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L85A2


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OK this is only my second post so be gentle, i am know in a position to purchase my first AEG and after having a springer L85a1 when i was a lad i have decided that this will be my first purchase of no doubt many.

My dilemma is which make to go with i had pretty much settled on ICS as it seem a great product at a sensible price but have been looking around and you can now get STAR/ARES rifles for as little as 284 with a m100 spring fitted where the ICS is 360 for the same spec...i have already decided against the G&G as i have read there is still problems with the blow back system...

So guys and girls whats you honest opinions on which would be the best model to go for.. your help is greatly appreciated.

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Army R85 A1

G&G L85 A1 & A2

 

Both suffer from problems and the Army version suffers more because it's a copy of the G&G, how ever if you can get it cheap enough and have the time and skills needed you can turn it into a very potent RIF :) ( we have 5 Army L85's so kinda biased )

 

Star L85 A2

 

My self I would not touch this version, I just don't like star products, parts are harder to get then hens teeth

 

 

ICS L85 A2

 

A very well put together L85 but I have no experience of it and i don't see many reviews on it

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i had the army r85a1 version the copy of the G&G and i have had next to nothing but problems so although fixed now it has put me off so i personally would avoid these, I had ths same dilema not long ago, personally you cant go wrong with the star/ares l85A2, its the one i went for :) , especially at £284, although the ics a nice aeg and has some good features it has its flaws and personally i just couldnt justify the cost hope that helps,

 

RG

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Am i right in thinking that the STAR A2 still comes with the A1 front or is this just lazy image use on most websites..when looking at images of the ICS next to the STAR it looks like the ICS has a sharper lookinh front end if that makes sense....

 

saaegl85r.th.jpg STAR l85a2

 

 

ics85.th.jpg ICS l85a2

 

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Am i right in thinking that the STAR A2 still comes with the A1 front or is this just lazy image use on most websites..when looking at images of the ICS next to the STAR it looks like the ICS has a sharper looking front end if that makes sense....

 

the ARES A2's do come with the new grip it doesnt look quite as bad as it does in the pictures, if you actually get a star labeled one im not so sure.

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In terms of reliability and customer service/parts ect...ive heard Star can be a bit iffy not heard to much about ICS but i am still new to the sport so learning all the time.. Also what is the difference between the 1J spring and the m100 do they both just bring the fps down?

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The G&G L85 is a nice enough gun but, due to all the possible faults, it's definitely not a gun for a newb.

It'd be the sort of gun you'd buy, use until it breaks (about a week later) and then put in your wardrobe for 3 years, until you feel confident enough to pull it apart to fix it.

 

The ICS L85 is definitely a better gun.

it's become the hallmark of ICS design that they make the effort to design a unique gun that is practical, well-made, easy to work on and usually reliable.

The only question is whether you're prepared to pay extra for a gun with these features. If you do then you can rest assured that you're getting the best product available.

 

The Star L85 isn't as terrible as people are suggesting.

It seems to be failry reliable. About the only weak point is the motor, which often dies.

If you never have cause to take your Star L85 apart you'll probably never worry about the way it's built.

If you do ever service or repair the gun you'll end up thinking you'v got a gun that came out of a christmas cracker!

The way it's constructed is terrible compared to the ICS (or G&G) gun. No thought has gone into the design. They've just crammed a gearbox that'll fit into an L85-shaped shell. There's no actual thought been given to how the internals might make use of the original gun design.

The whole thing is held together by a heap of tiny screws hidden away in obscure places and, beyond that, there are a couple of really frustrating features.

The hop-up, for example, is hooked into the gearbox. This might seem like a good idea but it means you can't swab the barrel all the way through. Any muck the swab picks up gets shoved into the hop-up and stays there.

On an ICS L85 it takes about 30 seconds to split the receiver apart, remove the barrel and clean it at leisure.

To remove the barrel on the Star gun you need to remove the gearbox/barrel combo (which requires loosening a pile of tiny screws) and then loosening all the gearbox screws and easing the gearbox apart just enough that the hop-up can come loose.

Course, if you go too far the gearbox internals will become displaced and then you have to rebuild that too.

All in all, the Star gun looks nice on the outside but it's a dogs-dinner on the inside.

 

As for your questions...

 

Ares seems to be the factory where Star guns are made. They've obviously decided to start selling guns themselves now rather than just making products for Star.

 

To be fair, there's nothing wrong with the foregrip fitted to the Star L85. it's only in the last 12 months that the ICS-style foregrip has been fitted to real-steel rifles. The older foregrip is perfectly authentic.

 

1J and M100 springs are usually similar in performance. 1J equates to 100 metres/second with 0.2g ammo and M100 means it'll shoot ammo at.... 100 metres/second.

 

 

In conclusion, if you just wanted "an L85" then you'd probably have bought the Army one for $100 and we wouldn't be discussing this.

The fact that you're prepared to spend more than $100 tells me you want to buy yourself a serious bit of kit.

In that case, why settle for second best?

If it was me I'd bite the bullet, find the extra cash and buy the ICS gun in the knowledge that you're buying the best in its class.

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I have a STAR LSW (same thing really) and although it's a bit of a pain to take apart it's not really /that/ big of a deal to me. It takes in all honesty about 10-15 minutes to get down to the gearbox, which isn't really a huge chunk of your life.

 

The way I see it anyway, you're gonna spend a hell of a lot longer looking at the outside than the inside.

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I have a STAR LSW (same thing really) and although it's a bit of a pain to take apart it's not really /that/ big of a deal to me. It takes in all honesty about 10-15 minutes to get down to the gearbox, which isn't really a huge chunk of your life.

It is if you're trying to clear a BB jam in the barrel during a game. ;)

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It is if you're trying to clear a BB jam in the barrel during a game. ;)

 

Well it looks like ther is big plus points for both guns..i am edging towards the ics at the moment..will have to give it some thought for the sake of an extra £100 it seems that i would be better to go with my first choice

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I own an ICS SA80 (back off you pedants - I know it's officially an L85A2, but i don't care), and it's the best gun I own.

 

Well made, well thought out, easy to work on, and the quick tune feature of the gearbox means that you can easily adjust the power output of the gun to comply with the rules/fps limits of various sites. In skirmish terms, it's got a long barrel (range) relatively compact size (good for cqb) and it takes a big battery (it'll go all day).

 

It's not the most externally accurate, but by far and away the best gun in it's class. No word yet of accessories for it - the STAR version has the UGL, but if that's not a concern then no problem.

 

If you choose to invest in one, you are buying the best SA80 on the market.

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I own an ICS SA80 (back off you pedants - I know it's officially an L85A2, but i don't care), and it's the best gun I own.

 

Well made, well thought out, easy to work on, and the quick tune feature of the gearbox means that you can easily adjust the power output of the gun to comply with the rules/fps limits of various sites. In skirmish terms, it's got a long barrel (range) relatively compact size (good for cqb) and it takes a big battery (it'll go all day).

 

It's not the most externally accurate, but by far and away the best gun in it's class. No word yet of accessories for it - the STAR version has the UGL, but if that's not a concern then no problem.

 

If you choose to invest in one, you are buying the best SA80 on the market.

Sounds like a done deal to me.

im not overly concerned if its not 100% like the real deal in the end if it works well and does what it needs to do with minimum fuss and problems then thats good enough for me...

I can always upgrade bits as i go along when and as new bits come on the market..

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i have then G&G L85A2 and i LOVE this gun it has amazing quality and good fps and ROF stock. the only major problem is the 18 tooth piston, but all L85s have this issue so as long as you are not putting in a lipo (like i am) you should be OK. also beware that there arent very many parts for these because they are relatively new. o also this gun has the split gearbox and the only thing you ned to do the get to the gearbox is remove a few pins

 

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i have then G&G L85A2 and i LOVE this gun it has amazing quality and good fps and ROF stock. the only major problem is the 18 tooth piston, but all L85s have this issue so as long as you are not putting in a lipo (like i am) you should be OK. also beware that there arent very many parts for these because they are relatively new. o also this gun has the split gearbox and the only thing you ned to do the get to the gearbox is remove a few pins

 

The G&G and the Army are the only ones with a 18 tooth piston since the Army is a copy of the G&G, also there is away of changing the 18 tooth piston to the more widely used 16 tooth piston by way of a spacer kit which numerous retailers carry, such as Red Wolf and Airsoft World (formally airsoft scotland), and hopefully im right in saying that the G&G is roughly more than a year old.

 

I was lookin for a L85 myself however, the only one I would actually get would the the ICS and thats out of my price range atm, simply because well of the reasons already said by a few people in this thread, however i have only heard of 1 or 2 ICS L85s go wrong.

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sorry for sounding a pain but here we may be straying into fanboy modes...

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again.. all the L85 replicas have there faults, has anyone spotted a biggie yet?

 

Please enlighten me as i really am going on what research and reviews i can find on line, would much prefer to find out all pros and cons before i part with my wedge..

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OK then, since I run the risk of sounding like a fanboy....

 

The only issue I have with my ICS is that it can be a bit fussy over what mags it likes to work with. The supplied mags work perfectly, but it won't work with PMags (shame). It's not that much of an issue for me because I've got that many mags it wasn't difficult to collect the mags together that'll feed properly.

 

I haven't heard of anyone else with this problem though, even when I brought it up in a thread specific to this gun. No two airsoft guns are the same anyway - even identical guns from the same manufacturer will have their individual quirks and foibles.

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Being that i will be buying all my kit from scratch any make of mag in particular that you recommend? was looking at getting set of mid-cap star m16 mags zerone sell a box of 10 for £40 which i thought seemed quite reasonable..

Also whats the deal with batteries i know it takes a large type but does it matter which volt i.e 8.4 or 9.6...

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You'll quite likely find anything you're after a lot cheaper on sites other than Z1, the amounts they're charging for stuff are absurd recently. Worth shopping around a bit more, can't go wrong with a box of MAG mid-caps.

 

I've not tried to fit a 9.6v in to my ICS but the 8.4 was a pretty tight squeeze so I wouldn't go higher than that to be honest. Generally (there are a few caveats to this however) a higher voltage just gives you quicker ROF, so an 8.4 will be perfectly fine.

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the more i read about the different models the more i relse that they all seem to have there own problems i have read on this forum that someone has had the motor fail on an ics l85a2 as well as the pstol grip come loose so i guess which ever on i go for i should be prepared to have to fix faults at some point....

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