Army Armament R85 (L85A1)

[Site]

thanks man.....yer i think he said that airsoft world are going to take it back fix and send it back to him....then i think he said he might try replace the internals with G&G which he said he thinks is the only internals which fit.....but yer i will give him a link

[connect4]

so skimished with my R85 for the first time...

 

didn't go so good unfortunatly! It didn't completly break (which is a good thing!) and all the magazines I used fed well.

 

the accuracy and range had a little to be desired (well documented I know.) Although it developed a wierd fault on full auto, where I got this sort of pattern: Shot, Shot, Boing, Shot, Shot, Shot, Shot, Boing . I assume the 'Boing' somthing slipping in the gear box (I assume the piston teeth might be slightly sheared.)

 

Oh and the supplied sling broken within 10 minutes (which again I thought it would!)

 

So needs a lot of work!

 

I'm about to rip open the gearbox to fit a normal piston and sector gear, but not sure how to get better accuracy. Does it require a tight bore barrell or would a better hop-up unit be suffiencent?

[ernesto]

If you install normal (16) piston + sector gear = Result is reduction of the compression

[connect4]

I would be using the 10mm spacer, which I assume is to compensate for that lack of compression...

 

has anyone replaced the barrell / hop? what result did you get and what did you replace it with??

 

 

[lmission]

MORE ON THE R85.

 

1.) 16 teeth piston and sector gear with the modification according to G&G downgrade is working with 8.4V AND 9.6V battery. THERE IS NO LOSS IN COMPRESSION. it fires straight and true and will have a chronograph done on it soon (i don't own one yet). so far, shooting straight and hard to about 60 feet with .20's. hop up is set to fly straight and bb drops at about 55 feet to target.

 

2.) after firing more than 1500 bb's on 8.4V and roughly 1000 on 9.6V piston is fine and holding up well. fyi, i have installed a plastic piston in this thing for the moment (left over from an ICS M4) and it's working fine. inspection of the plastic teeth shows no wear...yet. i am using M120 spring and i reckon this thing is shooting close to 390fps (will chrono soon to verify this) this is a very, very good mechbox because i am abusing it and it still works great.

 

3.) hop-up on this thing is great, however, i replaced the hop-up bucking with Guarder bucking and it now adjusts very well and shot is straight and true. apparently the G&P metal hop-up for M4/M16 is the only hopup that will fit this. i can verify that the Classic Army M4 metal hop-up DOES NOT FIT. i'll post up after i've purchased and installed the part.

 

4.) fixed the feed problem -- i used the old electrical tape in the magwell trick and it keeps the metal magazine in there in the proper alignment. fyi, it's TWO pieces of electric tape in the front of the magwell and one in the back. i will change this to duct tape soon and see how that works. i used the same trick for my ICS M4's with incompatible mags and it works great.

 

5.) the trigger is shyte. i am not getting semi-auto. i have literally taken the mechboxes apart nearly two dozen times to solve this problem and have decided that the only way i can fix this is to get a new trigger assembly (trigger on the bottom mechbox and not the thingy that you pull). inspection of the trigger shows that it has oxidized and cleaning it didn't help. i also saw that the contacts in the trigger are slightly "out of alignment" or whatever that means -- i don't know what these things look like brand new and have no way to tell if what is causing my full auto all the time is a trigger alignment issue.

 

blowback has been disengaged because i lost a part on the blowback mechanism on the mechbox. fyi, the blowback mechanism is a piece of metal with two other parts that sit astride the top of it. i lost a teeny, tiny spring that allows the blowback to lock with the bolt. it's a very small part and i think that i have to go to a watch shop or something to find a suitable replacement.

 

btw...i had my mate who used to be in the British Army for five years and was issued an SA80 (L85) handle this thing recently and he said the weight is VERY CLOSE to the original except that it needed to be heavier in front (this is the R85 WITH A MAGAZINE IN IT). i have a mini 8.4V battery inside it at the moment and would like to put a larger sized battery to mimic the true weight of the gun. problem; size of the foregrip will accomodate only slightly bigger mini battery.

[lmission]

 

I'm about to rip open the gearbox to fit a normal piston and sector gear, but not sure how to get better accuracy. Does it require a tight bore barrell or would a better hop-up unit be suffiencent?

 

both. i have not replaced either on mine, but it is firing straight and hard at the moment with stock hop-up unit and barrel. however, i believe that a sturdier hop-up unit (the G&P metal hop-up is the only metal hop-up that will work with this gun) will make feeding more consistent and make the gun more durable.

 

i don't know what the diameter of the inner barrel is on this thing, but mine is shooting straight. i will eventually get a tighbore. evike.com sells a 510mm (509mm?) inner barrel from generic chinese manufacturer for $39.

 

short answer: better hop-up increases accuracy of flight (makes your bb's fly straighter) tight bore will make your bb's group better on target (definitely within 60ft or less). also consider .25's for longer and more accurate flight time if you want to maximize your accuracy. this gun has a very long barrel and as long as the compression on your gun is good, it should be able to give you accurate, tight and long flights with a hop-up and barrel upgrade.

[Teuton]

i have a very similar semi auto problem just like bunch of r85 owners here... mine being little specific.. as if i switch from full to semi it sometimes doesnt work at all (giving no shots so i have to switch again) or sometimes put a full auto burst but if i continue to pull the triger few times it sudenly "catches on and i have semi again.. switching from semi to full auto is all right though.. feeding is allright even on semi if it works at that time.. it is very annoying problem and i have tried to fond some solution to it but with no success.. i though that it could be caused by the position of piston after full auto fire but i am not sure about it..

 

i have to point out that i made my army r85 "marui compatible" .. puting 16 tooth piston and TM compatible (CA) sector gear, along with 120 spring..

 

i have no idea why this semi auto thing does this... another idea was that original desing is pre compresing the spring on semi auto si it does not travel all the way.. this feature is gone by insatling spacer and tm gear.. you can also leave the original sector gear even with 16 tooth piston and with that pre compresing the spring by removing 3 tooth from the original piston. people say it works but i did not dare to try this..

 

if anyone have an idea how to solve this i would be gratefull

Edited November 17, 2007 by Teuton

[Blackvault]

You need to take the rail off, turn it upside down and file at the underside of the rails for about 5 minutes and the SUSAT will fit.

 

How do you actually remove the rail?

 

Blackvault

[powello]

How do you actually remove the rail?

 

Blackvault

 

you dont need to remove it, i simply put tape over the top of the gun to protect it and used a flat file to do the edges thn repainted the rail, now my SUSAT locks perfect

 

 

powello

[Blackvault]

you dont need to remove it, i simply put tape over the top of the gun to protect it and used a flat file to do the edges thn repainted the rail, now my SUSAT locks perfect

 

 

powello

 

How long did it take you to file it down? Also what tools did you use. Can u provide any likes to them like B&Q?

 

Blackvault

[lmission]

i have a very similar semi auto problem just like bunch of r85 owners here... mine being little specific.. as if i switch from full to semi it sometimes doesnt work at all (giving no shots so i have to switch again) or sometimes put a full auto burst but if i continue to pull the triger few times it sudenly "catches on and i have semi again.. switching from semi to full auto is all right though.. feeding is allright even on semi if it works at that time.. it is very annoying problem and i have tried to fond some solution to it but with no success.. i though that it could be caused by the position of piston after full auto fire but i am not sure about it..

 

i have to point out that i made my army r85 "marui compatible" .. puting 16 tooth piston and TM compatible (CA) sector gear, along with 120 spring..

 

i have no idea why this semi auto thing does this... another idea was that original desing is pre compresing the spring on semi auto si it does not travel all the way.. this feature is gone by insatling spacer and tm gear.. you can also leave the original sector gear even with 16 tooth piston and with that pre compresing the spring by removing 3 tooth from the original piston. people say it works but i did not dare to try this..

 

if anyone have an idea how to solve this i would be gratefull

 

 

thanks for posting this. i have no idea why it is doing this but i will say it has nothing to do with piston and spring. the problem is the trigger itself. i have taken apart the bottom mechbox many, many times to try to fix the trigger problem and will try again very soon with a different idea why this is happening. the selector switch is a very simple device and only helps to engage the trigger into auto/semi-auto mode. the trigger mechanism seems to be a generic trigger with two contacts and i think my problem is the alignment of these two contacts has gone out and i need to straighten it again. another problem is that there is a metal catch that gives tension to the trigger on the mechbox as you squeeze. this is the click that you hear when you go to semi-auto. i've taken to straightening this metal a few times so that the click is stronger. i believe there is an issue with this part and i might have read about it on arnie's -- something about the metal being too long and cutting it down is the solution. i haven't found the article yet, but that might be part of the problem.

 

 

[kalnaren]

Hey all,

 

Just purchased the R85 a few weeks ago, waiting for it to arrive. You guys are lucky, Canadian price was $560 (approx 275UK), but considering the G&G one retails for about $900 and the Star for $1,200, it's not that bad.

 

I've read a bit about the semi-auto problems with this gun. It's not unique to it, most mechboxes lock up in semi-auto on an incomplete trigger pull. My FA-MAS used to do it really bad. The trigger contact problem isn't unique either. Had a smilar issue with my CA36 and I know of a SiG 552 that had the same issue. It seems every gun has its little quirks. Hopefully though I can spend less than $100 ontop of this to make the R85 a good reliable skirmisher.

[Domz]

Thats true the CA36 series seems to have the same problem, but on that its the selector on the gearbox usually I heard, on mine I think it was the selector...

 

Skirmished mine yesterday, worked fine with a new 3300 8.4v battery which is good! Semi auto problem wasnt too bad either, only 3/4 times in a whole day.

Edited November 25, 2007 by Domz

[lmission]

Hey all,

 

Just purchased the R85 a few weeks ago, waiting for it to arrive. You guys are lucky, Canadian price was $560 (approx 275UK), but considering the G&G one retails for about $900 and the Star for $1,200, it's not that bad.

 

I've read a bit about the semi-auto problems with this gun. It's not unique to it, most mechboxes lock up in semi-auto on an incomplete trigger pull. My FA-MAS used to do it really bad. The trigger contact problem isn't unique either. Had a smilar issue with my CA36 and I know of a SiG 552 that had the same issue. It seems every gun has its little quirks. Hopefully though I can spend less than $100 ontop of this to make the R85 a good reliable skirmisher.

 

if you get this to the shop and they manage to fix the semi-auto trigger issue, ask them them what they did to fix it and please post what you find out. i am very curious about what the pros think about it. fyi, i have taken this box apart many times and still cannot get it to go although i have only a couple of little hunches that i think may fix the problem, i haven't tried it yet. i will post if i solve the trigger problem.

 

the latest problem is that i cracked the piston head and have to replace this as soon as airsoft extreme opens again for the holidays. fyi, thi is a replacement CA plastic piston head that i used to do the 16 tooth downgrade modification. the modification works great in 8.4v and 9.6V ROF. i think that i may have over torqued the screw to hold all of the parts together and cracked the head and constant use just excacerbated the problem. i will use an aluminum piston head and i think that will solve it.

[kalnaren]

if you get this to the shop and they manage to fix the semi-auto trigger issue, ask them them what they did to fix it and please post what you find out. i am very curious about what the pros think about it. fyi, i have taken this box apart many times and still cannot get it to go although i have only a couple of little hunches that i think may fix the problem, i haven't tried it yet. i will post if i solve the trigger problem.

 

the latest problem is that i cracked the piston head and have to replace this as soon as airsoft extreme opens again for the holidays. fyi, thi is a replacement CA plastic piston head that i used to do the 16 tooth downgrade modification. the modification works great in 8.4v and 9.6V ROF. i think that i may have over torqued the screw to hold all of the parts together and cracked the head and constant use just excacerbated the problem. i will use an aluminum piston head and i think that will solve it.

 

The semi-auto trigger problem is due to the design of the Mechbox. There really isn't anything that can be done to fix it. Check out this article on ASC that explains it:

http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=25310

 

As for the trigger contact issue, the metal contacts separated. It was a matter of removing the trigger assembly from the mechbox and bending them back into position. Putting a few dabs of solder on the doesn't hurt either.

[lmission]

The semi-auto trigger problem is due to the design of the Mechbox. There really isn't anything that can be done to fix it. Check out this article on ASC that explains it:

http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=25310

 

As for the trigger contact issue, the metal contacts separated. It was a matter of removing the trigger assembly from the mechbox and bending them back into position. Putting a few dabs of solder on the doesn't hurt either.

 

thanks very much for the info. i'll go ahead and give this a try and hopefully this resolves my issue.

[kalnaren]

thanks very much for the info. i'll go ahead and give this a try and hopefully this resolves my issue.

 

No problem

[they7692]

Hey FarEast. I am like brand freakin' new here at Arnie's.

 

I was wondering, did you happen to find what the FPS is with .2g bbs? I've been hearing that it's 290 fps, 350 fps, and 550 fps, all form different sources, so I figured I'd ask a dude who actually <i>has</i> the gun.

[Domz]

Mine came at 330ish, havent chronoed properly but the BBs going same speed visually as my G36 which is 330, and got about that on a can test.

Seems to depend where you buy it from etc, in some places they degrade for you in others you dont. Havent heard 550 ever though.

[Azulsky]

So can you install an FTK for regular airsoft guns on this gun and disable the blowback to make it a regular aeg?

A friend of mine was looking at getting a L85 and this with an Element FTK would fit in a decent pricerange.

Also is there an ACM Susat to put on this?

Edited December 6, 2007 by Azulsky

[rolling-thunder]

Also is there an ACM Susat to put on this?

No SUSAT available unless you buy the Star version.I use an ACOG reddot

I think it looks ok & it's what the Brit Army is supposed to be switching over to.

Edited December 6, 2007 by rolling-thunder

[Kye]

You can fit a SUSAT on it. However you need to buy the STAR top rail thingy as well for it to fit. Apparantly AA has cut the rails a tad too narrow so that a SUSAT won't go straight on to it. Putting on the STAR rail thing will sort it out.

[they7692]

for those wondering the FPS is about 330 with .2g 6mm bbs. not bad for 180 and a full metal gun.

[Domz]

Bleh, piston (I think) just went, 3rd skirmish, Ill finally get around to getting the piston spacer then.

Serves me right for using a really 8.4v battery as opposed to the "8.4" they give you.

[adiec]

Well, skirmished mine again today. Absolutely faultless! Semi auto working as it should. Cheapo battery lasted longer than the expensive one that went into it early in the PM. Am finding that it's a bit fussy on mags. The supplied one works flawlessly! Still have not disabled the blowback as it is not causing concern or problems. All in all a supperb peice of kit