Doing Google image searches I see a lot of SAS men (assuming the searches are accurate i.e. they actually are SAS, which I think most of them are) using M16 pattern rifles. Is this a pretty common thing for SAS to pass over the SA85 for the M16? If so, is it preferred because its a better platform, logistical reasons, or something else?
Rifles of the (British) SAS?
- Thread starter HGM22
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C-grunt
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I got to be a security asset during a SAS raid near our FOB in 2005. They were all carrying M4 variants.
Quiet
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HGM22 said:
They never had confidence in the SA80 system.
Which is why they stayed with using the Diemaco (Colt Canada) C-8 Carbine, which they adopted during the 1990s.
herrwalther
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HGM22 said:
The British do quite a bit of foreign soldier exchange with the US Army. Quite often they will send over NCOs in SAS or their Army. I haven't seen a single one need a class on the M4 as their rifle is almost identical. Different story leading up to a night op, as their night vision technology is pretty different from ours.
Nom de Forum
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The guys in the SAS, when they have a choice, and are relying on LPCs for transportation, understand the overwhelming merits of the AR variants over most other rifles. Even if Andy McNab is guilty of indulging in a little fictionalization, his book Bravo Two Zero makes it very clear why AR type rifles are the best choice.
Sunray
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The SA-85, like many military rifles, was adopted for political reasons. It's supposedly universally hated by all Brit troopies due to its unreliability. The SAS, however, gets to use pretty much whatever they want. Armalite's as the M-16 series is known in Britain are the rifle of choice. After 50 years of development, it works.
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