American-Made L85 Reproduction Hits 550 Yards in First Look

The SA80 family has been British service doctrine since 1982, but the UK military destroys retired rifles instead of surplussing them, so civilian examples have basically never existed in the US. In a video from Garand Thumb, host Mike Jones sits down with Evan Murdoch, founder of Murdoch & Co., who built American-made, semi-automatic L85 reproductions from scratch rather than from imported parts kits.

Snapshot

Murdoch explains that his company worked directly with the Royal Armouries and the UK Ministry of Defence to engineer the rifles one-to-one, down to historically accurate stampings and markings, since no original tooling or surplus guns were available to copy. The crew then runs the L85A1 and L85A2 through drills and distance shooting to see how a faithfully reproduced British bullpup actually performs.

Key points

• Built from a blank slate: Murdoch says every stamping die was designed in-house, not sourced from kits or leftover MOD tooling, since the originals are never released intact.
• Full model lineup: The company currently offers L85A1 and L85A2 configurations, with an L85A3 version planned.
• Trigger and handling notes: Mil-spec L85 triggers run 6.3 to 7 pounds, heavier than a typical AR-15, and Jones describes the action as unusually smooth cycling for a service rifle.
• Drill performance: On camera, the testers run a Bill Drill and a Mozambique drill at close range with clean, fast hits, then stretch out to roughly 300 and 550 yards using a period-correct ACOG mount.
• Long-range showing: Both shooters land repeated hits at 550 yards, which Jones calls the outer edge of typical 5.56 engagement distance, noting the 20-inch barrel likely has room to push further.

Quick take

This is less a torture test than a first look at a rifle most American shooters assumed they'd never legally own, and Garand Thumb treats it that way, focused on historical accuracy and whether the reproduction handles like the real SA80. On the evidence shown, Murdoch's recreation shoots flat, cycles smoothly, and holds up at distance, though the video is clear this is a controlled range day, not a durability review.

Watch the full video: Garand Thumb