As a fan of the British forces look I of course at some stage looked to own an L85 (or SA80). Having spent time using the real steel in the OTC at university I am no stranger to the bullpup design of the L85 along with the weight and feel of it. I was therefore eager to see how good a job ICS had made of their take on this iconic modern rifle.
So April this year I finally ordered one from Firesupport for £330. They had an offer on all ICS guns and as a result I received two extra high capacity magazines in addition to the one with the rifle and the extra one I ordered. Now onto the review!
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| ICS L85A2 with G&G susat |
The L85A2 came in a large cardboard box with a full colour picture of not the L85 on the front, but the LSW. It quickly became apparent that the box was universal for all of the ICS L85 range and the actual model was indicated by a ticked box on the side of the package. It's a fairly simple box with vacuum formed plastic inside, its serves its purpose just fine keeping both the weapon itself and its extra mags held securely in place.
Picking up the rifle for the first time brought a smile immediately to my face, the weight and feel of the weapon is just awesome. There is absolutely no wobble anywhere on the weapon with it actually feeling just as solid as the real steel. This is largely down to the fact that ICS use the same process to create the body of this weapon as H&K use to create the actual A2, out of stamped steel. Shouldering the weapon felt natural and comfortable although for those of you who are left handed, this may be slightly less comfortable, due to the fact this rifle is designed to be used right handed only. For airsoft however this really isn't an issue as there are no scalding hot cartridges to hit you in the face or a cocking handle to smash your teeth in!
The weapon however, is lighter than the real steel by a small margin and it is weighted slightly to the rear due to the fact that this is where the gearbox is located within the weapon. But, once a large 8.4v or small 9.6v have been installed into the weapon combined with a mag full of bbs the weight difference is negligible.
Body Quality / Finish
In one word, exceptional! As I mentioned above the quality and feel of the weapon is very impressive with the stamped steel body adding real heft and realism to it. The surface finish is very good with a nice matt black paint finish that will only make the weapon look better as it is used and abused. I say used and abused because it feels like it could handle almost anything you throw at it on the airsoft field.
Moving on to the cheek rest, pistol grip, handguard and heat shield we see more of the same. The rubbereised cheek rest is definately made from a different material to the real steel as it has a much softer rubbery feel, it is however very confortable! The polymer ICS have used feels very similar to the real steels and with slightly rough texture, offers great grip and feel. The hand guard in particular is an area that even on the real steel can exprerience wobble but I am pleased to report that five or so days of intensive airsoft later and it is still absolutely ridged. The same can be said for the pistol girp, that has remained sturdy.
Feautures
Cocking Handle
The ICS L85 has copied the features of the real steel exactly, with the exception of two key parts. Due to the gearbox being held in the rear of the weapon there is obviously no bolt or trigger mechanism. Instead a thin metal slide, with a cocking handle that acts as a mock bolt. This can be locked back to reveal the hop up adjustment. It is released by pulling the cocking handle fully to the rear or by flicking up the the same lever that locks the slide back. This differs from the real steel that uses a bolt release catch that sits under the cheek rest on the left of the rifle, on the ICS this is just dummy release catch.
Trigger / Safety
The ICS L85 also features the traditional L85 trigger and trigger guard. This is one tiny area that the finish is slightly off, there is a slight wobble in the trigger guard and a slightly flimsy feel to it. This is also made up for by the new trigger design that ICS have built into the weapon, giving a feel of realism to the trigger pull. Im not completely convinced that it is totally similar to the trigger pull of the real steel, but it does have a much better feel to it that a standard AEG trigger arrangement. Just above and infront of the trigger is the L85s safety catch, it is a simple to position safety that is very heavy and has absolutely no chance of you pushing it on or off on the move. This is the same as the real steel and pushing it can require the use of more than just your index finger if your not used to it. The current state of the weapon is indicated by an F and S on either side of the switch. When the safety is flat on the right hand side it is off and if it sticks out its safe...... Simple really......
Fire selecter
The fire selector on the L85 is located underneath the rubber cheek piece on the left hand side, a location that takes some getting used to if youve no prior experience with the rifle.
Similar to the safety, the fire selector has a very satisfying mechanical clunk to it and is a two position fire selecter offering single shot and fully automatic. The up postion is for single slot and the down position is for full auto.
Iron Sites
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| ICS L85 battle site picture |
Adjustment of the weapons sites can be made at both the front and rear positions. This is slightly awkward to do as a small pin needs to be held in while a wheel rotated to adjust the height at the front site and the windage at the rear site. If you dont have a specific tool for an L85 i recomment the use of a small flat head screw driver to hold the pin in while you rotate the wheels by hand.
Part two - Internals and performance
