Classic Army G36K – Is It A Good Platform For Adapting To Multiple Roles?
Parts List:
1x CA 36K (no upgrade)
1x G&P G36 front-end w/bipod
1x Star flat rail scope mount
1x PDI outer barrel
1x King Arms adapter
1x King Arms MC51 flash-hider
1x Smokey’s cheek piece
1x Sanyo 9.6v 1500mah battery
2x G&P 130 round mid-cap mags
1x CA x round low-cap mag
2x CA 470 round high-cap mags
Log on to any Airsoft forum and you’ll probably see numerous threads about “wot am bestest AEG” and which manufacturer is Hot and which ones are Not. As one example, recently there has been a lot of interest shown in the Classic Army G36 series (G36, G36K, G36C).
People want to know which G36 series on the market is the most realistic, which is the most reliable, which offers the best performance and which represents the best value-for-money. Based on the discussions I participated in on Arnie’s Airsoft, as well as my own personal preferences, I recently decided to buy a Classic Army CA36K (G36KE replica) from Airsoft Armoury.
I decided upon the CA36K because it seemed from my research to offer the best balance of realism, performance, reliability and price of the various G36 series available. I have to add as a footnote that I did come very close to deciding upon the STAR G36KE, but I didn’t have the same degree of trust in its reliability as I did in the Classic Army, and it was more expensive. Finally, because the Classic Army G36K is quoted as performing at around 300fps out of the box, there should be no need to immediately invest in an expensive upgrade either.
Another reason for choosing the Classic Army G36K model was actually two-fold. In the first instance I find the “carbine” length G36 to be the optimum length for skirmishing in both woodland and urban environments. I also chose the K model because I intended to use it as the base for a modular weapons platform.
Allow me to expand on that last point further. Have you ever dreamt of having an armoury of weapons to choose from for the job at hand – whether that is mid-range tactical sniping or fire support, short-range assault or defence and close-quarter urban battle? Well, I did – but I didn’t want to spend the fortune needed to buy a separate AEG for each of those roles. So I thought that the G36, with the wide range of after-market accessories available for it, would be a great choice.
So, I simply purchased a long front-end set with bipod, a spare stock, a flattop rail unit, a G36C sight unit, a cheek piece, a telescopic sight and a heavy-barrel style outer barrel. With this selection of extra cosmetic parts, I can now build my G36K up into several different configurations, all based upon the same body and internals (including inner barrel). These configurations are:
- CQB Carbine – with rails for a vertical fore-grip, torch and/or laser unit
- Standard Carbine – K-style front end without rails
- Light Support Weapon – heavy barrel with bipod front end and C-MAG
- Designated Marksman Rifle – heavy barrel with bipod front end and rails with telescopic sight
In the end, I decided to “splash out” a little and also bought an alternative G36K front end set, a tight-bore barrel and an MC51 style flash-hider to take the place of the normal K-style 4-pronged unit.
Field-Testing the C36K
With all of this settled the time was nigh to put it all to the test and see how the rifle performed out-of-the box and in the field. My chosen operational scenario was a day of close combat at the British Army urban-warfare training site at Long moor Camp – courtesy of Ambush Adventures.
As it was going to be a day of Fighting In Built-Up Areas (FIBUA), or “fighting in somebody’s house” as its also known, I figured the skirmish zone would be pretty much over-run with carbines and sub-machine guns. So, I decided to go with something completely different – a Designated Marksman Rifle variation of the G36. Besides, I’d had a pretty tiring week at work and I didn’t fancy being in full frontal assault mode all day long either.
So, I popped on the G&P long front-end with bipod, the heavy-barrel style full-length outer barrel from PDI, the Star top rail mount, the Smokey’s cheek piece and the Walther 3-9x40mm telescopic sight – and faster than you can say Vorsprung durch Technik I had a rather spiffy G36DMR ready for battle.
Once at the skirmish location I just needed to load up a magazine and take the rifle out to the test firing zone to tweak the hop-up until I was getting the BB’s to fly straight and level out to a reasonable range with acceptable accuracy. I also had the rifle chrono’d to check the FPS. I was immediately impressed that it chronoed 315-318 fps straight out of the box – I was also impressed by how little I had to adjust the hop-up to get the range I was happy with. I was also suitably impressed by the size of the groups I was able to squeeze off in full-auto mode as well. After only a few short bursts to get the hop adjusted, I then very happily used the rest of the magazine to get used to the feel, the rate of fire and the accuracy of the rifle.
As I went into action through-out the day, I continued to be impressed by the build-quality, the accuracy, the range (consistently out-reaching many of the M4s on site), the rate of fire and the general trouble-free reliability of the gun.
Using a DMR in an urban setting
More show than go? It could be argued that simply changing the fore-end and the rail, adding a telescopic sight and putting a cheek-piece on the butt-stock amount to nothing more than cosmetic changes. That would be a fair point – but remember, the object of this exercise was to test the concept of using the CA36K as the base platform of a modular weapons system.
Having successfully tested and proven that concept, I’ve now purchased a tight-bore, full-length inner barrel and hop-up assembly for the DMR version. So in a style very much like the US SOCOM’s new SCAR-L rifle, swapping from carbine to DMR will consist of a barrel change, a sight rail change and a butt-stock change. This should only take a few minutes, not require any specialist tools and be able to be done in the safe zone. Finally, the tight-bore inner barrel should give enough of an increase in velocity and accuracy to make the DMR version truly meaningful.
But is it useful for urban skirmishing? Again, a fair point – but its actually about the same length as an M16 and plenty of those are used quite easily in urban environments.
The real question is whether or not it makes sense to use a long range (in airsoft terms that means 50-75 metres) in an urban setting. Well, yes it does. Whilst it’s definitely not a room sweeper or an assault weapon it can be used very successfully in a tactically correct way. That is, take up an over-watch position outside a building to cover a street, or take up an over-watch position on the top floor of a building to cover a bloc of buildings. On more than one occasion I spoiled a flanking attack and protected my team in the building from getting hit by surprise.
Conclusion
Overall, I am very happy with the performance of the Classic Army CA36K and would whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone looking specifically for a G36 model, or just generally as an alternative to the boringly ubiquitous Armalite variants.
Plus the already extensive range of after-market parts for the TM and CA G36 models means that you can very easily and relatively-cost-effectively “pimp your piece” to achieve many different variations. Maybe even this article has given you some new ideas and inspiration.
Footnote: Dodgy wiring. The one thing that could have been a showstopper was the fact that the first CA36K I bought was from a batch that had a fault in the gearbox wiring. This meant that the gun went dead after only a couple of initial bursts. Fortunately, the lads at Airsoft Armoury were able to diagnose the problem quickly and they immediately swapped the faulty gun for a new one. Since then, I’ve had absolutely no problems. Well done A2 and Classic Army.
Editors note – For a fully licenced replica with realistic trademarks please check out the Umarex range of G36 Rifles
