The SA80 and AR18 assault rifles

[Morrigan]

IIRC, Enfield or some such UK company made the SA80, and H&K rebuilt them.

Yes, the original manufacturer was Royal Ordinance.

So, H&K can't sell the upgraded SA80 even if they want to as it is technically not a H&K product, right?

Correct, H+K only did the work to transform them to the A2 standard. However at the time, Heckler and Koch was a subsiduary of Royal Ordinance. So until the point Royal Ordinance sold of H+K, it wouldn't have been a problem. At the time, friends of mine in the British Army said they thought the SA80A1 was a very good weapon and really didn't deserve the maligning it was getting.

 

[ASFC]

Basically H&K as far as I am aware are the only company allowed to build the weapon-I say this because the Cadet GP rifle will be replaced with L85A3/L98A2 (the designation has not been decided) rifles bought from H&K at some point this year (and that will probably be the last buy of SA80 rifles). I'm not sure whether they own the rights to the weapon.

 

[Chino]

At the time, friends of mine in the British Army said they thought the SA80A1 was a very good weapon and really didn't deserve the maligning it was getting.

This could have a lot of this had to do with the fact that the SA80 is the only weapon they know well.

If you are procuring a new standard rifle for the military of a certain country, would you consider the new SA80 (based on its merits alone and not its history) compared to other competitors?

 

[Cutaway]

It is probably ergonomics and position of the controls of the weapon which also make it ideal or not.

I know its an old fashioned feature but howabout bringing back two triggers(A la Berreta Modello 1938) for bullpup weapons?, The only control switch of the weapon would then be a safety switch.

 

[Pingu]

I wonder whether the UK will ever replace the SA80 series in the near future. When upgraded to the A2 standard, great improvements were seen but complaints from serving soldiers still exist, particularly with weight issues.

Am I right in saying that the upgrade to A2 standard cost almost as much as a brand new M4? I don't understand why the UK did not just procure a new weapon entirely.

If complaints do still exist, then a new rifle should simply be procured. There are so many about these days that I'm finding it hard to keep up. Does anyone have any thoughts on what would be a good replacement?

 

[Atilla [TR]]

All you lot are lazy twats, why should i bring the facts to the table to a bunch of idiots that can't even be bothered to do a simple search??? You should all grow up and start doing stuff for your selves... I bet your "mommy" must still wipe your asses.
British SAS/SBS mostly use 7.62 weaponry for obvious reasons that i'm not going to explain(that you probably won't know).
I have a question, if your interested in this stuff, why are none of you in the military???

1. SAS does not use the .308 winchester round, becuase the "Lazy Twats" on this site know that special forces have the idea, that more rounds is better hince the reason why they use the .223.
2. I know the avantages of the .308 winchester, longer range, bigger bullet, but along with it are lots of disadvantages, more recoil, less rounds.

So who is the "lazy twat", when I go out and write this stuff down in 2 sentences. I don't think you are "lazy twat" just a ignorant geek in his mom's basement,who can talk but knows nothing that he is talking about. You are pathetic. for thinking everybody on this forums does not know what they are talking about. My friend have you even touched a firearm before? Trust me I know my firearms.

 

[ltb]

i have used both SA 80A1 and A2, A2 on operations. The A1 is yes a little bit scetchy, but if the correct drills are followed, and you are not using blanks then it workd fine. The A2 is fantastic a good reliable weapon, puts the rounds where you want and even makes a tidy pile of emty casings.

The reason epole might get told that it is the most acurate asualt rifle in the world wish a SUSAT is because thats what you are told at the small arms school at brecon

 

[Chino]

i have used both SA 80A1 and A2, A2 on operations. The A1 is yes a little bit scetchy, but if the correct drills are followed, and you are not using blanks then it workd fine. The A2 is fantastic a good reliable weapon, puts the rounds where you want and even makes a tidy pile of emty casings.

The reason epole might get told that it is the most acurate asualt rifle in the world wish a SUSAT is because thats what you are told at the small arms school at brecon

Only thing is that a dozen or more other 5.56 rifles also put the rounds where you want them, and the SA80A2 still offers no significant advantage over them.

 

[Atilla [TR]]

i have used both SA 80A1 and A2, A2 on operations. The A1 is yes a little bit scetchy, but if the correct drills are followed, and you are not using blanks then it workd fine. The A2 is fantastic a good reliable weapon, puts the rounds where you want and even makes a tidy pile of emty casings.

The reason epole might get told that it is the most acurate asualt rifle in the world wish a SUSAT is because thats what you are told at the small arms school at brecon

Well that tidy pile of empty shells would help for reloading. It is an accurate weapon heck the A1 was accurate all it was missing was reliability and both those factors got much better when HK fixed them. But today I think there are rifles that have reached the Accuracy of the SA80, and there reliability have surpassed it, HK 416/417, LWRC. Just curious how have they (SA80) been in service in Afghanistan and Iraq, where sand and dust have caused numerous headaches for the U.S, with there weapons?

*Note. HK 416 and the LWRC rifles are much much defferent then the M4 or M16, with much better accuracy and reliability you guys should watch the videos.

 

[ltb]

it doesnt help with reloading but it helps when you are being beasted ona range to clear your brass, or to help tidy it up to stop little kids wandering into a fire fight to collect it for some money and get the head blown off!

the SA 80 A2 works fine as long as you clean it correctly

the main issue is that the weapon wont fir with an "open breach", which means that an opbstruction is stoping the bolt from trunigninto the correct possition and closing the breach fully, the locking splines having grit inside them for example

You forward assist the carrage with every action load unload ect so this is not much of a drama it is second nature.

The other issue is you get coked up gas parts, but the new stuff is parkerised and the majority does not stick you make sure you do daily cleaning and bish bash bosh nice reliable weapon system

 

[V4.SKUNK]

Only thing is that a dozen or more other 5.56 rifles also put the rounds where you want them, and the SA80A2 still offers no significant advantage over them.

L85a2 advantage over other weapons is it's smaller, and it has a longer barrel than other rifles(M4,G36,HK416/417etc..) which means it hits harder and is more accurate...

 

[Chino]

L85a2 advantage over other weapons is it's smaller, and it has a longer barrel than other rifles(M4,G36,HK416/417etc..) which means it hits harder and is more accurate...

There are at least a dozen other bullpups already on widespread use, that matches the performance of the SA80 - at even smaller and lighter packages.

 

[V4.SKUNK]

There are at least a dozen other bullpups already on widespread use, that matches the performance of the SA80 - at even smaller and lighter packages.

While you may be correct, i couldn't find any bullpup rifles with the same performance, can you please link me to your info please.
Thanks...