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l85a2 or m4????


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Im new to airsofting and was wondering what gun I should choose. Ive been getting mixed opinions from different friends....... ics L85A2 or an m4??? Also im still getting to grips with all the new terminology. .... what is a loadout??????? Help please

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Hello mate and welcome to the forums

 

It depends on a few things to be honest, what your budget is and what you like the look of really,

 

a load out typically is what you carry all your ammo, batteries, spare mags in and what sort of clothing you wear to a skirmish such as camoflauge or walking gear. My top tip would be to go to a skirmish and hire a gun, see what other players are using and ask around, most airsofters will let you have a try of their guns, especially if your a newer player.

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Thanks mike. I prefer the L85 but as sugested I will go to my local site here in ringwood and see if I can hav a look at a few guns. Thanks for helping with the description its a great help. Thanks again

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A loadout would be what you wear/use.

 

The L85 is very different to an M4, I guess it's personal opinion really. Some people really don't like the bullpup design of the L85 but it has it's advantages, one being that it means that the gun can have a long barrel in an short overall length. The biggest advantage to an M4 is the endless upgrades which are available.

 

I wish I had got an L85 over my M4 but that's just because I like how L85s feel. Not that M4s are in any way uncomfortable.

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Hi phillip. I agree I hav shot the l85 on my local range and it is a very comfortable gun and I do love the bullpup design however like you say the upgrades for the m4 make it a possible as well. Decisions decisions

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I was gonna leave it up to other people lol, but I guess now you've forced me into it. Prepare to read more into it than anyone ever expected possible.

 

As a beginner, I'd say that despite the price, either ICS L85, or an ICS M4 would be a good place to start. The ICS L85 is a fantastic gun, very easy to strip down, very easy to work on, very easy to upgrade, albeit with limitations.

The ICS M4s have a special "split" gearbox which makes them easier to work on, and they have practically the same upgradability as any other M4, aside from things like different body kits and stuff, which isn't something that really bothers me anyway. You can still slap rails and optics, lights, lasers whatever on them.

So it's up to you. They both go for around £300, though you can get the plastic M4s for around £190 and up I think. Or other, metal M4s for around the £240 mark.

I'd say the major pros the L85 has is the ease of take down, getting to the gearbox is a breeze, and you can adjust the power of the spring, and even replace the whole spring in under a minute once you get the hang of it, so you can have it shooting sweet for any site you might want to go to. You don't even need any tools. Spare parts are easy as pie to come by, not that you need to look at it much, and as testament to how great they are, I'd never opened up a gun before I got my ICS L85, now I've learned everything I know about electric guns from it and got it shooting like a beast.

Bad things about the L85? The weight, it's getting on for 5kg, which hits you like a brick if you're not used to it. The bullpup config means that the entire weight tends to be on your right arm the entire time as well, there isn't really a way you can hold it to take the weight off with your other arm. Get a sling.
The sights are raised quite a way above the barrel, making it quite hard to aim over cover without exposing a hell of a lot of yourself.

Aiming over cover is an issue compounded by the fact that it's hard to aim and shoot instinctively, by which I mean, if you see someone and don't have time to aim, it's hard to point and shoot at them using instinct alone. Reason being, you're holding it by a grip which is mid way down the barrel, there's as much gun behind your hand as ahead of it. It's sort of like aiming a massively unbalanced pistol. You'd have to try it to know what I mean, but the more gun there is infront of your hand, the easier it is to point at things. So despite having a longer barrel, when it comes to snap shooting the M4 still has the upper hand, it's just much easier to point and shoot an M4.

When it comes to aimed fire though, the L85 is much easier to support, you have more body contact with the rifle, it's comfortable, can't go wrong. Especially with a few upgrades.

 

Practice makes perfect though, and a lot of the time the difference these points makes is negligible. They're hardly the kinda things you have on your mind when you're running about shooting people and getting shot at.

 

I don't notice any of the cons so much anymore aside from the raised sights issue.

M4s are the most modular guns around, can be bought for around £100 less than the L85 and are probably on the whole better performers. I think L85s are just more sexy though.

P1010885_zps5d1ab1b6.jpg
Do I get bonus points for showing off a forum patch? They're cheap, you should all get some! :D

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See told you, from watching his vids on youtube, the thing does seem to shoot like a dream. only reason i dont want one atm is that i been in the army and it would be bit sad of me to leave and buy all the stuff i used to wear in the army lol

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I think if I ever get the chance to fire a real one, it might make my airsoft one seem a bit puny and lame lol. Quite worried it'll turn me off it haha.

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Thanks for all the info guys. Its been a great help. I think ive made up my mind and you're rite ed the L85 is a lot sexier than the m4. So im gonna get a aeg l85a2. Next question..... which make????? Ive heard ics are amaizin with fantastic motors but what about the others???? And where do you guys sugest getting one from?????

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It's up to you really, they all have their pros and cons. I think G&G are re-releasing theirs soon, or there's rumour of a new one hitting the shelves if not the updated G&G, so I'd say mull it over whilst you get your UKARA sorted out, get a few games under your belt, try the game out and see if you don't see something else you'd rather have. There's a lot more out there than just M4s and L85s after all.

The Ares is the most realistic in build quality but Ares are famous for making stuff pretty with internals made of yoghurt. The Ares is also the hardest to take apart.

 

The ICS is solid in every category, I've dropped mine on concrete, barrel first, down stairs, knocked it against a ton of things and on one occasion jammed it in a door frame and ran into it. Could you tell by looking at it or shooting it? Nope.
The ICS is the least true to the real thing aesthetically though, wrong shade of green on the furniture being the most notably wrong thing about it. The G&G is a jack of all trades, run of the mill, sat on the fence, middle grounder kinda thing. Good performance, built well, solid.

I'd like to say ICS 100% but I've seen a few since I bought mine and their quality control can be quite inconsistent. I've owned 3 other ICS L85 series rifles since I bought my current, original one, and they all had undiagnosable issues with air seals, so I'd recommend one of the other two, but if I were buying another, I'd risk it with the ICS again.

Another nice thing about the ICS is that Fire-Support are the UK's main ICS stockist and distributor, they stock every ICS L85 part under the sun, I could buy all the individual parts and build one using Fire-Support's stock if I wanted to, so knowing you can get replacement parts that easily is good for peace of mind.

Lastly, the ICS comes with two hi-cap mags and has space inside the handguard for a large type battery, means you're ready to go right out of the box. I know from owning an Ares one that they come with one mid cap mag and only have space for a small battery, so you'd have to buy two batteries and swap them in the middle of the day, which is a massive pain in the arse because of how you take the handguard off. But, the ICS has a quick release button on the handguard, so fitting batteries is a doddle, and you'll only have to do it once a day.

The G&G is the only one I don't have personal experience with, so I can't comment on that.

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No problemo.

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