If you spent the late nineties glued to the original Stargate series, you'll already know this silhouette better than you know your own front door. The bullpup banana-with-a-trigger has been knocking about the airsoft world for decades courtesy of Tokyo Marui and other brands such as King Arms. But King Arms has now had another proper go at it, working under licence from Strike Industries and EMG. The result is the SI P90, and I got my mitts on a pre-release short-version unit straight from the factory floor before it was even fully polished for public consumption. Consider this my first proper look, wobbly bits and all.

Before diving into the box, a quick word on pedigree, because this isn't just a re-skin. The genuine P90 was FN Herstal's answer to NATO's call for a 9x19mm replacement, built as a compact but potent choice for vehicle crews and support troops, with development starting in 1986 and production kicking off in 1990. Strike Industries decided the ageing frame needed a facelift, so they cooked up what they call the Strike Modular Chassis: a more conventional, ergonomic housing bolted onto the same bullpup bones, complete with an adjustable cheek rest, extra lower rail space, and internal cable routing for anyone who fancies wiring in a torch. This SI P90 airsoft version is King Arms and EMG's officially licensed stab at recreating that real-steel makeover as a fully working AEG.

Onto the unboxing itself, which, being pre-release stock, came with a few charming rough edges. I noticed the packaging had the handle orientation printed the wrong way round, and while the box was absolutely plastered with warnings, there was no sign of an actual user manual anywhere in the Styrofoam. I'm assuming King Arms will sort the paperwork before this lands on shop shelves, though whether they'll manage to flip the handle graphic the right way up remains a mystery for the ages.

First impressions on lifting it out: it's a hefty lump. There was a distinct rattle and a spot of wobble between the upper and lower receiver, the sort of thing a few turns of a hex key ought to sort out, but worth flagging on a "pre-release" unit that's meant to represent what's coming. Whether that persists through to the final production run is anyone's guess, though on a gun this fresh out of the oven, a bit of tightening up feels almost traditional.

The package arrives with a single magazine, and according to King Arms' own specification sheet, it's a 100-round mid-capacity magazine compatible with most other P90 AEG mags on the market, so hunting down spares shouldn't be a nightmare. The charging handle does its familiar springy P90 thing, and the flash hider is a satisfyingly solid metal item rather than the sort of plastic tat that snaps off if you glance at it sideways. Rail-wise, this thing is dripping with them: top rail, a second top rail further forward, twin side rails, and a lower rail too, so there's ample real estate for optics, lights, and whatever else lives in my kit bag.

Build quality is largely plastic-fantastic, though I'll happily point out that the actual real-steel P90 isn't exactly a paragon of premium metal either, so the SI P90 arguably has it beaten on that front already. The safety selector sits tucked under the trigger guard in classic P90 fashion, which is brilliant unless you happen to have unusually long fingers, in which case reaching it becomes a small daily struggle. The trigger itself behaves exactly as any P90 veteran would expect.

One cosmetic gripe worth mentioning: with the magazine removed, there's a rather prominent seam left exposed in the housing that could have done with a tidier finish. It's not a dealbreaker by any stretch, more the sort of thing that catches your eye once and then you can't unsee it, like a typo in a shop sign.

Battery access is where the SI P90 properly diverges from the classic P90 playbook. Rather than sliding the butt plate off like the old Marui-style guns, this one is secured by two retention pins of different lengths, the longer one up top and the shorter one down below, both tethered so you're less likely to lose them in the grass mid-game. Without a manual on hand, working this out took me a spot of trial and error, though once you know the trick it's straightforward enough.

Battery-wise, an 11.1V LiPo with1450mAh capacity slots in, albeit into a distinctly snug compartment that demanded a bit of patient wire-tucking before the butt plate would sit flush again. King Arms lists the official spec as accepting 7.4V LiPo or 9.6V NiMH packs, so running the beefier 11.1V clearly works in practice too, provided you're comfortable pushing beyond the stated spec and have the patience for a fiddly fit.

For anyone wanting the full technical rundown rather than a shed full of test-firing, King Arms' own specification sheet is worth a look. Inside sits a V6 gearbox running on 9mm bearings alongside a quick-change spring system, plus a factory-installed, custom-tuned Kestrel E-Shooter ETU that opens up programmable firing modes, pre-cock settings, and trigger sensitivity tweaks. The gearbox also brings CNC-machined steel gears and a full-steel rack piston assembly for durability, paired with a rotary hop-up chamber for those satisfying, clicky micro-adjustments. On paper, that's a genuinely well-specced internals package for the price point.

Speaking of which, the official listing puts this short-version SI P90 at $274.99, with a quoted rated output of 350fps and an overall length of 520mm and unloaded weight of 2.4kg, figures that line up neatly with my "this is heavier than it looks" verdict from the unboxing.

Test-firing indoors (safety off, minimal drama) produced a satisfyingly punchy full-auto stream straight off the bat on the 11.1V LiPo, with no hint of hesitation. That's always a good early sign, because plenty of AEGs sulk the first time they're asked to do anything more energetic than sit in their box looking pretty.

The real proof came at Camo Airsoft's range the following week, where the SI P90 got to stretch its legs properly on 0.32g BBs. The built-in MOSFET made itself known at once, delivering a genuinely snappy, responsive trigger that let me string single shots together at a cracking pace without the usual AEG lag. Switching to full auto produced what I can only describe as a proper clothesline stream of BBs, consistent and controlled rather than the spray-and-pray wobble some SMG-pattern AEGs suffer from.

So, where does that leave the SI P90 overall? On looks and internals alone, it's a strong package: solid rails, decent metal furniture, a genuinely useful programmable ETU, and steel internals that suggest King Arms isn't just coasting on the Strike Industries name. My gripes are relatively minor but worth knowing about going in: the included magazine feels a touch toy-like for a gun at this price, there are a few sharp edges lurking about that deserve a cheeky file-down before your first skirmish, and that visible receiver seam could use tidying. Bearing in mind this was pre-release stock, some of these niggles may well be ironed out by the time it hits shop shelves properly.

All told, this lands as a strong, if not flawless, showing for King Arms' first crack at the licensed Strike Industries treatment, and a Stargate-shaped trip down memory lane finished with genuinely modern internals. My opinion may shift once more units are in circulation, but as an unboxing and first range outing go, the SI P90 earns its stripes. Until next time, keep your BBs dry and your safety catches within reach of your fingers, however long they might be.