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Academy L85 review


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With a barrel 14 cm longer than an m4, is it possible that suction is playing a factor in reducing the velocity? Might be interesting to compare the volume of the piston immediately before release to the total volume of the barrel. I would expect TM or such not to overlook this but Academy don't know. It might be possible/desirable to shave the inner barrel down a bit inside if that ratio were bad. 'Course if yer planning on gutting it anyway....

 

Very nice review!

 

m

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With a barrel 14 cm longer than an m4, is it possible that suction is playing a factor in reducing the velocity?  Might be interesting to compare the volume of the piston immediately before release to the total volume of the barrel.  I would expect TM or such not to overlook this but Academy don't know.  It might be possible/desirable to shave the inner barrel down a bit inside if that ratio were bad.  'Course if yer planning on gutting it anyway....

 

Very nice review!

 

m

Nope. Shouldn't do.

 

Must admit, I can't recall the exact measurements but I have calculated the volume of a TM cylinder accurately and I seem to recall that it'll support barrels of up to at least 60cm.

As I said in the review, the Academy cylinder has no vents so the full length of the piston stroke goes into propelling the BB.

 

The reason the gun is weak is, very simply, because the piston is horribly spindly. ;)

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Does that mean to get it firing at 1J you have to replace the ENTIRE piston? or just the spring+guide?

You'll be lucky if you can find a replacement piston. The FA-MAS piston is different to other TM pistons. I happened to have one though I'm buggered if I know where I got it.

 

The Academy piston looks decent quality though so it should be OK up to 1J. The piston is a point of concern about the gun though. If you strip the piston you need to start hunting for a FA-MAS piston.

 

Cazboab: I get the impression that things are moving fast at *albatross*. When I bought the SA80, a couple of months ago, I asked them if they had MP5 Star mags in. They didn't. I notice that they now do. I'm guessing it's the same with the L85 mag's. They're getting new stuff in all the time.

 

TBH, though, I'd still prefer to convert the gun to work with metal M16 mag's so I don't need to buy another stack of mag's. ;)

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Been eye-ing these up at guns n guys for a while now but Airsoft Scotland is a whole heap closer and thus a whole heap more tempting....

 

My first AEG was a CA M15A4 so I haven't had much excuse for modding aegs as yet (unless you count butchering a mini mp5), am looking for something that;

 

1) I like (who wouldn't want HM Forces' Rifle ? - 'cept HM forces ;) )

 

and

 

2) is cheap, so that if I screw it up I don't mind so much...

 

Just don't like the idea of having to custom build (or bodge) all replacement parts.

 

So (assuming you can source them) will FAMAS parts fit as drop-in replacements or would you be looking at replacing the whole gearbox / piston assembly with an FAMAS's (or other) internals ?

Edited by Fujisawa
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So (assuming you can source them) will FAMAS parts fit as drop-in replacements or would you be looking at replacing the whole gearbox / piston assembly with an FAMAS's (or other) internals ?

Yep.

Transplanting FA-MAS internals is the easiest way to do things.

 

TBH, the only reason I'm not doing that is that I get kind of obsessive about things. If I bought a 2nd-hand FA-MAS and robbed the gearbox and hop-up out of it I'd only end up searching for parts to get that working again. :D

 

Buying the gears, spring and spring-guide is the tidiest option for me cos it means I don't end up with more bits of scrap gun lying around. If you can find a cheap or damaged FA-MAS, though, it'd be very straight-forward to swap the parts across.

 

[edit]

Just noticed, above, that I wrote "The reason the gun is weak is, very simply, because the piston is horribly spindly"

 

THIS IS A LIE!

 

I meant to say that the SPRING is horribly spindly. Sorry. Must have been suffering brain fade when I wrote that. It's the SPRING which is puny, not the piston. Doh!

Edited by Hissing Sid
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As I think I've said before (:rolleyes:) in my opinion an adjustable hop-up is NOT critical. It's worth doing eventually but the fixed hop-up on the standard gun works OK.

 

Systema don't do an FTK for the FA-MAS but I found that a set of gears bought for my MP5 fitted perfectly, as did a systema spring guide.

[edit]

Don't forget, though, that the FA-MAS piston is unique to the V1 gearbox. No piston from any other TM gun will fit the FA-MAS or L85.

Edited by Hissing Sid
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i dont know WHY people think that the famas is different than v2/3 when it comes to internals... but it must be because lack of Famas gearheads out there ...

the only difference i can find between a FAMAS piston and a mp5 piston is a slight color difference ...

and i know that gears do fit ... i have upgraded a famas with metal bushings and CA gears ... no problems ...

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the only difference i can find between a FAMAS piston and a mp5 piston is a slight color difference ...

You haven't upgraded a piston though.

 

If you had tried you would have found that the FA-MAS gearbox only has a single guide-slot rather than the double one which TM standardised on after the FA-MAS.

 

Please don't spread spread false information. ;)

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V2/3 may work (hell it did for sid) but V6 gears DO NOT WORK Neither will the piston- the v6 gears are very slightly different to the acadamy gears, this means that the gears do fit but they lock in and dont turn. the academy gears seem okay for a stock tm spring(in all 30 minuites/300 rounds ive put through mine) but the MP5 FTK would seem the way to go for 328+/- fps

 

on guide slots: if the famas only has one then the piston is useless in an L85(well mine anyway) as the piston in the l85 has two guide slots with "wings" on the back end.

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My L85 only has the single FA-MAS style guide slot.

thats weird :huh: mine definetly has one either side with "wings"- i was on a break from swapping my v6 parts back for the academy ones when i posted. maybe academy have different parts in different batches? I know mine was the one academy supplied cos it took me 10 minutes of turning and fiddling to figure out that the big silver "screw" was just an anti-tamper bolt. :P

 

Darklite: you dont need the m16 hop for 1j (although I haven't skirmished mine yet -ask again on monday) and with a 1j/m100 Id be thinking of putting in a FAMAS eg560 motor as i really doubt the academy has the oomph to turn it over- I'm not saying it wont but it might not.

 

the simplest option on upgrades(IE what I've done :P ) is to swap the spring and the metal lump that the piston head screws onto with the stock TM ones, and to cut out the two bumps on the hand guard that stop an 8.4 volt battery from fitting- you might also need to file the black plastic bit at the forward end of the hand guard but the easier option is to take a screwdriver and remove the black plastic latch- then use tape to hold the case shut. (NB- mini bats would also work and wouldn't need any cutting/removing- just use the adaptor that you use for your charger -or swap the connector if your more adventurous)- the academy gears should hold a stock TM spring . M16 mag conversion, well ive thought about it and come to the conclusion that it might be possible BUT the academy mags would rattle about in the mag well a little bit more than id like- if they would work at all- and since the hicaps are available now its a redundant measure unless you have a huge stack of M16 mags

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Right guys without giving too much away (i'm on a day off ffs!) the motor and the spring are the weakest parts and both have to be replaced. I agree with Sid re adjustable hop, nice but not necessary but the academy barrel is sh*te and can do with replacing.

Under my micrometer the bevel gear from the Academy is slightly smaller than the TM and that requires a slight repositioning of the pinion on the tm motor.

And the shimming? good luck :( it's a ######...

 

F

Edited by frenchie
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Right guys without giving too much away (i'm on a day off ffs!)

day off from airsoft scotland or giving away trade secrets? :P

EDIT: BTW frenchie what SHOULD the academy piston look like? two winged guide slots or one ? :huh:

Edited by cazboab
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How do , I have a L85 springer (HFC I believe?), can the metal outer barrel and flash hider from the springer be used to replace the barrel/flash hider on the AEG? Also can the sling loops be replaced with the metal versions from teh springer? (would it be simplier to move the innards to the springer? ;)

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