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Table of Contents



Ordering
Real Steel History
Appearance
Barrel
Trademarks
Furniture
Sights
Selector Switch
Bolt
Function
Metal and Not
Hop Up
Battery Compartment
Battery
Disassembly
Extras
Magazine
User's Manual
Firing
FPS
ROF
Accuracy
Impressions
Skirmish Report
Gripes
Overall
Conclusion
Ratings
Con's
Pro's



Ordering


I seriously considered the Classic Army M15A4, but the SLR105A1 won out, because of the stock 7mm gearbox. I bought this gun from www.airsplat.com for $320, and got free shipping. www.redwolfairsoft.com has it for $309, and www.airsoftgi.com has it for $330, so www.airsplat.com is right in the middle. Redwolf does not offer free shipping, however, so I suggest you get it from Airsplat.


Real Steel History

Picture obtained from: http://www.arsenalinc.com/

The Arsenal Inc. SLR105A1 rifle is a semi-automatic only, civilian version of the AK74. It is a limited edition, stamped receiver rifle chambered for 5.45 x 39.5 mm. This gun is no longer in production, and is difficult to obtain, selling for about $500. It is a nearly exact copy of the Russian version, differing in having a NATO butt stock, no accessory lug, as well as a few other subtle differences. It never obtained popularity, as the actual AK47 is more widely available.



Appearance:

This is my first AEG. I have no previous experience with AEG's except for firing my friend's Tokyo Marui Thompson, so bear with me here.



I am a fan of rather plain boxes, without fancy colors and such. Even though this one had a bunch of colors, words, etc., I definitely like the way this one looks. The box has the typical brand, gun type, and features printed on the outside. It is a rather weak feeling cardboard, with one corner ripped) over shaped Styrofoam.

At first glance, I thought it was a bit small, but when I looked again, it looked to be about the right size. This is my first Assault Rifle, I've always used a sniper rifle in the past, so that would explain the way it looked kind of small.
Classic Army put some good stuff into the SLR105A1, and it comes with a 7mm v.3 gearbox. Items included are:
o Classic Army SLR105A1 (no, really?)
o Classic Army 500 rd. Hi Capacity Magazine
o Front Site Adjustment Tool
o Cleaning Rod
o Manual (with fairly good English)



Barrel


The barrel is metal, and seems to be nice and sturdy, it's not going anywhere. The outside of the outer barrel is slightly threaded along its entire length. Not sure what kind of threading though. The inner barrel is 6.08mm, and looks to be of pretty good construction, better be in a $300 gun. As an AK type gun, it is sort of unusual for there to be barrel wobble, and this is no exception.



Trademarks

I love the trade marks!!! On the receiver it says:
Model SLR105
Cal. 6 mm.
Ser. 002568
Farther back on the receiver it says:
ARSENAL Las Vegas Nev. USA



Furniture

I love the way the gun looks vaguely tactical with the black stock and hand guard. It's a nice matte black color, not to dark, not to light. The butt stock had the typical indentations that are familiar to all AK users. The front stock has some sort of fin type setup, for improved grip ability. They aren't shiny, look and feel like quality plastic. There is a seam line, but nothing a little sanding won't fix. The furniture has a very nice feel to it, and is not slippery. The butt stock was a bit wobbly at first, but I tightened the screws, and it is no longer a problem. The pistol grip had the same problem, and the same fix. The pistol grip is the same matte black, and has a rectangle of relatively deep checkering on either side.



Sights

Both sights are adjustable. Neither is adjustable horizontally however. The front sight requires a drum key type of tool for adjusting. This tool looks to be of cast aluminum or scrap metal, and is included with the gun. The rear sight has a little slider that you can move forward, for long ranges, and backwards, for short ranges. After I adjusted the hop up, the sights are pretty much right on, the sight picture is good, and the gun points almost naturally. Sorry for the bad picture, I couldn't seem to get it…



Selector Switch

Safe

Automatic

Semi-Auto

The selector switch neatly pops into semi, and auto, and the stock fits comfortably. The selector switch has a small pin on the underside which fits into the indentations on the gun. The only downside of this system is that it scratches a curved line on the receiver (see pictures). You can make it easier and harder to adjust by tightening or loosening the hex head screw. I suggest you keep it nice and tight so it doesn't just up and fall out. Just a note: I (and apparently many others) have had a little trouble with the selector switch switching into semi-auto. I am talking to Classic Army right now, and am trying to resolve this problem. For now, I find that if I switch into safe and back, it usually fixes the problem.



Bolt

The bolt shuts with a satisfying click, and conceals the hop-up.

Function


Metal and Not

Items boxed by blue are plastic, items boxed by red are metal. To make this clearer, I have placed color coded splotches inside the colored boxes, they are the same color as the outlining color Most important items are metal. The overall is construction is good, I think this gun is going to be able to take a lot of punishment, but I will not be testing that on purpose.



Hop Up


The hop up seams to work very well, I turn it up just a little bit, and its perfect for the .2g's I use. When I tried some .25's, I had to turn it up a bit more (DUH) and it worked great. The slider won't move as you play, it seems to stay in place just fine, yet is still easy to adjust. The response is great, as at no time did I have it near 1/2 way up.



Battery Compartment

The battery compartment very easily fit my large Sanyo 8.4v 2400 MAh NiCad battery. I am told that it will hold a 9.6v, but this is not to my personal knowledge. For looking so small on the outside, the inside is massive.



Battery

For test firing, I used a Sanyo large size 8.4v 2400 MAh NiCad battery. As for the quality of this product, I am not sure, as I have had no previous experience with rechargeable batteries aside from AA's. It seems to be fine. I used a standard trickle charger and charged it for 7 hours.

To place the battery in the gun I had to unscrew the two screws holding the butt plate/battery compartment cover on.


It fit very nicely, a little extra space, not a whole lot. It was tight enough that the battery didn't rattle around when I shook the gun. I have been informed that the space is large enough for a 9.6v 3000Mah, but I have not tested this personally.


I blew a fuse the other day, and had to break it. I replaced it with a 25 amp fuse from the Car Quest that is two doors down from my house. The original fuse was about 3/4" long, and was a 20 amp. I replaced it with a 1" long 25 amp. The fuse fitting fit just fine, and the fuse fit in the fuse cover very well. This is my first AEG, so it might be standard, but the clear white cylinder that covers the fuse is ingenious, and made replacing the fuse extremely easy.



Disassembly
I used the AK47 Disassembly guide off of www.mechbox.com. Here's the link: http://www.mechbox.com/site/ak-47-upgrades/ak47-disassembly-video.html The only difference is the little magazine catch that falls out of the gun in the video is non existent in the Classic Army version. Here's the link to the reassembly:http://www.mechbox.com/site/ak-47-upgrades/ak47-resassembly-video.html



Magazine

Classic Army threw in a 500 rd. hi-capacity magazine, nice of them, now I don't have to buy a separate hi-capacity. I tested this magazine, it passed, but only for functionality. From a few feet away it looks good, close up it's another story. Note the prominent seam lines. The piece that locks into the gun is also very shoddily done. You have to wind it every 300 shots, and when you get to the last few BBs in the whole magazine, it won't fire unless held upside down.



User's Manual

It has decent grammar, and decent illustrations. As you can see the back page is a diagram of parts, but it's kind of confusing. I used the Tokyo Marui AK47 disassembly video from www.mechbox.com



Firing


FPS

I dry fired about 10 shots, and it sounded very impressive, love the ROF. I then went out for the first firing test, FPS. I did the "poor man's chrono," and it easily punched through both sides of the Coke can, and left a nice dent on the center of the bottom. Then I got a little bored, so I shredded, yes shredded a pop can with the gun on full auto. My estimate for the gun is 360 to 385 FPS.



ROF


I did a 5 second burst to my stop watch and counted 87 shots. This comes to about 17 rounds a second. Once again, Classic army was right. I am very happy with this number. I feel that you need at least one more high capacity magazine to be really effective. I chewed through about 700 rounds in 45 minutes of 1 vs. 2. Might just be me being trigger happy, but I would suggest at least 1 more magazine.



Accuracy


I shot a 6" target from 7 distances. I did three 5 shot groups at each distance, and for semi and full auto. For a total of 14 tests, 7 full auto, 7 semi auto. I used .25g PHX BBs. The distances are: 10', 25', 50', 75', 100', 125', 150'


WARNING: I am a bad marksman, and am using mid level bb's, expect better groups


Semi-Auto Auto
10'- 1" 1 1/2"
25'- 2" 3"
50'- 4" 7"
75'- 5" 10"
100'- 14" 18"
125'- 15" 20"
150'- 18" 24"


Impressions


I love the way this gun is treating me, I have my first skirmish this Saturday. I firmly believe that this gun is worth every penny of the $320 I paid for it. It seems to be a good gun for woodland style games, and is more accurate than my UTG M324. I believe that if you tuck the stock under your arm, and shoot from the hip, it would be fine for CQB games as well, but I usually play woodland.



Skirmish (sort of) Report


I took the gun apart, and put the nozzle back in wrong, so the gun was out of commission Saturday. Ugh. It's fixed now (my fault) and I played a little backyard skirmish. I could easily pin my little brother down (not usually an easy task) and managed to win every round I played. I found that even for backyard skirmishing, AT LEAST 1 more hi-cap would be nice, not necessary, but nice. I loved the ROF, and the FPS was highly respectable.



Gripes


I only have a few gripes. While putting it away, the pin that holds the magazine catch in slipped out. It was a real pain to put back in. Also, a couple of times when I tried to switch into semi-auto from full-auto, all I got were a weird clicking sound. That was easily fixed by switching into full-auto and back again. Last, that stupid scratch from the selector switch. I have been informed that the scratch is supposed to happen, but as a personal thing, I don't really like it.



Cons:


Plastic Parts -there are a few plastic parts in it
Gearbox Cover Piece-the piece that screws down over the gearbox and lower receiver is plastic. The screw hole
cracked in half on mine
Switching into Semi-Auto-sometimes just results in clicking
Mag Catch Pin-mine is really loose, and tries to slide out when the mag is in
Sling Mounts-the front one isn't wide enough for the sling from my M324 (I know I'm supposed to use an AK sling...but I gotta use what I have
Shoddy Magazine -you would think that with a $320 gun it would have a good magazine


Pros:


Medium Length -Accurate, but maneuverable, best of both worlds
Performance -Good FPS and ROF stock
Build Quality -Solid metal gun, and quality plastic stock and hand guards
Versatility -You name it, it can do it. CQB, Woodland, it can do it all
Markings -REAL TRADEMARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Appearance -A nice tactical look, I know AK "purists" will kill me for this, but it almost looks better than wood. It is a utilitarian gun.



Overall

The CA SLR105A1 replica of the SLR105 (no…) is a very good gun for woodland games, an acceptable one for CQB. I hope that I am able to get a wood conversion kit for this gun, but am also very happy with the way it looks, even with the glass fiber stock and hand guard.


If you, like me, are on a tight budget and want a high quality airsoft gun, this is a very good choice. You would be hard pressed to find a better deal for an airsoft AK47 style gun.



Ratings


Package: ++++++++++ 10/10
Appearance: +++++++++- 9/10 (not quite wood)
Build Quality: +++++++++- 9/10 - (that stupid magazine catch)
Performance: ++++++++/- 10/10
Handling: ++++++++++! 10/10
Value: +++++++++/ 9/10 -Needs to have a better magazine
Potential: ++++++++++ 9/10 -As an AK style gun, you need to buy a rail system, and those aren't exactly cheap



Conclusion


The gun itself is beautiful. I am very happy with the matte black color. The scratch from the selector switch stands out, and makes the gun look a little used. It is a very nice weight, not too heavy, not too light. The accuracy is good enough for any uses I would have for it. The ROF is much higher than my buddy's Tokyo Marui M1A1 Thompson. The FPS is higher too...hehe. There are a few minor things:
1 The furniture doesn't quite have the right feel, wood is better in my opinion, but still, not bad.
2 The magazine catch pin likes to fall out.
3 The stupid magazine that came with the gun is a really shoddy piece of work.
I am still very happy with the gun, and the good out weighs the bad by a long shot. I am very satisfied with this gun, and am looking forward to upgrading it in the future. I will not be buying another AEG, maybe a bolt action rifle, but I already have a good AEG.

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