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MWS in a box. Still need to add a Vortex Sparc AR and a tracer unit (aftershave used to judge size!). Middle layer of foam will hold 4 mags, and bottom layer a pistol and tool kit.

My mate - its too cold today for gas guns....its 5 degrees.. My MWS - hold my beer....

Momentum to rethink their PR strategy following election defeat

Make and model: As per the title, the manufacturer is WE and the gun in question is their L85A2 gas rifle. Build quality: I think this is a thing most people will be curious to know but won't think to ask, so I'll stick it at the top of the review. I have to first state that I haven't handled the real rifle, so my comparison will be more against all (as I have handled all) the other airsoft L85 models on the market, all of them are AEGs of course, but I have owned the ICS for a long time, I've owned the Ares for a brief stint, I've picked up the odd G&G for a fondle at shows and I know a few people with Army Armament models too. The WE is more or less what you'd expect, it's full metal, sturdy construction with a good amount of heft to it and made of the right materials in all the right places. I don't think there are really any L85s on the market that don't deliver on that front, to be honest. Even the Army Armament, being the cheapest L85 on the market, does a good job of living up to all the others on an externals only basis. EDIT: One thing of note that was brought to my intention in the comments which I completely forgot about, is that the WE L85 has an 18mm top rail. The real rifle, as well as many, perhaps even all of the other versions on the market have 19mm rails as per the real thing. This means you'll have to be careful with buying optics, as well as rail adaptors. Definitely go for a try before you buy approach. SUSATs are designed for the 19mm rail, so you might only be able to fit certain brands of SUSAT. I don't want to say this with 100% certainty, but I do think you should be safe with anything that fastens with screws and is designed for a 20mm rail though. I myself am using an ACOG mounted on a Hornbill cantilever riser mount, which is essentially an ACOG mount designed for the L85's 19mm dovetail rail and that fits on my WE. It doesn't fit on there perfectly, you have to balance it out carefully with a screw that anchors it to stop it sliding forwards and backwards (same as with the rear iron sight that comes with the rifle) but it does fit. End of edit. With the WE being gas though, the moving parts come into it a little bit. Racking the bolt on the L85 is the most satisfying of the GBBRs I've handled (GHK G5, WE M4, WE MP5, KWA MP9, TM MP7, WE SCAR L and WE AK PMC being the others I've tried), the charging handle wobbles a little bit but that's because it's held in place by the ejection port's edge overlapping the edge of it to stop it coming out. I've no idea if that's the same as on the real rifle, and I'm aware it sounds bad, but trust me when I say I trust it to never fall out even with heavy knocks, or even a direct bash from a hammer. The rifle is solid. If it wasn't like a child to me then I wouldn't think twice about using the front grip as a ladder to help me through windows lol. As for being true to the real rifle, it's not the best on the market, Ares probably takes that trophy. The WE is externally modelled off the ICS design from what I can tell, the barrel threading is the same (14mm CCW), it shares the same quick detach system on the polymer hand guard, (though if you want to fit the Madbull RIS, the ICS adaptor won't work, you'll need the WE specific one) and it's the same incorrect shade of green. Unlike the ICS however, the WE actually has the (functional) bolt release in the right place and also has markings on the fire selector. Though it does lack the trades on the right side of the magazine housing that the ICS does have, and the bolt lock on the right side of the rifle is non-functional on the WE, whereas it does work on the ICS. The only other thing I can think to mention on this front is that the WE, being a gas rifle, field strips in exactly the same way as the real rifle. The only clear differences are that the trigger mechanism is obviously set up to work with an airsoft gun, so there's a hammer to hit the back of a magazine, and the guide rods for the recoil spring have small buffer springs at the back end of them to help return the bolt slightly faster. Speaking of the bolt, it doesn't travel the full distance, which is to say, when it locks to the rear and when firing the gun, the bolt only cycles to around the back end of the large rectangular ejection port, on the real rifle there's a good inch or more of travel left to go past that point, but the WE stops short. It's probably for the sake of gas efficiency and to help the rifle cycle faster, it is only powered by compressed gas and not mini explosions after all, given that this is the only gas L85 on the market though, it would be a shame to hold this against it, especially since all the AEGs, even the blow back models also lack full travel of the bolt. The bolt is also constructed differently to the real thing, which again is obvious, but it looks very similar, the nozzle is even modelled to resemble an actual bolt, complete with locking lugs. So on the whole it's a very well presented, realistic feeling rifle, with noises that excite your downstairs parts. Moving on... Performance: When buying a gun you want to know it's a solid shooter, right? Well that's a difficult thing to really approach from a scientific perspective when it comes to gas guns. I can't just say it shoots X distance at X fps because it's a little more complicated than that. If you're reading this as a gas gun user, then I'm sorry for mentioning all this, but my reviews are designed to give people every ounce of info I can pass on to anyone who wants to read them, so I don't like to skimp out on the more general details for the sake of keeping things short and sweet. By its nature, gas as a propellant is... Unpredictable, let's say. The pressure gas is held under depends on the temperature and how much of it there is, couple this with the fact the parts accepting the gas move around (the bolt) meaning they don't mesh in exactly the same way every time, and by the nature of them moving, have gaps between them, through which gas can escape; gas rifles make for pretty inconsistent shooting platforms. Don't expect AEG performance from any gas blowback rifle, the WE L85 is no exception to this rule. However, that's not to say you can't get god-like range and accuracy from them, it just means you won't get it all the time on a repeatable, game day to game day basis. It is unlikely that you will see this gun performing the same on every skirmish you take it to, the temperature is never going to be the same, so you're going to need see your fps alter slightly from game to game, fps differences mean the hop needs re-setting often, and perhaps even ammo weight changing to account for lower power in some instances. What this means is that sometimes you might have it performing so bad that you just can't deal with it, whereas others it will be so totally flawlessly on the money that you'll want to marry it and take it to bed. Such is life with gas rifles. You have to take the rough with the smooth, and I think this ambiguity, combined with the higher than usual price tag is what puts a lot of people off getting gas rifles. You can help the consistency by buying an NPAS (negative pressure adjustment system) kit, which replaces the valve in your nozzle for an adjustable one, this allows you to alter the time gas is sent down the barrel for. Longer for more fps, shorter for less. Generally it allows for adjustment between the low 200s and the high 400s but I haven't honestly tested mine to its extremes. Just remember it's like a screw, you tighten it for more fps and loosen it for less, they cost about £15 so definitely buy one otherwise the rifle will more than likely chrono too hot for UK limits. Especially in the summer, and especially with heavier ammo, which I recommend using with any gas rifle. Realistically though, it's a very capable rifle, on a good day it will reach out and touch people at 70m, and being gas you can easily up it to DMR limits, use super heavy ammo and just have at it. With it being entirely mechanical, if you understand how it works then playing around with the power settings and fitting different barrels and such can be half the fun on its own. Fun factor: High. Very high... Oooohhh, buy one. I may be biased... But seriously, I have had issues with this gun, which I'm going to stick in their own section later on, but they're not bad enough to out weigh how amazing to use this rifle is. The bolt is large and heavy, this thing has a really nice kick to it, it's loud and the sound is awesome, all the metal on metal noises when reloading just round it all off nicely. It's so nice to fire that I honestly wouldn't mind if the actual shooting performance was a lot worse than it is, because it's just so fun to shoot. I joke about being biased, but if I'd had a bad time with the rifle there's no way I'd be able to be this positive about it, is there? Haha. I can't personally recommend it though, and it's not because I'm hiding anything from anyone, it's just that I acknowledge that I am weird. =/ I'm seriously picky when it comes to picking guns, and personally I'm more into it for the realism side of things than anything else. Like I said earlier, if it shot half as well as it does, I'd still love it, just because how it works is mechanically orgasmic to me lol. But! Considering the cost, I'm not sure many people would want to deal with the downs as well as the ups. Everyone's going to love the ups, but the fact that there are any downs at all, let alone the fact that you can't really control them that well, is just going to be too much for some people, and since I can't run a psych evaluation on everyone who reads this, I think it's safer to just say I don't recommend it, in case someone buys it, has nothing but bad experiences and then blames me lol. You need to know what you're doing, you need to have money to burn (or good patience), you need to have contacts in the airsoft world who can supply you with spare parts and I would say it would help hugely to actually have an interest in the mechanical aspect of the gun, rather than just wanting it to shoot people with. It's more about the joy of the recoil and the sound than the actual performance, it just so happens that the performance can be incredibly good. So if you are looking at buying it, buy it for the awesome recoil, noise and the realism, not the performance. It's like having an awesome conversation with a girl in a bar and falling over yourself because of how amazing she is, that's the fun factor of this gun. The silver lining, is that she's also hot as balls, which translates into shooting good in airsoft gun terms lol. Issues, fixes, and things to be aware of: Right, the first thing you need to be aware of, is that the version of the gun that I have, came with the trigger mechanism and barrel pre-upgraded with steel, RA Tech parts. As such, I have no idea how long the stock gun's trigger will last, or what the stock barrel will be like. However, when it comes to upgrading parts in gas rifles, they are generally more to increase reliability than performance. My steel trigger set doesn't make the trigger perform better, it just makes it last longer and as of today I have owned the rifle for about a year and a little over a week and I have had precisely 0 trigger related issues. The trigger mechanism also houses the bolt lock, which has also been flawless and is still showing no wear at all, even on the stock bolt where it meets. Very impressed, very satisfied. The barrel obviously is a performance related part, but I do also have a gas WE SCAR which has a stock barrel and that is more accurate than the L85 on its good days and that's with a standard barrel, so just forget about the barrel point for the sake of the review. I actually wish I had a stock barrel to try with my L85, because given how well the SCAR shoots I think it might actually be better without a barrel "upgrade". Anyway though, the first issue you will probably encounter, is the bolt seizing. You'll be firing and then the bolt will just jam and not return to its forward position. This is a known, and very common fault with the WE L85, so common in fact that I can 100% guarantee it will happen to absolutely every WE L85 that's ever been made, unless it's been fitted with a steel bolt - which as it happens, I do not recommend you buy. Total waste of money, unnecessary and they've also been discontinued, so also very hard to get. So, what causes this bolt jamming issue? The bolt is made of cheap metal and it moves around very violently. As it travels back upon firing, it hits against a pair of very short, very stiff buffer springs. These springs then fire the bolt forwards again. They hit the bolt so hard that they cause the metal to mushroom around the impact point, you will more than likely experience this issue within the first 3000 shots fired, might be more, might be less. The metal deforms from the impact and it causes it to close the holes around the guide rods that the buffer springs are sat on. So when the metal deforms enough, the holes close to the point where they just grip the guide rods and the bolt jams. How'd you fix it then? You just need to get some steel washers, just the simple little, metal rings, and fit them between the buffer springs on the recoil rods, and the bolt. Sounds like a joke it's that simple, right? Well it seriously is. The washers take the brunt of the impact force and completely stop the bolt from deforming. I've been running a stock bolt for a little over a year now without that issue occurring one single time since I fitted the washers. I have a video on my YouTube channel detailing this and how to fix it if you need clearer instruction. I'd stick a link here in the review but then there'll be a massive video box breaking it all up. I might add it as a comment, maybe. Send me a personal message or check my profile for ways to get hold of me for more info if you need a hand with anything. Next thing to keep an eye on, whilst we're on the topic of the bolt, is the screws for the guides that hold the nozzle inside the bolt. There is one guide on the top of the bolt, and one on the left side. The top one is held in with two screws, the left one is held in with one. These screws are TINY, but they're also very important. Important, and a little bit annoying... If you tighten them all the way, then they can restrict the movement of the nozzle inside the bolt. The nozzle needs to freely move back and forth because it's what causes the blowback, you need the blowback to work for the gun to work. So you need these screws to be loose enough for the nozzle to move freely, but tight enough to not fall out, because they can and will come out. The recoil force will work them loose over time. So you need to keep an eye on them before and after every time you get the gun out for a shoot. You might want to think about holding them in place somehow, but if you're thinking of using loctite be VERY careful you don't get any on the moving parts because that shit is like glue, and moving parts that don't move, don't work. You need to be aware of the pistol grip. This is held on with a single self tapping screw that is both very short, and very thin. As such, swinging the gun around and holding it by nothing but the grip may very well strip this screw at some point, or work it loose, until you eventually end up with the grip either coming off, or physically breaking off. If you buy the rifle from Milspec Solutions then Iain actually carried out a very simple mod that fixes this issue before shipping the rifles out. Which is to simply remove the screw the gun comes with, and fit a slightly wider, and much longer self tapping screw. This grips better and just generally more, by nature of being a longer screw. If you can't fully eliminate all the wobble, then stick some washers between the screw head and the rifle body on the inside of the gun. The only other thing I can think to mention is that you need to keep an eye on the ejection port/dust cover. This is the green piece that flaps up and down just behind the bolt. It's designed to stop dirt and dust from getting inside the gun through the little slot behind the bolt which the charging handle slides through. The dust cover is held on with a pin, this pin is free to slide back and forth to the point where it comes right off the gun if it wants to. The dust cover isn't essential, the gun will work without it, but standard practice is to close it when not firing to stop any dirt magically jumping in through the hole. Firing the gun automatically opens the cover, but it's firing to open the cover that persuades the pin to start escaping, so if you don't want to have to worry about it, you can either glue the pin in place, or alternatively, just leave the dust cover open all the time, as if it doesn't move, the pin won't either. Maintenance: I think this is a bit of a dirty word that gets thrown around a bit too much in the wrong ways. I often see people mention maintenance as an excuse, or argument against getting a gas rifle, but at least with the WE L85, it's really not a maintenance heavy rifle. You just need to make sure all the parts that need to move, can move freely, and if they can't, open the gun up and see if you can figure out why. Similarly, if the performance seems to have taken a hit, or if full auto doesn't work, or whatever, then have a look on the inside at the parts in control of that function and see if there's any signs of wear. This is where knowing how the gun works comes into its own, if you understand how it works, diagnosing issues is very simple and easy. So, making sure everything works as it should, and checking for wear. Bob's your Uncle, Fanny's your anut and WE's your significant other because L85's your new baby lol. Cold weather performance: Another thing that people hold against gas guns, though with a little more reason this time. I have used my L85 in temperatures as low as 2 degrees Centigrade and the performance was no different to using it in the height of summer, I could still get off a full mag, it would still lock on the last shot and the shot trajectory, accuracy and range was no better or worse than on any other day. I've also used it in torrential rain, and I do mean literally like standing in a cold shower levels of moronically, monsoon-esque rain and it still worked fine then too. Accuracy did suffer because the hop rubber got wet, but it still cycled flawlessly, still got a mag off, still locked. Can't fault it at all. There are CO2 mags available for sub zero temperatures, but I honestly wouldn't waste my money on them, CO2 mags are highly prone to leaks because of the higher pressure of the gas and they're much harder to maintain and fix once leaks occur. They also cost more to buy, and significantly more to run, with CO2 being about 60p per CO2 capsule. CO2 is also a lot less versatile, you can't just top your mag up with CO2 if you only fire 20 shots through it in a game, you have to just keep going until the gas runs out, and rather inconveniently, you can't get 60 shots off one CO2 capsule... So that means you get one full mag of 30 shots off, then at some point before you're through with the next 30, your gas runs out. Not ideal. Costs involved - Running costs: As I mentioned earlier, I bought mine with the trigger and barrel pre-upgraded, this cost me £500 for the base rifle, which comes with one 30 round gas magazine. I then bought another 5 mags, to the tune of £35 each, bringing the total to £175 + 500 = £675. Not a cheap initial outlay. But, I haven't had to spend a single penny on any internal parts since then, so I would personally say the extra money you pay for a steel trigger is a very good investment if you don't want to have to take the gun apart further than simple field stripping. Without any upgrades the base gun generally retails for around £370 last time I checked, so the upgrade parts add about £130 to the price. You could choose to buy the base gun and then upgrade as parts wear out, which if I had the chance to buy the gun again, that's what I'd do. I had previously had bad experiences with gas rifles because I didn't know what I was doing, so when I bought this I wanted to bomb proof it just to be on the safe side. Having played with it quite heavily for a year I now feel confident enough to dismantle it fully down to individual components and put it back together in working condition, and I'm fairly sure a lot of the stock trigger parts would have lasted a year before needing any replacements anyway, so it probably works out cheaper to buy the stock gun and then upgrade when you need to. Especially considering I highly doubt the barrel upgrade is necessary, and that probably makes up £50 of the £130 I paid extra for the upgraded version of the rifle. Running costs though... A lot of people assume this is going to be insanely high because there's gas to buy as well as ammo, but the costs involved are down to the player really. I use Coleman's propane to run mine. Canisters cost about £9/10 from Go Outdoors, which is a camping shop, or there are a few select airsoft retailers that sell propane as well. Patrol Base being the one I know definitely do. £15 gets you an adaptor to put on the cans, which you use to fill your mags, and then each can lasts me a little over one full game day. Bear in mind though, Propane canisters hold a little more than double the amount held in a green gas can, so if you stick with standard green gas cans - those 750ml ones - you're going to need 2, probably 3 to last you a day, so that £9 becomes more like £30. Propane is definitely the way to go. Green gas actually is propane, just purified (which really doesn't matter, it just makes it cost more) and with silicone oil added. So if you choose to buy propane you'll need to add the silicone yourself. The adaptors come with a little bottle of it that seems to last forever, you just add a few drops to the top of the canister at the start of every game day and you're golden. Just helps keep all the rubber seals in the magazines in check, stops them developing leaks. As for ammo, you only have 30 round mags, so you don't get through much in a day. The mags are heavy as hell too, and at £35 not many people are going end up with more than about 8 unless they get them for free in trade deals or something, so that's less than 300 shots going into each game with you. I personally have 9 mags but I only use about 700 shots a day. I use Bastard BBs, the .28s, which come in bags of 2000 and cost £12 a bag. They're very, very high quality. That bag will last me 3 game days, minimum, every time. So £9 for the gas which lasts a little more than one game day. Call it about 1.3 game days. So about £6.50 on gas per game day + £4 on ammo because a £12 bag lasts 3 days. Costs me just over a tenner per game day. That's about the same as your average AEG user buying a pot of 3000 .25s, so running costs really aren't anything to hold against gas rifles. You could even use some much cheaper ammo and then it'll cost you even less. Conclusion? I would say that it is an expensive rifle with performance worse than the price would suggest. You could spend that much on an AEG and get much better performance for your money, as well as the ability to use mid and high capacity mags, but this makes up for it in the fun of the blowback and the noise. If you want to buy one, do it for the kick, the sound, the realistic weapon controls and functionality, and the pure mechanical brilliance of the internal mechanism. The performance isn't bad by any means, but it is bad for the money.

I used the 510mm CJ ML VSR barrel and the autobot 50 bucking (VSR/GBB). I had to shave a nub off the bucking and it's a tight fit in the fast hop, but it works a treat. @Immortal No worries - next time you see one, just ask if you can hold it. I've never said no, cos I want people to see what they think. Some people have said it was wank (their exact words lol), others have been neutral, others have tootled off grinning from ear to ear knowing what they're spending their dosh on next. p.s. no idea if you're anywhere near me (N.Yorks), but if you are, you're more than welcome to try it out 😄

The single most frequent comment I get about my SRS is how quiet it is. As far as getting one, the main thing I'll say is - have you got your mitts on one? Because it's a bullpup, it's not to everyone's taste. And the mag changes are a ballache. However, I adore mine. (but I'm a bp fan boy...) As far as upgrades, I had a pdi with rhop, but ditched it in favour of ML CJ and autobot bucking. I currently use the fast hop chamber, which has 100% air seal. I got hold of the ML hop chamber as soon as it was available in NL, but the production run was fucked, so never fitted it. I've just had the replacement unit arrive, but haven't got round to fitting it yet. I'm semi excited about it, as it's designed to work with the barrel/bucking combo I already use. Overall, I love the platform - it's a joy to shoot. And it's virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, which is always a bonus. It's a doddle to work on too, which is most welcome.

Airsoft innovations. The tan coloured plastic one. Done the green gas mod (cutting the tubes down, not removing). Nothing to the valve itself.

If everyone’s making it an AFUK meet up I’ll be there for sure. Can’t really say no when it’s 15 minutes up the road from home. on a side note the Apocalypse on site shop have branched out and are now running their own web store https://www.modernwarrior.co.uk/

I believe that was the someone else Dave. I personally have shot out to 60-70 metres accurately with the X range, if anything I'd say it gives you a flatter trajectory for longer then the tm standard. This is now my go to rubber....🤔😅

They are quieter and even more so if you match BB weight to barrel to piston volume. The DTSS silencer really kills the noise. If you want it totally silent then you can get the WASP or variable mass piston. In my irrational mind though, the piston is a meh point as generally out of MED you wouldn't hear it anyway. I've managed to find a company in Japan doing PDI barrels for about half the UK RRP of them so once I've done homework to make sure they are R-Hopable or at least compatible with good rubbers I'll be ordering one. A sniper is about precision, why not make sure there is a "good" barrel in even though a lot I read says the stock barrel is fine.

Had quite a few Modify Tan failures now, the material seems to tear easily. @Whisky1 you only mentioned the Mod X to be accurate at 35M so far, has this improved? Standard TM with Super Nub give effective 50M+ The Mod tan with Super Nub improved on that effective range by giving slightly better gas consistency, so better shot placement consistency on the vertical plane.

I deffo didnt have the range that I usually get with it but it was still good enough. The GHK AK struggled until around 1300 when it had warmed up a wee bit, then it was fine. Got some really nice long range kills with it, but its a lot heavier in the bolt carrier group than the MWS. The TM AKM will be very interesting.

Finaly got a gun case

I was tempted to buy that bundle (if it’s the one from here I’m thinking of) you got a cracking deal if it is that one. Only reason I didn’t buy it is I already have an Evo and don’t have the spare cash to justify another

GHK platform

Lozart that’s a great help thanks. I’ve just ordered an FMA fast XL in a-tacs ix...beauty. Thanks again

Pre-ordered the MK46 and a spare box mag... 😐

Ah yes, Gods Plaid. Nice pics and well done on the weight loss!

Played there about 5 times, each time I said I wouldn't go back, the site manager (Martin ?), is full of his own self importance & unfortunately shit rolls downhill so his marshals were no better, big cheating problem that wasn't being addressed, I reckon they have the attitude that "a paying cheat is still paying", as for numbers, never saw more than about 50. yes, it is potentially a massive site (260 acres approx), but most of it isn't used, if he's quoting 220 booked, I call bullshit on his numbers.

A sloth gets mugged by 3 tortoises. The police ask him " what happened"? The sloth says "I don't know. It all happened so quickly!"

Roger De Courcey called, Nookie Bear wants to know where the royalty payments are for his ancient joke?? (dear god this dates me!! 😱)

Can’t get much worse than trump and Johnson running the “free world” im starting to think New Zealand is not far enough away

Brexit. English politics. Not sure you guys have a dark enough sense of humour for me to share some of mine.

The American healthcare system