STAR L85A2
 

So there's a new kid on the block who's looking for a piece of action. The STAR L85A2....

Its loud
Its mean looking...
and it's Fucking Heavy (heavier than a full metal G3). She is certainly nice to look at & is also quite loud, almost comparable to a loud GBB pistol.

Im writing from my pda at the moment so i cannot post pictures, however i will certainly do so tomorrow after i finish up at work (or someone could pm me & remind me to do it tomorrow too.)

Price is ¥70,000 without the scope, or ¥82,000 with.

oh i'd be very interested in a short review... ;-)

Heh. I'm hoping mine will be here just after the new year.

Loud... Would that not mean bad?
I mean... it really doesn't matter to me, haha, I'll buy it anyway.

I just hope this comes out under $1000... damn... that's steap, but yeah.

Metal? Plastic? How are the internals? I am pretty skeptical of this rifle, although it has metal bushings and steel gears it does have a plastic gearbox and a 100% spring. any modifications would most certainly make the gearbox explode from the loads.
If the gun is metal then I guess it would be worth buying if you plan to change out the internals, and even then it will end up being the same price as a good AEG.

One thing I noticed is cheaper brand AEG's have loud ass gearboxes, I remember when I got the UTG mp5 I thought it was the greatest thing in the world untill this week when I bought my TM AK47 off tru, I no longer even use the MP5, it is still awesome but its like comparing a Bentley to a Honda, if you had the ferrari the honda would just be sitting there, same goes to these low wnd guns, they might be fun and all but when it comes to actually using one for skirmashing I would only trust something that has been proven time and time again like the TM line of guns.

Anyway give us a good long review with pictures and all, take notes of the materials, quality of the seams, areas for improvement, perhaps this gun wouldnt be so bad once you swap a different mechbox in to it, but as said before $$$.

Thanks and enjoy your new toy for the holidays :grin:

Metal? Plastic? How are the internals? I am pretty skeptical of this rifle, although it has metal bushings and steel gears it does have a plastic gearbox and a 100% spring. any modifications would most certainly make the gearbox explode from the loads.
If the gun is metal then I guess it would be worth buying if you plan to change out the internals, and even then it will end up being more expensive than a good AEG? isnt it around 500$ USD? How much did you end up paying in CAD?

Anyway give us a good long review with pictures and all, take notes of the materials, quality of the seams, areas for improvement, perhaps this gun wouldnt be so bad once you swap a different mechbox in to it, but as said before $$$.

Thanks and enjoy your new toy for the holidays :grin:

http://www.pozland.com/gaijin/L821.JPG
To me, the front-end looks a lot more like that Chinese bullpup.

http://www.pozland.com/gaijin/L822.JPG
It's certainly short and will only be accepting specialized mags produced by STAR, sadly I've been told by the shop that it won't take M16 mags

http://www.pozland.com/gaijin/L853.JPG
The main body is made of heavy duty metal, as I said, the entire gun is quite heavy

http://www.pozland.com/gaijin/L854.JPG
The front end, grip and butt are all made of polymer which feels quite nice on the hands.

http://www.pozland.com/gaijin/L855.JPG
Pulling back on the cocking lever pops open the shell ejecting port (funtionless) however at the front of the cocking lever is where the hop-up adjuster is

http://www.pozland.com/gaijin/L856.JPG
This is the working scope which will come with it as a kit

http://www.pozland.com/gaijin/L857.JPG
The battery will fit into the forward grip, similar to an MP5

http://www.pozland.com/gaijin/L858.JPG
Oh c'mon now... THATS not how you hold a rifle.

Steel body (not monkey metal), plastic foregrips.

The gun comes from the factory at almost 400 fps according to a thread on Arnie's, UK retailers had to downgrade it to sell it. And polycarbonate (what the STAR gearbox is made from) has a stronger tensile strength than the monkey metal of a stock TM mechbox....

Beats me why you would want to swap out the internals without ever having even handled the gun, but at most it will cost $200 to replace most of the gearbox internals if you choose to do so. Owning a relatively rare full-metal L85 is worth the extra cost IMHO, when the only semi-vaible alternative is the Academy version. Incidentally, I paid $670 CANADIAN from Grim Fandango here on ASC.

I'm confused...why do you automatically assume the internals need to be swapped out? Why do you automatically assume the gun is bad? All the reviews from the UK say it's one of the finest airsoft guns built so far, and that includes the newest TM series for comparison....

Most of the reviews I've seen say it can use regular M16 mags. Heard some bad things about intermittent failures. I'm going to wait for the 2nd or 3rd generation as long as Grim Fandango will still be doing orders.

I am not assuming its bad, I said I was skeptical of the plastic internals, just stating my opinion when I hear the word plastic, but if you say its as tough as it is the I would definetly consider one since it is a full metal gun, thanks for the info.

Bah...what the heck, I ordered one on the info that it would take M4 mags :(

Cant you customize an M4 mag to fit?

I dunno yet. I don't have mine yet. Pre-ordered from Grim.

Are we talking about the same gun here?

I was told it wasn't released out of Japan and it's actual physical release date was today or yesterday... AND that the STAR L85A2 couldn't accept M16 mags...

Eeep!

The STAR ad seems to suggest that It can, and does accept "ALL m16 siries mags"

http://www.starairsoft.com/Large/SAA_L85A2_2_L.jpg

There is a big thread at arnies about the STAR L85. here
Seems as if people aren't too pleased with the selector switch and takedown, although good things are being said about the mechbox...Still damn tempting to get one from Grim.

Hmm... that version in that ad looks somewhat different from what I was playing around with. The ad version looks physically longer, the forward grip is different and there is a lack of the large cheek peice on the one I saw.

Its all the same rifle just a different variant. Sort of like M4's and M16's, same design just different length.

You had the A2 Carbine, which is smaller than the regular A2. There is also an extended-barrel LSW version with a bipod, and a tiny SMG-style version designed for vehicle crews. To my knowledge, the only one that wasn't actually adopted by the UK was the Carbine version you were holding.

I don't know why it would effect anything, but could it be that by some design issue the Carbine can't accept M4/M16 mags but the full rifle can?

just a question here: has anyone in canada gotten one of these yet. i see that wgc is advertising them as "in stock" (carbine and a2). $585 u.s. (ouch!!).

I have an A2 on order from Grim Fandango. I'll be doing a complete review when it gets here (hopefully soon).

Some piccys for you all
http://images3.pictiger.com/images/5...55b59ff55e.jpg
http://images3.pictiger.com/images/1...68cd6bb91d.jpg
http://images3.pictiger.com/images/4...e147f2b345.jpg
http://images3.pictiger.com/images/0...7a7d0df006.jpg
Cheers chaps.

Neat.

Was looking to pick one of these up - assuming the VFC AK is bad, or over accesorized.

Any chance of a review?

Man, thanks Tommy, that's badass. I've got one on the way (with SUSAT). What size battery are you running in yours? Do you know what the maximum cell size what will fit in the handguard is (ie: 'arger than the 2000MaH Sub-C's? My 2400 Sub C's are slightly longer)?

Any problems to report, or reliability issues? Plusses? Minuses? I've read the threads on Arnies and ASCUK, but to be honest they're not really informative, but mostly speculative.

skru,

I currently have running a 3300Mahhttp://www.zerooneairsoft.co.uk/erol/erol.html

r.e the weapon itself its performed better then i expected, one oif the best AEG's ive ever owned. Bought mine when it first came out and never regreted it.
but still from what ive heard its been hit and miss, some bods have had problems and some haven't.
Weight and looks (minus a few minor details only spotted by the trained eye) are spot on to the real deal.

still even if it did perform bad i would have bought it for sentimental reasons.

overall YOU MUST buy this weapon.

Tommy, does it accept standard M4/M16 magazines?

It does mate, yes

great pics tommy!!
Making me wanna buy one now :borg:

Who is this Grim Fandango? :smack:

I want an A2. I've been holding off getting a new AEG for a while because I do want an L8 but the only one at the time was the Academy. So I've been waiting for the release of the STAR A2, voila it is finally released.

hello everyone! :salute: I am new to this forum and I just can't standback and not say anything when you guys are discussing about the STAR L85A2!!!

Since I just got mine on friday and was playing a game with it yesterday. I will write a short review on it right now

What I have so far: TM M4A1 with 330-350fps
WE Baby Hi-Capa with 270-300FPS
STAR L85A2 with 390-410fps!!!!!

Spec of the STAR L85A2 (from the manfuct. menu)

Material: Nylon Fiber & Steel
Hopup system: Adjustable
Length: 773MM
Weight: 4399G (with iron sight)
magazine capacity: 130 rounds
bullet: 6mm BB
battery: 8.4V 3300Mah
Motor: high torque flat motor

ok ok ok so now heres the meat to this reply....

The gun is pretty heavy, so when i was out in the field it wore me out faster than my M4. I also need to adjust my way of shooting since this gun is a bipod and heavier compare to my M4A1. :|

and YESSSSSSS the Star L85A2 takes :lol: M16 Mag :lol: , but only TM!!!!! Infinity and G&P mag will fit but will fall out if u pull it!!!! (yup.... i lost one of each yesterday... but the TM STAYS ON!!!!!) For looks, the STAR standard 130rds L85 mag is the most handsome (metal)

for battary, the instruction menu recommed a custom 8.4V 3300Mah battery. But I used my Nunchaku 9.6v 1600mag battery (it took my friend and I a long time to figure out how to fit this damn thing into the foregrip)

The gun perform very very very well, it is a extremely solid gun to hold and SHOOT! the Rate of Fire on the L85 is fairly fast, and the range on this baby is very good despise on the fact tat its a stock gun!!!! (It rivals my buddies Redwolf 375-400fps upgrade TM M16 series on range!!!)

This gun can take a lot of punishment, from running into thick branches and bushes to dropping this baby rite on the ground (yea... it hurts but good thing it didn't break) YOU KNOW you can charge though those Yao Ming size branches without worrying rather or not ur gun will lose a certain PLASTIC part (oooooo wait, the L85A2 is made out of METAL)

The iron sight (too poor to get the scope :banghead: ) is fairly good and in my opinion more effective than using a scope. And the hop-up adjustment is easy to use too.

ok.... now the downside of the L85A2....

First if you think of customizing this baby, go look for another gun (M16 series/ MP5 series) because since it is such a new product on the market, its hard to find parts tat really match and fit the L85A2 (the storeowner said STAR is planning to launch a couple accessories for this line of rifle, don't know if this fact is reliable)

Second, the weight.... it is certainly very nice to have such a solid and heavy gun to shoot and play with.... But when an outdoor game goes longer than expected... it is a pain to carry this rifle while running and setting up amblush and such..
(I think its just me since I am not tat build and I am pretty short ahahah 5'5 8) so taller or buffer people ignore this fact, don't worry! you will do fine with the L85A2)

Third, appearance and heritage...... ok I was immigranted into the US when I was 10 from Hong Kong, so I still have some of the UK pride in me despite on the fact tat I am now a US Citizen (I love my country!! USA! USA! USA! 8) ) therefore one of the reason for me to purchase the L85A2 (still didn't regret it at allllll) is to connect my soul to my past. BUT in the U.S. not a lot of airsofters are amaze at the L85A2 at all (hahaha yea, I can understand tat since I grew up over here) since my fellow countrymen doesn't like foreign weapon as much, my poor L85A2 took a lot of "U.S. Pride" hating :| :| :| ...... (haha I don't think it will be a problem in Canada tho)

Fourth, it is a bitch to put the battery into the foregrip, since you need to unscrew the foregrip and then take it out in a fairly odd way then adjust the battery into the foregrip then pop the SOB back on the rifle!!!

Appearance/material: 9/10
Performance: 9/10
upgrade: 5/10 (it comes out of the box with 390-400fps, WHO NEEDS UPGRADE????)
accessories: 5/10
U.K. Pride: 10/10 (score only matter to English or any citizen that has tight with the British goverment)
U.S. Pride: 2/10 (score only matter to USA! USA! USA! USA!)

ok last and finalllllllllllllll, if you are looking for a solid gun that can take punishment and good performance out of the box, the L85A2 is the only product out in the market that deliver BOTH! so GET IT! And after you hold and shoot this baby, you won't regret in buying this gun with the high amount of $$$$$$.