The Army Cadet Force is a British quasi-military organization that acts general as a precursor to military enlistment. With the adoption of the L85A1 as the British service rifle, a manually operated copy was also developed for use by Cadets. Designated the L98A1, this rifle was built without a gas system, and had a specialized charging handle to provide more leveraged extraction than the standard bolt handle.

This L98A1 was phased out of use in 2009, being replaced with the L98A2, which is essentially an L85A2 without fully automatic capability.