[sounguru]

My Echo 1 M28 arrives on the 16th and like every good gun owner I have already been figuring out what to do to make it unique and stand out from the crowd but not on the field...

So here is my plan...

Gonna leave it stock until I get a real sense of what it can do and what needs to be tweaked. I believe you need to put a few 100 rounds through a gun before you learn all it's quirks.

So as far as my question for you folks. I have used Krylon Fusion in the past with mixed results so I'm looking at 2 other options.

Duracoat and Enamel Model paint since a water transfer is out of the question because of cost.

So have anyone used either of those and what were the results, because I have a few reservations with both, but will see if those don't get answered before I put them on the table.

 

[sounguru]

The Airbrush I have so that is covered, should have said at least that much... My main concern is color accuracy if you look at their CADPAT colors they look way off.

 

[sounguru]

That is why I always usel Krylon Fusion.

If you get it wrong just paint over it

True that... But I have had it wear off easily on some guns and others it held up like a tank. I think it is do to the amount of oil used in the plastic.

 

[sounguru]

You nailed it.... The prep work is key.

That and when it starts to wear off it makes it look better in my eyes.

I think I'm gonna fall back to an old miniature trick and see if it works. I got a batch of poorly cast plastic minis onetime and after a little fiddling I got them to hold paint. May try it on a larger scale and see how it goes. if it works I will post up results.

Now I just need to find Krylon colors that match CADPAT...

 

[sounguru]

That would be kind of cool ...

I just wish water transfer wasn't $500 and that they had CADPAT as a pattern.

 

[sounguru]

So I got it today and it is a heavy well built bugger. Only 2 things that jumped out as being real wrong and one is being corrected.

1- It is missing a piece to hold the Bipod on so I can't even hook it up but I should have the piece in a couple of weeks.
2- Since this looks to be an M700 stock that has been modified to be a spring rifle the door where the gas mag goes pops open easily since the release is in the trigger guard.

Now if you could drop an M700 into the stock it would give you the ability to go from spring to gas all with one stock or if Echo 1 comes out with a gas drop in that would be sweet.

Update:

I expect a lot of these guns to be sold and to see them up for sale again because they are a heavy sucker weighing in at around 9lbs. Not a gun you want to carry all day with out a sling. So kids will buy them then resale them because they are too heavy and too long.

6.03 495mm inner barrel has been confirmed shooting results sometime tomorrow. I need to get some vices to make a shooting platform and sight it in. Chronoing at around 515 average out of the box. Huge amount of metal Trigger guard w/funky door, Mag well, outer Barrel, Barrel cap, Barrel extension, Adjustable buttstock, Cylinder chamber, safety, trigger assembly, bipod (harris Style), and rail are all metal. Only the stock and the mags themselves are plastic and the stock is one of the heaviest for being plastic that I have seen.

Comes with:
2 Mags
Flat barrel cap in black
Barrel extension
Orange cap that just popped off
90 round speed loader
cleaning rod
No iron sight so you will need a scope
no manual :evil:

 

[sounguru]

As soon as I get the mock suppressor.

 

[sounguru]

I'm gonna see about locking the door down but not until I decide to break down the gun, which is pending further testing in stock format.

Okay here we go I finally got to fire off rounds where I could see the target.....

Once I get the scope zeroed fully and get it on a bench or get the bipod I think a lot of these numbers will improve dramatically.

Testing factors:
.30 gram KSC Perfect BB ( gonna set the gun to use Bioshot once I'm out of KSC)
Hand Held Standing
3-9x50 Tasco scope not fully zeroed just adjusted on the fly.
2'x2' foam target
Hop up about 2/3 on

100' 9 of 10... 4 in the 2" square one wide right of target. The remaining shots were within 2" of the square.
150' 7 of 10 on the target 2 in the square. 3 missed were again wide right remaining 5 were within 4" of square.
200' No target but a 6" round tree and I was able to hit it 3 out of 10 close to the max range

A couple of things to understand here..
1: Gun was hand held in a standing position in the field you usually have the gun braced on something or are using the bipod so you have a more stable platform.
2: Right hook more than likely caused by me not holding the gun level I had the same problem with my old Bar-10 when you tuck it into your shoulder it can be a common problem and that is why getting the scope level to the gun is important. If you have the scope level and aligned vertically you can then see by the cross hairs if the gun is level or not.
3: Gun has not been tweaked nor clean in any way. Once the barrel is polished and the hop up/cylinder Teflon taped I'm sure that will help a little bit.
4: Hop up has not been fully broken in

So in conclusion I think once this gun is cleaned, tuned, and zeroed in it will perform as well or real close as my old upgraded Bar-10 in it's stock format, but that is still to be seen. Now once I have a full bench test of the gun in stock format I will go in and do some DIY improvements and see how the performance changes. This is not a gun for the weak of heart or strength it is a heavy and long gun and is not gonna be a gun that people will want to truck all over the field with for a full day. I fully expect to see a lot of these bought and back up for sale due to weight alone.

It does out perform a stock Bar-10 and stock L96 right out of the box. It is accurate and has good range and with a few tweaks I think it can perform right up there with the best guns and cost of tweaking it will probably be less since it does so well in stock format.

Full review will be forth coming in the Airsoft Handbook Issue #2

 

[sounguru]

I really like the gun but clean and polish that inner barrel it is the dirtiest one I have ever seen...

 

[sounguru]

Okay here is what I have found ...

-The Inner Barrel is way different than a VSR (see attached picture)
-495mm in length
-6.03 inner Dia
-VSR pro (small sized) Hop unit will not fit (larger JG/VSR still to be tested)
-VSR hop arm will not work in the Echo 1 Hop Up
-Hop Up Bucking was very loose and without the support in the front has a tendency to slip out of place.
-VSR spring guide will fit
-All metal trigger mech and sears look to be pretty strong
-515 FPS average with .20
-Do not go over a .30 bb you can not get enough hop
-Stock is hollow so can be sound dampened but the walls are .5" thick
-Mags if inserted while in the palm of your hand with an even pressure install rather easily
-Gorilla glue is great to lock that door shut
-Door is so you can adjust the trigger pull without disassembling the rifle
-Barrel is way dirty
-150' effective range w/.30
-200' max range w/.30
-Hop up can be a pain to reassemble watch out for the little white nubbie that goes on the adjusting arm and clicks into place as you adjust the hop up arm
- 3 Solid Barrel spacers with o-rings on the outside and on the inside.
-Z trigger or Nobbies M will not fit but a V-trigger might.

All in all it is a good gun but will need some after market parts or to be tested with parts I don't have to see if it can be a great gun.

 

[sounguru]

The barrel looks more like a pistol cut.

And I would think that if the zero or the M-trigg doesn't work I wouldn't think that the V-trigger would. Though what triggers did you use? A VSR style or APS-2 trigger?

And lets see some pics darn it!

The Z and the M will not fit because of their physical shape, but the V is shaped a lot like the stock trigger mech but not having one I can't say if it would fit or not. Not that it really matters until someone comes out with a 90 degree piston for the thing anyway.

All that I tried were the VSR trigger mechs.

Pictures will have to wait the wife has the camera in Ohio at this point and I'm still waiting on parts to come in to lay down paint.

 

[sounguru]

Okay I finally got the bipod part now just waiting on the barrel extension and pictures and paint to come...

 

[sounguru]

I don't mean to correct you but the 150' effective range and 200' max range is well... off idk if you got a lemon, but ive had a ~250 ft kill already and havn't figured the MAX range yet but i can say its +300'.( shooting for max range was conducted on my street the telephone polls are 100' appart) Thats all with .25s im waiting on my .4's now.

I too find the 300' claim hard to swallow. I have put over 1000' through the gun and can say with .30 to be able to hit a 2'x2' target 8 out of 10 shots 150' is top. After that the BB's will not be as accurate and the chance of hitting drops dramatically. I can Float a bb out to about 250' but beyond that it is a no go.

Also you need to make an Intro post via the board rules.

On a side note I have hit a snag. The gun will not load a BB after playing with the hop up. Not sure if it is a mag issue or a Hop up issue yet. I'm leaning towards Hop up unit failure but once I get back into it I will let you know.

I know very little about the M28, but I would recommend shimming the hopup arm so that it's centered perfectly. Does anyone have a pic of the hopup unit (link maybe)? I could recommend some other mods too.

Because of the design of the hop up (I will take pictures next time I go into it) shimming the hop up arm will need to be done a little differently. Most of the other mods are all standard fare.

 

[sounguru]

Have you been able to nail down the problem with BB's not loading? I had the same issue earlier today, but it was due to the fact that I did not have the action completely seated in the bed of the stock after working on the hop unit... easily fixed of course.

Nope haven't gotten back into the gun I'm waiting on a TBB before I open here up again.

 

[sounguru]

I have heard that is just for the ASR and will actually drop the FPS of the M28.