BAR M1918 A2 Full Size Full Metal Airsoft AEG Rifle w/ Steel Bipod by Matrix (Furniture: Real Wood)

"I just got this bad boy today. I must say it is one of the best guns I've bought. It's realistic except the wood part. I've shot it already and it shoots amazing.
Pros.
High FPS
Very heavy(I like that)
It's full metal
Cons.
Have to buy extra mags.(whoo hoo have to anyways)
I'd for sure run a 9.6 G&P stick battery
So that means have to buy battery.


Other than that this gun is a win win deal that you can not lose on.
You can upgrade it more than you think.

"My BAR arrived yesterday and WOW! WW2 choices have been few and far between for many many years or were so prohibitively expensive as to be completely out of reach for us mortals. When they did come up with a decently priced WW2 replica they just didnt function well enough to be skirmished with. The D Boys Kar 98, The Hudson Grease gun GBB, The Marushin M1 GBB or the JAC BAR. Finally an AEG BAR was made available and at under $500.00 was tempting enough to order. It is an offering (along with the AEG Garand) that we WW2 airsofters have anticipated for over a decade.

With all that anticipation I am NOT disappointed. The ECHO BAR is a worthy reincarnation of the iconic BROWNING AUTOMATIC RIFLE. It is near exact clone of the $1,200.00 plus VFC BAR with the main difference being the simulated wood in place of the VFC real wood. The FAUX wood looks fine in my opinion. As mentioned earlier Id like to see an easier battery access and the only other comment is I personally would have preffered low caps or high caps to the hi caps it comes with.

The gun is not as heavy as the real BAR (which rivals the weight of a BUICK) but it is appropriately heavy for an airsoft weapon. The bipod is spot on and well done, The gun is solid and features authentic details. It shoots hard at 396 FPS with 20 gram and is everybit as badass as I hoped.

With the recently released ICS Grease gun, the assorted Russian PPSHs, the upcoming Garand AEG and the british Sten and new gas bolt actions (Mosin Nagant, Enfield, Springfield etc. WW2 airsoft is finally viable.

there are a lot of us WW2 fans who are thrilled to see this trend. If this BAR is any indication of whats coming keep it up!!!!!!

"My BAR arrived yesterday. It came with a stick battery and two mags in the box with the gun. It is what I would expect for a $400 dollar gun. This gun is heavy. One may choose to remove the bipod to lighten it up a bit.

The fake wood stocks are okay. The color is right on for what a service grade rifle would have. The front hand guard does look cheap, so I may replace it. There are original wood parts available from gun parts dealers.

The battery set up is kind of clumsy. It takes a stick or a standard battery,but you must unscrew the butt plate to get at it. The cleaning kit trap door which correctly opens inward, offers no real way to get at the battery.

My gun arrived with one sample defect....there was a spot about the size of a thumbnail on top of the barrel where the paint was rubbed or chipped off. It is easily touched up though.

Overall, a nice affordable gun for WW2 or heavy weapon fans.

"Man I am pumped for this gun !

I would have liked to get the VFC model but that $1,200 is ridiculous if you ask me.

I cant thank matrix enough for making this model affordable.

But the fact that they thorw in an Xtra Hi-Cap mag, Bipod, and carrying handle is amazing.

I am wishing to go to World War 2 airsoft battles, and if I brang this beast with me and all the

attatchments would just be awesome.

Thanks Matrix !

-Doyle

"Me and my buddies just Pre-ordered one each. Can't wait to get this!
Thanks for making this model affordable finally. The $1000 VFC model is simply too much for our bank.

I will post more reviews when I receive mine but from my past experience with Matrix AEG, I am confident this is going to be great!

"Solid gun, i don't regret the purchase. Only complaints are the externals are a bit wobbly, and the magazine doesnt feed very well at all. Everything can be tightened down, don't expect it to be perfect out of the box. Gearbox is pretty easily upgradeable so that wasn't a problem. If you want a fieldable project gun, i suggest it. Just don't lose any of the small bits, i haven't been able to find spares anywhere.

"I bought this gun around November of 2023, the barrel wobble was an easy fix, you just remove the wooden handguard and tighten a screw. Other than that this gun is great and I'm looking forward to taking it to its first game

"Alrighty, so to start, ive had mine for about 2 years now and have recently disassembled i down to the gearbox.
Ive also actually fielded this monster too.
Many things id like to point out about this internally.
Disassembly was an absolute hassle for me, it did NOT want to come apart like it should have for me.
It does have a quick change spring system, the base is metal but the shaft is plastic and has no bearings.
Piston has full metal teeth and piston head is plastic and gave me an ok air seal.
Had a ported cylinder, swapped it for a full cylinder since the inner barrel is around 470mm long.
Proprietary hop up unit, tho it looks like an ak hop up in a metal shell.
Uses a v6 tappet plate and p90-ish length nozzle.
I believe it had 8mm bearings, i didnt measure them.
Propriety cylinder head, at least i think it was, certainly wasn't a v2.
Proprietary trigger contact unit.
Spring seems to have worn in on mine, as its only shooting around 320 fps.
Swapped the VN hi cap internals for g&p VN midcap internals, you'll need to modify the vn midcaps quite a bit, and even then, mine sit a bit lower than the vn hi cap internals, but still luckily feed just fine.
Definitely glad i got the gun when it was $245 on sale 😀

"I am extremely impressed with this gun. I reenact world war 2 and this gun perfectly suits my uniform (fighting first productions on youtube) sorry for the spam but it looks the part to reenact, it feels nice I my hands and is just an awesome gun to look and ogle at. I have used it in many battles and never has this gun failed me, the mag that it came with feeds nicely, it has a constant fps and rate of fire and always gets the job done. One small thing that can be fixed is that on the action a screw fell out so now i can't open my action. All you have to do is tighten it when it comes out of the box and it will be fine. I just replaced it with another screw. All in all, I give it a 4.5 out of 5. It is such a nice gun. Buy it RIGHT NOW! Don't hesitate.

"I have had this for 2 years and though I have had some problems(significant) but after taking it apart and putting it back together a bunch of times I have finally got it reliable.

Pros: it is a BAR, and a very good clone of the real one with similar weight and size
- rate of fire is appropriate for a support weapon
- adding a tight bore barrel that extends the full length of the outer barrel makes it a full auto sniper, remove bucking with new barrel or it will jam, bucking has no effect on accuracy (ghop, rhop) I have tried them all
- good upgrade platform, replace bearings, gears, motor, and mosfet after the internals ate theirselves. Super Kong mosfet is a god send as you can dial down the rate of fire to be realistic, or dial up and it will empty the magazine in 1 trigger pull. Leave cylinder as it is proprietary and I have not found a suitable replacement.
- after replacing all the internals minus the hop up it is reliable and accurate.
- excellent support from Echo1
- frame built like a tank, once you lock tite all screws it won't move


Cons:
- feed issues, feed issues, feed issues! I own 8 magazines and all have issues. If you spray silicone into the feed chute in the mag it helps, if you put your hand under the magazine it will help a bit too. It is a design issue, the magazines catches are 1/16 to low, gonna weld a tab and see if that helps, just not gotten around to it.
- you have to take apart the butt plate to access the battery, should be made like a Thompson with a catch
- fire select is wonky as another reviewer stated. I am still working on this one, I think it is the design again and the type of switch they use.
- the bolt cove, supposed to move with the charging handle, again bad design. Just take it out you will never get it to work beyond the first two cycles of the charging handle, it will snag the gear box and get stuck back. It has no effect on how it shoots, just for looks.

I know it seems like a lot of issues and mods to make it reliable. You have to understand I shot it weekly, 2000 rounds a day, probably more than most people would do. However, it is a unique weapon and everyone wants to see it, a way to separate from all the M4 drones😊

"So I got my BAR this evening and upon opening the box I was struck by the size of the weapon, I knew it was going to be big but was not expecting this. The contents of the box are the massive gun ( it's heavy it weighs in at 18lbs), one hi-cap mag, a 9.6v Ni-Mh stick battery and subsequent cheapo wall charger ( if you use this set a timer on your phone to keep track), a bag of .20 gram bbs, the all steel bi-pod and flash hider, if you intend to use the bi-pod the orange tip that is required by law in the United States to identify it as a air rifle must be removed to allow the flash hider and bi-pod to be used, a small bag with a winder for the magazine and a allen wrench that fits all but the smallest of the bolts on the gun, there is also a long bendy barrel cleaner when you wish to clean your rifle. The only issue I had was (and I don't know it this is just my example or others) but the dust cover will not seat all the way forward and catches on a small lip in the hop up unit. Other than that small grip the gun is excellent.

One thing that smaller players should consider is if you are not that strong the gun is very heavy to lug around for a while. I will have to get used to the weight myself, and I'm fairly strong.

"Got this beast 2 weeks ago and have played at a local airsoft field and one 3 day WWII airsoft game. Over 2000 rounds so far and so good! Solid M240B gearbox with no stress marks, 8mm bearings, decent RoF. A solid construction with a milled aluminum receiver, steel bi-pod, steel carry handle arm, and steel rear sight which is adjustable. The bolt handle is satisfying! Accuracy wise it is similar to most M16's and has a bit more range. The mags use M16 VN hi-cap internals so if your mag breaks you can just use M16VN internals.

The only drawbacks follow. Weight and size, for a person such as myself, 6' 01", the M1918 is a beast to carry for weight and size. The stock is very long and is near impossible for my brother, 5' 4", to shoulder. Another issue is that the magazines do not seat well, I have 4, 2 with the gun and 2 extras. All the mags misfeed if they are not solid, sometimes you have to hit the mag again to reseat it.

Overall, I love this gun, feels like a beast, gets alot of attention!

"If you want a solid replica to display, go for it. If you want a reliable airsoft LMG- ehhhhhhh keep looking.
Listen, I love this thing. It's an amazing replica, especially if you spruce it up with a little paint. The problems though come in the internals. While the gearbox is upgradable, you should plan on upgrading a LOT of stuff. I'm talking inner barrel, hop-up, motor, piston, possibly re-shimming and even replacing the stock screws. And yeah, these are not super challenging to pull off but it does get pricey so be warned. If you are a WW2 airsofter, I would recommend the ICS M3 Grease gun or the Cybergun Thompson. Or if you want a rifleman role, maybe try the M1 carbine or the Garand. If, however, you are deadset on filling a machine gunner role, I cannot stop you as the M1918 is the only realistic option compared to the outrageously expensive M1919 or the ludicrously pricey M2.

Overall, good replica, bad support weapon.

"i lost my charging handle first game i brought it in and the mags are utter trash, its reasonably accurate (if the mags are actually feeding) and it hits nice with .25s, but hey the novelty of having a browning right lol anyway PLEASE SELL SPARE PARTS

"So 2 airsofters walk into a Bar...True story!

it has its cons and pros
pros
+the weight is great and feels close to the real thing
+great wood! feels perfect with the dark stains
+looks 1 for 1 to the real thing!
+ great range on mine and the gearbox is pretty normal they have a upgraded internally motor so the fps is perfect!
+mags work great and looks perfect even if its a high-cap

Cons
-bad battery space only sticks or you have to jerry in nunchuck batteries ALSO you have to screw off the buttplate to place the batteries no easy way to slip it past the slot hole no spare screws so once you lose it on the field its your lost .
- Very difficult disassemble the pins will Snap off if your at all too rough, to turn the Barrel nozzle its very hard to take off i had to scrap the barrel tip so much after boiling it, the handle was very hard to take off i had to screw off and hammer the wood handle for it to take off and scraping the barrel again.
-NO MID CAPS ONLY HIGH CAPS, its sad there is no mid caps only high caps and even then there too low 180 high cap is not good even 200 would be better, also there mags always sold out good luck!

Alright one last thing! THE stock will wobble! due to cheap screws so you have to open up near the motor and place to new screws