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L85A2 (Possible A3?)

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Seven

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Ok,

Just feeling things out. I have no intention of aquiring an AEG any time this year but for future reference... What's the very best L85 rif produced?

Ideally will have aftermarket support for upgrades and mods, such as the picatinny handguard.

Blowback would be nice but not at the sacrifice of quality, range, accuracy etc.

Something that will legitimately go toe to toe with all the cookie cutter M4's and M4 variants I see everywhere.

And do you think we'll see A3 mod parts?

I know it's not a popular platform so maybe not?

Cheers.

 
I'd also say the ICS.

The A3 isn't all that different on the outside.  If you changed the dovetail to a pic rail, sprayed it tan and then change the handguard (if somebody copies the new one) it'd look 99% right to the vast majority of people.

 
CKinnerley said:
I'd also say the ICS.

The A3 isn't all that different on the outside.  If you changed the dovetail to a pic rail, sprayed it tan and then change the handguard (if somebody copies the new one) it'd look 99% right to the vast majority of people.
Click to expand...


Yeah, externally that's really all that changed that really matters. Selector leaver got a little nub but that little stuff... Who cares? The handguard being the most obvious. I wonder if anyone will produce the new one. Fingers crossed!

 
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The real one will fit the ARES, if those ever happen to come up for sale.  Give it a while I'd be confident that replicas of the handguard will appear.  Whether ICS will do a full fledged A3.. kinda slim odds right now to my mind when you look at their product line.  G&G might though personally I wouldn't buy their L85.

 
CKinnerley said:
The real one will fit the ARES, if those ever happen to come up for sale.  Give it a while I'd be confident that replicas of the handguard will appear.  Whether ICS will do a full fledged A3.. kinda slim odds right now to my mind when you look at their product line.  G&G might though personally I wouldn't buy their L85.
Click to expand...


Is it true what im reading that the ICS version is not full scale but the ARES version is?

What does the ICS version do better than the ARES version?

If the scale question is true... Is the ARES version upgradable to perform on par with the ICS version?

 
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That's some prime bullshit.. the ICS is accurate scale/size to the real thing.  The ARES can fit the real handguards (ICS is pretty much a no go in that regard) which maybe is what you've read, but that's about the only major upside it has vs the ICS.

 
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CKinnerley said:
That's some prime bullshit.. the ICS is accurate scale/size to the real thing.  The ARES can fit the real handguards which maybe is what you've read but that's about the only major upside it has vs the ICS.
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This is what I found when I googled 'ICS L85A2 Vs ARES'







Found a similar thread on Reddit too... These are what got me worried...

 
Ok.. well it's your decision who to believe.  I've had my ICS inside the MoD armoury where I work and done direct comparison, and if it's not 1:1 exactly it is factions of a flea's dick away.  

ARES have always historically had an utterly shocking reputation for reliability and internals made of compressed cheese, along with a pretty shockingly high proportion of proprietary parts.  They're not as bad as they used to be, but you said you want aftermarket support and performance so I'm framing my answers in that context.

 
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I recently sold my ICS of 6yrs (had too not wanted too) there are many who hate it me personally I loved it , never had a problem with range , rate of fire was a ‘wee’ bit slow on auto but I’m a semi players so no worries there , never openeded it up changed it to a deans , cleaned the barrel dropped the FPS down to 340’ish and that was that ! Did find some times it locked up firing semi when I ran it on a 7.4 LiPo but quick squirt of auto was fine . Then tried a 11.1 but was getting double feeds so then tried a 9.9 LiFe and was sweet as a nut after that ! I’ve also got a G&G AFV that I bought from new and a second hand G&G L85 , the baby’s still got its ‘blowback’ but the long had it was removed by the previous owner both run on 11.1 batts and I don’t see that much of a diffrence in performance between the two .

as too the “is it a 1to1 or not” question ? It looks like an L85 to me , I only used the SA80 when it first came out and I can’t see or remember anything that’s glaringly obviously wrong with it , so if someone can point it out to me please crack on ? 

CKinnerley said:
Ok.. well it's your decision who to believe.  I've had my ICS inside the MoD armoury where I work and done direct comparison and if it's not 1:1 exactly is is factions of a flea's dick away.  

ARES have always historically had an utterly shocking reputation for reliability and internals made of compressed cheese, along with a pretty shockingly high proportion of proprietary parts.  They're not as bad as they used to be, but you said you want aftermarket support and performance so I'm framing my answers in that context.
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Spot on , basically has said what I was typing at the time !

well said mate.

 
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I owned an ICS L85 last year and had to sell it. Bought another recently because I loved it that much. 

Can't compare to ARES as I've never owned it but if you buy an ICS you won't be disappointed.

 
CKinnerley said:
and if it's not 1:1 exactly it is factions of a flea's dick away.  
Click to expand...
 Hahaha, this made me laugh!

No worries dude!

I always do my due diligence with everything. I research everything as much as I can before I make decisions on things.

Like Airsoft. I've been researching the parts that interest me the most for ages now before I even step foot on an Airsoft  site so that when  the time comes to buy my first weapon or buy a  piece of equipment or even take part in a game, I  know exactly what I  want and exactly the best way to go about it and everything  is planned well in advance. It's a benefit most of the time but sometimes it's a flaw, like when it leads to me overthinking something.

But hey, Proper Preparation and Planning Prevent Piss Poor Performance.?

So it appears ICS is the way forward. Hopefully by the time im in the market for an AR they have some A3 aftermarket convertion pieces. (That would be lovely, if a company that makes aftermarket parts reads this!)

If not I guess I'll settle for the old A2 picatinny hand guard, that still looks pretty slick to me.

Cheers!

 
I’ve owned the ares version and was very happy with the quality 

 
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Seven said:
But hey, Proper Preparation and Planning Prevent Piss Poor Performance.?
Click to expand...
Ahh yes but also remember the other one ,

no plan survives first contact ! 

Or as my old boss used to say , 

“all plans go to rat shit when implemented  !” ?‍♂️

????

 
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