[First Impressions] Classic Army AUG A1 - pic heavy

[FreeFrag.UK]

Gun Name and maker: Classic Army AUG A1 (CA008P)

FPS: 315fps - 320fps on 0.20g // 280fps - 290fps on 0.25g

Hop up: Yes - Standard AUG hop up, polymer construction.

Fire Modes: Safe/Semi/Full Auto - The safety is a two position safety (On/Off) with the fire mode relying on a progressive trigger system much like the genuine article.

Mag Capacity: High cap - 330 round capacity.

Battery: Deans connector built into the MOSFET with small Tamiya adaptor included.

Plastic/Metal/Both: Both.

My opinion and overall comments:

Ok, so this is just my first impressions. Unfortunately I'm unable to provide as much detail as I'd like due to not having a battery to hand wired to a Tamiya connector and I had a mishap (case of dropsie) with the soldering iron resulting in a broken element but enough with the sob story.

Let's face it, it's a box. Admittedly the design is very crisp and clean but it's rare for an airsoft company to screw up this side of things.

The AUG is very well presented but as a first criticism... polystyrene... I mean really Classic Army? I know you've been in the game for a long time but polystyrene? The contents of the box are undoubtedly securely held in place but removing the AUG from the box was somewhat awkward and I had to dig out the air duster due to polystyrene polluting the flash hider. As a first impression this is one thing Classic Army really need to update when it comes to their products. The Classic Army branded gun slip is a very nice touch. Beyond that the box contains your usual unjamming/cleaning rod, an adjustment tool for the sight and a generic manual.

The positives. The general build quality of the AUG feels very high and the construction feels very solid and robust with no  wobbles or flexing. The gun has a nice weight to it  coming in at 3,145g (without battery and magazine) with the weight focused to the rear like most bullpups. The ergonomics mean that the AUG sits very well against the shoulder with the design on the pistol grip resulting in a very comfortable rifle to hold. The position of the safety is highly accessible and easy to manipulate while maintaining a secure grip on the rifle and the fire mode is determined by the progressive trigger with a half pull resulting in semi-automatic and a full depression resulting in fully automatic. The in-built sight offers a fantastic quality sight picture with good eye relief and a slightly magnified image at 1.5x zoom. The charging handle is easily manipulated and locks back to allow access to a typical AUG hop up and the charging handle can be released with a very satisfying snap forwards, although I won't be doing this often to reduce the risk of damaging it (too many HK slap horror stories). Finally the two sling mounts feel very robust with minimal rattling, although this could change as they wear over time.

The negatives. At this particular point in time the only negative I've been able to come up with is a bit of a "twang" sound from the spring in the foregrip when shifting it into the various positions.

The unexpected. One unexpected thing I did discover on this particular model is that it comes with a MOSFET already installed.

Overall rating:

?/10

I will add a rating once I've had the opportunity to test fire the gun as it seems unfair to provide a rating when I'm unable to provide any feedback when it comes to actually firing it at this point in time.

Please note I will also be updating this into a full review once I've had the opportunity to run this a few times at my local site. Any criticism or feedback on this initial outline would be greatly appreciated and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Edit 17/01/2019:

So I had the chance to do a couple of firing tests this evening but I've been unable to perform an accuracy test as of yet.

Below is the results of a test with 0.20g ASG Blaster Devils:

The below are the results from a test with 0.25g Hornet Tactical BB's:

The trigger response feels good out of the box and in order to fire in fully automatic it requires a conscious depression of the trigger. The resistance in the trigger isn't overpowering but it gives the feeling of making each shot feel very deliberate.

The above tests were conducted using King Arm's mid-cap magazines which are brand new and a Vapex 7.4v Li-Po was used for testing purposes. The battery fit easily in the stock and the magazines were a good solid fit with no obvious signs of wobble.

Edit: 19/01/2019 // The first skirmish day:

So I decided to take the Aug with me for it's first test today and I have to say that I really enjoyed using it. Recently I've been running my MP5 a fair bit so I'm a bit rusty when it comes to exchanging magazines with the bullpup but I was eager to put this beauty into action. After hitting the chrono (results consistent with what was posted previously), and a quick chinwag with the chaps who the run site ,it was game time.

For the first couple of matches I took it easy and just hung back acting as rearguard while I got used to the progressive trigger and even without zeroing the sight or adjusting the hop I was getting some cracking shots on 0.25g's. At the first interval I took the opportunity to zero the sight and dial in the hop up, both of which were very easy to do. As the day went on I settled into the Aug finding the reloads becoming easier through the course of the day, despite fumbling one reload around the midpoint, and finding it progressively quicker and easier to get the sights onto target. I found it very easy to get a good view down the sights with my main hand but admittedly I did struggle with my off-hand, an issue which I'm sure time and practice will remedy.

The action varied over the course of the day allowing for a good mix of up close and personal CQB to longer ranges, albeit indoors, which provided a good bit of variety with using the rifle. Once I'd grown accustomed to it and began to trust myself I found the semi-automatic response to be very good, allowing for quick and accurate follow up shots along with beating people to trigger in some very close encounters. The King Arm's magazines fit and fed well throughout the day without any issue and the sling mounts held up well with the rifle being dropped to the side for some pistol work.

Overall I'm really impressed with the Classic Army AUG A1 and I'm glad I went ahead with my purchase. While various areas can always be improved with aftermarket modifications/upgrades out of the box it's a solid gun and I look forward to seeing how it holds up overtime.

 

[Iceni]

Ohhh that's got some nice features over the JG/APS models I didn't know about.

The Mosfet is a nice touch, but the really nice thing is the dividing plate between the gearbox and battery area. It's a 3/4 model with a QC spring gearbox. Remove the screw and washer and the spring guide should just push in and turn to release. Very very nice touch.

Does the deans on the Fet split? The split might be hidden under the heat-shrink. If it does you might be able to plug a battery directly to the MOSFET.  Just give it a pull. If I'm right it means the gun is wired as both deans and small Tamiya, and you get a free adapter for the kit bag. The wiring looks neat and if you picked up a deans extension you could drop the fet inside the dividing plate to gain a little more battery space. Overall it's a nice addition to the CA aug and adds some value to a new buyer who can't wire in a fet.  (most stores can wire in a fet very cheap and with a basic fet costing about £10, it alone doesn't add any real value over the JG other than the time saved).

Check what springs are singing. There are a couple that are known to sing that can be sorted with a little silicone grease packing. 

The trigger spring is normally the worst. You will hear it all the time, just pack it with some silicone grease.

The 2 springs on the cocking handle can sing as well. Again pack them with a little grease just to kill the noise.

There's one over the gearbox that returns the brass ejection baffles. It's not common for this one to sing. So I wouldn't bother looking at it.

And the mainspring in the gearbox, There isn't a lot you can do about spring twang here. The non-QC gearboxes you have a couple of options with brass spring guides. The QC gearboxes however you are limited on the spring guides according to the gearbox shells. You can grease the spring but that will only do so much.

The vertical grip spring is one I've not touched on my guns. I left it dry. You won't notice it over the sound of the gun. And I'd rather not have a greasy pole covering my gloves and gathering mud and grit. If it starts to bother you there is a conversion to add a 3 slot rail on the same mount so you can use a regular fixed vertical grip.

Does it have the plastic or alloy hop unit?

And does it have a 2 or 3 position safe bar?

All you need now is the blonde wig and a dodgy German accent.

 

[Druid799]

Nice one bud ?

 

[Iceni]

Nice, I take it the deans on the fet does split then?

I wouldn't do the barrel change until you have a shooting test first.

It might also be in your interest to pick up a second plastic hop unit. These run at about £6. And will mean you can leave the stock setup because from the looks CA got a lot of things right. So I would put money on the hop and barrel been decent as well.

http://www.gearofwar.co.uk/?product=jg-aug-hop-unit

 

With the spare unit, you can build the second barrel as a complete unit, so it'll just be the 2 screws to drop in the second assembly. It'll give you a lot more testing opportunities in the field. Pick the best setup for the gun, then use the second one to learn to flat hop with. Since you can drop in the barrels far easier than you can with most other platforms.

 

[FreeFrag.UK]

Nice, I take it the deans on the fet does split then?

Indeed. The tamiya adaptor was already fitted. In honesty it didn't occur to me that it would have a deans pre-installed but when I looked closer the adaptor came free in the same way as a deans battery. Personally I think this is a fantastic idea and, while I recognise space in airsoft guns is often at a premium, it's something I'd like to see more manufacturers implementing.

Admittedly I'd like to increase the FPS/J to be closer to site limits but at the moment I'm very happy with it but we'll see what it's like when it comes to accuracy when I get the opportunity.

 

[Druid799]

Admittedly I'd like to increase the FPS/J to be closer to site limits but at the moment I'm very happy with it but we'll see what it's like when it comes to accuracy when I get the opportunity.

Steady now ! Steady ! Your drifting in to the realms of the nooooooooob !?

It’s doing 318 on .2’s so as long as your range and accuracy is there (which I’d say will be more than likely just from my own experience of owning a couple of CA guns) do you really need to bump the the FPS another 25’ish ? I’ve always thought once you break the 250 threshold anyone who says they didn’t feel OR hear the hit is very likely talking from there fecal ejection unit ! ?

 

[FreeFrag.UK]

Steady now ! Steady ! Your drifting in to the realms of the nooooooooob !?

It’s doing 318 on .2’s so as long as your range and accuracy is there (which I’d say will be more than likely just from my own experience of owning a couple of CA guns) do you really need to bump the the FPS another 25’ish ? I’ve always thought once you break the 250 threshold anyone who says they didn’t feel OR hear the hit is very likely talking from there fecal ejection unit ! ?

Haha, unfortunately I've encountered a fair few fecal ejection units ?

If the accuracy is up to scratch then I'll probably leave it as it is to be fair. As you said, it's more than enough to feel it.

 

[Iceni]

Spot on review

It's nice to see a review of the CA, It's not a common gun on the field. The other makes are far more common.

I'm glad you are getting on with the platform, As you get more accustomed to it you will learn to love the thing. Whilst not a common gun compared to the M4 or AK variants you will see Aug''s every now and again.

Oh and just to annoy him @L3wisD

 

[Druid799]

Oh and just to annoy him @L3wisD

?????

 

[Iceni]

I blame you @Druid799. If it wasn't for all the Questions about Aug's @L3wisD wouldn't need to be tagged in everything.

 

[Druid799]

I blame you @Druid799. If it wasn't for all the Questions about Aug's @L3wisD wouldn't need to be tagged in everything.

?

 

[Archer]

Leave it stock for the moment - the HOP has yet to be bedded in through use. You may well find that the FPS will increase slightly over time.

I ran a spare Tightbore PSG1 barrel and stock TM HOP unit for my old AUG, used to annoy a few people who laughed at my choice of AEG until they found out it was quite accurate ?

A bit of dynamat sound proofing in the stock to reduce the noise of the gearbox.

Decent quality ammo and possibly  a Prommy Purple HOP rubber - pretty much all you'll need.