So I ordered my first gun today!
 

I finally put a deposit on a gun and am getting it order it should be in shop within 3-4 weeks at the latest. It's a CA33E from Classic Army. Anyone here have one of these guns? Anyone have any thoughts or comments on what I should expect from it? I plan to upgrade it fairly extensively and use it mainly for outdoor skirmishes in a sniper-like capacity. I'm excited though, and I'll let you know how the gun performs as soon as I get it and play a couple skirmishes and do some range, accuracy and FPS tests.

Got it, Love It. Solid as hell, not too heavy, but just right.

Dont know if it is just mine, but I dare you to try and make it stall/jam on semi-auto. I've intentionally tried it and cannot do it. (Mine is pushing a PDI 150% Sprintg & other goodies too.) Exremely smooth operating gun.

You can expect an extremely well built & flawlessly performing gun. Bout my only beef with the gun is........well the lack of available parts & NO TRADEMARKS. Other then that, CA has really gone full out on this gun.

I gotta compliment CA on the trigger assembly, it is EXTREMELY responsive. You pull the trigger and it fires instantly. I've had one person @ a local game ask me if I was in full auto while in a semi-auto only skirmish. (It's that sweet.)

The ROF is pretty damn good, But I also have a TM EG700 Motor in mine.

Accuracy is WICKED, Im also running either a 450mm 6.04 or 550mm 6.03 Tightbore. (Covered by a suppressor when used, gotta love that threaded outter barrel. Not Pictured.)

I can accurately hit a human sized target at easily 130ft @ 390FPS (Used .20g & .25g AE bb's for accuracy testing.), BTW use black AE bb's in this gun if you really dont want to be noticed. ;)

Motor noise really isnt that much, quite the quite gun, with a suppressor on it is even quieter.

Here's mine:

CA33E & MP5K.
http://www.airsoftcanada.com/gallery...2_original.jpg

CA33E & MP5K Again.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...3/IMG_0005.jpg

CA33PDW.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...33/HK33PDW.jpg

CA33 Sniper.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...niperStats.gif

You've made an excellent choice as far as picking out a VERY uncommon AEG.

Off the top of my head, The only person I can think of that has one of these as well is HarleyB. (Thats across Canada. :lol: )

Haha, sweet! You have no idea how much more excited that gets me! Got any recommended upgrades? First thing first I want a tightbore barrel and an M130 or M140 spring (I've heard it can handle the M150, is that true?). Also, I obviously need a scope asap if I want to play sniper.

Guarder parts will do your gun good. Will love you long time.

You WILL require a 9.6v battery, I highly advise Sanyo or Nuclear Power NiCd brand batteries. They run upgraded guns extremely well.

Go with Prometheus for a tightbore, might as well get a 6.03 if your going for accuracy.

M150, No idea, Im a PDI %150 kinda guy.

A scope isnt exactly neccessary, quite annoying to try and aim with paintball goggles on, or so it is for me. But then again its all personal preference.

I cannot aim well with a scope & my goggles on, but I get wicked accurate shots with my Aimpoint.

BTW, Field your gun a couple times & learn the layout & habits of your gun before tinkering with it, You'll master your weapon much better that way.

You'll also discover your own personal playing style if you havent already.

What are the field limits for AEG's in BC? Wouldn't an M140 put the muzzle velocity just shy of 450fps? I think that's a little hot IMHO.

Local field limits are 400FPS @ Panther. 330 IIRC @ NS & The CQB Field.

Yes it would be VERY hot.

An M120S of mine shot at 430FPS (My MP5K Hehe, Now using a PDI %150), I Could only image what that spring would produce.

I think I calculated the M140 to put it right around 400 +/- 10, which might be a bit hot seeing as the limits are 400 (I'm also new and probably did the calculations wrong, haha). So I'll probably go with the M130. I find everything from iron sighting to scoping hard with paintball mask, but I don't have more useable goggles yet because we play with a guy who has a paintball gun and getting smacked in the face with a paintball isn't cool. I'll probably pick up some useable goggles ASAP so I can start playing in local milsims and stuff. I know when I play I tend to sit still and move slowly for the most part, although occasionally I like to yell things like 'Covering Fire!' and run like shit straight through enemy fire, haha! Thanks a lot for the advice once the gun comes in and I play with it a bit I'll discuss upgrades with you more in detail, if you don't mind.

You are speaking about Systema brand springs are you not? If so, an M120 is the MOST you'll need.

To be honest I wouldnt advise their springs, they tend to be extremely stiff & quite often mislabeled in their packages.

PDI's are a bit softer, compress easier, yet still put out pretty much the same fps results. Less stress on your mechbox.

Would be my pleasure to discuss this in much greater detail, You an PM me or send me a message on msn, You can find all that info in my profile.

I would recomend you play a few games with a stock gun and get used to it. It takes some discipline and trust on the part of your fellow players to have some new guy walk in with a gun thats upgraded to the tits shooting 400+.... I know guys who play with stock guns and get more kills on average than the upgraded stuff. Come out, learn, play. See if one of the local clubs is running a "bootcamp" best place to learn.

SockMonkey local Chairsofter(due to injury) signing out!

yeah man i suggest you learn from your gun before rushing for upgrades. I suggest a season or 2 before you do. get to know your gun and slowly look at what might need to be modified... quite frankly i dont see the "NEED" to modify anyways , playing the gun stock should give you all the excitment you need... getting more fps will just hurt others and indoors its almost useless.
so its up to you , the smart move is patients ! good luck with your descision.

This comment makes me think you either havent played at all, or maybe just once or twice.

A higher FPS is a very nice thing to have outdoors, as it gives you a bit more range. It also add's more momentum to your bb's so they can for example, go through small brush/ect.

You think people upgrade to 400FPS just for the sake of saying " Ya it shoots @ 400!"?

If higher fps only hurt people, do you think they would be allowed?

How much would that gun usually cost by the time it reaches canada??? i was planning on buying one of these soon as well.

$575 CAD. You HAVE to buy it within Canada.

you quote smthg and say the complete opposite... i was saying higher fps INDOOR is useless considering the fact that most indoor games have FPS Limiters ...outside i understand its the contrary. and it doesnt take me 200 games to know that.
if you read what i said i chose my wording quite carfully to avoid comments like that.

and iw asnt talking about a week 400 fps i was tlaking about more grand fps numbers can u honestly tell me when you get shot you can tell the diffrence between 350 and 400 ????

"OH wow that guy is using 400.... 2 min later oh wow this guy has 380 ! "

i was talkign abiut more seriouse fps ... so before arguing with me about 400 fps calm yourself down smoke a cigar drink a coronna and give the guy who bought the gun some positive advice like exploring his gun before using his money to modify it . instead of telling the whole world that im not experienced enough to know basic logic of airsofting !

what's wrong with 450 fps for cqb? a little blood-letting here and there between friends never killed anyone. and if you have a good dental plan then you're good to go.

btw, i have a set of jt proflex goggles that allow me to use my scope quite well. you could always try the stock cheek rest and a claw mount to give you more clearance between your goggles and the stock. worked well for my sg/1.

upgrade the player not the gun....I upgrade my guns because I can and like doing so.. not because I NEED to, few of my guns are still pushing 300 ish fps.....Upgrades are role specific, you don't upgrade a gun for a counter sniper role the same way you upgrade one for CQB and until you actually played a few games it's hard to say what you actually like doing....unless you a complete nut and have a gun and a spare for every occasion

I've got a Guarder SP100 in my CA33 with stock barrel and bearing spring guide/piston head, and it's getting 395-400FPS with 0.2s.

And yeah, what BC_K said... This is a fantastic gun.

If you're concerned about consistency, you're going to want to look at primarily changing the piston head, cylinder head, and hopup chamber. I've found the CA hopup chamber to add quite a bit of FPS deviance... after replacing it with a Guarder hop, groupings at 50 feet were many times smaller than with the CA unit.

If you're using an upgraded spring, you're probably going to break your mechbox. It'll happen, it always does. I had to replace my stock box with a Progear, and it's been going strong since. As for what you DON'T need to upgrade: Gears, CA gears are well made... as strong as some "reinforced" gearsets; motor, CA motors are better than TM motors.

Also, keep in mind that the stock can fit a 9.6V battery without any modification. I've got a 9.6V 3700mAh in mine, and the ROF is nearly unfathomable for a non-LMG.

No need to get up in a fit, the way you worded it I interpreted it as two seperate statements. No harm done then, just a simple misunderstanding. :wink:

One thing that does suck is it's hard to find magazines for the gun.

I heard that the German vests to hold the mags are hard to find too. However I have never looked for them myself and I am only basing my statement on what I "heard".

CA33 mags fit M4 mag pouches extremely well. So ya all know. :wink:

Yeah, it's a shame WGC's been perpetually out of CA33 lowcaps... I bought eight back when they had them, came out to $200 once they were in my hands.

I don't suppose they make M4 mag pouches in Flecktarn, eh? Perhaps, the G36 mag pouches would work. Hmmm, I'll have to check that.

I ordered in 4 standard mags with the gun, so that shouldn't be a problem for me. I don't really like hi-caps because they aren't as realistic, so just having the one that comes with the gun should be fine.

To everyone talking about upgrading let me make something clear, I like making people (my friends) bleed. We like to play so it hurts. I won't be using the gun for CQB with it upgraded because I know other people won't appreciate getting hit and bleeding from it. My friends and I play mostly outdoors (like 90% of our games) so it shouldn't be a problem. And again, once the gun comes in I'll PM some of you guys for suggestions with internal upgrades (such as mechbox etc...).

If I may ask, where abouts are you playing? A set fileld or private property?

We live in a slightly rural community so we have 3 or 4 private properties to play on which are fairly large (1-10 acres). Which work well for our small 3v3 or 4v4 games. I do plan on playing in the community fields and stuff soon, but I want my own gun and some gear first. Don't worry we are very respectful and inform anyone who might be nearby (neighbors etc...) that we are playing so no one panics.

So it FINALLY came. Everyone was right it's super solid. I'll give a full review later, right now I'll just list some pros and cons.

Pros:

1. Solid as hell with good weight.
2. Seems to shoot pretty fast right out of the box (no chrono yet).
3. It's sexy.
4. Good rate of fire stock and can fit a nice big battery in the stock.

Cons:

1. Accuracy seems sub-par (every couple shots one will veer drastically to the right).
2. Seems I need my hop-up almost all the way up in order to get more than 80ft.
3. I find the gear-box noise a little jarring and unpleasant.
4. Definite problems with the fire selector being undefined.

So I was going to ask the guys who have them, BC_K and HarleyB I think it was, if they found the same problems with their guns and how they fixed them. I know some people but new hop-up chambers in their guns, so that might help. I'd assume a tightbore would help a lot too.

Problems and solutions:
1. Replace the hopup. Guarder plastic one piece M4 hopup, it shouldn't be more than $30.
2. See #1.
3. Get a tiny allen key and try adjusting the tiny screw in the middle of the plate on the bottom of the grip. This adjusts how deep the motor is, and in turn, where it's intersecting with the gears. Use quarter turns, and fire a couple times after every turn. A badly positioned motor can cause a gun to be two or three times louder than it needs to be.
4. No serious solution other than replace the lower receiver and the selector plate. That's what I did and it's definitely better.

Tightbore: I used a 509mm Systema tightbore in this gun for some time, and found that, for some crazy reason, the stock barrel was giving better groupings. I'd say stick with the stock.

Cool, thanks for ideas. I'll get right on the hop-up thing, what with it being so cheap no real reason not to do it. Definitely did not know about adjusting the screws on the bottom of the handle, I'll give that a shot too.

Two other things:

1. There's weird white gunk in the magwell around the mag release? Is it some sort of lubricant or did a seagull shit in my gun?

2. Anyone wanna trade me some CA33E lo-cap mags for brand new, never before used CA33E Hi-cap mags? There was a shipping error and I've got Hi-caps, so I'm lookin' to trade them all off for lo-caps. I've got 5 in total but I don't expect anyone to trade all 5 straight up, so if anyone wants to trade even 1 for 1 just let me know.

Thanks for the help everyone, especially harleyb and BC_K.

Alright, so after playing for 4 or so hours today here's my impressions of the gun:

It really is as solid as you could ask for. The only thing on my gun that went weird all day was when I mag-changed quickly and didn't get it in right ran 10 ft and it fell out! But that's due to my ineptitude more than the gun (although the mags can be a bitch to get in quickly).

As far as performance it went beautifully. Dry-fired for a bit because I forgot to wind my hi-cap right at the start of the first game (freaked the hell out of me but figured it out pretty quick), other than that it was great. It outranged the stock TM guns I was up against by a good 10-20 ft of effective range, which was pretty awesome. Accuracy still suffered at times (I will replace the hop-up ASAP) but not tremendously. If anything I found it curved down and to the right most of the time after about 60-80 ft.

Power-wise it is definitely a step up from the stock TM's. I did the pop-can test thing and mine blew right through both sides easily enough and the TM's only go in one. I think that means it's shooting about 320 fps (?).

After a couple more games I'll update this and let you know how she's doin', but so far I couldn't be happier. I knew I'd have to do a little bit of work to make it as realiable as a TM and I planned on upgrades anyways, so I'm happy. Oh, I definitely do want a new fire selector though, the lack of feedback drives me nuts.

The mags and the gun will get used to each other. I find that the CA33 has the most satisfying mag inserts and releases of any gun I've used. One thing you may find as your mags get more and more used is that they don't retain in the gun... wiggling them will make them fall out. The cause of this is that the piece of metal above the notch where the mag catch rests gets a bit squashed after repeated inserts. The solution is to jam a butter knife in and pry it out a bit. I then proceeded to put some epoxy into that crevice so It never gets loose again.

Tell me if I described that badly, and I'll try to provide pictures.

Pictures would be nice, I won't need to for a while I'd imagine but I'll be using this thread as reference later rather than starting a new one every time I have a question.

Also, about the hop-up, I looked up guarder M4 hop-ups and all I could find was the clear plastic sleeve you put in the hop-up, is that what you were referring to? If not could you provide a link?

Also, it turns out the gun is probably shooting more like 340-350 fps based on basic soda can tests. I think I'll be chronoing it tonight at a game (which has a 330 fps limit so I won't be able to play...bleh) and I'll let you know how fast she's actually shooting then.