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King Arms L1A1 SLR


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This is a fairly basic review of the King Arms L1A1 SLR. I have yet to skirmish it, but it has been test fired quite a few times so i will be able to describe its performance partially. Any questions, just pm me! Also for those who may notice, i have removed the sling loops from my model as i dont like things rattling when i'm playing, and i dont use a sling usually anyway.

 

I bought this rather long rifle at the 2008 war and peace show from airsoft armoury, who had only just received it themselves. I paid £330 for the rifle and £20 for a standard 90 round magazine as at the time they had no hi-caps available. I have noticed that WGC stocks the hi-caps, and airsoft armoury will do so in about 4 weeks time. The 90 round magazine is a metal construction and feeds perfectly.

 

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First impressions of the rifle were nothing momentous due to the simple design of the rifle. As already mentioned, it’s a long rifle so therefore probably better suited to an open woodland environment. It feels solid to hold, with the main receiver and barrel all being good quality metal. You can tell which items are made of steel as they have a slightly grey finish in colour. The main reciever appears to be made out of another metal, but i'm not an expert in such a subjects so i dont really know what it is, but its definatley of a good quality.

 

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The first minor annoyance of mine was that the rear sight was not adjustable for windage, as a screw was missing and the sight had been glued into place. I do not know the reason for this, but it appears airsoft armoury received it in this condition which is bizarre. The carry handle is quite solid in itself, but its attachment to the rifle is a little loose, meaning there is a little play and it has a tendency to rattle when running. However, it’s not a major problem and is strong enough to support the rifle itself.

 

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The butt cap snaps down to reveal the battery chamber (much like the G3 SG1), which fits an 8.4V 2400mah battery ok, larger batteries may require modification to fit however.

 

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The fire selector is another interesting issue, and although it feels generally stable through the first half of the movement, after moving onto semi –auto, it can become a little loose and does not click confidently into place as I would like. However, if you are not too fussy about this sort of thing then it will more than do the job.

 

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The stock, pistol grip and hand guard are the only plastic items on the rifle, and are well built and don’t feel weak at all. I was particularly impressed with the stock which has no movement at all and feels like it could take a battering. With the battery inserted, the rifle is well balanced and not as heavy as I would have expected, as well as being relatively easy to bring to the shoulder.

 

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Overall, the design is very simple, but just like the real item, it is designed to do a job and after handling the rifle for a little while, I certainly got that feel.

 

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Performance wise, this rifle isn’t quite what I expected for the price. Firstly however, i must comment on the blowback feature which has been promoted on this model. I have personally found it to be a really nice touch, and it makes the AEG feel a little more dynamic as you can feel a small amount of recoil. It unlike that of a gas pistol, and does not give a huge kick, but it is certainly enough to add an element of realism to the gun. It is also quite loud when on full auto, and clatters away quite comfortably with no sign of weakness or slowing the rate of fire at all.

 

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The FPS of the rifle appears to be quite average, and although I don’t have a chronograph I would say that it is shooting around 320fps just from the time it takes for a 0.2g round to travel 30 meters or so. The range of the rifle is also quite impressive, reaching further than any of previous AEG’s I have owned (including the TM M14 SOCOM). However, the actual accuracy leaves something to be desired. With my particular model, the shots go straight occasionally, but mostly shoot out at odd angles and fliers are highly persistent. Consistency is almost non-existent, with the occasional round flying dead straight and the others flying off at all angles. I personally found that for a rifle that had such a long barrel and cost £330, this was very disappointing. After cleaning the barrel and lubricating the hop chamber, I found only a tiny increase in accuracy, but it was still very poor to say the least. It would seem that the most likely problem is a poor hop unit or poor hop rubber/bucking. I am therefore going to have the hop rubber replaced with a systema hop bucking and an H-hop spacer (like that in the TM VSR series); with luck this will sort out the problem of inconsistency.

 

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I would like to look at some of the build materials under the surface of the rifle, but i currently have no idea how and in what order to use the ‘fast take down’ feature where the body folds in half. The rifle was supplied with a manual for an M4, with a small insert about the SLR. This is slightly annoying as i have had to discover most of the features for myself.

 

Overall, I am reasonably pleased with the rifle. There are a few minor build issues such as a slightly loose feeling carry handle, and not the best fire selector in the world. These are however, not major issues for me. The range and fps of the rifle is very respectable, and this combined with the good build quality of the metal and plastic components make it a good buy in my opinion. The most disappointing aspect however remains the poor accuracy. I will comment after the hop rubber has been replaced to let you know how it affected the accuracy. I would imagine in time that parts/upgrades and magazines will become more available, giving you more options to improve performance etc.

 

Hope this helps anyone considering of buying the rifle!

 

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Glued rear sight: that is just unacceptable.

 

Loose carry handle: as it is attached by simply looping around the base of the gas tube, the carry handle on the RS is probably also rattly.

 

Poor accuracy: have you tried using anything else than .20g? I find .20g to be very inaccurate at longer ranges, regardless brand and launching platform.

 

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Loose carry handle: as it is attached by simply looping around the base of the gas tube, the carry handle on the RS is probably also rattly.

 

Not from what I remember. All the SLRs I fired had a carry handle that was rock solid.

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Yeah the carrry handle isnt brilliant, but it will hold the rifle up well, just feels a bit loose is all.

 

I have tried 0.25g bb's in it but i get exactly the same results...To be fair, it is better now than it was. I have just done some test firing and the shots are being more consistent. Still not brilliant though. It is however skirmishable, i've just ordered a firely hop bucking for it so hopefully that will improve the consistency anyway.

Edited by sniper vinny
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sniper vinny

 

I guess you got a bit of a dud there mate, tell the boys at Airsoft Armoury an they should sort it for you under waranty, they have always sorted problems with my guns!

my KA L1A1 seems to be fine, chrono'd at around 299fps (350fps upgrade soon)

As for accuracy mine shoots dead straight using blaster .25g's, everyone who has had a go with it has commented on its long range and great accuracy!

I too am trying to work out the field strip problem as i also got the M4 manual with the 1 page L1A1 suppliment, fugging useless!!!

 

good luck with yours chap, hope your improvements work!

 

Al

 

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Rouge Trooper

 

Nice to know somone has god a good'n. My model does have very good range...but at the moment consistency is not that good still. Will send it off to have the rubber fitted as dissasembling it all seems a little daunting.

 

Also, does your version have the same problem with the rear sight as i mentioned in my review, i.e. there is only 1 screw and the sight is glued into place??

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My rear sight has both screws and works just fine. sound like the first few guns were rushed out of the factory without being properly checked!

Does your fire selector work like an AK47? mine goes, safe then full auto then semi, a tad strange!

Also did yours have a large seam on the stock & pistol grop? had to remove them on mine as it felt awful! mind you it feels great now

 

Al

 

Ps, Thanks Airsoftperson, used to use the real thing and could strip a real L1A1 in seconds, if only this was the same! There were some nice pic's in your guide though, was good to see the insides of a real one again, makes me wanna go play with a real one but unfortunatly the laws in good old blighty wont let us! it sucks!!

Edited by Rogue Trooper
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Thats a little annoying, oh well. The shots that do go straight seem to match the current sight set-up anyway, so luckily that feature is not really needed.

 

Yeah my fire selector does the same thing, although i have found with mine that if you place the selector half way between safe and auto, it shoots in semi anyway!

 

I cant say i have noticed the seam, it is there but it appears quite subtle on mine, either that or i'm just indifferent to it.

 

I've just sent my SLR off to have a systema hop bucking and a tighbore barrel fitted into it, that should easily be enough to sort out the accuracy. I just hope it shoots straight after that. :s

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Thanks 1st Commando

Have got a FAL tactical carbine and have stripped it a few times now and yes there is a lot to do to just split the body,

remove; folding stock, pistol grip & motor, fire selector then the bolt you mentioned.

 

On the L1A1 SLR King arms have re designed the whole gun, King Arms had to shrink the size of the trigger group on the FAL to fit a version 2 gearbox, the L1A1 has a full size trigger group, this makes me think there is a differant gearbox in the L1A1, it could be the version 4? gearbox as fitted to AK-47's, this would account for the fire selector working in the same way on the L1A1 as it does on an AK (safe, full auto then semi)

 

Also WAY differant to the FAL's, the take down latch (under the rear sight on the same side as the fire selector) is just a moulding on the FAL's but actualy works on the L1A1, in theory i should be able to split the body of the L1A1 without using any tools, try that with a FAL!!

 

I have spoken to the guys at Airsoft Armoury today regarding the field stripping of the gun but they did could not help as all 30 L1A1's that got delivered to them all sold before they had a chance to look at one! Think most of the guns they got went to pre-orders, mine was! have wanted and waited for this gun for a LOOONG time!

 

I know King Arms held back release of their L1A1 after seeing the Star L1A1, apparently there was a lot of "re designing", guess they saw the Star L1A1 and pooped themselves! mind you the Star does look wonderful and was very tempting, i just wouldnt like to have to worry about its internals grenading themselves mid game, give me King Arms internals anyday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Al

Edited by Rogue Trooper
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I personally havent tried as i dont have access to normal FAL mags. I have heard that they do fit but they either need modification or are loose or something like that. Not entirely sure tho.

 

On another note, i will be skirmishing with this for the first time tomorrow, so will let you know how it performs.

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How did your skirmish go sniper vinny? have skirmished mine 4 times now and it still makes me grin every time i use it!!

 

Al

 

i have got the KA L1A1 manual but cant upload, its too big so sorry about the odd thumbs below, if you want to see the manual i managed to attach it to one of my other posts,

 

see it here;

 

http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...45094&st=20

Edited by Rogue Trooper
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Hi mate

 

Thanks for the link to the manual, some interesting stuff there. My skirmish went fine, shot loooads of people. The SLR worked fine, no problems at all. I let one of the guys from my team use it for a little while. When we were attacking across and open field you could hear all the other AEG's firing, and then over all of them was this totally different 'clattering' noise. Its really easy to tell when someone is firing it because the rattling bolt gives it such a unique noise. Overall it was great, no problems at all.

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Thats a little annoying, oh well. The shots that do go straight seem to match the current sight set-up anyway, so luckily that feature is not really needed.

 

Yeah my fire selector does the same thing, although i have found with mine that if you place the selector half way between safe and auto, it shoots in semi anyway!

 

I cant say i have noticed the seam, it is there but it appears quite subtle on mine, either that or i'm just indifferent to it.

 

I've just sent my SLR off to have a systema hop bucking and a tighbore barrel fitted into it, that should easily be enough to sort out the accuracy. I just hope it shoots straight after that. :s

 

 

Wot happened to your sling swivels? Both front and rear aren't there in the pics. Do you have to fit them or did it come without?

 

Nice weapon, mine is still stuck in Customs, only things I really don't like are the inaccurate carry handle and the fact the steel parts are that silly grey colour. Plus it would have been nice if they'd picked A53317 as the serial #, my old SLR's.

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