L86 LSW

The BAE Systems L86 LSW is a Light Machine Gun in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, where it made its first and so far, only appearance. It is one of two already unlocked LMGs the player starts out with in multiplayer.

Info
The L86A2 LSW (Light Support Weapon) is a military firearm currently in service with the British Army. Along with the L85 assault rifle, it originated from the British SA80 weapons program of the 1980's, the goal of which was to produce a family of firearms in the bullpup configuration capable of firing 5.56 mm NATO ammunition. Though originally intended as a replacement for the venerable Bren light machine gun, the L86 is now usually employed as a designated marksman rifle instead. It has been largely replaced in its previous role by the L110A1, otherwise known as the Para variant of FN Minimi.

Like the AUG HBAR and the RPD, the L86 is basically a conversion of a standard assault rifle to provide sustained automatic fire and suppression capabilities. In this case, it was converted from the L85 assault rifle, with which it shares many mechanical components as well as the use of a SUSAT scope. The main difference is that the L86 uses a longer and heavier barrel supported by a bipod, which results in a greater effective range than the L85.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
The L86 is a LSW (Light Support Weapon) used by the British Armed Forces. It has been featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It is available when the player first starts multiplayer. It kills in 2-3 shots (depending on stopping power) in standard multiplayer game types and 1 in hardcore games. It is quite accurate for a light machine gun but only if short, controlled bursts are used. At extreme range, the weapon should be fired like a semi-automatic or burst fired weapon to ensure accuracy. Like all LMGs, it has no damage drop off at range so it could even be used as an automatic Sniper Rifle, if the Bling perk is used to attach a Thermal Scope and Grip. When the ACOG Scope attachment is equipped, it takes the appearance of the British SUSAT sight which is standard on all L85 and L86 rifles. On the level Loose Ends, three L86s can be found next to a window held up by their bipods. All of these weapons have the correct SUSAT scope, with a needle in place of the ACOG crosshair. However, the SUSAT sight is given very little magnification, in reality it should be x4. The weapon also has a drum magazine, unlike the real one which uses 30 round STANAG magazines. Because it uses a drum magazine, the reload time is far quicker than that of the MG4, RPD and M240, which are belt-fed.

The L86 LSW does the most damage per second out of all the weapons in the game, though at close range it is beaten by the shotguns and MP5K, and is equal to the TAR-21. However, they have their disadvantages. The L86 LSW beats all weapons in terms of damage per second at long range. However, the L86 does have reasonably heavy recoil and what are generally considered bad sights, which balance the high damage out.

Weapon Attachments

 * Grip (Marksman I)
 * Red Dot Sight (Marksman II)
 * EOTech Holographic Weapon Sight(60 kills while aiming down the Red Dot Sight)
 * Silencer (Marksman III)
 * Heartbeat Sensor (15 kills with the silencer attached)
 * ACOG Scope / SUSAT (Marksman IV)
 * Thermal Scope (20 kills while aiming down ACOG)
 * FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) (Marksman V)
 * Extended Mags (40 kills with Bullet Penetration while using FMJ)

Inaccuracies

 * The foregrip is the same as the one found on the L85, while in reality it is shortened to make room for the extended barrel rails.
 * Although technically a 100-round drum magazine like the BETA C-mag would fit into the L86 LSW, as the SA80 series of weapons is STANAG compliant, such magazines are plagued with feed problems which are exacerbated by rugged conditions. Consequently, military organizations would never use them in reality. The standard L85 28-30 Round STANAG magazine is used on the LSW in real life. However, this may have been done for balance purposes, as all the other machine-guns have larger magazines.
 * It should also be noted that a BETA C-mag would make the L85 extremely difficult to wield as it is a bullpup rifle. The large bulky C-mag would simply get in the way of the shooters trigger arm,and would force the shooter to chicken-winging in real-life, stressing out the shooting arm and make aiming harder.
 * A grip is normally placed behind the magazine, (closer to the rifleman), as when in the prone position, the rifleman's right hand should be on the trigger, and the left hand on the vertical grip behind the magazine. The grip is actually there without any attachments being put on, but it is not used by the player.
 * The pickup icon shows the L85 infantry rifle, rather than the L86 LSW. However in the Museum, the correct pick-up icon is used.
 * It also has incorrect iron sights and cocking handle; the cocking handle shown was used by the old, now redundant L86 (it has since been replaced by a crescent shaped tab), and the profile of the ironsights is extremely low (nearly flush to the weapon's frame), suggesting that in order to be properly used, the shooter must tilt his head a full 90 degrees in order to see through them properly.
 * The L86 Rifle's modern day usage is actually primarily as a Sniper's Support weapon (it features a longer barrel, for accuracy up to 600m, and a smaller magazine than in-game). It is interesting IW chose the L86 featuring the LSW set-up as an LMG with a drum magazine, when typically, this role is taken up by the L110 "Minimi".
 * The iron sights on the weapon should be on a carry handle.
 * The weapon never has the handle that is near the handguard attached.
 * The Weapon handing drills are wrong - in real life the right hand does not leave the pistol grip and all drills are conducted with the left hand (the magazine release catch is also on the left hand side of the weapon)

Trivia

 * It is unknown how Russian mercenaries/Ultranationalists would have L86 LSWs as seen in Loose Ends. The L86 LSW is not a surplus weapon, and it is used exclusively by the British Armed forces. However the game is set many years in the future, and it may have become a surplus weapon by that time.
 * The L86 LSW is one of the few weapons where an attached Heartbeat Sensor will be fully visible when aiming down the sight (Assuming a thermal scope isn't also attached).
 * The pickup emblem for the L86 LSW is actually shows L85, as it was rumored the L85 was going to be in the game but was scrapped at the last minute.
 * The AUG HBAR used the L86's pick-up icon early in development, but it was later given its own unique one. This can be seen in the E3 Demo.
 * The L86 LSW has a unusual sound when firing, it actually sounds like a fully automatic Dragunov, from both first person and third person. Infinity Ward most likely took the sound byte from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and used it again.
 * The L86 LSW sights are very similar to the B.A.R.'s iron sights in Call of Duty: World at War.
 * The grip is present behind the trigger grouping, as it should be - yet the player model holds it as if it weren't there. This can be easily seen on the Create-A-Class picture.