STAR SL9 AEG



I have been an SL8/9 fan for a long time. I had an SL8 by classic army when I was in Vegas which some of you remember. It was a good gun but I always wanted the Star version. It just looks so damn good.

Luckily Ares had some kind of issue with Star and star lowered their prices like crazy.

Purchase Price- $249 Shipped!! From Ehobbyasia.

Initial Impressions...

Shipping from Ehobby was great it took 3 and 1/2 weeks to arrive in Japan.
Thats great considering it went from China to california, to military Post, to Japan.

This is like my 50th order from Ehobby. They have never ever made a mistake on a single order of mine. All of which where complicated orders. Props to them.

The Star box is typical plain brown with small white Star SL9 sticker on the outside.

The inside the gun was packaged extremely well. Black foam rubber stuff completely surrounds the weapon.


There is an instruction manual, some catalogs, a bb loader, a magazine, and some spare hardware for adjusting chek rests and such.



EXTERNALS...

The gun Itself is rock solid and finished really well. It even includes two HK logo plates to install on the stock and has an aluminum serial# molded into the receiver.

The sling swivels are steel and actually swivel. It is nice dtails like these that really set this gun apart from other companies.



A 20rnd mag is included, but I ordered 2 MAG brand 100rnd mags along with the gun. They fed flawlessy right out of the box. They aren't finished as well as the STar 20rnd mag but oh well. The 20rnd mag works great also but not too practical although it looks cool.



The cheek rest and stock length can be adjusted just like the real deal SL9.




The cocking Lever and faux bolt are metal and are really solid. Smooth action and the retractable charging handle clicks smoothly in and out of position and returns with a snap.



The top rail lacks iron sights which I prefer. This gun just doesn't look right without a nice scope of some sort.

The six hole foregrip is pretty standard and fits stick and mini batteries.


The gun overall is rock solid on the outside and really inspires confidence in the user. Fit and finish are the best I have seen and I used to own a CA CA8-2(SL8) and have held a real SL9. This is the closest you will come to the real deal without dropping a couple grand on a real HK.



Performance...

FPS was Low in comparison to what was advertised. 301-306FPS with a .20g. I don't know if Ehobbygave me a downgrade due to the fact that this gun was headed to Japan. I am not complaining since my original request was to have the nozzle drilled.



The accuracy is superb. At 164 feet it gets 10/10 in an 8" pie plate.

I tested the gun using a fully charged intellect 1400 Mah 8.4v stick battery with tamiya mini connectors.

ROF was 16 rps.(audacity)
FPS was ~304FPS

The trigger pull is smooth as butter as well as the whole operation of the gun. Smooth quiet motor and gearbox. More on this later.

INTERNALS>>>

This is always my favorite part of a review.

Externally absolutely no complaints. But what about inside?

I hear alot of stupid rumors about Star gearboxes. "They are plastic!" They sucK!!" etc etc...

Granted there are some Star guns with plastic gearboxes. This is not one of them. (their plastic gearboxes actually aren't bad gearboxes at all BTW)

I found it to be a little strange that to remove the handgaurd, you must first remove the bull outer barrel. Then the handgaurd pin. Whatever, at least it is solidly built. Just take cover before any battery changes.

The inner Barrel has an inner Diameter of 6.05mm and is 509mm long



Then you take of the magwell and remove the large bolt that joins the upper and lower receiver and bam.


After that, it is standard g36 takedown. One screw on bottom grip and one pushout pin and here is the gearbox.



It is worth mentioning that the hardware used to put this weapon together is top notch high grade machine screws and steel hardware. No potmetal anywhere. and a whole extra hardware set is included in case you lose something. A great touch.

Seems like a pretty standard version III gearbox but a trained eye will notice some really cool innovations...

The gun uses (4) 7mm bushings and (2) 7mm bearings. The selector plate is also screwed down rather than in rails.


The trigger switch is a standard 15A automotive switch. If it burns out, just go to Autozone! It can be removed without taking down the gearbox!


Check out the quick change spring guide. Taylor your gun to your field(country) in a snap.



The motor is smooth running, and it has a machined pinion gear rather than casted, not a bad freebie. They even shrink wrap the motor cage to keep the wires in place and reduce vibration.


I have heard that Stars have bad wiring. This is absolutely not the case. They use 16awg two conductor wire and carefully shrink wrap the wire to stay put and be protected. The solder joints are great, and of course the 15A switch is a stroke of genius.



Gears
They went with a set of standard XYT steel gears. They are not prometheus or anything but are just fine for 400 fps upgrades. Shimming wasn't the greatest.


Piston/Piston head

Clear poly carb like the angel piston. It uses a marui style non ported head. I have no complaints.


Cylinder head, polycarb/brass pretty standard stuff


Tappet plate
standard ver 3 plate. The tappet spring is very stiff though. This will support a high rate of fire without fps drop, but will add stress to the spring hook on the tappet plate.


Cylinder
its coated in something black. don't know whats up with it but it seals good. It is heavy so I am guessing it is stainless steel or brass under the coating.


Gearbox
was well casted but was really hosed down with a liquidy white lithium type grease. it makes for really smooth quiet operation but extremely messy.


Spring/spring guide
metal base with a poly carb shaft.
should hold up fine to abuse but some ball bearings would be nice.


couple more shots of internals



Overall the internals are good. They aren't the greatest I have come accrossed considering the goodies you get with G&G or KWA guns. But there is plenty in there to support a 400 fps upgrade reliably. (which BTW you can do without opening the gearbox)

Just for and giggles I rewired the thing with a mosfet and teflon wire. I reshimmed /relubed the gearbox and buttoned it back up.


That's all for now. Can't wait to use it in a skirmish one day. But I have no airsofting freinds in Japan just yet so I problably won't get to field test it until I return from My deploymnent this summer. When I do, I will update this review.

Can't wait to get some scope rings and a Bipod for this thing. I love Polymer HK guns!


For 250 straight to my door. This was a no brainer. The gun is user and upgrade freindly and has some great innovations and is second to none externally. If you are an SL8/9 fan. This is your gun.

This post has been edited by GoLgo 13: Dec 5 2008, 03:50 PM

Great review, I really enjoyed reading it. My friend wanted the same gun from the same place, but now they're all out of stock.

once again another great review from you. nice work!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want this gun so bad! Can you give me a link to it?

Thanks!

Pretty nice review. I love the pics and how you put things together. A little bit more about performance would be cool.

Moved and Approved.

Any way to provision a bipod that isn't the barrel-clamp kind? I loved the SL8/CA8-2 for the integrated bipod but hated it for no provision to mount a scope/aimpoint. Since my AUG stands tonight on the verge of death, I may be going for this.

My Classic Army CA8-2

My Star SL9


I ordered a 20mm rail to attach to the bottom if the handguard. It was 8.99 shipped from ehobby asia. I also have a UTG 20mm mount bipod to add.

I liked the G36 style Bipod on my CA8-2 but I hated the way it folded in towards the shooter. It reallt screws up teh feel of the gun.

MY CA8-2 I added a G36C rail for scope mounting. My CA8-2 was a good gun but I would never buy one again for these reasons.

- the 7mm bearings failed on both my freinds CA8-2 and my Ca8-2. They were purchased at the same time.
- The "precision" inner barrel was terrible and warped. A STock marui barrel replaced it and I was good to go.
- Cracks in the body form where that pin that holds the gearbox in place resides. This is true on every CA G36 varient I owned or worked on.
- For $50 cheaper I can get the star version which looks 300 times better than my CA. and has good internals as well.

Omg thank for the review!! I am crazzzyyyyyyyyyyyy about the Star sl8 and was looking for some info! This might be the first Star sl8/sl9 review out there. Oh and what is the biggest size battery you think you could fit?? Like a 9.6??

I have an Elite 10.8v stick that fits in it (2/3A cells).

This post has been edited by GoLgo 13: Dec 11 2008, 11:44 AM

So if I put a 9.6v battery in what configuration would be best? Nunchuck, cranestock...?

-Edit- Just to clarify I was hoping to put a 9.6v 3300 or 4200 mah battery in. So I was wondering what is the largest mah I could put in(for a 9.6)? Or does it have to be a small type battery? And what type of plug is on the gun?

This post has been edited by SoLDieRBoY: Dec 12 2008, 09:59 AM

How much did shipping cost ( I am in CA too.)


Thank you
-wert

Shipping was free, It was 249 shipped. You can get teh star/ares sl8/9 for $189 on ehobby or WGC shop

I have that same gun and I love it to death! Great review, but the only complaint I have with the gun is limited battery pack space, and that's it. Otherwise all your descriptions are spot on.

with bipod...

I like the look of the externally mounted bipod A LOT better than the CA8-2's built in bipod!
Great review too Golgo!!!

The SL8 and SL9 is in my list of must have's! Excellent review and I hope that I can add this into my collection someday. I just pray they don't double the price of the ARES when they distributor in my area finally brings it in. Heard the ARES versions are held back for further development until around mid year.

B

Seems like this gun is no longer available :( Where to get one?
Does it make sense to get a conversion kit - so I could have TWO guns G36 and SL8/9 with one set of internals....and possibly occasionally changing roles from game to game?
ok they have it http://www.precisionairsoft.com/item1260.htm....but its $300 just for the kit!

This post has been edited by silentandunseen: Jun 13 2009, 10:38 AM

the gun looks so amazing! Im buying one in a few weeks One question I have how will this sound in a sl9?

Prommy 6.03mm tbb
systema hop up bucking
scs nub or big out h
9.6v 1500 mah stick battery
systema m120 spring

The ARES gun is the same gun. Just wait for it to be released.

As for the build it. I would pop in the spring and then go from there. The promy barrel is a good idea as well as a good hop bucking. Ay dmr speeds a SRC high torque or G&P m160 motor provide awesome trigger response.

So would this be better setup for range/accuracy than getting like an m16 and doing the same thing?

This post has been edited by bvfa66: Jun 15 2009, 08:26 AM

edit: how about an edgi 6.02 509mm barrel? and an scs nub?

does anyone in the US sell the ares SL9? shipping from ehobby asia is $87

This post has been edited by boom boy: Feb 20 2010, 03:39 PM

This is a Fantastic review!

I have wanted a Star SL8 since before anyone knew what a sportline was. (I am going to assume that the SL8 and the SL9 are internally identical)

always wanted this one http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/aeg/star-hong-k...irsoft-aeg.html hmmmm still available.....

Does anyone know if ARES is still making the SL9? I'm looking to buy one, but they don't even show up on the ARES website.

Long discontinued. But now that Ares is the OEM for "Umarex"'s line of blowback G36s, perhaps "Umarex" will follow up with a SL8 or SL9.

Does anyone know if the SL9 uses a standard G36 Hopup?

wow..one thing that turns me off about this rifle is the fact that it uses the same gears as a JG :(

also, <AT>lonewolf, im pretty sure it does, but don't quote me on that.

This post has been edited by picklesthedrummer: Aug 14 2010, 11:24 PM

I REALLY want an Ares or Star SL-9 or ANY SL-9 with TRADES! No Classic Army!! Can anyone help me out?? I would buy NEW if I could find one.
USed is fine

New is impossible to find. Used are fairly rare. Now, with full trademarks, even more rare.

The last one that I had seen on sale for a while was on ASR in August. I bought that one. Other than that, good luck.

However, to give you a feel for pricing, I bought mine for 250 shipped. It was almost brand new, had extra mags, and the HK trademark plates. However, the grip was cracked. Best deal I had done in a while. For a package like mine, I would expect to shell out 350-400 for it.

why don't you sell yours to me for a profit. that NEVER happens in airsoft. you could make history!

Aw, I curse and praise you for this review, now this thing is on my want list..

Well, first I upgraded it with the best parts I could buy, spent countless hours tuning it, and love it like a baby.

So, if you want to pay me 1000 shipped for it, I'll gladly accept.

does this take a standard motor? or a short one?

650 and we would have had a deal. cant do 1K. Wish I could.

NECRO!!!

.....because golgo asked me to post about my star sl-8. not that I see much point in adding to a review about a long discontinued gun that will be next to impossible for anyone to go get right now.

I got the last star sl-8 on ehobby. great gun I guess. I guess it was high end back in the day when clones were still crap. but now from opening mine up and seeing all the crap wrong with it I can say that clones have far surpassed this guns internal quality and performance

mines internals were the same as golgos cept for the cylinder. mine came with a regular brass one

pros with my star sl-8:
pretty solid tight gun
great trades and s#. mine are different with the HK logo but says "heakler & kach"
piston looks pretty good actually and ill probly use it as an upgrade for another gun
love this gun, specially the primer grey body. knowing that nobody else will have this wherever I go. people may have rs svds's like me, but not this gun
sounds pretty good while cycling
gun is light enough to make it possible to just remove the bull barrel and install a g36k flash hider and use the gun as an awesome assault rifle
my jg hi-caps fit perfectly in the magwell
the quick change spring guide is awesome cuz you can remove it before taking the gb apart so then your gb doesnt explode when the piston slams forward

cons with my star sl-8:
even though its not made of abs it still feels and sounds like abs
crappy loose hop up parts and too much hop on zero hop, because the little hop up arm is too tall (I actually have a shorter BE hop arm in mine now)
xyt's are 3 dif colors. light grey, blotchy rust colored, really dark grey, and a black arl. dunno what this would mean
all the oil and grease in the gb flowing everywhere. 100% of my gun came externally saturated with oil. I had to take the whole thing apart just to wipe it all away
cylinder head was loose in the cylinder, bad air seal
non ported piston head means less compression. actually during tests there was practically no compression at all, just a "thwush" noise
posts broke off of the trigger just cuz I opened the gb
weak trigger spring causing the trigger to get stuck pulled back in semi
selector switch wouldnt stay on. I ended up having to super glue it
no room for mini batteries like any other g36 model. only takes sticks & chucks. or a brick lipo if its thinner than a mini
gb shells are so swirly they look like they came out of an a&k
magwell pin doesnt have the four tabs that hold it in place that make it really easy to screw on and off
freakin sights are plastic too. even a jg has metal sights
probly because it was so old, but I had to super glue the hk logos on because they wouldnt stick and the metal s#'s fell out and had to be glued back in place
motor just isnt quite as strong as this type of gun should have to pull stronger springs
the type of switch it uses makes it a pita to get the gb reassembled because it pops out of place so easilly

I think that should be all... I really love this gun, and have upgrades already installed immediately and more on the way. I feel really lucky to own one of these and have been able to get one at this point in time specially seeing as how I managed to get the last one ehobby had and it going out of stock after they filled my order. this was the very gun I wanted so badly back 4 years ago when I got into airsoft and it was like a $300 - $400 dollar gun back then and was never able to afford it so my only option was a be sl-8 upgrade project
I would have to say that dropping a jg or cyma v3 into this gun would result in a much better stock performing gun. though with my experience with ca id say that the ca has better externals and internals cept that ca doesnt have the grey body or the good trades

good luck to anyone trying to obtain one of these guns at this point in time.
ares carried them for a while but apparently not anymore, and I don't even see the ca's anymore either

(edit) at this moment after posting and browsing ehobby, theyve taken the out of stock marking off of the star sl-8. they must have found another one or a few more

This post has been edited by Dusti69: Jan 30 2011, 01:32 PM