Newly made L85 rifles hit drills and 550-yard steel in US test

Britain's bullpup service rifle has a reputation in the U.S. for being nearly impossible to get your hands on, since the UK military destroys retired examples rather than surplus them. In a video from Garand Thumb, host Mike sits down with Evan Murdoch, founder of Murdoch & Co., to put the company's newly manufactured L85A1 and L85A2 recreations through their paces on the range.

Snapshot

Murdoch explains that his company built these SA80-pattern rifles from scratch, working with the Royal Armouries and the UK Ministry of Defence to match original dimensions, stampings and markings rather than relying on imported parts kits. The Garand Thumb crew then runs the rifles through drills and distance shooting to see how a faithful recreation of the L85 handles under pressure.

Key points

• Built from a blank slate: Murdoch says every stamping die was designed and engineered in-house, not sourced from tooling or kits, since British examples are never surplused.
• Fast on close drills: Mike and co-host Sawyer ran Bill Drills and a Mozambique drill, posting sub-two-second times with clean hits using the L85A2 configuration.
• Historical optic setup: The rifle was fitted with the same ACOG the Marine Corps issued, paired with a Doctor red dot, mirroring the 2008-2010 urgent operational requirement upgrade Murdoch describes.
• Distance performance: Shooters connected on steel out to roughly 550 yards, with Mike noting consistent impact points and praising the rifle's flat-shooting behavior.
• Smooth cycling action: Mike compares the rifle's feel to a 5.56 AK, calling it one of the smoothest-cycling service rifles he's handled.

Quick take

For readers who've only seen the L85 in video games or British hands, this video offers a rare look at a faithfully reproduced version actually running drills stateside. Murdoch's pitch is preservation as much as performance, and the range results back up his claim that the rifle still holds up as a serious combat design.

Watch the full video: Garand Thumb