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Initial impression of the Matrix (S&T) MG-42


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  • 9 months later...

Well, here's my initial review of my AGM version of the MG42 ( I am lead to believe that it is the same brand as the Matrix, just in a different box)

 

 

It's not my style, but I was after a 42 for some other project (M56 SmartGun here we come) and this made perfect sense as it fulfilled a number of functions...

 
 
So... As an airsoft gun.
 
The AGM MG42 is a surprisingly good bit of kit. It's not cheap at £480, but considering it's an MG42, one of the most iconic machine guns in existence and the only other available MG42 Airsoft gun is the Shoei one and that comes in at £1500, it's not actually that offensive a price.
 
So what do you get for your just short of a monkey. Well, you get a spanky brown box with a discreet picture of an MG42 in the corner. The padding inside is really sturdy. You get the usual loading rod, packet of cruddy BB's, useless Mrs Ping battery and a charger that is more likely to burn your house down than charge the battery!
But then you peel back the padding and low and behold is the beast.
 
P1020016.jpg
 
It's just over 7kg of fully pressed metal and well machined steel. No rubbish pot metal in this baby! The steel parts (tested with a magnet) appear to be the magazine, bipod and parts of the lower receiver. All other parts seem to be non-ferrous (well, not magnetic anyway), but are still nicely made.
It comes with a fully functioning Bipod, metal battery winding box mag and wood stock.
 
I'll start with the magazine. 
It's all metal, runs from 4xAA batteries and is filled by either flipping the rear cover right off (which you can only do when the mag is removed from the rifle) or opening the top cover to reveal a small slot in which to pour the BB's.
 
P1020019.jpg
 
This latter method works fine in the field.
The stated capacity is 2500 rounds, but I managed to squeeze in an entire bottle of 3000rnds. It's battery fed. The wires feed in discreetly to the bottom of the rifle. It's possible these could get caught on foliage, so I stuck a bit of gaffa tape over them to keep them tidy.
 
The operating switch is actuated by the trigger, so you pull the trigger and the mag winds on. All very convenient. The mag feed was sufficient to keep up with the RoF on an 11.1v LiPo, so that's a bonus.
 
 
The battery is house inside an easily removable stock (simply twist and pull out). The space is limited, so you'll not have much choice for batteries. But considering how easy it is to change them, having a number of smaller capacity batteries ready to swap out isn't too much of a drama.
It'll be a mini type battery, or a small thin LiPo (It's about 30x30mm square, but pretty long).
 
The body has a moveable but otherwise pointless Charging handle, Fully functional open sights, that both flip up and stow away for travelling. A neat little AA sight.
Opening top cover, which exposes the gearbox and feed tray, and an opening barrel clip. And whilst the barrel clip opens, the barrel itself doesn't have the quick change function that the original had.
 
P1020017.jpg
 
The gearbox is a proprietary system that is a sort of V2/PGC hybrid. It is of the split design and has a quick change spring. 
The motor and gear assembly is held in the pistol grip/trigger area and is easily removed by simply taking out a cotter pin and pulling the whole assembly away. The spring/piston is removed by taking the stock off, pushing in the spring guide, flicking the latch and pulling the spring/piston out the back.
 
P1020020.jpg
 
P1020021.jpg
 
It uses standard V2 gear set and piston, so spares/upgrades are a doddle.
 
The Hop is a fully machined steel block with a simple sliding actuator, with a standard AEG rubber. Out of the box it was shooting like a sack of spanners, so it needed to be stripped and reset. Clearly the little boy Ping was having an afternoon off.
 
With it all sorted, the rifle shoots at a healthy 350fps and pumps out a respectable 18 rounds per second on an 11.1v LiPo. Which is pretty close to what the real steel 42 shot at, so you get a real sense of what this was really like to come up against.
 
Range... it was pushing about 60+m and grouped just over a man sized target at this range. The initial rounds were tightly grouped, but a longer burst forced a larger spread as the hop rebounded. But this is a good thing considering the requirement for 'area denial'.
 
P1020018.jpg
 
With the high rate of fire, the large drum mag can be emptied quite quickly so keeping to relatively short bursts is important. That said.... Short bursts still produce a large amount of fire.
I managed to pump out 7000 rounds through out the entire day, which is probably more than I've fired in the whole of last year as a predominantly boltie user, with the occasional M4 Recoil action.
 
It's just over 7kg, so it's pretty hefty and can be a pain to carry, especially all day and without a sling. But used properly... Getting bedded down in a fire support position and hammering away at a target it functions excellently.
 
The guns physical presence and exceptional rate of fire imbue it with a certain fear factor that can almost be as effective as the hail of BB's it produces.
 
Is it worth it??
 
If you've got deep pockets for the initial purchase, and then to feed it day in day out.... And you're wanting to hulk this lump about and provide fire support whilst the rest of your team get on their belt buckles and go for glory...
 
Then it's a resounding yes.
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  • 1 month later...

 

Well, here's my initial review of my AGM version of the MG42 ( I am lead to believe that it is the same brand as the Matrix, just in a different box)

 

 

It's not my style, but I was after a 42 for some other project (M56 SmartGun here we come) and this made perfect sense as it fulfilled a number of functions...

 
 
So... As an airsoft gun.
 
The AGM MG42 is a surprisingly good bit of kit. It's not cheap at £480, but considering it's an MG42, one of the most iconic machine guns in existence and the only other available MG42 Airsoft gun is the Shoei one and that comes in at £1500, it's not actually that offensive a price.
 
So what do you get for your just short of a monkey. Well, you get a spanky brown box with a discreet picture of an MG42 in the corner. The padding inside is really sturdy. You get the usual loading rod, packet of cruddy BB's, useless Mrs Ping battery and a charger that is more likely to burn your house down than charge the battery!
But then you peel back the padding and low and behold is the beast.
 
P1020016.jpg
 
It's just over 7kg of fully pressed metal and well machined steel. No rubbish pot metal in this baby! The steel parts (tested with a magnet) appear to be the magazine, bipod and parts of the lower receiver. All other parts seem to be non-ferrous (well, not magnetic anyway), but are still nicely made.
It comes with a fully functioning Bipod, metal battery winding box mag and wood stock.
 
I'll start with the magazine. 
It's all metal, runs from 4xAA batteries and is filled by either flipping the rear cover right off (which you can only do when the mag is removed from the rifle) or opening the top cover to reveal a small slot in which to pour the BB's.
 
P1020019.jpg
 
This latter method works fine in the field.
The stated capacity is 2500 rounds, but I managed to squeeze in an entire bottle of 3000rnds. It's battery fed. The wires feed in discreetly to the bottom of the rifle. It's possible these could get caught on foliage, so I stuck a bit of gaffa tape over them to keep them tidy.
 
The operating switch is actuated by the trigger, so you pull the trigger and the mag winds on. All very convenient. The mag feed was sufficient to keep up with the RoF on an 11.1v LiPo, so that's a bonus.
 
 
The battery is house inside an easily removable stock (simply twist and pull out). The space is limited, so you'll not have much choice for batteries. But considering how easy it is to change them, having a number of smaller capacity batteries ready to swap out isn't too much of a drama.

It'll be a mini type battery, or a small thin LiPo (It's about 30x30mm square, but pretty long).

 
The body has a moveable but otherwise pointless Charging handle, Fully functional open sights, that both flip up and stow away for travelling. A neat little AA sight.
Opening top cover, which exposes the gearbox and feed tray, and an opening barrel clip. And whilst the barrel clip opens, the barrel itself doesn't have the quick change function that the original had.
 
P1020017.jpg
 
The gearbox is a proprietary system that is a sort of V2/PGC hybrid. It is of the split design and has a quick change spring. 
The motor and gear assembly is held in the pistol grip/trigger area and is easily removed by simply taking out a cotter pin and pulling the whole assembly away. The spring/piston is removed by taking the stock off, pushing in the spring guide, flicking the latch and pulling the spring/piston out the back.
 
P1020020.jpg
 
P1020021.jpg
 
It uses standard V2 gear set and piston, so spares/upgrades are a doddle.
 
The Hop is a fully machined steel block with a simple sliding actuator, with a standard AEG rubber. Out of the box it was shooting like a sack of spanners, so it needed to be stripped and reset. Clearly the little boy Ping was having an afternoon off.
 
With it all sorted, the rifle shoots at a healthy 350fps and pumps out a respectable 18 rounds per second on an 11.1v LiPo. Which is pretty close to what the real steel 42 shot at, so you get a real sense of what this was really like to come up against.
 
Range... it was pushing about 60+m and grouped just over a man sized target at this range. The initial rounds were tightly grouped, but a longer burst forced a larger spread as the hop rebounded. But this is a good thing considering the requirement for 'area denial'.
 
P1020018.jpg
 
With the high rate of fire, the large drum mag can be emptied quite quickly so keeping to relatively short bursts is important. That said.... Short bursts still produce a large amount of fire.
I managed to pump out 7000 rounds through out the entire day, which is probably more than I've fired in the whole of last year as a predominantly boltie user, with the occasional M4 Recoil action.
 
It's just over 7kg, so it's pretty hefty and can be a pain to carry, especially all day and without a sling. But used properly... Getting bedded down in a fire support position and hammering away at a target it functions excellently.
 
The guns physical presence and exceptional rate of fire imbue it with a certain fear factor that can almost be as effective as the hail of BB's it produces.
 
Is it worth it??
 
If you've got deep pockets for the initial purchase, and then to feed it day in day out.... And you're wanting to hulk this lump about and provide fire support whilst the rest of your team get on their belt buckles and go for glory...
 
Then it's a resounding yes.

 

Out of interest where did you purchase this from?

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