Echo1 G36c Review, By Stealthmaster14

Table of Contents

(1)Ordering
(2)Real Steel History
(3)Manufacturer
(4)Why I bought this gun
(5)First impressions
(6)What’s in the box
(7)Gun’s Body
(8)Sights
(9)Hop-up
(10)Magazine well
(11)Battery compartment
(12)Performance
(13)Internals/disassembly
(14)Pros and Cons
(15)Accessories recommended
(16)Conclusion

(1) Real Steel History

The following paragraph was shamefully taken from wikipedia with some editing by yours truly

The G36 is a German 5.56 mm assault rifle, designed in the early 1990s by a team of engineers from Heckler & Koch GmbH (HK) and accepted into service with the German Army in 1995, replacing the 7.62 mm G3 automatic rifle.

The G36C, otherwise known as the G36 "Commando" or "Compact" is a smaller version of the G36. While it is about the same length as an MP5 A4, it is an assault rifle. It is a very reliable, accurate, and powerful gun with low recoil. It features a foldable stock that folds to the side which makes it ideal for CQC. The G36C (C – Compact) is a further development of the G36K. It has a short barrel and a shorter (than the G36K), 4-prong open-type flash suppressor. The use of a reduced length 228 mm barrel forced designers to move the gas block closer to the muzzle end and a shortened gas piston was used. The handguard and stock were also reduced in length and the fixed carry handle (with optical sights) was replaced with a carry handle with an integrated MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail. The carbine was equipped with rail-mounted iron sights that consist of a hooded front post and a flip rear aperture sight.



HK G36C

(2) Ordering

I ordered this gun at airsoftgi.com and I received it exactly on time. Since I live on the west side of the United States, I received this gun in only two days from when it was shipped. The total order took about 4 days, but it may take longer for other people since ASGI is located in California. They were quick and easy to deal with. I cannot comment on their customer service since I did not have any issues, which shows they are an ideal retailer.


(3) Manufacturer

Echo 1 is a company that rebrands guns otherwise known as a "rebrander." It is often speculated that Echo 1 rebrands JG/other brands and adds trademarks and some internal parts such as metal bushings. They are known for high quality guns for a very low price. While quality is not as good as brands such as TM, they are great guns for beginners and people who want a great performing, cheap, reliable gun.


(4) Why I bought this gun

I was in need of a good gun and I didn't want another springer or cheap AEG that will only last 3 months. I saw E1 AEGs on shortyusa and found reviews of them on youtube by Airsoft Reports. Since it was the overall best performer out of the MP5 and M4, I decided to buy it. I like the look of the G36C and it has great features such as the foldable stock which is why I decided to purchase it. I was leaning towards the M4, but after seeing how it was not as good of a performer as the G36C, I decided I would not buy it. While the M4 is more powerful, the accuracy is not very good. Since the M4 shoots only 10-15 fps higher, I decided to get the G36C because the accuracy is quite a bit better. The M4 is also not as durable as the G36C which was one of many other reasons why I decided not to purchase it. For instance, the M4 has barrel wobble and the battery compartment is not very well put together. The M4 mag also holds less and the mags do not clamp together. For those of you who like the M4, it is a great gun, it just didn't fit my needs.


(5) First Impressions


Box


Manual, pretty decent with hardly any Engrish. (really only grammatical errors)


Echo 1 Trademark

The box is a nice shade of dark blue with a picture of a G36C on the front. The box is labeled “X36C” for licensing reasons. Thankfully, the manual was written in decent English. (not great, but easy enough to understand) It was very helpful for explaining some features of the gun. A great manual for new airsofters because it describes processes well, such as installing the battery, maintenance, ect. The gun was in perfect condition and fortunately no items were missing. I was very impressed at the weight and overall solid feel of the gun. No creaks or bends on this rifle, because it's solid as a rock. The body looks like it can take some serious abuse, but this shouldn't make you be careless with your gun. Take care of your gun and it will last a while. I was also impressed with the E1 emblem that was placed on the rear sight. It is a faint, silver, white color that does make the gun more appealing. Overall, I am very pleased.


(6)What's in the box

The box contained a 450 round high capacity magazine, a wall charger, an 8.4 volt 1100 MAH battery, some cheap, low quality bbs (don’t use them), a manual, and a jamming rod. I suggest you get a smart charger so you don’t overcharge your battery and fry it.



(7) Body-


Stock extended


Magazine removed


Stock folded


Right side of the gun with stock folded


Stock release button and rear sling mount


Front sling mount (ambidextrous)


Fire selector switch (ambidextrous)


Trigger assembly



The bolt is ambidextrous


When the bolt is pulled back it reveals the hop up

Very sturdy, no creaks or bends. The ABS plastic feels VERY durable and there is a decent amount of (diecast) metal on the gun. Though there are few metal parts on this gun, it's not that big of a deal because the ABS plastic is extremely durable and it is more like the real steel than anything else. No need to spend extra $$$ on a metal body, unless you just like the feel and look.
The metal parts include: muzzle, trigger, front sight, rear sight, stock release button, bottom R.I.S. rail, fire selector switch, and front sling mount. One thing that disappointed me was that the carrying handle was plastic. It's not really an issue since you don't use it a lot like an M4, but it would have been nice for it to be metal. It has been holding up great so far.
The charging handle is made of cheap plastic that feels rather flimsy, but has held up even though I mess with it a lot.
The selector switch is a little sloppy, but it can still be locked it in to place. It’s just a little tough to set it from safety to single because it doesn't "click" in very well. It can be bumped out of place, but it doesn't usually happen since the switch is a little bit of a reach. It does lock in enough to where it won't just flip between firing modes.
The trigger works great with no lock ups and is very smooth. It is made of diecast metal and is a quite large trigger that feels great. This gun will work very well for people with big hands.
The stock is solid as a rock and won’t go anywhere when it is extended or folded. When it is folded to the side, it locks into place on a “nub” and feels very sturdy, no wiggling around whatsoever. This gun is great for CQC because it is very compact, especially when the stock is folded.
The charging handle is ambidextrous. To expose the hop-up, simply pull back the charging handle and the hop-up is inside a metal “door” on the right side. The charging handle is not very strong, so I wouldn't recommend snapping it forward a lot. (it is fun to snap it forward though) There are two R.I.S. rails; one on the bottom of the foregrip and the carrying handle. There are holes for screws to mount more rails on the sides of the gun which is a nice thing to have if one wants to mount a laser or other accessories.


(8)Sights-



These are the two different apertures (the one on the bottom is off-centered just to let you know)

Decent sights that get the job done, but I recommend some sort of an optical attachment such as a red dot scope.
The apertures are almost identical and they seem to be meant for quick sighting in close quarters. The front and rear sights are metal which is good, but they really do not give the user very precise shots. I can shoot a lot more accurately with a red dot sight.

(9) Hop up-


Hop up wheel


When the bolt is pulled back the hop up is revealed

Very easy to adjust and dial in, but it may be a little awkward in the heat of battle because you need to hold the cocking handle back. For some reason, the hop up "wheel" on my gun is a little bit stiff, but it still works fine. After removing the barrel and reinstalling it, the wheel loosened up. This gun is pretty accurate and has good range. (about 180 feet) The gun is very accurate within 100 feet, but then starts to lose quite a bit of accuracy. You can still engage targets up to about 120 feet without too much trouble. (I have made several kills from about that distance using around 3 shots on semi auto) With the hop up turned up all the way, I'd say the gun shoots at least 190 feet with .25s. (not accurately of course)



(10) Magazine and mag well


Mag well


Right side of the mag


Left side of the mag


Top of the mag


Winding wheel


Mag release switch

The G36C comes standard with a 450 round high capacity magazine which requires a fair amount of winding. What is unique about this magazine is that one full wind is all you need. (You can fire the whole mag) The last 20 shots don’t feed, so it really holds only 430 or so. (keep in mind all high caps do this) This is the best high cap mag I have seen/used because you do not have to wind it every 30 shots. The only thing I don't like about the mag is that it is black. The real G36 mag is transparent, this one is solid black. Not a big deal, but it makes it less realistic.
What's nice about all G36 mags is that you can clamp them together, so you don't need a mag clamp or a mag pouch. One thing to not, while I had two mags clamped together, I accidentally dropped them and the tabs broke. The stock mag tabs aren't very sturdy so beware. They still feed fine though. Out of the box, my gun was not feeding well on full auto, so I sprayed some silicon lube into the feeding well and the mag itself. It now performs flawlessly.
The magazine well holds the mag in perfectly with almost no wobble. The mag slides in and out of the well very smoothly. Beware, if the mag switch is pushed, the mag will drop out. (some gun's mags will stay in unless you pull them out) While sprinting like a mad man, I accidentally bumped the switch, causing the mag to drop out. Do not fear, the switch is located in a convenient spot, so bumping it will most likely not happen. (So far it has only happened three times, but I that was when I was running around like crazy letting my gun fly everywhere)



(11) Battery and battery compartment-


Battery compartment


Fuse


Image showing correctly placed battery


Battery

This is designed very well and the wiring is thick and looks of high quality. The fuse is easy to access because it is located in the battery compartment on the right side. A very nice feature. I found it hard to push the cotter pin out and to lock it back, but after doing it several times, it wore in and became very easy. (You still have to use something like a jamming rod to push it out) It is tricky trying to put the battery in for the first time, but is easy after a couple of tries. One of the reasons why it was hard to put the battery in, was because I had the safety plug on the end of the barrel. This makes it harder to slide the front part of the gun back on. Just remember to pull the plug off when installing the battery. (The manual is also very helpful on installing the battery)

The battery is decent. It works well and the ROF is pretty good. (about 800) I would not suggest a 9.6 because it will wear down the gearbox faster. A new 8.4v will work just fine. The stock battery lasts about 1100 rounds before needing to recharge. Like all cheap batteries, after several charges, the ROF begins to decrease. (I'm using a smart charger, so I am not over charging it) I suggest you purchase a new battery.



(12) Performance
One of the first things people ask is how fast and accurate does the gun shoot?

Shazam poor cell phone



Entry


Exit

I tested the gun's fps using the poor man's chronograph. Since I do not and will not have any coke cans, I used a Hansen's root beer can. I would assume a soda can is a soda can, but maybe coke cans are stronger, so this test may not be as accurate.

Carrying on; the bb sliced through both sides of the can with ease and managed to hit the wall behind the can, which was located about 20 feet away. It almost penetrated the bottom; it gave it a very good dent and ripped it a bit. It's safe to say my gun is shooting at around 350-360 fps using .2 gram bbs.

This gun performs very well and will probably be able to hit man-sized targets at about 120 feet. From 75 feet, I can hit a 4 inch target almost every time with .25 gram bbs. Make sure you clean the barrel when you get your gun because it makes the gun MUCH more accurate. Just get a cleaning rod, attach some sort of cloth, (I only had TP ) spray some lube on the cloth, and run it through the barrel a couple of times. The ROF is about average with the stock battery and is perfect for me. (not too fast where you run out of ammo instantly and not too slow) The ROF with the stock battery is in the ranges of about 800-850.


(13) Internals

The E1 G36C uses a Version 3 gearbox (V3) and comes standard with an M110 spring, steel gears, poly carbonate piston, metal bushings, and 16 gauge wiring. (Taken from Shortyusa.com)

I will now describe the internals of the gearbox in detail


Gearbox


Gearbox (notice the E1 logo on the top left side of the gearbox)



Case

This is the case of the gearbox after it had been cleaned off. As you can see, E1s come standard with metal bushings if they are the "V3" models. Unlike many other clones that I have read about, the grease on this gearbox wasn't smeared all over the place and it wasn't a funky type of grease. It wasn't white lithium, but it looked like standard grease. (a blackish color) I could not see any wear on the case itself, which is a good sign. Overall, it was greased well and the case is holding up great.



Gears

I could not find any wear on the gears after about a good 30,000 or so rounds. The gears seem to be pretty sturdy and have held up so far with all the stock internals/battery. I did not test the shimming of the gears, but inside the whole gearbox there were only 4 shims. I'm assuming it came with a bad shim job like other clones. Overall, I was impressed and surprised that the gears had absolutely no wear, even with a bad shim job.



Piston

As you can see, the last tooth of the piston is metal which is nice. The piston is supposedly a poly carb and has shown little or no wear at all. Again, I was impressed.

The piston head is plastic and the O-ring is pretty thick. The gun seems to have pretty good compression.


Close up on the gears in an assembled gearbox


This is what the gearbox looks like fully assembled internally

I was impressed with the internals other than the spring guide which seemed pretty cheap. (it has held up great so far) The spring guide had no bearings, just one washer at the base. The gearbox has held up great and has only needed a few motor adjustments.

Now onto disassembly. I recommend you watch this video if you want to take apart your gun because it is very helpful and they can tell you how to do it better than I can. http://www.mechbox.com/g36/g36c-disassembly

This gun is very easy to break down which is very nice for people who are new to airsoft guns. This gun has many removable parts which include, front sight, rear sight, carrying handle (swap it for a G36K style scope), hand guard, etc.


First I will start with the stock. The stock is removable by pushing a large pin out of the stock hinges. Sadly, the pin that holds the stock on my gun falls out if you fold the stock halfway. It slides out very quickly and easily, so beware. I don't know why it started doing this, but it can be easily fixed by gluing it into place. (hot glue would work) Other than that, the stock is solid.


Stock and pin


Barrel and hop up assembly

The stock hop up bucking is pretty poor in performance, I recommend you replace the bucking. The stock bucking must be set almost all the way up to get a good hop. I also recommend you replace the barrel if you want this gun to perform very well. Not a terrible bucking or barrel, but not great. The unit itself is pretty durable.



Finally, the gun totally disassembled. These are all the removable parts without opening up the body of the gun. It took a little bit of time to get it back together.....







(14) Pros

Great quality high cap mag
Comes with a decent battery
Accurate
VERY powerful (350-370 fps using .2s)
Compact
Strong body
Foldable stock
Some metal parts
Average ROF (I prefer to not have a gun with an extremely high ROF)
Cheap price for such a high quality gun ($145 at airsoftgi.com including shipping)
Good quality gearbox
Rails for mounting scopes and foregrips
Perfect weight, not too heavy
Rubber pad on stock
Very comfy to hold
Hop up is easy to adjust
Mags clamp together
VERY easy to take down (got to mechbox.com for step by step instructions)

Cons-

Sights are decent, but not great
The real G36 mag is transparent, this one is solid black
Not a whole lot of metal
Charging handle feels flimsy (Mine broke when I pulled back hard)
It has a “plastic” look to it, meaning it doesn’t exactly look like a real gun.
Mag tabs break easily (I just used electrical tape to hold them together)
Average ROF (pro or con)


(15) Closing Comments

This is a great weapon and is in my opinion the best out of the M4 and MP5 (not including Vector Arm guns) I would probably not buy this weapon again or any other JG/E1s. These guns are great for beginners, but the performance between other models of E1/JGs is very similar. Although I am very satisfied with this weapon, there are other guns out there that are more expensive, but are well worth the money.
So far it's holding up great and I've put about 20,000-30,000+ rounds through it. The gun is accurate and powerful, so be cautious when handling this rifle. Everything is still running like the day it came out of the box other than the rof being slower due to the cheap battery. It is a great gun that needs no upgrades for the gearbox other than a metal spring guide and possibly a new piston. (If you plan to use a 9.6) It will last a long time if you keep it stock. I suggest you upgrade the hop up bucking and the barrel. Just a new bucking will make a good improvement

Overall, I'd give it a 8.5/10 as far as MPEGs go.


(16) Accessories recommended

Red dot scope
Side arm could come in handy
Extra mags (the high caps are great)
New battery, the stock battery is decent.
New hop up bucking
New barrel

A bigger battery (for people who play longer games) (I believe the stock battery lasts about 1100 shots, maybe more)
Make sure you buy lots of bbs (KSCs are great. Airsoft Elites are good also)

They can be purchased at shortyusa.com

Red dot scope- $30

Foregrip- $15

My gun with a full metal Leapers Red/Green Dot sight and a UTG foregrip. They both work excellently and the scope is more accurate then the iron sights. I actually prefer the gun without the foregrip because it doesn't make the gun any more stable and adds weight to it. It is pretty useful for when the stock is folded though. (slightly less shakey) Perhaps if I had a lighter foregrip it would feel better. I would personally just buy the scope.

They can be purchased at shortyusa.com

Leapers Red/Green dot scope- $30

UTG Foregrip- $15

Thanks for reading