ICS L86A2 LSW

[Hubert]

EDIT - Review on P1 has been updated and modified.

 

Does the L85/L86 take other mags?

Short answer: Yes.

 

Long answer: Possibly. Like Lep has said, I've had next to no luck in getting magazines to fit. And if they do, they probably won't feed...

I know a few other ICS Saytie owners who can, and do use other mags. The magpul P and E Mags can fit (but only the EMAG is meant to), and King Arms magazines are meant to fit. On another forum, there are a few L85 owners and 1 L86 owner who use P and E Mags interchangably. I've got to say, the black PMags look very nice...

I do know that TM mags do not fit.

[Airsoft-Ed]

Thinking of getting the L85A2 after Christmas, just wondering if there's been an updated model or a better L85 released since you added this review. I'm guessing now, just thought I'd check.

 

Also, would you say to go for the L85, or the ICS M4? I'm melting my brain trying to decide, I wish there was a review for the M4 that was this thorough.

 

In fact, I wish the review section in general was a little more active, everyone on here owns guns, why has hardly anyone reviewed them?

[Hubert]

In fact, I wish the review section in general was a little more active, everyone on here owns guns, why has hardly anyone reviewed them?

 

Errr... in my case, superstition - after I sang my praises for my LSW in this topic, my LSW decided to start buggering up - I shouldn't have modified it. It's something I truly regret, and wish I'd never done it. It's currently sat in it's box at home, hopefully awaiting the day that I can finally afford to post it away to have a full overhaul and restore her to her former glory.

 

Guys - if you have a gun that works flawlessly out of the box DON'T TOUCH IT. OOB, the LSW is fine.

 

So whilst I love my ICS L85 Carbine, there's no way in hell I'm going to post a review, lest that jinx my carbine...

 

Anyway -

The carbine was designed in 2010, and my model was made at some point between March 2010 and Jan 2011. From what I've seen, internally it's exactly the same as the L85 and LSW.

I've no idea about the ICS M4, I've never used one. Anything I say would be hear-say - that said, they seem mine. One of my uni-mates has one, and it's worked fine for 3 years now.

[Airsoft-Ed]

Hmm, and you think your L86 would be as well if you hadn't modified it?

 

I feel like I'm edging towards the M4 now.

 

Why can't someone just make guns that are 100% flawless and not cost £1500?! I could pull my hair out trying to decide what guns to buy sometimes.

 

I think I'm just going to go with the L85 and live with the consequences.

[Hubert]

Lets put it this way -

It was fine OOB.

Had I spent £150-200 on modifications and installation, it would probably be fine. As it was, I didn't and it isn't.

 

My carbine - entire stock - is so far - fine. And I have no intentions of changing it. OOB, ICS SA80s are fine. If, IF, you spend lots of money and time, you can make your ICS SA80 perfect (ask Finus)

 

Would I get the M4? I have no idea.

[Airsoft-Ed]

I shall consult with the Finius then.

 

Cheers, Hubert.

[Airsoft-Ed]

Reading through this again, it's quite interesting how much our experiences have differed.

 

I might write a review for the IW at some point over the next few days.

[Hubert]

Reading through this again, it's quite interesting how much our experiences have differed.

 

I might write a review for the IW at some point over the next few days.

 

Aye, I know what you mean.

 

Especially since my experience with the ICS-87 carbine has differed from both my LSW and your IW. (It works beautifully, and I have no intention of doing anything to it, since it's working better than a few of my mate's guns)

 

However, I should point out - I modified my LSW along the lines someone suggested to me on another forum. Turns out he didn't actually modify his, so was telling me stuff based on guess work - which may explain the drastic drop in performance my LSW had post modifications.

[Airsoft-Ed]

Yeah my L85 is absolutely amazing, I love it to pieces. The amount of cash I've thrown at it I imagine it'll last me forever as well, I'll just keep buying new parts as they break. In fact I might buy a few gear sets, gearboxes, motors and all that kinda stuff in advance in case by the time it all breaks they've stopped selling the parts lol.

 

Which parts did you modify? 'Cos if all the internals are all the same it ought to be an absolute piece of piss to just put the hop and gearbox from your carbine into your LSW, ought to just be a completely straight swap.

 

So if you ever fancy taking it out again you could just do that.

 

You can get the ICS L85 hop unit, trigger mech block and even the entire gearbox and motor assembly online from a hell of a lot of places, all in for all the internals it'd cost you less than £150 to replace everything.

 

Could be something to consider?

 

I'd quite like to have a play with one for the afternoon, I held one a guy had a few weeks ago and was surprised how light it was compared to my IW with all the extra sh*t on it lol. I always thought the carbine style hand guard looked too wide though, kinda puts me off its aesthetics.

[Hubert]

If I get the money/time, I would like to restore my LSW. If I had even more money, I'd modify it the way I wanted it to be (probably like yours, with the twist barrel)

Things are not helped by the shoddy paint job I did on the lower reciever, to replace the red paint. (See photo below)

 

The gear box is fine.

The barrel and the hop however, are buggered beyond belief. I can't remember what the last thing done to it was, but it fire shots about 10-15 feet before they sky rocket to the left. Almost vertically. The hop-up unit is stock, but the gubbins inside are not. I haven't used it it almost a year, I actually can't remember what stuff is inside.

 

My carbine - I ain't touching it!

It works (in the words of Ace Ventura) B-E-A-U-tiful (baby). I've got it set up pretty much just the way I want it, as a baby-LSW (it sure turns heads when they see it ) (see my avatar) Internally, the thing is stock, and it can out shoot quite a few other guns, so I have every intention of leaving it the way it is. Until something breaks, I have no need (or want) to open it up and 'tinker'.

 

Carbine handguard is exactly the same as the LSW. I like it, it's pretty comfortable. I like the looks of it too, but then again, as you know from my review - I love the looks of the LSW anyway...

[toothpick-NL]

for those who wat to have a support out of there LSW

 

 

drumbox here for sale (airsoft.tiger111hk.com)

[Hurby]

Hey everyone here is well experienced with the ICS l85 series from reading. I have a ICS l86a2 but the closest place is CQB so the gun isn't ideal so, is there a way to swap the l86 barrel with the l85 carbine barrel.

I don't mind the back grip but I like CQB and it would be cheeper to buy a new barrel rather than a new gun. I have not been able to fined a l85 carbine barrel outer or inner either. If you can help in anyway you could save me money and I can still use my favourite gun.

[Monty]

Holy necropost batman! Nope, you'd be better off swapping the L86 for a L85, or something smaller.

[Hurby]

Thanks man its gona be pistol primery then. But why?

[gavinkempsell]

Hi folks, I've got an ICS L86A2 LSW which I openned to change the spring setting, fitted it back together with the usual issues of needing more hands but now it's not working. Sounds fine when pulling the trigger but no power, fuse is fine ad I've stripped it down a couple of times to check all is correct inside but nothing.

Is this a known fault or have I messed with it? (or both).

 

Cheers,

 

Gavin.