L85/86/carbine(SA80 variants)

[Mike1971]

Hello

I have just been looking through Decembers edition of Airsoft International and noticed a few of the adverts.

The companies which sell the SA80 variants and came up with a Question:-

Why the hell are they all so expensive compared to its American cousin the M4 and all its variants?

 

[NickM]

Because the M4 series are better known by most people. If you turn up at an airsoft site you are likely to see the majority using M4's the next biggest group will probably then be AK variants. What remains will be people using a variety of other weapons platforms. SA80's/AUG's/FAL's/SCAR's to name but a few. This doesn't include all of the people using BASR or Support weapons like M249's etc.

If I was a business looking at the type of products to sell I would invest in making the process of making M4's and AK's cheaper, I'm not so interested in spending money making my production of other platforms cheaper because I only make/sell a few of them a year compared to the first 2 types.

Its the same reason why the only true new AEG (by this I mean a new model rather than a variant of something that already exists) that I know of coming onto the market in the last year was the M1 Garand, and that pretty much a rehash of the M14.

 

[Hubert]

Not many new players go for L85s, so as Nick said, there's not really much of a market. It's usually die-hard SA80 fans, or players who've had the usual M4/G36/AK/etc, and now want something different.

But, it's also the cost of designing/developing and manufacturing them. Most AEGs are pretty much identical internally - but ARES, G&G and ICS all designed their SA80 series completely differently, they don't really share that much in common. If you're designing yet another M4/AK/G36/MP5 design, you have a large amount of choice for what you put inside it - you don't for an L85. You either copy one of the 3 (which will be obvious) or make your own.

There's also an awful lot of steel in the SA80 design. That adds a fair bit of work and cost into making an airsoft gun. Some guns can get away with being made out of plastic (M4s for example), but an all plastic L85 would be pointless.

 

[NickM]

Don't get me wrong, the ICS L85 was my first AEG, I love it dearly, it has problems, like double feeding bbs and locking up on semi but its still a great gun. Its internals are unique which makes it easier in some respects to work on than some of the other platforms and a pig to buy parts for. I guess I'd be one of those L85 fans, I used it in Cadets, shooting it once a week for over 4 years so I was familiar with its operation and comfortable with it. It is bloody heavy and in longer games this can become an issue for me. I now have an ICS M4 because with large numbers of plastic/lighter weight bits I am far more mobile for extended periods. The L85 is still my go too gun, used for CQB and woodland. The M4 will hopefully be turned into a DMR shortly.

As Hubert says as far as I know there are 3 AEG L85 and only one Gas L85 on the market and they all use very different ways of solving the problems of getting the gun to work. This means making a new one will be a problem. Also the style of the body work essentially means you have to copy the real steel manufacturing methods which will be expensive. In the M4's with everyone making the same thing they can buy parts from a manufacture rather than having to produce them yourself.

 

[Mike1971]

Just been talking to Sp00n about this as he has a G&G L85 A1.

I'm A cadet instructor and Ex-TA so I'm used to the L85/98(cadet GP weapons system) and was looking for somthing that I was used to but they are all way out of my budget.

 

[Ian_Gere]

Look for a 2nd hand ICS L85A2, Mike. Finius was selling one in the Classifieds. Dunno whether it went yet.

 

[Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies]

Look for a 2nd hand ICS L85A2, Mike. Finius was selling one in the Classifieds. Dunno whether it went yet.

Here it is,looks like it's still up. Better off PM'ing Finius just to be 100% sure tho

http://www.airsoft-forums.co.uk/index.php/topic/18350-ics-l85a2-l200-all-in-must-sell-before-the-15th/