WTF??? Can't open up my CA M15A4 rifle

[Crunchmeister]

Well, since I took the plunge and had to totally dismantle my TM M4 today (as per my other thread), I figured I'd crack open my CA M15 rifle to take a look inside and see what this "split mechbox" is all about.

Well, for the life of me, I'm unable to open the damn thing. According to what I've read, and a disassembly guide I've read, it disassembles the same way as the Marui M4, at least to open it up. I removed the rear pin, and try pulling up on the handle to separate the upper and lower receivers, but it WILL NOT BUDGE. You'd think that there was a pin still in place. I've used amounts of force on this that I don't feel comfortable using on my expensive new gun and I can't get the 2 halves of the body to separate from each other even a fraction of a millimeter. Is there something I'm doing wrong? Is there some trick to opening this particualy gun that I'm not aware of?

[damage]

CA M4 is not "split mechbox" its the ICS and metal bodied M4 disassembly procedure is not the same as TM's.

CA M4 disassembly procedure.
-take out the front reciever pin
-pull the charging handle and slide the upper receiver forward
-unscrew the stock screw
-unscrew the motor plate and take out the motor
-unscrew the motor grip
-take out the mechbox body pin, rear receiver pin and the mag catch
-then slowly separate the mechbox to the lower reciever.

[mcguyver]

Remove the front receiver pin.

[Crunchmeister]

Originally Posted by DONSTER 125

stupid question, but im absentminded enough to do it, did you take the carrying handle off. i dont mean to insult you with such a lame question, but i have done stupid shit like that in the past with my paintball guns and such. sorry again if i came across as a jerk

Hey, I'm new at this, so any help I get is appreciated. I'm a prime candidate to make a noob mistake. But how does the carrying handle affect it? The guide specifically said to pull on on the carrying handle to split the halves of the receiver, which is what I did.

Originally Posted by damage

CA M4 is not "split mechbox" its the ICS and metal bodied M4 disassembly procedure is not the same as TM's.

Ok. I think I just made an error on the split mechbox thing. It's the "Easy disassembly body" that I was thinking of. Well, unless I'm doing something wrong, so much for "easy disassembly".

Originally Posted by mcguyver

Remove the front receiver pin.

The guide I read said it disassembles the same way as the Marui, so that's what I tried. Guess not. I didn't try removing both receiver pins at once though. I just wanted to crack it open and take a quick look inside. I'll have to try that when I have have more patience on my hands. After tearing apart the M4 earlier, I'm no longer in the mood for it. :lol:

Thanks.

[Crunchmeister]

Originally Posted by DONSTER 125

well if the body splits in half, the carry handle will act as a clamp and prevent you from taking the body into halves... but again, i have no experience, just trying to offer some help

Well, the handle is attached to the top of upper receiver. I doesn't make any contact with the lower receiver whatsoever, and shouldn't interfere with the disassembly, as least as far as I can tell. And the top part splits from the bottom part of the body. It doesn't split in 2 equal halves like a cheap springer or clearsoft gun, so the handle shouldn't matter at all.

This rifle will get opened up sooner rather than later, and I can then determine how I'll upgrade it. I can't have my M4 at 380+ FPS and have my rifle at only averaging about 300 FPS. At a minimum, it's going to be getting some better gears and a stronger spring before it gets fielded. I want it to be my main field rifle, and I want my M4 for any CQB games.

[White_knight]

Originally Posted by DONSTER 125

well if the body splits in half, the carry handle will act as a clamp and prevent you from taking the body into halves... but again, i have no experience, just trying to offer some help

if you have no experience then why try, your causing more harm then good, you do not need to remove the carry handle. and why do you need to take it apart. im not trying to be a jerk but getting it in two is the easiest part, from then on you better know what your getting into. that being said push out both body pins and then grab it by the fore grip and stock and pull it apart sideways. since the metal body doesn't have rear tabs then it should just slip off the mechbox. if it does have rear tabs then your going to have to take off the motor and pistol grip before you can separate

[Crunchmeister]

I want to open it up because I want to learn. I know how to break down and maintain / customize / upgrade all my hobby toys, be it computers, guitars, amplifiers, telescopes, real guns, BB/pellet guns, etc. And I learned to do all those things by myself by trial and error. Luckily, I never made any errors that I wasn't able to easily and cheaply rectify. Now I want to be able to disassemble, service, repair and upgrade my airsoft guns too. There are some things that I just need to be hands-on with and won't let others do for me, unless it's something totally out of my league. And I don't believe that repairing or upgrading an AEG (as long as it doesn't involve having to modify parts) is out of my leage in the slightest.

This all started for me today. I blew a spur gear in my TM M4 today and stripped it down completely, following the instructional videos on mechbox.com. It was much simpler than I thought it was going to be. Now - as was mentioned to me in my thread on that matter, being able to assemble and disassemble is one thing. Having the gun actually fire successfully once reassembled is another story altogether. Since my gear is horribly stripped, I won't be able to test my handiwork and what I've learned until after I receive my new parts. But for practice, I disassembled and reassembled the entire mechbox 4 times tonight just to get used to all the parts, what they are, where they go, what they do, etc. And I'm confident that barring some unforseen complications (like parts not fitting) that I'll be able to get my gun back up and running better than new.

And that's why I want to get into my other gun. I want to see what it's like, and I want to eventually upgrade its internals as well.

[Ronan]

CA 'field strip' is as follow.

Take the front pin out.
Upper and lower will then split appart by pulling the lower toward the rear of the gun.
Take the handgrip off and detach the motor.
Taking the rear body pin out and other pins will free the mechbox.

Iv personaly watched the 2 gun docs do this to my SR-25 with ease. (first time to change the piston head, second time to change the hop up rubber and check the nozzle, rubber was fubar, nozzle was perfect).

[Crunchmeister]

Thanks for all the info guys. I'll give it a try tonight.

[HaZarD SFD]

Yeah Ronan is right.. I can field strip mine in 5mins.. Mind you ive also been in and out of my m15A4 about 12 times already.

[Crunchmeister]

And this is the reason that I've brought this question up to you guys. I know the CA Armalites are pretty popular guns, so I figured someone would be able to tell me that I was doing wrong...

And BTW, the original reference I used trying to disassemble mine is at the link below. It essentially describes the same process I used to get into my TM M4A1. Hence my confusion when trying to take this gun apart. The disassembly procedure is covered about 3/4 of the way down the page.

http://www.airsplat.com/CA-M15A4-Air...Gun-Review.htm

[testtube]

don't forget to pull the cocking handle to get it over the nipples on the top of Mechbox.

[HaZarD SFD]

Originally Posted by testtube

don't forget to pull the cocking handle to get it over the nipples on the top of Mechbox.

Dont have to on the CA M15A4

[testtube]

yes you do mine had them.