Introduction
It’s not really a fair comparison (sort of comparison), but what the heck!!… Lets do this!

Honestly I’ve never heard of the ECHO1 G.A.T., but when I did some research about it I thought this could be fun. The KG-9 I’ve heard some things about; That this would be the sickest SMG-like replica.

I’ve made a couple of reviews before about 1 replica at the time, this time we are going to do it a bit differently we’re going to compare this two.

About Echo1
Echo1 is a pretty big company/brand that made airsoft one of the fastest growing sport in the world, they made it more affordable. They are really committed to the durability and quality of their products, they are so committed that if they have products that are not safe enough they don’t put their name on it. The brand is based in the USA and mainly focus domestically.

RWA (Red Wolf Airsoft)
Who doesn’t know RWA, they are know as one of the biggest international airsoft retailers and massive amount of airsoft products in their shop. RWA is stationed in the UK and Hong Kong, this to serve their customers worldwide. RWA is their own manufacturer/distributor label.

First impressions
When I got both replica’s I’ve looked first at the Echo1 G.A.T. model and thought this is nice, a good solid build, the weight is a bit heavy for 1 handed wielding but it has a nice fore grip to compensate the weight.

The KG-9 is a bit longer and a little bit heavier and the charging handle doesn’t do very much it is more for the looks. I was looking for the selector switch and notices it was a little on/off switch in the trigger guard so that was a bit strange because it is not very light, you have to put a bit of a pressure to switch it on or off.

Honestly.. they look very similar externally.

Specifications

* Echo 1 G.A.T.
• High impact reinforced polymer lower receiver
• Metal upper receiver, barrel, & sling loops
• Light weight, compact design
• Reinforced internals
• Accessory rail under barrel shroud
• Lipo-ready

Length: 13.5"
Weight (gram): 1587
Inner Barrel: ~165mm (6.06mm Diameter)
Magazine Capacity: ~250rd High Capacity
Muzzle Velocity: ~330 FPS (Measured with 0.20g BBs)
Thread Direction: NA
Gearbox: 8mm Custom
Motor: Standard Torque
Fire Modes: Full-Auto
Package Includes: Gun, 1x Magazines
Battery: 8.4v Mini Type or 7.4v Mini LiPo recommended
Hopup: Yes, Adjustable (1pc Style w/ Madbull Bucking)
Sights: Fixed

* RWA KG-9
Item Weight (gram) 1693
Major Color Black
Length 398mm
Barrel Length ~200mm
Hop-up Adjustable
Shooting Mode Fully Automatic AEG
Power Source 7.4V 1200mAh
Fit Battery Pack Twin (Nickel / Li-Po)
Barrel Thread Type Counter-Clockwise Barrel Thread Diameter 14mm
Magazine Capacity 90 Rounds
Bullet Type 6mm
BB Power (Muzzle Velocity) 330 FPS

Straight out of the box

Echo 1 G.A.T.
Nice big box, well packed.. I mean it sits really well in its box. For this review I got the Echo1 G.A.T., the box didn’t contain very much only the essential stuff, replica and magazine (hi-cap)

RWA KG-9
The KG-9 came with a bit more and is also well stores in its cut out foam, so you can see the replica and the 2 mid-cap magazines. Behind the little carton between the mags and replica you will find a lipo 1200mAh 7.4v 20c battery and a screwdriver to adjust the hop-up.

Externals
Both replica’s do have a solid build, no wobble or anything. But I do like the metal upper from the G.A.T. more because of the mat finish. The lower of the two are almost identically the only differences are the markings, fire selector and the mag release. The charging handle of the KG-9 is just for the looks, it is not sliding very smooth and it doesn’t do anything and when you pull it you can’t see any internals. When I take a look at the G.A.T., the charging handle goes very smooth, you see the gearbox and the hop-up slide.

Grip
I don’t know what I must think of the none grip replica, when you wield it as a sidearm with 2 hands on the pistol grip it is too long in length definitely when you put a suppressor on it, in my opinion, I think it would have been better if there was a piece of rail (like the G.A.T.) where you can put a short grip on.

The grip on the G.A.T. is a bit bulky but does the trick and it stores your battery, the battery on the KG-9 goes in the barrel were you need to screw off the flashhider.

Internals
ECHO1 GAT
When I opened the G.A.T. I noticed that the hopup with barrel were fixed with 2 screws to the lower receiver ( thats new for me xD ) so when you disassemble and reassemble the replica be careful with screwing it in, because you don’t want to damage the threads in the plastic lower. Over the inner barrel there is a metal sleeve I think this is to protect the barrel because it has no outerbarrel.

For the hopup chamber they used plastic one, to adjust the hopup you need to push the slide (on the right side) forward or pull it backwards. What I do notice when I unscrew the hopup chamber and looked straight through the chamber and barrel, is that it has little bit of hop you can’t have no hop and thats why in my tests I saw my bbs go straight up after a 30/40 meters even with the slide fully open.

I wanted to see what kind of bucking and nub is used in this replica, but the sad part (I don’t want to break the bucking) it was so stuck I couldn’t get it out of the hopup camber. Further on.. When I removed the gearbox from the lower I saw it has a V3 gearbox

RWA KG-9
I know from videos of Red Wolf Airsoft that this one has sick internals, when I opened the replica I noticed it has a split gearbox. big thumbs up!

The upper came off a bit difficult. But all of the internals sits very tight. When I wanted to open up the upper part of the gearbox (where the piston, spring nozzle etc) I couldn’t open it because I don’t have the right tools for it. I saw that the tooth on the piston are made of metal so thats good, the nozzle is a “metal”/“aluminium” one and that was the only thing I could see.

The gears in the lower part is looking good and strong. The trigger is connected to a switch from what I can see but from the looks of it, I don’t think you can make this one shoot only in semi.

The motor is (I think) a standard short motor, I doesn’t have any info on it so I assume it is a standard one.

In the upper (at the front) you can place your battery, you can connect it with a mini dean connector on your lipo.

Performance
Time to test these babies out! At first I did some fps testing, range tests etc.

ECHO GAT
The GAT shocked me.. when I went to the chrono testing the FPS was really low, the first shot I took was 92.8 fps with .2g bb’s. The following shots were very inconsistent from 140fps to highest I got 210.9fps.

After fps testing I went to a short range to see what it got, the range was between 20m/30m. It was for me a bit unnatural to hold a SMG type of replica because im used to wield a m4 type of guy, so I tried without adjusting the hopup to shoot some targets within the 30m it was fine after a couple of shots I did some hopup adjusting to finetune the grouping, after adjusting the hopup it shoots much better.

When I switched to target further then 30m I was crying because the bb’s where flying to the roof even switching to .25g bbs, even with playing with the hopup.

RWA KG-9
The RWA KG-9 was a bit different than the GAT, the first shot was 215.9fps with .2g bb’s, after a couple of shots it went higher but it still was relatively low 236.7fps even emptying a couple of magazines the fps was around 236fps so that hadn’t any effect.

Same as the GAT I took the KG-9 to the range, at the short range the KG-9 I noticed it had a bit of a wider grouping because of the full auto but the replica was not loud as in sound and was really smooth.

At the longer range I took it to about 60m I thought that this was to far but I could hit target at that range, really mind blowing for a little replica like this. I wanted to try to adjust the hopup, and I forgot that you needed that screwdriver they send it with xD.. my bad.. haha.. after getting that screwdriver I found it really annoying to get the magazine out, adjust it, put the magazine back in and shoot, oh well.. to much.. magazine out.. you know the drill :) so in my opinion that could be better.

Pricing
Normally we search the prices of replica’s here in Europe, but because we don’t sell the RWA KG-9 anywhere I need to get that price form the US store of Red Wolf Airsoft and that same for the Echo1 G.A.T. and for the GAT I used Evike.

Echo1 G.A.T. The price now is $160.00
RWA KG-9 The price now is $438.00

Pro’s Echo1

• It is small and compact
• The front grip is very nice to hold
• Easy to disassemble
• V3 gearbox

Pro's RWA

• Nice split gearbox
• Every thing is made of metal/aluminium inside of the KG-9
• Long range for such a small AEG
• Stock (out of the box) really high-end AEG
• 2 mid-cap magazines included!
• It comes with a LiPo included

Cons Echo1

• The front grip doesn’t fit every battery so you need to get the right size battery
• Adjusting the hopup could be better instead of a slide a small wheel like most AEG’s
• It didn’t come with anything else than the replica and magazine

Cons RWA

• The battery goes in the front rail/upper so it is not easy to swap batteries
• Full auto, why not semi, here in the Netherlands we can only use semi at CQB games.
• You can’t add a grip or something

Conclusion: The verdict
So if you want a SMG that is really top of the line and you want to outshoot them in range than you can choose for the RWA KG9, but for that gun you have to pay a pretty price for something that doesn’t shoot semi auto and for that price you can also buy a well shooting M4 or something else.

In my experience the Echo1 G.A.T. has failed the tests, but the external features won over the RWA KG-9 replica, if I must choose one I would go for the Echo1 G.A.T. and upgrade it, but if the RWA KG-9 had a single/semi function on it I would go for the RWA KG-9 because of the top of the line inner parts.

We did our LIVE Stream on Facebook and will launch our view on the Vector AEG when it's available in Europe! Stay tuned for our review... 

Introduction
I’m very excited to make a review about this replica, I’ve seen the XTC (not CQB) on various sites/videos and could only dream about to hold this replica in my hands. When I saw videos of the internals I was really surprised (XTC (not CQB)), they have placed some really high quality parts in it. So now we have the Modify XTC CQB! So it's about time I make a review ;)

About Modify
Modify is known for there high quality (upgrade)parts for many branches like Airsoft Custom Parts, RC car upgrade parts etc. They have more then 40 years of experience in this business.

They do have airsoft replica’s, they started with sniper models and now they have build their first AEG, the Modify XTC G1. Not so long ago they announced they are producing a shorter version of the G1, the CQB version.

First impression
Like I said before I was excited to receive this replica, when I opened the box everything was nicely placed.

When you look inside the box you can see the magazine and replica, every important specification is printed on the carton board with pointers.

After I read the specs I took the replica out of the box, I was surprised that it was so light. Immediately I checked the gun for any wobble, personally I hate it when you get a replica and everything is loose but it wasn’t the case ;)

The flip-up iron sights looks very solid, in one of the bags I saw a key to adjust the front iron sight in height.

When you not used to it the 90 degree trigger feels a little bit weird and the ambidextrous selector switch is for me a little bit awkward because I only used the single sided selector.

When I held the magazine I noticed that they were lean and clean (no markings), so I wanted to try my G&G magazines.. and as I thought.. my G&G midcaps didn’t fit -__- … But back to the magazine, the magazine is made of polymer and has a capacity of 190 rounds.

Specifications from the site
- 6065 aluminum freefloat KeyMod rail system with 1913 top rail
- CNC machined 10.5 inch outer barrel
- Folding front/rear sight set
- CNC machined steel flash hider
- 6.1mm precision inner barrel
- Billet style receiver
- Steel flat trigger
- Ergonomic pistol grip
- Ambidextrous, 45 degree short throw selector
- Enhanced polymer magazine ( 190 Rds  )
- Enhanced internal parts
- CNC machined steel gear set
- 8mm ceramic ball bearings
- Ultra piston ( 7 metal teeth )
- Aircraft grade piston head, cylinder, cylinder head
- Proprietary hop up system
- Bolt catch for easy hop adjustment
- 6 position, ergonomic retractable stock
- Adjustable, quick change spring system
- Condutive slide rail sysem ( Option )
- Build Material: Metal alloy, polymer
- Gear Box: Proprietary Gearbox, 8mm Bearings
- Motor: Neo Magnetic motor
- Magazine Capacity: 190 Rds, AR AEG compatible
- Length: 678 - 763mm
- Inner barrel Length: 237mm
- Weight: 2300g
- Battery: Nunchuk / stock tube type ( not included )
- Muzzle Velocity: 370 - 390 FPS with 0.2g BBs (is adjustable)
- Package Includes: Gun, Magazine, Manual

Straight out of the box

You’ll get..
- Modify replica, you can easily remove the replica from its cut out container

- magazine, nicely sealed (got it out of the seal for the photos)

- seal bag with manuals and a collection folder + some target papers and a little bag of bb’s


Externals
The upper and lower receiver are made of metal, so for a metal replica this is a very light replica. When I was further inspecting the gun I didn’t feel or noticed any wobble that was nice :)

If we look further at the lower receiver we see on the left side a big Modify logo, by the fire selector nicely engraved icons and the text Modify on the handgrip

On the right side there are no extra markings.

The crane stock is nice sized stock, it can be adjusted in length (6 positions). On the side of the stock you can see markings, a logo and some kind of serial number.


What I really liked about this stock, you don’t have to do any difficult stuff to open it and insert a battery. It has a switch when you push it down it opens up and you will never lose to stock rubber! Yeeey!


If you look closely to the you see that the buffertube is clear, no wires to mess with. The wires are nicely placed under the buffertube guided between the tube and the metal part that has the holes (positions the stock).

Internals
As we know Modify is known for their upgrade parts.. but when I wanted to clean the innerbarrel (after the field test) I didn’t get the feeling the barrel was a Modify inner barrel as know from sites, it looked like an standard inner barrel you get with every other replica, so I was a little bit disappointing.

I didn’t had the time to open up the gearbox but when I do I shall do an update about it!

Besides the internals the replica shoots splendid!

Performance
To test the performance of this replica I’m going to do a couple of test
- FPS test with a chrono (and maybe a joule test)
- Groupings, I will go to a range and will see what the groupings are
- Field test, I will attend to a skirm and watch what this baby can do with my trigger finger ;)

- FPS

I was curious what the chrono would bring me, when I loaded the replica I took 1 shot in the chrono and the first FPS was 310FPS
2nd I took 10 shots through the chrono and the FPS fluctuated between 310/320FPS
3th I emptied the magazine and took a shot in the chrono and the FPS was 328,5


- Groupings

Were I went to test the Modify they didn’t had a digital target board, so I shot at carton boards at 30m (98 feet 57⁄64 inches) and was pretty surprised how tight the groupings were. (I forgot to take a photo of it.. my bad.. sorry)

I tried a IAPS parcour at the NABV here in the Netherlands to look how tight it shot, it really impressed me how the Modify reacted at the course, fast, fast trigger response and accurate when shooting.


- Field test

Let’s take this baby to the test on a outdoor field! I am taking the Modify to a unique location in the Netherlands at “Fort Honswijk” an outside location with CQB elements. At the field I was surprised to see that the range of this short replica was further as I expected (with wind etc) about 45m (147 feet 7⅝ inches) maybe 50m

[Youtube video]



Pricing
Because we are stationed in Europe we look at European sites for prices, at Gunfire the price of the CQB gun is around 510,- EURO. It is a high price but you got a lot of gun for that price, think about the upgrades you must buy if you want to make a budget gun thats at the same level as the XTC CQB.

Pro’s
- Adjustable FPS (with a long allen key you can regulate the FPS in the buffer tube)
- 45 degree ambidextrous selector
- Flat tigger
- Easy to open the buttstock
- Bolt catch, I love this! It is so annoying to holt the bolt trigger to adjust the hopup

Con’s
- Paint comes of easily (e.g. when I removed the iron sights and added the T1 sight)
- Keymod, I am used to have replicas with ris rails so I don’t have any keymod rails
- Not every magazine can be used without adjusting them (e.g. my G&G magazines)

Conclusion

The Modify XTC CQB is a high quality replica, very reliable and super awesome! The price is a bit higher than the average replica but it's certainly worth it.

Straight out of the box (and some tweaking on the hopup) you can shoot targets at 60m (196 feet 1013⁄64 inches) not that is needed because it is a CQB version, the groupings then are a bit wider, you can get it super tight in 30m (98 feet 57⁄64 inches)

In my opinion the best Airsoft AEG replica I've ever had in my hands (straight out of the box).



Grading by Phano_B
Quality: ****

Reliability: ****

Comfort: ****

Value: ****
Price: ***

Overall: ****

Special thanks
Special thanks go out to Modify Airsoft for letting us review the Modify XTC CQB!
They referenced to this review at their own website, please visit http://www.modify-tech.com/airsoft-guns/automatic-electric-airsoft-gun/xtc-cqb

Where to buy

Introduction

About BARRET

First impression

Specifications from the manual

Straight out of the box

Externa Build

Internals

Performance

Pricing

Pro’s
- 

Con’s
- 

Final Thoughs

Grading by SlickAxe
Quality:

Reliability:

Comfort:
Value:
Price:
Overall:

Where to buy?