L85 A1 - ArniesAirsoft - Review Archive

Author

Prolific

Registered: March 2006
Location: Brighton, East Sussex
Posts: 695

Review Date: 14/10/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �325.00 | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Realistic Weight, Superb Finish, Brilliant quality product and very innovative design. Well worth its cost.
Cons:	Complex design is not newbie friendly, Experience with the real L85 is almost a must.

First Impressions:

Upon opening the 6 layers of bubble wrap AirosftWarehouse put on it (excellent service from them BTW) I was confronted by the best looking airsoft box I've seen to date. Properly offset litho colour printed, embossed and shiney it shows the union jack with images of the G&G L85. Very attractive and it adds to the collectable nature of the airsoft gun. The box encompassed the whole thing, its not just a cover for a polystyrene case like most TM guns. This had caught my attention and I had high hopes. The box is very much a display case style box. Upon opening it up and sliding out the very chic grey and white polystyrene foam insert I see the gun. Its stunning. It literally winded me, I had high hopes for it but it was way better than I thought it would be. Equal to or better than the STARs finish. It looks very realistic, down to the gas assembly in the upper front handguard and the barrel block through the holes in the upper reciever. Upon picking up the gun I immediately noticed how heavy it was. A nice sturdy weight and a very solid build which I'll discuss later.

The Carry handle and foresight come seperated from the gun. The first task is to install these. They both take a little bit of work to get on. Read the manual first before doing this else you may scratch them up or even break them. The magazine is of the ICS/G&G style 450rd type. It's as large as a real steel STANAG magazine (TMs, G&Ps, MAGs, etc. are smaller). But like all in airsoft guns the mag doesn't sit as high in the gun. The effect of this is that the mag protrudes about a half inch lower than usual for the real steal. Although this isn't that unusual as at one point there were ~40rd mags available for the L85. The mags wont fall out like some did on teh real steel L85A1.(*read update below as it does have some issues). The spring is much tougher and the fit around the mag is much tighter, my team mates tried to dislodge the mag 'accidently' by pressing it against the chest as would happen in combat/skirmish. The mag is so well located it doesn't move at all and we were unable to make it fall out. Remember how real steel mags used to wobble in the mag well? this doesnt happen at all. its very tight in a good secure way. Not too tight as to not be able to get the mags in though.

DETAIL FROM FRONT TO BACK...
The Barrel
A very nice metal barrel, machined in two pieces. The flash hider end and the cylindrical body end. Nothing too fancy but it does mean there is no 14mm thread. Its like the FAMAS flash hider with an allen key removal. Still, very nice and I can't see why anyone would want to be fiddling with the barrel anyway.

The Foregrip
Made of very nice good coloured green plastic. Roughly as thick as the real thing and as strong. It feels very similar to the real thing and the slightly rough surface finish is very realistic. Not like the shiney plastic foregrips we're too often used to seeing on other guns, namely armalites. The magazine is located inside the foregrip. To change it a screw is undone from the side of the foregrip and the sling loop removed from the opposite side. The foregrip then seperates into two halves (one still attached to the gun). The battery sits in here. Despite some concerns of battery size the area here is very large. Infact, its larger than the area in most guns including the M4, M16, FAMAS etc. It is however an awkward shape and will require a slightly different shaped battery than usual.

The Body
The body is very realistic. If it werent for the fact G&G Armament. Made in Taiwan. Was stamped on the rear of the lower reciever it would be very hard for even a veteran soldier to tell the difference between it and the real thing. The only other sign its not real is G&G is written in very small writting on the foregrip in the identifier area. The finish in black is very nice and I've noticed mine scratches like the real thing to. Its going to look a little odd at first with just a few dinks in it, but after a while it will 'weather' like the real thing. Decide for yourself whether you like that or not, personally if it has to dent and scratch at least it'll look true to form. Infact the thing that really gives it away as not being real is that the surface finish is too good! Considering most L85s in service these days are nearing 15 years old.

The Sights/Rail
These are an area of some confussion. Let me clear it up. They are not standard. They are dovetail not pictinny, but are 19.9mm wide. I suspect this was done not so it could take standard optics, but rather so the STAR SUSAT and Real SUSAT wouldn't fit it, thus preventing people buying the STAR SUSAT befoer G&G release theirs. Which to be honest I would have done if I could probably. The carry handle itself is very nice, finished in black and attaches as the real steel does. It complements the body nicely. Mine wobbles slightly but I can tighten it up from the inside later. The end situation of this is that the L85 can take most standard optics, but not the real steel or STAR SUSAT. Though now I have the gun i'm actually not fussed about getting a SUSAT as the iron sights are superb.

The Bolt and yes...the infamous Blowback
The bolt and reciver are very realistic. It makes a good noise when it closes and locks back just like it does on the real steel. I didn't fire mine with the blowback on and heres the bottom line: No other AEG has blow back as standard yet like this. The gun is privillidged to have it as standard and mean we don't have to pay another �50 for a kit! If your afraid of it breaking DISABLE IT! If you don't disable it you can't then complain later when it breaks, which it will. Its rather like not buying a car for the fear one day you might get a flat tyre. I've said it before and I'll say it again...

"Airsoft guns are complex mechanical devices with a violent action. With or Without Blowback. Thats why all the parts are replaceable. Breakage is inevitable. Work around it."

To those who says "du'h...but the breaking blowback bolt destroys the gears!" Let me use my car anaolgy again... if your car has a flat tyre at 70mph on a motorway the ensuing crash will probably write off your car...it might even kill you. The two situations are directly comprable. If you don't want to risk death don't go in a car. If you don't want to strip some gears disable the blowback mechanism straight away as I have done. Its very easy to do.

Moving swiftly on, the bolt locks back nicely in a similar way to the real steel rifle. This allows you to adjust the 3 piece HOP Up. The HOP initially seems good and accurate, combined with the fairly high velocity out the box.

Overall Impressions/Conclusion
This is a beautiful gun. Its a machine of warefare not a work of art, but somehow looks very attractive. Its an innovate gun and seems to perform well. It cycles in the same way a PSG-1 does meaning single shot is very good. If you want an L85 buy this not the STAR. The key thing is, everything about this gun says "Wow, I got this for only �300!", whereas with STAR its a case of "hmm, well i wanted an L85, so i guess �400 is just what I'll have to pay". I'm in love with this gun, its brilliant. I hope it lives up to my expectations over time!

But....Don't buy this if your new to airsoft, and I'd advise you don't buy it unless you've had at least some experience with either the real steel L85 or L98. Its a bit complex by comparison to an armalite or HK gun just as the real steel gun is. Its really too complicated for a newb, like the real thing it'll need a fair bit of post skirmish TLC to keep it in top condition. And although it strips easily, getting it back together can be tricky. Removal of the blow back bolt is very easy but due to the stripping I doubt a newb could do it properly, and may damage the TMH trying to get it back together. The potential for cutting the wiring when reassembling is very high due to the fairly sharp edges on the bodywork. To sum up this gun - if you give it your time, love and attention I suspect it will work well for you. However if neglected it will probably treat you in much the same way. And for that reason it is not newbie friendly. Regular lubrication of the moving parts, cleaning and care will ensure this gun performs well for a good length of time.

Update (7/10/2006):

I've now skirmished 2 full days with this, one of which was marshalling light duties, the other was one of the most intense days I've had. So its been put through its paces. Here are my comments on what I now think.

Its a brilliant gun. It fires superbly and has reached some notoriety in accuracy, power and range. Its accuracy no doubt a consequence of the long internal barrel. It fires very well on single and full auto, it can also crimp off very nice single shots on full auto if used carefly. The gearbox set up is in my opinion so far a very innovative addition.

There are one or two minor niggling details. Firstly I have to go back on what I said earlier, It does suffer from the real steal mag drop problem. I had no trouble before installing a sling but now its slightly endemic, the sling presses taught against by body in certain orientations, it then presses itself taught against the mag release and in the right circumstances can cause it to release. Equally a small pin which holds the mag release catch has a tendency to loosen and need pushing back into place. However, these are fairly minor and according to my instruction manual G&G are bringing out an L85 A2 version. This should resolve any issues. If you have expensive mags or are just concerned about losing one then I'd recommend using magpulls with a cable attachment to your webbing/rig. It may be that G&G bring out an upgrade kit to convert the A1 to an A2, if this includes the mag release i recommend purchasing it. But don't let this put you off an otherwise superb gun, there are ways around it. Its more an occasional pain in the backside than it is a persistant nightmare. Due to the sling orientations needed to depress the mag it usually only releases when walking with the sling in the buckled position. When firing its so far been fine. It hasn't cost me my life yet.

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It's Real-Steel not Real-Steal:

Steel = An Alloy of Iron
Steal = Theft

sniper vinny

Registered: December 2004
Posts: 143

Review Date: 26/10/06

Would you recommend the product? No | Price you paid?: �295.00 | Rating: 4

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Excellent outer build
Cons:	Weaker inner build

I cant really say much more about the build quality as the first review has easily pointed out that G&G have done a very good job with the external quality of the rifle.

I have found that interanally, i have had a number of consistent problems with mine. Airsoft warehouse promptly sent my pre-ordered L85 to me after they had downgraded it.

After reading through the manual (and as the first review says, it is quite a complicated AEG!!) i connected the battery, fitted the mag, and switched to semi (i disabled the blowback before all of this), and i fired some rounds into my graden. The rifle sounded quite nice when fired , there was not too much of a winding noise and more of a cracking noise from the muzzle which was quite nice.

However, i then swithced to full auto, and again there was a nice firing sound. After about 150 rounds, it ceased to function. When the trigger was pulled, BB's were just dropping out of the end and the motor could still be heard winding. Obviously not wanting to cause further problems, i sent it straight back to AW (great service from these guys by the way), and they promptly repaired it and sent it back.

Once i had recieved it the second time, i tested it once again, and yet again the gun fired about 150 rounds before breaking in exactly the same fashion.

At this point i sent it back to AW to get a full refund, as i do not expect a �300 gun to break after 150 rounds.

I would like to therefore warn people before buying this AEG to ensure you are prepared to deal with the consequences if something goes wrong. Mine might have just been a one off, i dont know, but it was a consistent problem, suggesting that mabye the internal gears or piston are not that higher quality.

As said already, the external build is excellent, if only the gun actualy worked would i have rated it higher than a 4, as that is just for external build alone.

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Team Phoenix
Second in Command

http://team-phoenix.wetpaint.com/

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Stealthbomber

Forum Grinch

Registered: August 2006
Location: Near Dumfries
Posts: 11,211

Review Date: 9/12/06

Would you recommend the product? No | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 2

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Looks nice
Cons:	Infamously poor reliability. Utterly dreadful without modification

No need for a long review here.

I would never have bought a Star L85. It looks great but was poorly designed. There is just nothing interesting about it. The G&G L85 looks as nice as the Star one but is designed MUCH better. It looks like the parts all belong together in an L85-shaped gun.

Looks nice, blah, blah, feels nice, blah, blah... fast-forward to the useful information.

THIS GUN IS DREADFUL IN STOCK FORM.

People have said you should "expect" the blowback to break. Nonsense. Nobody designs parts of a car so they cause even MORE damage when they fail. Utter nonsense. It is unforgivable that G&G design the blowback hook so it falls into the gearbox and kills it.

So we disconnect the blowback mechanism. There goes one nice feature of the gun.

Then there's the piston. Pretty much everybody who owns one of these guns has had the piston die on them.
It's no coincidence that this is the ONLY gun on the market which uses an 19 tooth piston in a full-auto gun and we're seeing this problem for the first time.
Because the piston is longer than standard, the gears have chance to complete their cycle before the piston has come to rest.
This kills the piston.

Take out the 19 tooth G&G piston and throw it away, along with the G&G sector gear.
Replace them with a TM piston & sector gear and fit a 10mm long spacer between the piston and piston-head.

What else?
Well, the charging handle snapped off mine when I sneezed on it. Seriously, I have no idea how it came off. The gun was wrapped in a blanket in the boot of my car and, when I came to get it out, the handle had snapped off. Terrific!

The trigger contacts wear out over time so the gun will fire in full auto regardless of if you select auto or semi.
You can fix this by modifying the trigger contacts. Another job for the list.

To summarise:-
The blowback hook died and was thrown away.
The gears died and were replaced with TM PSG1 gears.
The piston died 3 times and was replaced by a stock TM piston with a 10mm spacer attached.
The trigger contacts died and no replacement is available as yet.
The cocking handle snapped off while the gun was in the boot of my car.

Still want one?

Thought not.

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Q: Why did the chicken cross the Mobius Strip?
A: To get to the same side.

If you're making a commercial post (advertising something you sell for profit) and you haven't asked for, and received, a "Commercial User" tag you should expect your posts to be deleted and to receive warning points.

mi-go-a-go-go

Registered: November 2006
Location: Lancashire
Posts: 41

Review Date: 9/2/07

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �260.00 | Rating: 8

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	looks, feel and the blow back
Cons:	yup its fiddly

Look i like it

However mine hasnt gone wrong yet

fired about 2000 rnds

mine is not altered from specs so fires at 350ish however i have been able to take it to some games.

things im sticking to to help it last are

1) 8.4 NICAD battery (its the reccomended as NIMH make it fore a little fast and the voltage drop off is a problem)
2) The blowback action is disabled unless showing off.

Laters

Mi-go-a-go-go

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I Only Need one Bullet.

Crash bang eeek

Ammmo ammmooo give me more ammooooo arrrrrgh

StraightAce26

Registered: February 2007
Posts: 16

Review Date: 26/2/07

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):
Cons:

Hi all

Great Reviews by the way. My friend owns a Shop for Paintball and Airsoft, and i just go around there to see what new things he has recived and test out his new stock. I mostly play Paintball.
I have done 4 years Armed Service in England and since leaving i sort of missed the Weapons Systems we used, so when the L85 came into the market i was excieted to see how it looked.
I am not gona go into the detail because it has allready be Written up. Yes the Weapon looks in my veiw much better than the Star model, if you want realisum get G&G but lol follow the instructions or your brain. Lol today i have noticed everyone one wants a faster weapon or a hard hitter etc. From what i have noticed is that G&G have made a great gun with potential, point is they have made a blowback model which has caused some problems, BUT YOU DONT HAVE TO DIS ENGAGE IT. We have had no problem with it at all since it arrived in the shop because after alot of testing and stripping we managed to find a nice conclusion

Please be noted that L85 A1 CAN NOT use the lithium battery,or over 8.4V battery. Or the gear set moving will be faster than the piston moving. It will cause the piston be tear.

So if the people want to use the battery over 8.4V. We suggest to upgrade the spring to let the piston can catch up the gear set moving. Or use the thin O-ring to reduce the air compression to let the piston moving catch up the gear set moving.

At the end of the day look after the weapon and it will look after you. Just like the Real Steel.No matter how stressed or fustrated you are go slowly with it, dont slap magazines, dont stress the working parts.
Lol i hear all these reviews about the real steel screwing up, when i was in service i never had such big problems.
At the end of the day this is a great bit of kit
If you want Realisum get the G&G if not go for the Star the LSW looks great too
P:S You can attache the SUSAT sight from Star you just have to modify the rail system please dont ask me but my friend managed it. Plus he sells this Weapon and tells people that he can attach it for free. Oh yeah and if youve got patience wait for the A2 model and maybe a Susat sight from G&G
Anyway take care

Tarnish

Registered: September 2004
Location: Southampton, Hampshire
Posts: 449

Review Date: 20/3/08

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Excellent external build quality, innovative gearbox design, very realistic weight and feel
Cons:	Flawed design approach regards the pre-cocked piston and bolt "blowback" feature that requires modification to make a functional UK spec AEG.

I have owned a G&G L85A1 since November 2006 and predictably I suffered the same problems as just about everybody else that's owned one. Of course I found the gun the be firing at over 1 Joule so I downgraded the spring and at the same time removed the "blowback" mechanism as besides the fact it had already gained a reputation for breaking I felt that it was an unnecessary gimmick. As is by now well known the action of downgrading the mainspring will always kill a G&G L85 as the design of the piston and spur gear requires that the mainspring be above a minimum power level. Changing to a weaker spring of the 1 Joule class causes the gear set to rotate faster than the spring can move the piston back forwards again. The result is that the spur gear reaches the point where it tries to re-engage the piston to take it rearwards while the piston is still trying to travel forwards. What you end up with is stripped piston teeth. Fortunately the fix is very simple indeed and if you have a full spare parts box it can cost absolutely nothing. All that is needed is a standard piston, a standard spur gear and a suitable spacer to mount on the front of the piston the extend the overall length of the piston and piston head assembly.
The Redwolf spacer has already been mentioned and Airsoft World also has a similar item of their own for sale now. Obviously these items cost money and some people may prefer to have a purpose made spacer fitted to their L85. Fortunately Stealthbomber persevered with the gun after he wrote his review above and posted a comprehensive modification guide that enables the L85 to be fixed for no additional cost as long as previously stated there is a good collection of left over AEG parts to hand. The standard piston and spur gear are simple enough as is the spacer which turns out to be nothing more than the mainspring mount/piston weight found inside most standard pistons. This happens to be of the correct size to be used as the spacer on the front of the piston, the original G&G piston head can be mounted to the front of this spacer using a screw of a suitable length and a little care in ensuring the spacer is central once tightened. The G&G spur gear is replaced with a standard spur gear and then the whole lot can be re-assembled with a 1 Joule mainspring. Once re-assembled the L85A1 functions as a standard AEG without a pre-cocked piston. My L85A1 has been fantastic ever since I carried out this modification, the only issue I've encountered being a minor issue with semi auto but I understand there is even a fix for this which involves a slight modification to the semi/auto cut off assembly.

Now I totally agree that it is crazy that an AEG that would have obviously have major appeal here in the UK should have been designed in such a way that it damaged itself when downgraded to UK limits. But that said I still feel it is a fantastic piece of kit and even now in March 2008 with the ARMY R85A1 being available I am still glad I have the G&G original. The build quality is streets ahead of the ARMY copy and having carried and used the real L85A1 for a few years the G&G simply feels "right" in my hands.

UPDATE: August 2010

It's now getting on for five years since I bought my G&G L85. In that time it gave me a few headaches at least to start with. That said those headaches are far outweighed by the service that the rifle has given me. It has been very heavily used over these past years and has stood up admirably to all that it has been subjected to. During that time I've also upgraded it to an A2 in appearance with a mix of replica and real steel parts, albeit by the standard of today with the DD RIS, Vortex flash eliminator and ACoG sight mine is defiantly a "reserve" A2 with all the original furniture fitted. The gearbox has suffered its share of breakages of pistons and just recently it suffered a gear strip, but it's nothing I haven't experienced with other heavily used AEGs. The fact is that the rifle is structurally sound, with only normal wear and tear experienced. I have even refitted the blowback mechanism after G&G cover plate mod came out and I've not suffered any broken hooks in I guess over 30,000 rounds fired. I still love this rifle and roll on a replica RIS fore end, a suitable Vortex Flash eliminator, ACoG rail adapter and in future a correct model x4 Elcan Specter sight.

Trigger Fix

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