Presentation Transcript
History of The SA80 Rifle :History of The SA80 Rifle Written By
L/Cpl Cook
Production History :Production History First designed in the 1980’s
Commissioned in 1985
Originally developed by "Enfield Royal Small Arms Factory" (now BAE Systems Land Systems Munitions & Ordnance)
Reliability issue so refurbished by Heckler & Koch (Back Then HK was a division of British Aerospace)
Refurbishment was started in about the year 2000
SA80 is a worldwide known rifle
Likely to be the Primary British Infantry Rifle Until 2015
Variants :Variants Four Variants:
Individual Weapon L85 IW (Now upgraded to the L85 A2)
Light support Weapon L86 LSW
Assault Carbine L22A1 (this weapon is a carbine version)
L98A1 CGP (Cadet General Purpose) this is a manually operated version
Another variant with lead filled barrel, known as L98A1 DP (Drill Purpose). Hand guard has white stripe
All Fire Same Round 5.56mm x 45mm NATO
30 Round Mag
All Can Mount:
Iron Sights
SUSAT (Sight Unit, Small Arms, Trilux)
CWS (Common Weapon Sight) A “Next Gen” Night scope
Slide 4:L85 A2 L86 LSW L22 A1 L98 A1 CGP L98 A1 DP Iron Sights SUSAT CWS
Configurations :Configurations Config is Bullpup With Pistol Grip
Mechanism in Buttstock
Mag Loads Behind Pistol Grip
Long, Free Floating barrel
High Accuracy
Compact Dimensions
Resemble Bullpup EM-2 (prototype)
Looks Similar to other Bullpup assault rifles
Few Mechanical Similarities
Slide 6:OOPS,
WRONG RIFLE
Slide 7:SA80
1985 EM-2
1948 That’s Better
Short Range Combat :Short Range Combat Can Have Iron Sight Which Incorporates Carrying Handle
Iron Sight Mainly Used On Jungle Ops
Also Used When Short Range Combat Is Expected
Mostly Fitted With The SUSAT Making The Weapon Easier To Use
Weapon Reliability :Weapon Reliability Many Criticisms during field tests
Complaints were:
Answers Were:
Mag Release Catch Easily Knocked
Quick fix was glue housing around it
Weak Gas Mechanism
To avoid dropping out gaffa tape applied
Weak Spring in mag
Amount of rounds shortened
Bad mag lips
Check for dents and cleanliness on every mag being used
Lack of suppressive LSW fire due to small mag and barrel overheating when 125-155 rounds fired in burst
Fire in Smaller Burst/Alternate Between 2+ LSW’s
Redesign :Redesign Took many years of minor fixes
Some problems gone
Bigger ones still existed
1997 MOD commissioned HK to redesign SA80
Very Expensive
92 million GBP
183.73 million USD
116.79 million EUR
Slide 11:The SA80 –
Its A Good Bit Of Kit Video