ICS l85 Review

By Kakaroth

I ordered mine still in April in pre-order from the Polish distributor of ICS MadOnion. Unfortunately, because of all the technical issues at ICS’s factories it arrived at the very end of August.

The very first thing after receiving the package from the courier:

The replica is layed down in a red velvet-like plastic form. It does not allow any movement at all, so the chances that anything will be damaged during shipping are minimal. Not all manufacturers care so much for the packaging. The plastic form has also the place for L86 LSW so we may be sure that this one will arrive quite soon as well.

Inside the box:

What we get additionally is rather of high standard comparing i.e. to G&P, G&G or other high-end. We get 2000 decent quality 0,2g bbs, 2 450bb hicaps (longer than standard mags), and a cleaning rod. Its not a Chineese product so no battery or charger.

After getting it out:

First thought I had after taking it out of the box: “SOLID!” The entire thing is perfectly fitted together. There is no way that anything could wobble, squeak, rattle and such. No movement anywhere, not even 1mm. Its just solid, welded steel.

In the version we got in Poland, each replica has a unique serial number. Its a nice touch, makes You feel that only You have such a gun.

What is interesting is the fact that, from what I know, ICS is the very first manufacturer showing in the manual how to completely field strip the gun. Thanks to that there is no problem in searching for the proper manual of (dis)assembling the gun. Everything is there. The reason for this is, among others, that the end user is granted a limited access to gearbox and its power, but I’ll talk about it later on.

Front grip, in opposition to other SA80 replicas, is not disassembled by unscrewing one screw going through the gas block. Instead You only have to push a black button in the front part and the grip slides of. Inside You have a LOT of space for the battery. A 9,6V 3300 Sanyo battery fits without any problem, I’d risk stating that there’s enough space for a 10,8V. When putting the battery in for the first time, one may need to use a bit of force, but after that everything is perfectly OK.

At first I found a bit troublesome the cables inside the grip. The grip’s dimensions are exactly the same as the real steel version, so there isn’t much space for anything. A bit of practice and it turns out to be quite easy. After taking out the two “never lost” (they do not fall out by themselves, so its hard to loose them accidentally) and taking out the butt plate we can disassemble the replica into the upper receiver and the trigger mechanism housing. Almost exactly like the RS version (difference being only in the butt plate).

After splitting the gun into halves we can see the secret of one of the best things about the gun - the trigger mechanism. ICS claims that they designed a completely revolutionary “trigger brake” mechanism. What’s all the fuss about? Basically, for the gun to fire, You have to pull the trigger almost all the way to the back. After reaching the “critical” point, a small metal plate falls out allowing the circuits to short, current starts flowing and the gun fires. There is no way that one could jam the gun because the trigger was pulled to lightly! Plus, the feel is simply great. When You pull the trigger You can hear a tiny “click” - You exactly know when the connection between the circuits was closed. Additionally, such a design prevents the gun from firing while stripping the gun. When the body is separated there are no wire connections between the halves.

Back to general looks:

The colour of the plastic furniture is slightly different on various parts. The butt plate and the cheek rest are a bit darker than the front grip and pistol grip. They aren’t made of rubber (like G&G and Army), but are a bit… hmm rubberized? They don’t slide as easy as normal plastic would. Additionally, after hearing from the airsoft community, ICS decided to produce a moveable gas block. You can set it to Normal, Excess, and Open. Just like on the RS version–nice touch there!

The rail is a 19mm Dovertail. Just like the RS. Some may be worried, as many of the accessories do not fit it. Walther’s ACOG red dot slides easily, yet G&G SUSAT fits perfect. A 22mm conversion will be available soon according to ICS.

The iron sights are just awsome! Fully adjustable, precisely casted, and, what is most important, ACCURATE! No over casting, weird welding or sights of the size of an needle’s ear. After setting the hop up and making slight adjustance, aiming and shooting is like poetry! You hit exactly what you are aiming at.

The hop-up chamber is something completely new. Its plastic and can be adjusted with a nob on the right side. Its a bit similiar to a 1 piece m-series metal HU. The stock HU rubber is suprisingly decent. Mine wasn’t overgreased in any way and works perfectly with 0,2;0,23;0,25 bbs. I’ve tested it in temperature below 10deg Celcius and it performed OK. When adjusting, You can hear a loud click to confirm the movement of the dial. At the same time there is no way for the dial to get loose.

To take out the chamber You have to unscrew the 8 screws holding the entire barrel assembly.One might think that this is extremely troublesome, but at least it allows th HU chamber to hold FIRMLY in place, without any woblle or movement. Remembering all the issues with m-series chambers (accuracy, grouping) I’m glad that ICS decided to go that way. Chamber itself is extremely air-tight. And remember - You don’t have to unscrew all the screws to fix a jam - just take the Gearbox out and voila.

And what You all have been waiting for, the Gearbox!  The GB and trigger mechanisms are patented, also in China, so there’s no way that a clone will be available anytime soon.

On the outside the gearbox looks a bit like TM v7 shell. But only a bit. The mechbox of the L85 is free of any wiring or electric connectors. After disconnecting the wires to the motor what You get is pure mechanics! All the electricity remains in the receiver. It’s great for anybody working on GBs.

As mentioned earlier, ICS grants the users with a limited accessibility to the GB. One can easily change AND adjust the power of the spring. Although quick spring change had been present i.e. in m249 or STARs M-series, the power adjusting system in an AEG is a first!

The spring guide is made of steal and has ball bearings. It has 3 holes to adjust the levels of power of the spring.  You can easily adjust the spring to be either m100/110/120 depending if you are playing at a woodland site or MOUT/CQB. The entire adjustment process does not require any tools and is performed under a minute. Anywhere!

The motor is an excellent ICS Turbo 3000 type short. It’s adjusted via big screw in the back in the motor housing. The housing itself is very thick and there no ways it could easily break (like it does i.e. in G36s)

And the Gearbox itself:

The mechbox is pure mechanics as I mentioned earlier and after taking out the spring there is no tension or power stored in any way. This makes the disassembly and reassembly extremely easy. At first You have to unscrew 1 Philips screw and take out the fire selector lever (it’s made of steel!). Then You just unscrew the remaining Philips screws and… that’s it! It’s SO easy!

The curious thing is that You should place the GB on its right side, nozzle to the left, and not like a standard V2 GB place it on the left side, nozzle right. At first it might seem awkward as all the gears seem to be upside down.

The mechabox’s shell is EXTREMELY tough. The front part is just one SOLID block! As thick as in the CA M249 GB! Almost 1cm of metal! The pneumatics are standard for ICS. We get a white, plastic 16 tooth (at last!!!) piston, type 0 brass cylinder, standard, plastic V2 cylinder head and an air seal nozzle. What’s interesting is that the piston head seems to be 1mm thicker that standard ones. It has no bearing and can be easily switched for any aftermarket one. The entire airseal is surprisingly good! Better than i.e. Hurricane sets.

The gears are standard, extremely strengthened, full steel, ICS gears. I personally used those with an m140 and saw them go on a m150 spring without any problem. They are properly shimmed and greased. No necessity for adjusting this. Simply a job well done. You can clearly see that there is a good quality control plant at ICS.

The tapper plate has “grooves” which allow it to travel more easily back and forth. A pretty neat idea in my opinion.

I can’t talk about the performance as mine exceeds the forum limits.
But the grouping and accuracy are astounding!!! I have NEVER seen a stock gun with such a grouping! The bbs fly exactly where I want them to, not like in the case of i.e. boyi replicas.

I’ve tested the following mags:

• midcaps GP
• lowcaps CA
• realcaps STAR
• midcaps MAG
• lowcaps KA
• lowcaps AK
• hicaps ICS
• hicaps Boyi

NONE had feeding issues! Some were a bit wobbly in the magwell, but none of them fell out nor was this annoying. All the mags performed flawlessly.

Summing up:

I’ve been waiting for this rifle since the very beginning of my career (over 3 years now) ever since the first rendered models appeared on ICS’s website. I’ve been tracking all the possible newscasts on in since September 2007. It was worth it!

The replica is everything I’ve expected from it and more. It looks great, it performs great, and it feels great. You don’t have to play with it, check the gearbox, or anything. It performs absolutely perfect just out of the box! Just plug in the battery and of You go!

If You want to go for the British load out You HAVE to go for it! There is no other SA80 replica which is that solid! The price is even better than any else (except army).
I’ve skirmished it 3 times, put through about 2000 various BBs, also skirmished on a desert and it simply works superb!

I’ve also forgot to mention that there is a storage compartment inside the pistol grip. Exactly like real steel
I hope You enjoyed reading this. Sorry for all the linguistic errors, but I’m a bit tired!