One evening Kenstatestudent and myself were sitting around lan-gaming. We were bored and started crusing around looking at airsoft guns. We started talking about trying to get a few new people into playing, and we began looking around for some potential loaner guns. We ran into a number of mpegs found at www.evike.com, which looked to be potentially promising. So Kentstate decided to risk the $120 and buy the matrix SL9. Here's where it was purchased from:
http://www.evike.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv...Code=AEG_MATRIX

For starters, Evike's shipping took 4 days longer than scheduled...costing them some review points.

Upon first examination the gun looks pretty decent






View with extended outer barrel removed


There is a sling mount on the buttstock, though you could NEVER use it. The mount is just plastic.



Side of receiver


The majority of the parts are fitted together pretty well, with seams which are not terribly visible. There are a few spots where the seams are just god aweful.



Here's a pic of the peep sights. The sight can be flipped to allow you to switch sight pics. Downside? Why do this when both sights available are the exact same?



Here's a pic of the plastic rail. It looks ok, but I doubt it would hold up with a lot of use.


Pics of the high-cap mag that was included



Pic of the magwell. Why oh why is there black tape visible??


Obviously the time came for me to take the gun apart to look at the gearbox. Well I ran into a problem when trying to remove the receiver pin. Visible here on the bottom left near the mag well is the pin.

Well we unscrewed the one end and attempted to pull the pin out. The problem was that the pin could not be pulled out, twisted out, or pushed out. So I ended up having to drill the pin out. It should have just simply pushed out, but wouldn't. With the pin finally removed I was able to take the upper and lower apart and expose the gearbox.


Ah, so here's why I saw black tape



I will take pics of the gearbox and review that shortly

Here's what I did to the damn reciever to get the pin out


Spring for the cocking handle


Disassembled front end





So far here's what we've got for
Pros
-Nice looking body, all things considered
-Nice weight, doesn't feel too toyish
-The plastic feels heavier than I expected. Body doesn't squeak or creak

Cons
-Look at the broken plastic on the body! The piece which is missing was NOT in the box either. It is evident that this break took place when the product was put in the box. Definatly doesn't bode well for their quality assurance department...

-The top rail is solid plastic, not likely to hold up with much use.
-Sling mounts are plastic. Why even bother trying to use them?
-Couldn't get receiver pin out. Part used was not a propper fit, or so it appears.

Tonight I finally opened up the gearbox. But doing so was a pain in the ass. As you can see from these pictures, the wires, as they are, prevent access to the gearbox.




To get at the gearbox you have to remove the wiring with is soldered on. So if you want to put your gun back together, you have to resolder the wires. After breaking the connection between the wires and their corresponding contacts, I was able to gain access to the gearbox.

So here's the gearbox finally seperated from everything else



See the opaque piece of plastic behind the trigger?

-Not quite sure what the hell this black piece is yet. Doesn't appear to do anything....


There's a whopping THREE screws holding the gearbox halves together. On top of the gearbox is this silver thing.

-This piece basically clamps the the top of the two gearbox halves together. It slides off easily for removal.

Once the three screws and the silver clampy thing are removed, you're left with this.


This little piece broke right in half when I carefully removed the top half o fthe gearbox. It is the opaque piece behind the trigger which I mentioned earlier.

-Have no idea what the hell this is



Removing the spring from a gearbox can be a pain, as if you're not careful it has a tendency to fly out. That was not an issue with this spring. It seemed to have very little tension on it.



Some pics of the guts




Look at this picture and tell me what you see wrong:


....Can't tell? I'll give you a hint....PLASTIC BUSHINGS!!!

By the way, here's some more damn broken parts.

Stripped screw holes on top of stock (From unscrewing screws ONCE)


Plate holding motor in place broke after unscrewing screws ONCE


And here's the damaged piece that renders this gun inoperable

-Hard to see here....but there's a crack going the entire way around the top of the trigger well, right where it meets the bottom of the lower receiver.

So....

Pros?
-Looks pretty nice
-cost less than most of my graduate school textbooks do....
-Thats about it for pros

Cons
-Cheap plastic used in gearbox, VERY brittle
-PLASTIC BUSHINGS!!
-Cheap plastic for body
-NO quality control, parts broken upon arrival
-Can't hit the broad side of my truck
-Complete piece of CRAP

Well as promised I have pictures for you all. Unfortunatly I was unable to obtain Tannerite as quickly as I thought I would, so Kentstate and I took other avenues of destruction...

BE, you have been charged with the crime of sucking more than any gun has ever sucked before. For your crime, you will be sentenced to death via firing line!



BE vs. 20 gauge shotgun





BE vs. Second 20 gauge shotgun blast




BE vs. Taurus PT140



Funeral to follow momentarily...

Here is our funeral service for the BE SL9



Some pictures of the aftermath...

- KentStateStudent/Engelderwahl

KentStateStudent - September 4, 2007 This review rules...

KentStateStudent - October 20, 2007 This review is hardcore...

KentStateStudent - January 21, 2008 This review am so awesome, I can hardly believe my awesomeness.

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