Not sure if my experience is the same as yours, but i found that if i had to flush artifacts and the flushing did not work if I exited the game after the failed flush my inventories would be wiped the same as yours. I just dont flush anymore and restart the game first. Hope this helps.
L85 is great for spotting people but that is about it, in close quarters I prefer the m4 as the L85 has a slight zoom and always in either nv or thermal, both are also just as effective out to 300 m4 just abit harder to aim at that distance.