Garand Thumb Live-Fires America's First Made-From-Scratch SA80 Clones

The L85 has been a Hollywood and video game staple for years, but actually owning one in the States was never really on the table — until now. In a video from Garand Thumb, the hosts sit down with Evan Murdoch, founder of Murdoch & Co., to run his American-made SA80/L85 reproductions through drills and distance shooting.

Snapshot

Evan Murdoch explains how his company rebuilt the British service rifle from scratch, since the UK military destroys its L85s instead of surplusing them. The Garand Thumb crew then tests the L85A1 and A2 on close-range drills and out to roughly 550 yards, with Murdoch arguing the rifles are true one-to-one reproductions rather than parts kits or imports.

Key points

• Built from a blank slate: Murdoch says his team worked with the Royal Armouries and the UK Ministry of Defence to engineer every stamping die from zero, not from tooling or surplus parts.
• Three variants shown: The lineup covers the L85A1, L85A2, and an upcoming L85A3, all chambered in 5.56 with a short-stroke gas piston system.
• Trigger and controls: The hosts clock the mil-spec trigger around 6.3 to 7 pounds and note the safety takes some getting used to for American shooters.
• Drills and distance: They run a Bill Drill and a Mozambique drill at close range, then shoot 62-grain ammo at 300 and out to about 550 yards using an ACOG setup similar to what Royal Marines and the US Marine Corps have issued.
• Smooth cycling: The host repeatedly calls it one of the smoothest-cycling service rifles he's handled, comparing the action to glass sliding on glass.

Quick take

If you've only seen the L85 in games or war footage, this is a rare chance to watch someone actually shoot a faithfully reproduced version and hear from the guy who engineered it. Worth watching for the history alone, plus the live-fire footage showing the rifle holds up past its typical combat range.

Watch the full video: Garand Thumb