In my search for the perfect loaner rifle, I’ve gone through a number of AEGs already and the latest candidate for the job is the Classic Army M15A4 RIS Sportline.  The gun was purchased from Halifax Airsoft it should suit my needs to a T. New players all love the M4/M16 platform, the crane stock supports a large battery (more on that later) and it’s cheap enough that I won’t cry if it breaks.

Classic Army’s Sportline series of guns are aimed at the entry level market and are suppose to compete with JG, DBoys and G&G’s Combat Machine brands just to name a few.  To compete the CA M15A4 RIS Sportline package comes with the gun (duh), a 300 round hi capacity magazine, two rail panels, foregrip, crane stock battery, a wall charger (throw this thing out, it’s a POS) and about 500 rounds of 0.2g BBs; which is pretty standard for entry level guns.

Probably to the first thing that airsofters will notice is that the CA M15A4 RIS Sportline comes equipped with a plastic body.  This was done to keep costs low enough to be competitive with the other Chinese manufacturers.  It feels pretty solid and there is no play between the upper and lower receiver but I wouldn’t want to fall on it.  Under the hood, you get a “standard” CA mechbox & components, its X series and previous Proline guns all come with a beefier upgraded mechbox and metal bodies (where applicable). The Classic Army M15A4 RIS Sportline weighs in at approximately 2 kg (4.4 lbs) which makes it pretty light compared to higher end guns but it’s on par with JG M4A1’s and G&G Combat Machine M4A1’s I’ve handled in the past.  According to my chrony the M15A4 RIS Sportline shoots ~345 fps with 0.2g BBs.

Now that we know the basics, here’s what I liked about the CA M15A4 RIS Sportline.  Moving to the back, I absolutely love the fact that CA equipped the gun with a large crane stock.  It might not be the same size as a real crane stock but the one that comes with the gun can support a large battery instead of a mini.  Note the battery that came with my gun is not the original, retailer must have swapped it out.

There is also a new end cap design for the CA crane stock, instead of taking the whole stock off when you want to charge or remove the battery, simply push in the two clips and the end cap pops right off.  That allows you to slide a battery in and out very easily, and allows you to have a battery installed and have the stock fully retracted, something that’s usually impossible with most AEGs with a crane stock.  Finally Classic Army uses corded wire (like telephone handset to receiver wire) in the buffer tube which when stretched and released, pulls the wire safely back into the buffer tube.  The problem is though that the wire is too thick but I’ll get to that in a few minutes.

I’m happy to report that the top rail of the Classic Army RIS lines up with the top of the receiver.  In the past that has been an issue and complaint amongst CA users.  The delta ring the M15A4 RIS Sportline is equipped with is nice and stiff, as stiff as the one on my PTW which means whatever handguard you decide to install will be secure.

Now onto the bad and there are some issues with the Classic Army M15A4 RIS Sportline.  My biggest gripes have to do with the front end of the gun.  I know the gun is aimed at the entry level market but I was still disappointed to see that CA equipped the thing with a two piece barrel.  JG, Echo 1 and G&G all use multi piece barrels for their entry level M4s but I was hoping for CA to do better.  The front sight is removeable (unlike with the G&G Combat Machine M4A1) but if you change the barrel you’ll want a new front sight anyway because the stock one is held in place by only a grub screw. Next it would have been nice if CA equipped its pistol grips with a brass insert for the screws so it doesn’t strip.

Stripping the CA M15A4 RIS Sportline down is exactly the same as with its X series of AEGs.  Pop out the front pin and slide the upper receiver off the mechbox.  Just make sure you have the magazine out of the mag well first. 😉  With the upper removed you can slide out the plastic hopup unit and 6.08mm aluminum inner barrel which is 363mm in length.

To remove the mechbox from the lower receiver, first you’ll have to remove the magazine catch, the mechbox pin, the rear pin, pistol grip and then buffer screw and that’s err where we ran into problems… yet again if you remember from my G&G Combat Machine review. This time the issue was with the wiring CA decided to use, it was simply too thick for me to get a screw driver back there to remove the buffer screw. I tried stretching the wire as far as it would go and I also tried putting the screwdriver down the middle. I guess when the gun gives me trouble, I’ll have to rewire the AEG as I’ll probably have to cut the wires to get the buffer tube off.

Luckily I’ve worked on two CA Sportline AEGs in the past so even though I didn’t get into this gun, I can still tell you about the internals.  The gears are said to be made of zinc alloy, whether it is or not I cannot confirm but they look and have a similar weight to stock TM gears.  I do not know what the mechbox shell is made of but it is not as soft as a stock TM mechbox.  It’s not as heavy as an upgraded CA mechbox so I guess the one that comes with the Sportline sits somewhere in the middle in terms of durability.  Yes I know that’s a very imprecise science but that’s all I got. 😉

It’s difficult to say how good the piston is, it looks and feels like well an AEG piston.  The piston head is ventilated and there is a plastic spring guide. Lastly the gun comes installed with plastic bushings.  I definitely would have preferred to see metal bushings as that would greatly increase the gun’s durability but at its designed power level, plastic bushings will do the job ok. There is one thing more I would like to say about the Classic Army internals, one thing tweakers will definitely appreciate is that when you open the mechbox everything (other than the spring and spring guide) stay in place.  I hate how the anti reverse latch or trigger pop out at first opportunity with the other Chinese manufacturers, that drives me up the wall!

CA M15A4 RIS Sportline shown with my Systema M4A1 PTW MAX

So there you have it the Classic Army CA M15A4 RIS Sportline is a decent rifle for the price (differs depending where you live) and it’s probably something that would appeal more to novice airsofters who are trying our wonderful hobby out.  Hardcore gamers looking for a primary might want to get something that’s full metal but if you’re like me and want a loaner, then this will do too.  Having said that I also would not have any problems using this rifle on the field should something happen to my PTW.

So I guess that’s it for now, when I do finally get the mechbox open of if there is a failure I will update this post but I plan to run this gun pretty much stock for as long as I can.  Let’s see how long it’ll last. 😉