G&G Armament L85

Repair and modifications

So, you bought a G&G L85 and now you’d like to turn it into a useful airsoft weapon?
There are a couple of work-arounds that (might) allow the gun to keep working but if
fielding a section 5 firearm (in the UK) isn’t your thing and you’d like to be able to
use a battery bigger than 7.2v then this is the guide for you.

BE WARNED, I have had great results with these modifications but you MUST carry
them out as soon as you get your gun. If you decide to leave it stock until something
goes wrong then I can’t guarantee that these modifications will correct the fault. The
G&G L85 has a wonderful talent for cascading failures; if one part breaks it will
probably take out several others with it. You get the idea.
First, the blowback system: Great isn’t it? Hook a battery up to the gun. Shoot it in
semi about 10 times. Marvel as the fake bolt whizzes backward and forward.
Now wave it goodbye cos it’s got to go!

Pop out the rear TMH pin from the left. Slide the bottom half of the receiver back
about 2” and the 2 halves of the gun should separate. Note that this can be a bit sticky
when the gun is new. It’s made of steel and the edges can have tiny burrs which cause
things to catch on each other. Also be aware that the 2 halves of the receiver are
joined by the battery lead. It has an in-line connector and you can disconnect it if it’ll
help.

Remove this pin in order to field-strip

the gun.

Upper and lower receiver split, ready for

further work. Note electrical connector that
needs to be disconnected.

Forget the top half of the receiver. It’s the bottom half we’re interested in.
All you need to do is remove the screw from the top-rear of the upper gearbox then
slide the blowback hook and carrier right the way back and lift it out.

Remove this screw then slide

blowback carrier back, up, and out.
After removing the hook and carrier, replace the screw, reconnect the battery lead (if
you disconnected it) and reassemble the gun. Make sure that the edges of the upper
receiver fit correctly into the guides in the lower receiver. Note that the gun can be
quite tricky to reassemble, especially when new due to burrs on the edges of the steel.

Once it’s out you should make sure it’s stored properly for future use.
Congratulations! You have just halved the chances of the gun failing before it’s fired
100 shots.

Remember to store the blowback

mechanism somewhere suitable after
removal!
Halved? Only halved???
Well, unfortunately, yes.
There is a fundamental problem with the G&G L85. It’s the first ever production
AEG that uses an 18 tooth piston and fires in full-auto. It’s also the first ever full-auto
gun to fire from a PSG1-style pre-cocked piston.

Oh dear. Both of these “features” are actually causes of problems to a greater or lesser
extent.
The gun fires from a pre-cocked piston. That means that, when you pull the trigger the
gun winds the piston back a tiny bit, fires and then winds it most of the way back
again, ready for the next shot.

This is a good thing because it means your shot fires almost as soon as you pull the
trigger and it means that the fake bolt cycles realistically, after the shot is fired.
Shame we had to disable the blowback to stop it killing the gun then.

However, firing from a pre-cocked piston is a bad thing because it means that, when
you change from auto to semi, you will almost always get a misfire.
This happens because, when you’re firing in auto, the gun stops firing with the sector
gear wherever it happens to be when you take your finger off the trigger. You then
change to semi, pull the trigger and the sector gear will only spin far enough to cock
the spring for the next shot and then stop. Oh joy!

This might not sound like a big deal but it can be infuriating if you’re all lined up for
some glorious surprise kill and, instead, you just get a whirring noise which causes
your target to turn around and lace you with BBs.
Moving along, and more importantly, we need to look at the whole disaster with the
18-tooth piston. This will (unofficially) probably go down in airsoft history as one of
the greatest “lessons learned” by a manufacturer.

In a nutshell, as the gun fires the sector gear can spin right round and engage with the
piston again before it’s finished moving forward. This almost always results in the
back end of the piston getting smashed off within a couple of hundred shots.
G&G appear to have tried to minimise this problem by selling the gun with an M120
spring fitted so the piston can move forward faster. In the UK, however, the gun will
probably be downgraded to an M100 spring and this makes the problem worse.
It should be noted that G&G recommend no battery with a voltage higher than 8.4v
should be used with the gun. In practise, it has been found that 7.2v batteries are more
suitable for use in a gun fitted with a 1J spring.

So, those are the problems. How do we fix them?

Well, fortunately, there is a simple, elegant solution which resolves both of the above
issues. We need to replace both the G&G piston and sector gear with TM (or
compatible) items.
Field-strip the gun as before. Remove the rear TMH pin slide the lower receiver
backward until the 2 halves separate. Disconnect the battery lead and put the upper
receiver to one side.

We now need to split the upper and lower gearbox.

Before splitting the upper and lower gearbox, remember to press the spring-
decompress lever in the mag-well and, if necessary, help the piston forward by
pushing it with a screwdriver inserted into the slot where the blowback carrier used to
live.

First, you need to locate the spring that runs from an R-clip and hooks over a pin cast
into the upper receiver. It’s on the left side of the gun. Unhook this spring from the
pin on the upper gearbox. You don’t need to remove the clip at this time, just unhook
the spring.

Unhook this spring before removing

the upper gearbox.

Now you need to locate the pin on the right side of the gearbox which has a folding
head. Simply fold the head out to give you a better grip and pull this pin out while
gripping the gun so that both gearbox halves are held together.

Pull out this pin to separate the upper and

lower gearbox sections. You might have to
wriggle it at first. It’s tight!

Once the pin is removed the rear of the upper gearbox can be lifted up and then the
upper gearbox is slid forward and removed.
There are 4 screws securing the upper gearbox together. Remove them all. There is
also a flat plate clamping the 2 halves together along the top. This must be removed
by pressing a flat-bladed screwdriver against it and tapping it forward.

You can now split the 2 halves of the upper gearbox and examine the components.
Note the position of the tappet plate and its spring.

Upper gearbox with 4 x screws and

clamp plate removed.

The new piston should now be assembled and made ready for installation.
The simplest way to assemble a suitable piston, in my experience, is to use a standard
Tokyo Marui piston, remove the alloy weight from inside it and fit it between the
piston and head, as a spacer. Note that the hole through the middle of the alloy weight
will need to be enlarged to allow a screw to fit through it.

Component parts of replacement piston.

TM Piston, including alloy weight, and
after-market piston head.
G&G piston head is fine for use but
mine already got used in another gun
after the original piston expired.

Note that it will be the responsibility of the user to ensure that the piston, spacer and
head are all fitted together concentrically. I would suggest that, if you have the
facilities, a better engineered spacer is fabricated and fitted.
Modified piston assembled and ready
for installation. Note 2nd tooth has
been filed down as further precaution
against early engagement.

With the piston assembled correctly, the alloy weight should hold the metal piston
tooth in place securely. Again, it is absolutely critical to the success of the project that
these parts are accurately assembled.

The spacer needs to be 10mm thick.

You will require a suitable screw to reassemble the piston. The screw will need to be
(obviously) 10mm longer than the original one.

With the revised piston assembled, it can be fitted into the gun along with a new
spring if desired and the upper gearbox can be reassembled.

Once the upper gearbox is reassembled the piston should be checked for smooth
operation by inserting a thin screwdriver through the nozzle and compressing the
spring.
Now you need to replace the sector gear. Gearboxes are scary things and the G&G
L85 one is a strange looking beast. Fortunately, it’s actually pretty easy to work on so
there’s no need to panic.

First you need to unhook the wiring from the lugs that secure it along the side of the
mag-well. You can bend these lugs slightly if you need to. You can always bend them
back after refitting the wires.

Wiring loose, ready for gearbox

removal.

You might need to bend these clips

slightly to free the wires.

At this point it’s worth having a look down into the gun to see what’s in there. G&G
have, rather cleverly, devised methods of activating the trigger and fire selector by
levers that aren’t permanently fixed to the gearbox. This makes it much easier to pull
the gun to bits but it does mean you need to line everything up properly when
reassembling the gun.

Note how lug on gearbox

trigger aligns with slot in
trigger bar.
Next thing is to remove the R-clip that has a spring dangling from it. Note which way
round it fits. If you put it back the wrong way around you might find that the bolt-
catch will no longer function correctly.

Pull this clip out. Note that, at this

point, you should already have the
upper gearbox removed so the
spring will be hanging loose.

With the R-clip removed you can slide out the bolt-catch lever. Again, don’t panic.
Nothing will come loose when you remove this. The bolt-catch is fixed to the
gearbox.

You now need to push out the middle TMH pin out from the left. Believe it or not, the
gearbox is now loose!

Push this pin out from the left side of the

gun to free the lower gearbox. Note that
bolt catch lever will also be removed.

Getting the gearbox out is a bit of an art. At first you’ll swear it’s stuck in place and
then, suddenly, it’ll come loose.
I’d suggest pushing upward on the spring release lever at the front. Don’t push hard,
just enough to start the front lifting up.
Now grab the back of the motor cage and lift it up slightly. It won’t move very far but
it’ll move enough that the gearbox shifts position slightly.
Now you should be able to lift the front of the gearbox up so it clears the lip of the
mag-well and comes completely free.
Lift the gearbox up so that it’s facing upward almost vertically.
 After a bit of pulling, the gearbox
should pivot up like this.

At this point the slots in the motor cage will probably be wedged into the lugs in the
edges of the lower receiver. Push the motor cage forward about 1” and you should be
able to lift the gearbox up and out of the receiver.

Push it forward a little way and

then lift it.

Spend a few minutes looking at the gearbox. Familiarise yourself with the various
levers and doohickeys bolted to the outside of it. Take pictures if you think it’ll help.
Fortunately, you don’t actually need to touch any of this stuff to replace the sector
gear. Phew!

The gearbox in all its glory.

Mmmm, Whizzy!
There are 6 screws you need to remove to gain access to the gears and replace the
sector gear.

Remove the 2 screws that secure the motor cage, slide it out backwards and set it
aside. Note that you will need to disconnect the wires from the motor before the cage
will slide backwards.
Make sure you align the bolt-catch correctly before removing the top motor-cage
screw.

Bolt catch overlapping motor cage

screw. You can loosen the screw
but it’ll damage the bolt catch.

Bolt catch positioned so that motor cage

screw can be removed correctly.

Note, incidentally, how the cage clamps onto the gearbox. Most of the best features of
the G&G gun are this sort of thing rather than gimmicks such as the blowback.

Remove the 2 screws that secure the trigger cover and lift it up. There should be a
shim underneath this. Make sure you recover it and refit it when you reassemble the
gearbox.

Positions of 2 screws that release

trigger cover. Note different
lengths of screws and position of
shim under lower screw.
Remove the final 2 screws and the gearbox can be split apart.

Replace the sector gear with a TM compatible one, adjust the shims as required and
refit the 2 gearbox halves back together.

If you really like the pre-cocked firing thing you can, instead, remove 3 teeth from the
G&G sector gear.
If you look at the G&G sector gear you will see that 1 tooth is thicker than all the rest.
You need to remove 3 teeth from the opposite end of the gear.
Bear in mind that this will adjust the tappet plate and nozzle timing slightly.
That’s a bit dodgy in my opinion. Fit a TM sector gear and forget about all that pre-
cocked piston nonsense.

Comparison of TM and G&G

sector gears, showing 3 teeth that
need to be removed from G&G
gear when used with 16 tooth
piston.

Incidentally, if your gears have been damaged previously, I can confirm that TM
PSG1 gears will fit in this gun (thanks to Cazboab of Arnies Airsoft for spotting this).

At this point I should mention that I found the pin through the spring release lever to
be loose. I drilled the hole through the lever slightly bigger and then tapped the holes
in the gearbox and fitted a 3mm screw to secure the lever.
Anyway, you’re almost there now. Rebuild the gearbox. Don’t forget to refit the shim
to the trigger cover and ensure the loop of wire to the trigger cover is above the spring
release rather than below it.

When you’re refitting the gearbox back into the lower receiver, drop it in motor-first
and then pivot the front down. You’ll probably find that the front of the gearbox
won’t quite fit back into place. Lift up the rear of the motor slightly and the front
should drop into place. Check that the lug on the side of the gearbox matches up with
the trigger linkage.
Replace the wires into their slot along the side of the magwell, fit the TMH pin back,
put the bolt-catch lever back and refit the R-clip (making sure you fit it facing
backwards)
Hook the upper gearbox over the lugs in the front of the lower, pivot it down into
place and replace the pin that secures the 2 halves.

At this point it’s worth test-firing the gun to ensure everything is working properly.

Reassemble the upper and lower receiver and you’re done.

Check that edges of upper

receiver are engaged properly with
lugs on lower receiver. This isn’t
always easy!

You now have a gun which is reliable and conventional. Shame that meant removing
a couple of the gimmicks G&G came up with but them’s the breaks.