Army Armament R85 (L85A1)

[Domz]

If I got the time I possibly might and when mine finally arrives (cmon.....)

 

Reliability, apparently the piston can be weak. If the gears arent lining up reshim them.

[TrooperX]

Well this could be a deal breaker for me. Any R85 owners care to make a statment on how reliable or unreliable they have found their AEG in the field?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Will be using mine at a semi-only CQB site tomorrow night so will report back after that. I WILL be taking a back up rifle just in case

[CaptWilkes777]

I've 'fixed' mine, and if I can do it anyone can (I'm 16, this is my first AEG, I have no experience taking AEGs apart nor does anyone I know, so as you can see I am a noob). All I did was remove the blowback (use the pdf file found below) and remove one of the teeth from the piston (also simple, and details can be found in this thread) So far this has meant nothing has broken after around 3000rnds and the semi-auto is more, but not completely, reliable.

The SUSAT fits although its a bit of a challenge.

 

P.S. Inkworm, disabling the blowback locks it in the forward position

 

http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...e=post&id=25713

(this is not my work, was found in this thread just reposting it)

Edited October 3, 2007 by CaptWilkes777

[mannequin skywalker]

Mines going back as it takes no more than 7 rounds to stop on semi,also the front mount the sight bolts on is loose and slides up and dow freely,NOT HAPPY

[greebo_Brat]

Mines going back as it takes no more than 7 rounds to stop on semi,also the front mount the sight bolts on is loose and slides up and dow freely,NOT HAPPY

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Take off the handgrip and look at the gas block (front mount), there's two hex screws, one on each side, tighten these and use some threadlock. Mine was like that when it arrived but it's easy to fix.

 

Semi auto, no idea how to fix :|

[rolling-thunder]

The basic strip of the gun is quite easy{it must be i did it!},take your time & be sure to remember which bits attach to which & al will go smoothly.Like all China guns it needs a tweak to get it running right.As for going inside the gear box i'm not going to bother unless i have to but if you have a problem with semi flick it over to full shoot a few rounds & start again.It's hardly a returns case & even if you end up gutting the gun the bodywork is worth the money & the upgrades are a bonus.

Go over the gun tightening each screw & nut & testing those that appear firm,it's worth it in the end & you will have an excellent gun to play with!

[Mtndew]

The basic strip of the gun is quite easy{it must be i did it!},take your time & be sure to remember which bits attach to which & al will go smoothly.Like all China guns it needs a tweak to get it running right.As for going inside the gear box i'm not going to bother unless i have to but if you have a problem with semi flick it over to full shoot a few rounds & start again.It's hardly a returns case & even if you end up gutting the gun the bodywork is worth the money & the upgrades are a bonus.

Go over the gun tightening each screw & nut & testing those that appear firm,it's worth it in the end & you will have an excellent gun to play with!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I just received mine and besides the normal issue of the dust cover not flipping down (fixed that with an exacto knife) it all seems to be in good shape. That pdf suggests disabling the blowback but that was one of the reasons I purchased this gun, and based on far easts review he was able to get 20k+ rounds through it with the blowback on no problem.

 

My one concern is the battery. Has anyone tried this with a standard SubC size large battery? I ask because I am having a hard time finding a replacement 4/5SC battery and the ones I do find are pretty expensive.

 

And one last really stupid question... if the spring is one of the pre-compressed types, how do you make sure the spring is not compressed for storage? Normally you would fire a few shots in semi to make sure of this, but from what I understand this means the spring gets pre-compressed each time.

 

Thanks!

Edited October 5, 2007 by Mtndew

[Domz]

Good point maybe. There is a spring release on the gearbox somewhere on the G&G...

[greebo_Brat]

Good point maybe. There is a spring release on the gearbox somewhere on the G&G...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It's in the magwel, specifically a small lever to the rear.

 

Semi auto has now completely siezed up (and blew the fuse) so I guess I will be converting the AEG to a more traditional 16 sector type.

 

Any point in replacing the piston as well as the sector gear?

 

Also the hook that catches onto the fake bolt has gone missing so blow back disabled by default.

[Ad_]

I got my L85A1 a couple days ago, have posted a review over on ASCUK, would be interesting to know if anyone else is experiencing the same problems I have.

[TrooperX]

Unfortunately the lock-up-on-semi-auto problem was too frequent to make this a serious gun for a semi-auto-only CQB site. OK I was able to just point the gun at the ground and fire a couple of shots in auto to correct it but it was too frequent and kept putting me at a disadvantage. In such an intense environement losing a few seconds to correct this problem is not good.

 

I can't see this being a problem in a more open environment where full auto can be used but I think I'll be converting also. Whats the advantage of the pre-tension thing anyway - I couldn't see one?

[Ad_]

The advantage is it's supposed to make firing almost instant on pulling the trigger as you don't have to wait for it to turn the gearbox over before firing. Shame they didn't put some more work into the design to make it more reliable though

 

[EDIT] Hmm, here's an idea: every time it locks up on semi press the magazine further into the magwell to engange the tension release lever. Only tried it once so far but it worked. It had to reset the piston afterwards though so the next shot did nothing but worked again after that

Edited October 5, 2007 by Ad_

[Mtndew]

Right now I only play outside in friends property so I'm not too worried about single not working well but if you are couldn't you do the fixes list in that G&G pdf to stop it from pre-compressing the spring? I want to leave the blowback on but disabling the pre-compression might be a good idea.

 

I'm still curious about the battery though...

[Ad_]

Problem is I want to keep my warranty Especially considering all the other problems I've had (which I wrote about in my review)

 

For now I've been using my 8.4V 1400mAh NiMH mini batteries with a mini-to-large adapter. The battery supplied with my L85 sucks (and I don't like NiCd anyway). I'm sure component-shop could get/build a battery to fit the L85, I'm planning to ask them about it myself once I have some money available

[Mtndew]

Problem is I want to keep my warranty Especially considering all the other problems I've had (which I wrote about in my review)

 

For now I've been using my 8.4V 1400mAh NiMH mini batteries with a mini-to-large adapter. The battery supplied with my L85 sucks (and I don't like NiCd anyway). I'm sure component-shop could get/build a battery to fit the L85, I'm planning to ask them about it myself once I have some money available

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I read your review (the link supplied did not work, had to find it on the site) and while I have seen some of what you saw I'm not sure about your final conclusion that there are better guns to be had. Sure if you pay more but for $150 I can't find anything better built out there.

 

I am going to be doing alot of testing firing this weekend but my initial look over showed a gun that seems to layed out very well (barrel looks to be straight) and has a great feel to it. I am going to leave the blowback operational but will be looking into disabling the pre-compression feature using the G&G pdf.

 

I have a few mini intillect 8.4v batteries hanging around so I should be able to get the gun up and running without attempting to use the crappy ni-cd.

[Royal-Air-Force]

I got mine and the damn cocking bolt was broken off.

I managed to fix that on pulled the trigger and on about the third shot it came flying off.

I then field stripped it to remove the blowback hook and spring only to re-assamle and it wont work...AT ALL!

The mag wont even feed. I took off the flash hider to get a light down the barrel only for the small gold ring that holds the barrel in place to fall out looking like it had been hit by a truck.

I then pulled back the cocking handle to look into the hop-up mechanism and it look as if it has gone too far onto the piton head and has a large crack in it.

To top it all off there is something in it rattling around that i cant get to because something is stopping me field stripping it again. (i.e it is stuck on)

Not a happy chappy so i emailed AW........no response.............tried again.......no response.

NOT HAPPY NOW!

[Ad_]

Well taking into account shipping costs and customs charges the L85A1 cost about £20-30 more than my Dboys AKS74U but in my view the AKS74U is a much more viable gun for skirmishing; it's reliable, reasonably accurate, uses standard stick type batteries and almost all of the flaws with it were minor (and most were very quick & easy to fix).

 

Dboys AKS74U problems:

Muzzle break and bolt/cocking handle can wobble slightly if you shake the gun hard enough -> not really that big an issue, I painted over the thread on the muzzle to reduce movement

Hole in the back of the gearbox exposed when stock is folded -> Bit of electrical tape over that, job done

Magazine catch a bit too long for other AK mags -> File it down or replace it with one from another AK

Front sight post is a little loose -> Just needs a little acrylic paint or something to stop unwanted movement

Inconsistent finish on the wood grips -> Sand down, revarnish (or leave it if it doesn't bother you)

 

Army L85A1 problems:

Inner barrel off-center causing every shot to be off to the left at an angle of about 10-15 degrees --> Replace outer barrel & flash hider or use a custom spacer to correct for the poor machining of the outer barrel

Outer barrel and flash hider are poorly machined, thickness between the outer and inner surfaces varies by about 0.2mm causing the inner barrel to be off-center --> No fix other than replace outer barrel & flash hider

Large rear sight aperture is not centered --> Has to be replaced to fix

Semiauto is unreliable and practically useless --> Needs a lot of work on the gearbox to fix, voids warranty

Blowback is sluggish and reduces ROF by a small but noticeable amount --> Easy to disable, fortunately

Pressing the magazine upwards engages the tension release lever and can cause double feeding & failure to shoot in semiauto mode -> No fix (at least none that don't void the warranty anyway)

 

Fortunately thanks to the warranty I'm able to return my L85 for repair/replacement

Edited October 5, 2007 by Ad_

[Mtndew]

In that case your correct. In the states The dboys full metal versions start in the $130 range (thats like what, 70ish pounds? darn keyboard does not have that cool symbol) and go up from there. While I could not find the AKS74U here in the states I can find the unicorn or the cyma 035 which are very similar in quality and build for about the same price as the Army R85 ($150 or ~80 pounds).

 

For me the longer barrel is what makes the biggest difference. The full metal echo1 AK comes the closest to the Army in terms of barrel length but the build quality is not supposed to be as good though not many people have the gun so thats undecided (and it's $25 more). I wanted something with longer range potential that could "reach out and touch someone farther than my other aeg's.

 

Also I currently have the G&G M4 plastica and a TM P90TR so if the army ends up needing work I can trash the internals and work from there since the externals are pretty darn nice (minus the issue with the bolt, though that can be fixed) and I'm not out come skirmish time.

 

Anyway, I can post my impressions of the gun when actually firing after this weekend. Unfortunatly it's supposed to be raining the entire time here (Seattle) so I am stuck with indoor testing.

[Ad_]

I think the QC at Army may have slipped a bit since the first batch, I've heard of several guns (including mine) from the new batch having problems so far.

 

I was expecting minor flaws (e.g. slight cosmetic faults) but not some pretty major manufacturing defects. At least I'll be getting the barrel & sights issue fixed, shouldn't be so bad when it's firing straight Semiauto will still be a bit of a pain though, maybe when the warranty expires I'll consider modding it.

 

I understand about the longer barrel, the range and accuracy on my AKS74U seems pretty good so far though (although I've only been able to fire out into my back garden for now). The supplied battery is still going nicely too

[Mtndew]

Well I got to fire mine, though only indoors at a target 20ft away so I have no idea about accuracy.

 

I like the report, it's not very whiney and the blowback action is very neat. My single fire is pretty much non-functioning from the get-go. I can shoot it in single if the mag is not in but when it's in it just wont shoot. Auto works wonderful and while the rof is not super high it's plenty.

 

The mag fed very well and the blowback worked as advertised. sometimes the bolt would not go all the way back forward after it shot but this did not affect the next shot. I did have an issue locking it back, it would only stay back for a shot or two and then it would pop forward again and the blowback would be turned back on. Not a huge deal since I intend to use it with the blowback but still...

 

Overall I am pleased and look forward to trying to gun out on the field soon. There are some issues with it but I feel that the quality of the exterior and the initial performance is still good. While accuracy remains a question until I can get a proper 100 ft target setup I still feel that the gun is skirmishable... especially since we just play in the woods and auto is always selected.

[mannequin skywalker]

Take off the handgrip and look at the gas block (front mount), there's two hex screws, one on each side, tighten these and use some threadlock. Mine was like that when it arrived but it's easy to fix.

 

Semi auto, no idea how to fix :|

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

TO be honest it left a bit of a sour taste so its gone back,its like buying a car and a panel falls off and the guy says just glue it back on,it should be right of the box,plus the semi auto issue is a fault which should be sorted before they are sent out,all in all a bit shoddy if you ask me,i tried the fix but it soon came loose again,wouldnt last 30 seconds in a skirmish

[TrooperX]

plus the semi auto issue is a fault which should be sorted before they are sent out

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Its not a fault its just a bad design that has been perfectly cloned from the G&G. Its not really the fault of the retailers.

[Freypal]

Well i took mine for it's first skirmish today, until now i had just fired it in the fields to test it and had a few thousand rounds through it.

 

First game absolutely fantastic, powerful and accurate with nice range. Second game fine.

 

Third game it developed a fault on auto. If i go to single fire mode it will work fine with no problems. I switch back to auto, pull the trigger and all i get is a tiny little whir of the motor and not a lot else. Repeatedly pulling the trigger about 10 times and it will fire a shot off eventualy then after that it is ok.

 

Any ideas?

[M4_Fanatic]

Just thought it was better to ask this here than start another topic..

 

How do you take the barrel/ hop up + gearbox all out?

I'm going to order a tightbore + hopup in less than 2 weeks time and I want to know how to take it out first...

I think I have to remove that screw (infront of where the BB goes up) for the barrel + hop up but I just wanted to make sure.

No clue about the gearbox though.

 

What is the max spring this can take (using the stock parts and using upgraded parts) (can someone PM me if it's over the forum limit?). I'm just really interested.

 

Plus my handguard just came off which was wierd as I was only plinking coke cans with it in my garden :S (sorted that out).

[ChasKi]

I thought i'd add to this post rather than make a new one...

 

Just received my Army R85A1 today, initial impressions? Not overly impressed tbh... first thing i did was lift it out the box, before even remvoing the bit of plastic protecting the butt-stock, I saw the magazine catch and thought, ooo, pressed it and the pin holding it in fell out. Easily popped back in, if other features on the gun work just fine i'll just fix it in place myself.

 

Secondly, there's the known dust cover not flipping down.

 

Thirdly, the bolt on the handguard's thread either isn't long enough, or there needs to be a spacer between it and the handguard, so that it pulls it tighter together, at the moment the olt tightens fully into the sling hook on the front and still is easily pushed in/out through the hole, it works fine, just a small gripe.

 

Fourth, be careful when selecting safe on/off. I accidently pushed my safety button too far in and had to push quite hard to get it back out, not a big issue, but none the less.

 

Out of personal interest, do other peoples bolts lock back on their own? I have to push the tension release lever down to get mine to lock back. Again not a problem, just wondering if they've changed the mechanism to earlier models.

 

Oh and they changed the battery as faras I can tell from FarEast's Review. Still a NiCad though, but the wrapper's changed and it doesn't look as custom.

 

>> Picture of Battery <<

Edited October 18, 2007 by ChasKi