ICS CXP16L

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ICS CXP16L

Postby The Honey Badger on Thu Feb 20, 2014 9:16 pm

As many of you are aware, I have always wanted an M4/M16 that I wont wrap around the tree in my front yard over something as simple as a spring change. I have been looking hard and long at the split gearbox companies. Systema, Celcius, WeTech, and ICS. Some months ago, before Christmas at least, I decided that I could not afford a Systema or Celcius guns or magazines. So, I set my sights on the WE and the ICS.

The WE Katana and ICS metal receiver guns are both around $360. Both have plus and minuses. All of which I weighed. Sight unseen, the ICS seemed a better choice, for the fact that Evike is running the plain jane M4 Katana for $220 and RAS version for $240, while the ICS M4 is $200 to $210 depending on your code. However, if I were to get me an M4, I wanted a WE Raptor (over $400) or an ICS CXP16L, if you could find either of them outside of eHobbyAsia. At this point I decided to pick up a CXP15 for $160 and throw on a hundred bucks in mods. The plan was to use my 363mm TBB I have hanging around, get a barrel extension, and some internals, including an extra top receiver.

Through an odd twist of fate, Eli happen to buy an ICS CXP16L, and not like it after using it for a couple hours at SASCO. So, he sold to me.

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The pros:
  • The few polymer parts aside, this is a solid metal gun. The receiver is solid and body pins are the best design out of all five or six M4's I have owned. Removing the rear pin breaks open the upper and lower receiver, exactly like a real AR. The upper gearbox slides out like an AR's bolt carrier assembly. This makes it easier and quicker to modify the gun's characteristics. You can switch out entire upper gearboxes, if you have spares.
  • The RAS is great, solid, lots of space, the H&K 416 style. Not saying 416 exactly, just 416ish.
  • The hop up, although proprietary, is superior to any hop up I have seen for a v2 gearbox. I really, really like it. Oddly though, when I took it apart, there was no nub. It still had enough bite to work with just the arm, though. More on that later.
  • I can't say I will never take the lower gearbox out, but I can say that I wont have to, unless it breaks.
  • The upper gearbox is completely upgradable with the exception of the nozzle. There are forums out there that say that you can shave a TM compatible down to get it to work. The nozzle has a good enough seal for now, so I wont mess with it.
  • The gearbox "Pre-cocks" itself on the first trigger pull. Not a big thing for me, but some people may love it.
  • The "Forward Assist" releases the spring tension.
  • The mock suppressor gives you the ability to install a longer inner barrel. Up to around 470mm. So and AK length is good for it. Also, if you want to have your cake and it it too, get a second hop up. Have one on a 455mm on one and a 300mm on the other.
  • Sights are Magpul like. Very nice and removable if you want to use the top rail for optics.
  • The crane stock is deep and caverness. It reminds me of a girl I knew in Spain nearly 25 years ago. But that is another story. Lets just say, its enormous. I can put two of my 7.4v 25c 1300mah, AK stick batteries, with a bridge connector in it, along with the Burst Wizard Mosfet I just ordered today, without any issues. I have never seen a crane stock so big.

Now, for the cons that I have found so far...
  • At the chronograph, it was 330fps with .25s. I changed that a bit, so far. More later.
  • Although the whole gun is metal, the trunnions that hold the RAS on, are polymer. It seems solid though, and Its likely just so that the RAS is QD. Although, it would only matter if the gun was front wired, but its not.
  • There is no front sling mount. Eli added a QD sling swivel mount.
  • The flash suppressor is plastic. Eli replaced it.
  • The QD barrel extension is wobbly.
  • The Hop up is proprietary.
  • The Air Nozzle is proprietary, but works with the M4/M16 and the MX5 guns. No O-Ring but a good seal. Guess I need to stock up on them just in case.
  • Although I haven't had it out yet, I will bet that the Spring Guide is plastic, and the Piston, Piston Head, and Cylinder Head are all "Cheap Chinese." More on this later.
  • Short, Plastic?, barrel. It doesn't shoot poorly, but if it is plastic and not some space age tungsten carbide, its going to warp real quick. If I didn't have a plan for upgrading the inner barrel, I would be pissed.

Modifications:
  • Eli added a front sling swivel and a metal flash hider.
  • I have several barrels laying around so I pulled the plasticy barrel. I put in a 363mm 6.03 stainless tight bore after cleaning it. I ordered a 450mm 6.03 TBB today as well. When I pulled the barrel from the hop up I discovered that there was no nub. I live an breath MadBull blue so I dropped on a "recycled" (though I keep several new ones, I have used ones about) bucking and used one of the horde of nubs I have. This increased the fps to 370 (consistently 369 to 371, mind you).

Immediate Future Mods:
  • 450mm TBB, ordered. $17 from ASGI with discounts.
  • Duel 7.4v 15c 1200mah batteries, bridged to double the mili amps to 2400mah. Ordered 6 Monday, only $45 from HobbyKing.
  • Burst Wizard King Kong 2. About $35 from ASGI at 14% off. $10-15 cheaper than factory direct.
  • I have all I need except the actual upper gearbox shell ($20), air nozzle ($10), and spring guide ($10) to make several new uppers. Evike right now has the real expensive ones on sale for $52 shipped. They are CNC aluminum everything except the plastic nozzle and tappet plate. Smokin deal.

I will keep you posted on the ICS odyssey.
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Re: ICS CXP16L

Postby psykoboy on Sat Feb 22, 2014 9:02 pm

OH! EM! GEE! This thing is tits
eta afucking taka
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Re: ICS CXP16L

Postby psykoboy on Sat Feb 22, 2014 11:00 pm

I just want to say that I was opposed to the Ics split ver2 box for the longest time due to the earlier generations poor reviews. The new gen split is miles better than the old gen I was so impressed by what I saw of Trent's today i was asking my self why I a stanag fetish freak did not have one if these m4 platforms yet. So now I will in every color.



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Re: ICS CXP16L

Postby KileyHAZ on Sat Mar 29, 2014 12:42 am

Thanks Trent! Good review! Appreciate you taking the time to post findings for all to see.

I wanted to add the following resource URLS from our own local ICS expert on AA XavierMace (always read anything with a grain of salt when the equipment is given for review and not independent) and had a word about psyko's post below as well...

http://www.xaviermace.com/
http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/in ... ic=79928.0
http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/in ... ic=93066.0
http://www.airsplat.com/Items/ER-ICS-CXPM4-60.htm

As far as the post...

psykoboy wrote:I just want to say that I was opposed to the Ics split ver2 box for the longest time due to the earlier generations poor reviews. The new gen split is miles better than the old gen I was so impressed by what I saw of Trent's today i was asking my self why I a stanag fetish freak did not have one if these m4 platforms yet. So now I will in every color.


I'll check back in 30, 60, and 90 days. I think you are placing a little too much faith in a somewhat limited range of tests, field time, and conditions. Espousing it as anything more then 'above expectations out of the box and longevity remains to be seen' seems like an educated guess at best. I could be wrong and this *is* the holy grail of airsoft, in which case we will all own one in the next year and never need to buy anything else again, but I suspect it has flaws that become evident as the gun breaks in over time. I had an early gen ICS that was AWESOME for about a year (and a year before that with the previous owner) but when it started to get worn out it simply got sloppy tolerances. Bio has that same gun today and it a private pain fetish for him to try and keep running. Luckily he is a master tech as a sane person would have junked it long ago.

Not saying its bad hardware, just saying its probably more responsible to report the amount of time and field use you have put it through in the context of any feeling on the gun. In any case if a potential buyer isnt doing research or checking 2+ points of review for corroboration then they deserve what they get good or bad. Just my thoughts.

Thanks again guys!
"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking"
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Re: ICS CXP16L

Postby ultimentra on Sat Mar 29, 2014 5:47 am

The Honey Badger wrote:As many of you are aware, I have always wanted an M4/M16 that I wont wrap around the tree in my front yard over something as simple as a spring change. .[/list]


Never heard it put quite like this before, an eloquent metaphor for sure! :)

A good review I would say. Would like to see an "in the field" portion with an update on performance later on. Other than that you have everything here that you would need to submit it to like, arnies or AirSim or some other official review website.
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