Background

The SA-80 is the standard issue weapon of the British Armed Forces,
and the A1 version was introduced in 1985. Originally designed by Enfield as a mass-producable version of their experimental EM2 bullpup rifle, it was produced by Heckler and Koch after their takeover of
Enfield. The improved A2 version is due to start being issued as
standard armament on a replacement basis in December 2001.

Designed by target shooters, the SA-80 A1 was the second most accurate assault rifle on the planet*, and the A2 design is supposedly more accurate still. Its bullpup* design makes it possible to have a longer barrel and a shorter overall weapon length, making it both more accurate and a lot less unwieldy.

Despite the SA-80's many good points, it is interesting to note that the British Special Forces (including the SAS) tend not to use it due to the fact that the safety catch is operated by the trigger finger, apparently making it difficult to set the catch to "Fire" and open fire very quickly, as well as the ol' reliability issues. They like the M16 because you can fit a grenade launcher to it.

Variants

There are three major variants of the SA-80: the Individual Weapon
(IW), the Light Support Weapon (LSW) and the Cadet General Purpose
(GP). All the variants use a rotary locking bolt and ejector, which
means very little grime gets into the mechanism from the barrel.

IW - Technical Specification

• Designation: L85
• Length: 785 mm (barrel 518 mm)
• Weight: Rifle 2800 g, full magazine 480 g, optical sight
  700 g
• Rifling: 6 grooves, RH
• Ammunition: NATO 5.56 x 45 mm
• Muzzle velocity: 940 m/s
• Rate of fire: 610-770 rounds per minute

LSW - Technical Specification

Although the LSW is technically a light machine gun, it's
essentially a IW with a longer barrel, a bipod, a rear grip and a
shoulder mount.

• Designation: L86
• Length: 1147 mm (barrel 880 mm)
• Weight: Heavier than an IW *
• Muzzle velocity: 980 m/s

Cadet GP - Technical Specification

Cadets under the age of 16 are not allowed to fire fully automatic
weapons in the UK, and the Cadet GP was introduced in order to allow cadets to
train in SA-80 safety and firing drills. Because of the necessity of
recocking the rifle after each shot, the L98 is fitted with a more
ergonomically shaped and placed cocking handle. The (nicer?) cocking
handle is impractical on the automatic variants because the large
weight rocketing backward and forward would create unnecessary stresses
on the firing mechanism, decreasing the working life of the rifle.

• Designation: L98
• Length: 755 mm (barrel 488 mm)
• Weight: Slightly heavier than the IW.

Sighting Systems

The SA-80 can be fitted with one of two sighting systems. Combat units and LSW gunners are issued with a SUSAT* sight, which is a solid state prism based telescopic sight with 4x magnification. It contains a large tritium-illuminated* obelisk shaped reticle. At first it seems unnecessarily large, but when firing on automatic, it makes keeping shots on target far easier. The SUSAT is incredibly durable, too. It's possible to smack it against a fencepost or drop it, and it will still work fine. It is one of the best assault rifle optical sights in existance.

The other type of sight, issued to non-infantry units such as transport drivers or cadets, for instance, is an iron sight, with the rear sight mounted in what appears to be a carry handle, and the foresight blade above the gas block.

Problems with the SA-80 A1

Since its introduction in 1985, the SA-80A1 has been dogged by a
series of problems, some of them pretty serious.

The most serious of these was with the magazine release catch,
which initially had no guard to prevent accidental release of the
magazine. When the rifle was held in a sling, the catch was often
triggered, especially when at a run, depositing the magazine on the
floor, and frequently spreading live rounds everywhere. This problem
was soon fixed by adding a thin strip of metal around the catch.

But things didn't get better. Since then, the rifle has been widely
criticised for its intolerance of extreme temperature variations,
continually seizing up and causing vast numbers of stoppages. The
firing pin and bolt were found to have been made out of a type of iron
that was far too brittle, and the cocking lever's proximity to several
sharp edges has been know to cause servicemen serious lacerations when
cocked in a hurry. There have been numerous other problems too.

The A2 Version

Changes in the SA-80 A2 include a new breech block, breech bolt, cartridge extractor, cartridge ejector, recoil springs, extractor spring, firing pin, cocking handle, magazine (the whole magazine has been replaced), gas plug and cylinder, and the LSW has been given a new barrel and hammer.

The modified rifle has been tested in a variety of locations, (Alaska, UK, Brunei, and Kuwait): environments ranging from extreme cold and aridity to immense heat and humidity.

On average, the IW fired 25,200 rounds with less than two stoppages, and the LSW 12,900*. This is an incredible increase in durability, and transforms the SA-80's status from being one of the world's least reliable assault rifles into being one of the best*.