yet has decent range at longer distances. Unfortunately I survived the whole night and never got to use it for its intended purpose, pity. Anyway after playing a few games with it here’s a small review on the gun.
The CA MP5A5 comes out of the box shooting ~310 fps with 0.2g BB’s and a metal high capacity magazine that can hold 200 BBs. It comes with two flash hiders, the smaller three pronged version and the larger Navy flash hider.
As you can see I picked up the version with a flashlight foregrip. The gun itself is ~3kg in weight and virtually everything except the pistol grip is metal. My initial impression of the gun is good and it feels very solid to hold. Cosmetically the gun is nice but the details are not as good as with the TM AEGs.
As you can see there are rough seam lines in the pistol grip and the safety, semi and auto markings are not well defined. Next when switching firing modes you cannot feel when the gun changes, nor does it make the familiar click. With TM or ICS, there’s a click and you can feel it thoroughly engage.
Here’s the good. 😉 CA redesigned the hopup for the MP5 and the nozzle makes a much better seal with the hopup unit for more consistent shots. Next the cocking handle actually serves a purpose and it opens the ejection port which allows you to adjust the level of hop. The metal body is the best that’s available on the market and it’s even better than CA’s previous design. The flashlight foregrip uses two 3.0V CR123A batteries (not included) and has a light output of 65 lumens. It’s not super bright but it’s good enough for CQB and definitely better than LED or regular flashlights. CA gives all of its MP5s a unique serial number, it doesn’t do much for me but I know it makes others feel special.
CA uses the same quick take down body design as ICS. After you remove the sliding stock unscrew the plastic tab that houses the power cables then slide the mechbox out through the rear. Remove the selector pin, take out the motor and unscrew the mechbox from the pistol grip and you’re ready to go inside.
The CA version 2 mechbox is reinforced by default and you can really feel its heft. The mechbox also comes with metal bushings, reinforced gears, plastic piston and a ported plastic piston head. Most AEGs come with plastic spring guides and that was replaced with a Guarder metal ball bearing model. I also replaced the CA piston with a polycarbonate Guarder piston, the CA piston head with a Prometheus piston head and the stock spring with a Guarder SP100. CA does a decent shimming job however I had to spend about an hour fine tuning it. The last performance upgrade that was done was to swap out the stock CA MP5 inner barrel with a Systema 6.04mm MP5 length barrel.
After the upgrades were done the CA MP5A5 fires a very consistent 350-355 fps with 0.2g BB’s according to my Guarder chrony. 🙂 In terms of accuracy it’s not great due to the short barrel but I can hit a person sized object at around 80’ fairly easily.
I haven’t gamed with it too much so I can’t comment much on its durability but it’s CA so it should be pretty reliable… If there any big developments of course I’ll post an update.
