To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

[Bazzerker]

Guys, bit of advice required. I have found a site which is selling a WE L85A2 for a very good price. I currently have a Star L85, which is nice and bruised from use. Parts for it are hard to find. It is in great working condition but after getting a Bolt M4 B.R.S.S recoil gun it has made me think about getting the WE.
I have been thinking about it for some time but never found a good priced version.
Should i take a plunge? or are there better gas guns out there, I love the L85 and a compact gun is more my play style.
Thanks for any advice

[mrflib8le]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

I had one and I'd definateley recommend it. nice kick and accuracy, the only thing you need to do is add two washers on the bolt's guide rods otherwise the bolt can deform over time and result in the gun jamming or failing to fire. If you buy it I highly recommend to HPA tap it but thats just me

[Fizzy]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

or are there better gas guns out there

Plenty, most things by GHK, especially their G5, are highly regarded

[Hairybear]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

People still seem to give WE a bad rep. As long as you take care of them, cleaning and maintenance, they run fine. A friend runs one and it seems fine. Parts are easy to source and not too expensive.

As stated above, running them on hpa is recommended to get the best results.

[GiantKiwi]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

People still seem to give WE a bad rep. As long as you take care of them, cleaning and maintenance, they run fine. A friend runs one and it seems fine. Parts are easy to source and not too expensive.

As stated above, running them on hpa is recommended to get the best results.

The point is, you shouldn't have to modify them in any way to get them working at their best results. That's why they still have the bad rep. Until that stops being the case, other makes will continue to be superior.

[Hairybear]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

I get your point. All I was meaning by it was that running it on hpa for best results means you can enjoy the full benefits and experience from using a gbb and not deal with the problems of gas, especially in this country.
As for parts and upgrades, it's good to know they are available should you need a replacement as things do break/wear down over time.

[GiantKiwi]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

I get your point. All I was meaning by it was that running it on hpa for best results means you can enjoy the full benefits and experience from using a gbb and not deal with the problems of gas, especially in this country.

Again, if you use a better platform, the problems with gas, don't exist in this country at any time of year. HPA is never a better option or experience, we effectively backtrack a decade in developments by doing that.

[StargateP90]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

The point is, you shouldn't have to modify them in any way to get them working at their best results. That's why they still have the bad rep. Until that stops being the case, other makes will continue to be superior.

Look at VFC. 3 times the price and rarely work out of the box....

I had the WE L85 and the STAR for a while; weight and balance are pretty similar. The WE is good, accurate, solid range and not many issues with it. Main problem is the bolt can have a tendency to eat itself after repeatedly banging into the rear of the recoil spring. This is easily solved by fitted some dense closed cell foam or rubber just behind it to cushion the blow.

As for the rest I would suggest swapping the barrel, hop rubber & nub as these are not fantastic but are skirmishable, my suggestion would be Maple Leaf 6.02 barrel, Maple Leaf Autobot 60degree & Maple leaf concave nub. That will give some excellent range and accuracy.
Also make sure you buy the V3 magazines. These magazines have a split 2 stage gas chamber design which makes the mags much less prone to leaking and much better on gas efficiency. Easily to distinguish as the V3 mags have a star head screw in the bottom, the rest do not.

I would also suggest keeping the rest of the internal parts standard OEM; i.e not RA-Tech steel, in my experience these cause more issues than they solve. If/when something breaks just buy OEM parts again and fit.

Overall it is a great rifle from WE, better since no one else makes one…

[mrflib8le]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

HPA is never a better option or experience,

I strongly disagree with this. It's a fact that with HPA, gbbrs have the same consistency shot for shot and suffer zero cooldown. Using just gas in the mag, as you fire, the fps will start to lower and the felt recoil will lessen due to the lack of gas so HPA provides the best experience, especially in this country

[StargateP90]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

Yes BUT you have to spend a chunk of cash on a regulator, bottle, line, backpack and mag connectors as well as carrying round and weighty tank and not to mention looking like your going diving. Plus your reload speed is diminished by at least a factor of 10 if not more.

HPA only makes sense if using a drum mag or similar. For a 30 round mag don't waste my time.

If the temp is less than say 15c use propane, use semi and you WILL fire off all 30 rounds and near enough full power.

[mrflib8le]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

Around £180 including tank, regulator and line which isn't much in the long run. 48cl tank which can last half a day only weighs a couple of pounds. using a small backpack is hardly an inconvenience (if you use a vest you can easily attach a bottle pouch etc.). Unless you're wearing a wet suit and flippers, you don't look like you're going diving and it only takes a few extra seconds to reload. In winter you may be able to get off all your shots at full power but you can't take quick follow up shots, you need to let the gas settle then fire. The pros far outweigh the cons

[Hairybear]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

I'm with the hpa side on this. Doesn't matter how great your gbb performs with gas, hpa is just more consistent and was the best move I made.

[StargateP90]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

So £180 on top thats not exactly small change. Its actually very expensive for a minor performance increase with added weight and incredibly slow reload speed. Not to mention a pain in the ass if you want to put your rifle down quickly, having to un- clip a hose. Theres also the issue of having to refill the HPA tank by either buying a large scuba tank or refilling it somewhere that does. More cost.

When I can get a tank of propane for £1.50 and have £180 to spend on game day, few pints and a new side arm if I fancy.

Plus there are Co2 mags. While the WE Co2 mags are not fantastic, a little TLC they are pretty decent which would over come any issues in the cold and buying in bulk Co2 carts are not very expensive. There are also the refillable Co2 carts, personally had no experience with them so can't comment but they do exist.

What ever the OP decides to do the WE L85 is a pretty solid platform and considering you are already used to the weight and controls that shouldnt be an issue for you.

[Siggi]

Re: To Buy WE L85 or Not to Buy?

So £180 on top thats not exactly small change. Its actually very expensive for a minor performance increase with added weight and incredibly slow reload speed. Not to mention a pain in the ass if you want to put your rifle down quickly, having to un- clip a hose. Theres also the issue of having to refill the HPA tank by either buying a large scuba tank or refilling it somewhere that does. More cost.

Or you can buy a stirrup pump. I used to use one for my 3000psi bottle for an HPA air-rifle. It kept me fit if nothing else. I still have it in a cupboard.