TriStar Matrix: An Inertia Initiation

Inertia guns, as opposed to gas-cycling shotguns, are commonly known to provide a little more wallop (recoil and downrange) with less cleaning needed. They are workhorses, so we took one out during duck season to see how the synthetic 12-gauge with 28-inch barrel fared against passing wood ducks in a hardwood creek bottom.

The Matrix Inertia 12-gauge weighs a little over 7 pounds, but feels light on the shoulder mount and swings smoothly. Extended carry without a sling gets cumbersome after an hour, so it’s recommended to install a good sling for carrying through woods, creeks and beaver ponds (generally not needed for shooting clays or dove hunting as they mostly get in the way). The recoil on this inertia gun with 3-inch shell is average with minimal shooting, but that’s mostly subjective. An added recoil pad could help some shooters, particularly during a full round of sporting clays or a duck/dove barnburner.

The gun has a feature that allows you to clear the chamber visually after the last round is fired, as the bolt remains open. With a loaded chamber and magazine, opening the action will eject the chambered shell but will not cycle a new shell into the chamber, allowing the operator to clear the chamber while keeping the magazine loaded. It’s a nice feature from a safety aspect, but also takes another step (pushing the magazine cut-off button in front of the trigger guard) to quickly unload and load.

The Matrix Inertia comes in 12- and 20-gauge models, and includes standard full, modified and improved cylinder chokes. Its MSRP is $595 but can be found around $500 in many retailers, depending on the finish and gauge. The gun comes with TriStar’s five-year warranty.

Find out more about TriStar’s new inertia-driven line of shotguns here: https://www.tristararms.com/series/matrix/#matrix-synthetic