why are you knocking it/?

Question

all the questions asked about weapons on here always come back with answers saying that the L85A2 (SA80) is a very poor weapon I'm serving, used the weapon on operations and are on my stations shooting team so i use it alot.
I personally on have a problem with a stoppage when i doing sit the round correctly in the magzine or the round is duff.

anybody got any thoughts why they don't like it

In reponse to david h , the The round can be "duff" never heard of a misfire?
i had a round on the range the other day that would not be picked up by the bolt because it was damaged near the percusion cap.

and if you don't sit the round properly in the magzine it will not get picked up right and get jammed.
anybody using the weapon regularly should know this.

Answer 1

don't believe all you see in the movies

Answer 2

The SA80 had some silly design faults
gas plug,
magazine catch,
magazine lip
etc.

It also was designed to a specific requirement leaving it prone to sand ingress, can only be fired right handed etc.
The press used these criticisms and blew them all out of proportion.

HK have corrected most of the problems, and most are minor design changes. In recent trials I seem to recall that it had a 10th of the stoppages of the latest M16. It is easy to train someone to shoot accurately and is a pleasure to use.

The SLR had many modifications during its life, as it was prone to jamming in the early days, it was also difficult to shoot accurately, suffering from a looping trajectory, and rather dramatic muzzle rise. Let us also not forget the need to count the rounds fired, as there was no hold open mechanism !

I've fired many weapons regularly, from Lee Enfield 303 & Bren through SLR, MP5 to SA80, M16A3 etc. Is the SA80 the best in its class, no, but it is a very versatile weapon that is easy to use.

Answer 3

I used the 7.62 SLR. I never had stoppages like you describe with the SA80. "The round is duff"? That dont happen. You cant put a round in wrong in the magazine, it wont go in wrong, what are you talking about? The only stoppages I ever had with the SLR were that the gas regulator needed turning to a higher number, or the magazine was empty. I never used the SA80, but people I`ve spoken to say the only good thing about it is the sights.

Answer 4

Probably because people like myself (US Army) have little or no direct knowledge of the weapon and no personal experience using it. As a result all we have to base our opinions on are what we read in the military trade journals.

I do agree that the opinion of somebody who has actually used the rifle is better than the opinion of some reporter.

Answer 5

Pimpy alot of talk on here is from a lot of people who never even used the rifle, personally I used it for a time never had any problems it's only fault is it has to be kept clean and unfortually there's alot of lazy soldiers who can't be bothered, funny really as this bit of kit could save your life but there you go....
And the only time I suffered a jam was with a U.S round the basterd jammed right in the breach had to strip it and leaver it out with a knife....

Answer 6

The L85 A1 is pretty crap, but the A2 Variant is great. It's been redeveloped by H&K and is a fine weapon. I've used both variants and certainly perfer the A2. I like it. Not had an A2 stoppage yet!

Answer 7

I've heard it has got too many small components making it awkward to strip and reassemble in the dark and which is never a good thing for battlefield use. It perhaps says it all that H&K had to sort it's design problems out. Why does'nt a little country like ours just buy in H&K or Colt?

Answer 8

Because this one the H & K 416 is better.

Read about it at the link.

http://www.militarytimes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1501

Answer 9

The SLR is good weapon, however, I would use a Gimpy (GPMG) nice weapon.

Answer 10

because with the M16 all you've gotta do is turn a screw to get rid of the carbon