Thursday, February 25, 2010

Celcius Technology CTW X-MAX CQBR

-Blag of Michigan Airsoft

Background

      Celcius Technologies originally started operation for mass production in 2004. Three years later in 2007 Celcius was up and running at full speed producing airsoft guns for customers worldwide. The company uses precision CNC machining operations as well as quality materials which are both shown in the fit and finish of their products.

      I personally have been seriously into the airsoft scene for a little over eight years. Owning almost every AEG Tokyo Marui has ever made as well as other manufacturer replicas with vast experience of airsoft guns both externally and internally, as well of working myself with CNCs and machining. Now I am posting this review on the all new Celcius CTW X-MAX CQBR which you can find at retailers very soon.

Initial Impression

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      The box the CTW X-MAX comes in is an impressive package. It is nothing to extraordinary but sure beats most manufacturers packaging on the market today. The lid of the package is a nice gloss laminate finish with the words “Celcius Advanced System Training Weapon” as well as the Celcius logo ring design. The bottom section of the box is a standard molded Styrofoam bottom with sections for the included rifle itself, magazine, BB loader, barrel cleaning brush – yes a brush not just a rod, and the manual for the CTW which is on CD in PDF format.

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       Unboxing the CTW was impressive with the weight of the rifle. The CTW weighs in at about 7 pounds 8 ounces unloaded and without a battery. Just like my Systema PTW, this CTW is rock solid. Unlike holding a Tokyo Marui type AEG, the CTW has zero creaks or wobble.

Built Quality

      After playing with the CTW and taking it slightly apart it is very apparent that Celcius takes pride in the products they produce. Every piece of the rifle fit perfectly where it is suppose to. From the flash hider to the stock, nothing wobbles or makes noise. Unlike almost all M16 variant airsoft rifles the stock does not even move or wobble.

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      The ABS parts  on this rifle including the stock, grip, and hand guards are a nice dull black with no shiny gloss appearance to any of it. Again like the Systema PTW, this stock on the CTW has the foam inserts on each side for cheek comfort. I do have to mention though that the foam inserts on mine came a little marred up from the factory. The grip on the rifle is the correct size to the real steel M16 version rifle, which is a little thinner than most AEGs due to them having to fit the motor in it.

      The only “bad” parts I found with the CTW were one, the finish on it. The finish looks great when it comes to color and almost appears to be a powder coat finish on the receiver. Because it is powder coated, all parts including the top rail are a little out of dimension. When I went to install a Eotech 553 with ARMS mount, it would not lock on. I ended up having to shave down the arms on my Eotech to get them to clamp to the rail.

       I also went to install a stock Tokyo Marui ARMS type rear iron sight. When I did this I had to tap the sight onto the rail which incidentally ended up shaving the powder coat finish off of the receiver in that section of rail to get it to fit. Other than the finish on the receiver, the finish on the buffer tube is extremely bright and seems to be plated to look that way intentionally.

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      The other “bad” part of the rifle was that it came from the factory with the front sight post canted to the left. This is not a major problem as it is fairly easily fixed by taking the pins out and rotation the sight post. It however is something that should have been looked at more closely from the factory before shipping out. All other steel parts on the CTW are great and are machined of steel. The laser engraved markings as well as unique serial numbers look fantastic.

      The Barrel of the CTW is something I have never seen in the world of airsoft in all of the years I have been playing. Celcius really did it right when designing this new version inner barrel for the rifle. The inner barrel is a 6.00mm Stainless Steel inner barrel with porting at the end as well as a very nice crown machined into the barrel. Being made of stainless steel the barrel will not ever rust. It will also be very, very difficult for it to bend, dent, or scratch. I have found that the barrel is extremely accurate but I will go more into that later. Another nice feature about the CTW inner barrel is that is extends flush to the end of the flash hider to give the porting on the barrel actual room for effectiveness.

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 barrel

      On the inner end of the barrel is of course, the hop up. This hop up on the CTW works well and is designed a lot like the Systema PTW hop up. I have found that it holds zero well and produced a perfect trajectory when adjusted correctly. The adjustment is made through the magazine well with an allen key.

hopup 

      The all new 2009 model ECU in the CTW is a vast improvement over the original CTW. The older, now discontinued model ECU would have a problem with semi auto not functioning correctly as well as burning up easily. The 2009 model ECU eliminated all of these problems as well as now including a blue LED low battery indicator, faster trigger response time, and a faster rate of fire.

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      I should also add that every part of the Celcius CTW that I have taken a look at is backward compatible with the Systema PTW.

Performance

      The new Celcius 120 round high-speed magazine provided with the new X-MAX. The magazine has fed every one of the rounds I have loaded into it and has been able to keep up with the rifle flawless, even when running on an 11.1v Lipo battery. After every magazine I have ran through the rifle, the bolt stop function has worked flawlessly and stopped it from firing.

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      The motor provided with the Celcius is a new 495 motor which has good speed to it as well as sound. One thing I have noticed with most “clone” guns is the motors used in them make a whiney noise when fired. I was really hoping this would not be the case with the CTW, it is not. The motor sounds exactly as my Systema PTW sounds when fired.

Firing Tests – By Snikrot - MIA

       I did a couple test fires to see its grouping. I did two tests both at 25ft from the target. I used Bioval's .27g BBBMAX bb's

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25ft

The first time I shot five rounds and they had a 1.25" grouping

1.25inch group

 

The second time I shot five rounds and they had a .75" grouping.

.75inch group

 

Thanks to Snikrot on Michigan Airsoft for this bit of information as my CTW went down before I could finish my review..

“Being a former PTW owner, I was a little skeptical on the CTW at first. I have heard a mix of good and bad about the CTW, but I took a risk and it paid off. The CTW has the same trigger response as the PTW SuperMax and it has the same crisp pop sound when it fires.
When firing the CTW, I used Bioval .27g BBBMAX bb's and with it's original cylinder, it has fantastic accuracy and grouping. and at about 10m I can hit center target with a 3/4" grouping. These bb's go hand in hand with the CTW and PTW, No matter how fast you gun shoots, it wont chop a bioval bb as it would a regular bb. I haven't owned the CTW for very long, But I can already tell it's a fantastic gun. “

Thanks to Snikrot on Michigan Airsoft for this bit of performance information as my CTW went down before I could finish my review..

      Unfortunately my CTW blew its ECU and stripped the piston rack. This is my own fault and is due to me running the rifle on a 9.6V Systema PTW Battery. Celcius says to only run a  11.1v 1200mAh 12C li-po battery which is now what I have for it but I acquired it to late. My CTW is now getting a Systema ECU and piston rack install which does prove the compatibility. If you ask me this should not have happened in the first place with the “new and improved 2009 ECU” BUT I did not follow the recommended battery use so take it how you will.

Overall Impressions

      My overall impression of the Celcius CTW is that it is a great weapon. It is unfortunate that mine went down on me but that is what happens when I don’t listen to the manufacturer recommendations.

      It is extremely accurate and has great constancy. Every part of the weapon functions as intended and looks good.

     For the price of what you are getting it is a GREAT alternative to the players who want the performance and realism of a Systems PTW but do not want to dish out the price for one.