Review Of New Echo1 Rifle Dynamics Ak

[MarksInnerDemon]

Before you read to far guess which one is the real one, and post.

 

Alright so I have been a AK fan for years and years. In the last few years I have purchased everything from Classic Army, to Real Sword (RS being one of the best copies of the original yet). Well while in afghanistan I ordered a Rifle Dynamics production gun. Understand this is the real thing, and not a custom job. Being home again I asked for my rifle to ship and it arrived on Valentines, weeks later Echo1 got it's shipment out the door to my hands as well. This will be purely a comparison of the airsoft gun to the real thing, and not a review of accuracy or any other points as of yet. I made sure the rifle functioned and left it at that. I will point out the echo1 model comes with a metal hopup (thank god!) Other then that the internal and performance review will come later, or by someone who is more qualified to review.

 

While I love Russian ingenuity, and love the AK platform for all it's strong points the reality is I am American and will die one. That being said I absolutely love when a American company takes the AK cleans it up and puts it in the hands of us gun lovers. Having both the real rifle and a copy is a real treat for me, but just like real weapons there are always little issues unless the rifle is custom done and even then.....

 

 

First let me state there are some obvious inconsistencies in both rifles. I will go over the perceived negatives first.

 

1. Probably the two most inconsistent things you will notice off hand are what I would call impossible errors. The first not seen in the photo posted (was a guess which one is real photo) are the muzzle break. The AK has a BCM version while the airsoft has one of the modified M4 style breaks. The reality is that the M4 break is orange, and will probably come off, and I am not aware of BCM allowing its product to be copied by any airsoft company, which I assume is why they went with the closest and cheapest replacement. I can't fault them, and honestly that orange block of plastic will probably be removed when I figure out what I want on it. The second would be the grip which also would be under US Palm and I also believe they haven't pushed that item in the airsoft field, hell they don't even make 74 magazines yet.

 

 

The other inconsistency really falls in the barrel length. I assume what happened was they are going with the stock setup from another production AK, and modifying it for there needs. In reality this could be fixed by the company, but the overall length difference is probably less then a inch if that. I noticed it more by accident looking at the muzzle break length difference. I don't think this is a detraction of the rifle, and anyone not owning a RD 700 probably wont ever notice this.

 

2. Fit and finish. While the rifle is done very well compared to many other rifles putting it in the low end ballpark of Classic Army on quality it seems passable in actual robustness. I don't think I would give it a toss in the air like I would normal AKs due to the chargeing handle however the rifle seems sturdy enough for my ability to break everything (hence the AK love affair even though I can still break them). The two slight issues I had with the rifle out of the box was a slightly bent front sight post (going to try to bend it without breaking it), and the slight stock wabble seen in some of the china produced guns. Not very bad compared to CYMA, and Dboys, but about the same I had in my Classic Army.

 

3. One of the most brutally painful things I noticed was the rear sight. I think this is a cost consideration, and production thing. The error is fixed with a dremel and some paint which I will do in preparation of fixing some of my other real AKs. However the rear sight doesn't have the RD rounded outside edges and widened sight picture like you see on the real one. Hopefully you can see the difference. The rounded edges are done to make your mind and eye work better together, and the wider sight allows for better night fire and quicker sight picture. You do loose a bit of accuracy at range but tat isn't a issue in Airsoft and frankly at the ranges the AK is really employed.

 

 

4. Being a AK nutjob I did notice the chargeing handles are shaped a bit differently. This might be something to due with the production run vs a true custom, or echo1 using a standard charging handle. If I was racking the bolt all day id notice the feel was differnet but the airsoft gun has the same bolt handle as my Arsenal Arms so this might have been economically motivated or just the production run differnce vs what Echo1 copied.

 

Kinda 5ish - Lastly the airsoft gun is lighter then the real one most likely due to the bolt carrier missing. It isn't super light, and is comparable it is a bit lighter which really to me isn't something anyone can due without adding lead or loosing the rifles balance.

 

Ok lets go over the comparisons good points

 

1. Besides the points above every rivet, weld, and exterior point on the rifle is identical except for the Echo1 full auto markings, and the lack of the Saga marks on my rifle. It has basically the same clean reciever of Travis Haley's gun unlike mine which is a production run, not a true custom. For those of you who like Travis Haley you will appreciate that. Also my production run doesn't ahve the Angel markings like other customs did. At the reduced price.... I don't mind but it is nice the airsoft one stayed closer to the custom builds then the production in my opinion.

 

2. In reality while I "complained" about the stock it really is sturdy I don't get any wobble when its in my shoulder, and the finish on the gun is probably just about as good as any other airsoft gun I have had in my hands if not better.

 

3. Top rail, and fore grip are identical to the real thing, and work as such, and while they have little spacers you can kinda see, the reality is the rail is just as firmly bolted on as you would expect from any airsoft rifle, and I fear most WASR rifles.

 

4. The sling point doesn't feel as weak as others, even though it does travel freely, I think it can withstand being a true sling point.

 

5. there are no apparent exterior screw points to disassemble the rifle you would normally see again basically identical exterior minus the points above.

 

You can't beat the 2 high cap magazines, the quality of this rifle, and true attention to detail within the confines of legal limits put in front of echo1. This is probably the closest true to life AK in exterior I have seen since the Real Sword family which is saying a bunch in my opinion. The rear stock is identical where I have seen others kinda out of spec on other quality rifles I payed more for. In honesty I just don't know how good or bad this Airsoft rifle is, but from what I can see the price, the rifle not being just another AK, and the attention to detail makes me hopeful.

[MarksInnerDemon]

Can a admin fix the first photo, had a slight error.

[hrturner]

Photo fixed and I'm going to put this in the right area. "AEG Reviews"

[MarksInnerDemon]

Thanks I tend to miss these sub catagories.