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Matrix Steel 2500rd Electric Winding Drum Magazine for AK Series Airsoft AEG by CYMA (Model: Switch Controlled)
41 Customer Reviews
by Keith B. on 10/20/2013
"I have two of these drums... and boy they didn't last long...not even a year and the main winding gear is broken in both....I can't afford to keep buying these products if they're just gonna bust.. the first one lasted six months.... the second one didn't even make it thru one single game day.... there needs to be a reinforced winding gear in these drums...first thing to go in a high cap mag is always that gear: posts on the gear that holds the winding spring always snap off leaving the magazine totally useless. $120 dollars dang near wasted: ouch... so where can I find a new gear to replace the many broken magazines I have
by George T. on 12/16/2021
"A mechanical review of the latest Matrix steel drum magazines (2021 purchase):
This should have been a good winding drum magazine but after just one game the internal BB feeding tube split open and caused the BBs to jam. Internal plastic BB feeding tube was made up of two halves of black, opague plastic tubing held to together by a single plastic clamp. The plastic clamp broke as it couldn't handle the bulk of BBs running through the tube. This caused the two plastic tube halves to break open at its seams and thus causing further BB jamming. The BBs, of course, accumulated and ceased to exit out of the magazine.
Matrix should take a look at improving the feeding system beyond using a plastic tube to feed the BBs. All the other parts of the drum magazine were solid except for this portion where the manufacturer seems to have scrounged on choice of materials-right where the lifeline of the magazine is crucial - at the BB feeding tube.
I found this out way past the warranty period and Evike didn't replace it. So let's see how we could fix this by ourselves.
This should have been a good winding drum magazine but after just one game the internal BB feeding tube split open and caused the BBs to jam. Internal plastic BB feeding tube was made up of two halves of black, opague plastic tubing held to together by a single plastic clamp. The plastic clamp broke as it couldn't handle the bulk of BBs running through the tube. This caused the two plastic tube halves to break open at its seams and thus causing further BB jamming. The BBs, of course, accumulated and ceased to exit out of the magazine.
Matrix should take a look at improving the feeding system beyond using a plastic tube to feed the BBs. All the other parts of the drum magazine were solid except for this portion where the manufacturer seems to have scrounged on choice of materials-right where the lifeline of the magazine is crucial - at the BB feeding tube.
I found this out way past the warranty period and Evike didn't replace it. So let's see how we could fix this by ourselves.
by Amy S. on 05/07/2020
"This auto winding is horrible it jams the gun and turned my ask into a shot gun this thing is terrible I will be getting 4 long mags instead of this because these will hopefully work better
by Julian W. on 12/07/2016
"It did not fit my Rpk, and tried it on my other ak and all fell out easily.
Did work on a cheap ak and from evike store. Was an amd 65, but now the stock won't close due to the fat drum.
Did work on a cheap ak and from evike store. Was an amd 65, but now the stock won't close due to the fat drum.
by Isaac L. on 10/23/2015
"Purchased this (only thematically-appropriate AK drum in stock at the time) for my Polarstar-ed G&P RPK.
Exterior Finish: 4/5
Solid metal construction, no rattle or looseness of the casing. Fill lid on the top was a little floppy, but not an issue once the magazine is in place.
Interior Assembly: 2/5
Wires are glued, not soldered together, and are extremely thin gauge (maybe 22AWG at best). Battery case is open topped and just sits between two nubs in the mechanical housing, no positive retention to keep it from dropping down into the motor and gears. Plate intended to keep BBs out of gear compartment too narrow to perform function. Pouring 100 or so BBs into the feed section and shaking the mag around to simulate running resulted in approximately 1/3 of them ending up in the gearbox section, where if the mag attempted to feed, would jam up and break the gears.
Gun Fit: 0/5
Not only was the distance between the alignment and locking nubs of the drum magazine almost 1/4" shorter than any other AK magazine I could find, it completely failed to lock into the RPK at all, and would fall out with the slightest jostle. Feeding was non-existent, even when I compensated for the lack of positive lock in the mag well by holding the mag in place and aligning the output of the mag with the hop feed tube.
Features: 3/5
No auto-wind or sound control wind is available, and the plug for the push-button is placed at the bottom of the drum, instead of the more logical position of near the feed ramp, forcing the user to have the short cable stretched across the rear of the magazine in the open and be taped(?) to the handgrip so it can reach anywhere.
Conclusion: AVOID
Returned for refund as defective the same day received, with full refund and paid RMA shipping from Evike. This is a real shame, because it's one of the only accurate RPK drum magazines on the market. Maybe when the other one on Evike comes back in stock, I'll try it out, but I may have to go elsewhere to find a true RPK drum...
Exterior Finish: 4/5
Solid metal construction, no rattle or looseness of the casing. Fill lid on the top was a little floppy, but not an issue once the magazine is in place.
Interior Assembly: 2/5
Wires are glued, not soldered together, and are extremely thin gauge (maybe 22AWG at best). Battery case is open topped and just sits between two nubs in the mechanical housing, no positive retention to keep it from dropping down into the motor and gears. Plate intended to keep BBs out of gear compartment too narrow to perform function. Pouring 100 or so BBs into the feed section and shaking the mag around to simulate running resulted in approximately 1/3 of them ending up in the gearbox section, where if the mag attempted to feed, would jam up and break the gears.
Gun Fit: 0/5
Not only was the distance between the alignment and locking nubs of the drum magazine almost 1/4" shorter than any other AK magazine I could find, it completely failed to lock into the RPK at all, and would fall out with the slightest jostle. Feeding was non-existent, even when I compensated for the lack of positive lock in the mag well by holding the mag in place and aligning the output of the mag with the hop feed tube.
Features: 3/5
No auto-wind or sound control wind is available, and the plug for the push-button is placed at the bottom of the drum, instead of the more logical position of near the feed ramp, forcing the user to have the short cable stretched across the rear of the magazine in the open and be taped(?) to the handgrip so it can reach anywhere.
Conclusion: AVOID
Returned for refund as defective the same day received, with full refund and paid RMA shipping from Evike. This is a real shame, because it's one of the only accurate RPK drum magazines on the market. Maybe when the other one on Evike comes back in stock, I'll try it out, but I may have to go elsewhere to find a true RPK drum...
by Paul P. on 02/27/2015
"I should have read this review first. I bought it for my CYMA AK-47. It fits badly. Wobbles like it's too small. Won't feed. I called for a return. Even though the web sight states it will fit, they said it's my fault and I pay shipping.
Don't buy this unless you want it for looks. Go find the twin elect mag. This is junk and I'm surprised they still sell it.
Don't buy this unless you want it for looks. Go find the twin elect mag. This is junk and I'm surprised they still sell it.
by Chris B. on 02/21/2015
"It looked like a good deal, and great quality, but the gears do strip easily. I had it for a few hours before, the metal wire snapped and the gears no longer spun.
by Thomas M. on 07/09/2014
"Junky, junky, junk, junk. Hot glue and misfit parts make up this over priced piece of scrap. The front mag lip is too short and the mag tips out of the magazine well. Inside, the hot glue broke loose on the feeding tube. I am not one to return things, so I will make it work. Still a piece of poop. Don't buy it....
by Diego C. on 01/30/2014
"Really bad quality. Everything is hot glued in place and the whole thing screams that the motive behind the whole deal was "get me outta the factory as fast as possible". The soldering job was awful and I actually had to go back in and fix it, as it came with some wires not being connected. Took me about 2-3 hours to finally get it in functional condition.
by justin c. on 12/29/2013
"horrible quality.
I say this because i opened the mag up to install batterys to see that the feed tube WAS hot glued into place. where the feed tube met the gears it had broke off.
also it took nothing for a connection to break off the motor.
so ive put about 4 hours into this box mag for it to work half as well as i expected for $50. if your using a 8.4v battery the motor inside that mag may be able to keep up.
cheap china stuff at its finest.
I say this because i opened the mag up to install batterys to see that the feed tube WAS hot glued into place. where the feed tube met the gears it had broke off.
also it took nothing for a connection to break off the motor.
so ive put about 4 hours into this box mag for it to work half as well as i expected for $50. if your using a 8.4v battery the motor inside that mag may be able to keep up.
cheap china stuff at its finest.
by Daryl D. on 05/30/2012
"Purchased 2 of these units for echo1 redstar ak47.
The problems:
1. Cheap junk electric motor.
2. Does not feed fast enough with the battery pack it comes with.
3. Will fall out of the gun. It did this on 4 different echo1 redstar ak's.
The good and fixes:
1. Easy to work on to upgrade. Although I do have a full machine shop, so that does help. Replaced junk electric motor with new 12V motor from jameco electronics. This new motor is 3 times faster on its' rpm's. This fixed problem #1.
2. Since it is steel I was able to mount a new battery pouch on the outside. Manufactured and wired up a 4 C123 battery pack. This is wired in series. With the new motor and battery pack, I do not have to stop firing until I run out of bb's. Also the battery pack has lasted 5 full game days without replacement. That is somewhere around 12000 to 15000 bb's. Problem #2 fixed.
3. The drum is steel not pot metal (aka zinc) construction. Welded a piece of metal and shaped it and fixed problem #3. Now it stays in the gun very securely.
So in a nutshell if you have a $1000 mill, $300 welder, skills to use them, can solder and have $50 for parts, you can make these magazines something to be reckonded with.
The problems:
1. Cheap junk electric motor.
2. Does not feed fast enough with the battery pack it comes with.
3. Will fall out of the gun. It did this on 4 different echo1 redstar ak's.
The good and fixes:
1. Easy to work on to upgrade. Although I do have a full machine shop, so that does help. Replaced junk electric motor with new 12V motor from jameco electronics. This new motor is 3 times faster on its' rpm's. This fixed problem #1.
2. Since it is steel I was able to mount a new battery pouch on the outside. Manufactured and wired up a 4 C123 battery pack. This is wired in series. With the new motor and battery pack, I do not have to stop firing until I run out of bb's. Also the battery pack has lasted 5 full game days without replacement. That is somewhere around 12000 to 15000 bb's. Problem #2 fixed.
3. The drum is steel not pot metal (aka zinc) construction. Welded a piece of metal and shaped it and fixed problem #3. Now it stays in the gun very securely.
So in a nutshell if you have a $1000 mill, $300 welder, skills to use them, can solder and have $50 for parts, you can make these magazines something to be reckonded with.