Whats the worst to enter service with any army.
My vote the British army's SA80. Some of the problems with the sa80.
It was not to be. Only a year later, the SA80 went to war in the Gulf, and the results were appalling. Of course, dirt is the enemy of any automatic weapon, and there is plenty of it in terms of sand and dust in the Gulf. The L85A1 proved seriously unreliable in semi-auto mode (a bit better in full-auto) whereas the L86 ironically performed the other way round. For the first time, the SA80's problems went beyond the military and into the public arena. Every man in the street learned that the British Army had a dangerously inadequate weapon; the popular press were demanding change.
Apart from the reliability issue, other complaints raised about the SA80 were:
- the plastic furniture was of poor quality and often fell apart. The gun was generally not robust and was too easily damaged;
- the magazine release catch was easily knocked accidentally, dropping the magazine on the ground (a protective housing was subsequently glued around it);
- the catch on the housing over the gas mechanism was far too weak, constantly popping open, and was routinely taped down;
- the magazine springs were very weak and could only be loaded with 26-28 rounds. The magazines also had to be kept very clean and the lips checked for any dents;
- the LSW couldn't provide effective suppressive fire due to its small-capacity magazine and the tendency of the barrel to overheat (after about 120-150 rounds, fired in short bursts);
- the weapon was difficult to strip and reassemble, containing many fiddly parts (especially in the bolt-carrier assembly). The gas plug, which needed to be removed for cleaning, would easily jam in place and then required an armourer's drill to remove;
- there were some ergonomic problems, e.g. the safety catch has to be operated by the trigger finger rather than the thumb, and to cock the weapon it is necessary to reach over to the right side of the rifle with your left hand. The location and stiffness of the fire selector switch has also been criticised. To be fair, these issues don't seem to be considered major problems by most users.
After various attempts at denial, and years of applying minor fixes that eased some problems but failed to solve the big ones, the Ministry of Defence bowed to the inevitable in 1997. They considered buying the M16 and M4 "off the shelf", but in the end commissioned HK to undertake a thorough revamp of the SA80 (HK was by this time owned by Royal Ordnance, so was in effect a British company - it has since been returned to German control). The changes were expensive (£92m - about 145 million dollars/euros) and comprehensive, as follows:
- internal machining to clear feed and extraction paths
- new breech block and bolt
- new extractor and ejector with spring
- new recoil springs
- new firing pin
- new cocking handle
- entirely new magazine made from pressed steel
- new gas plug and cylinder
- new hammer
- new barrel extension
My vote the British army's SA80. Some of the problems with the sa80.
It was not to be. Only a year later, the SA80 went to war in the Gulf, and the results were appalling. Of course, dirt is the enemy of any automatic weapon, and there is plenty of it in terms of sand and dust in the Gulf. The L85A1 proved seriously unreliable in semi-auto mode (a bit better in full-auto) whereas the L86 ironically performed the other way round. For the first time, the SA80's problems went beyond the military and into the public arena. Every man in the street learned that the British Army had a dangerously inadequate weapon; the popular press were demanding change.
Apart from the reliability issue, other complaints raised about the SA80 were:
- the plastic furniture was of poor quality and often fell apart. The gun was generally not robust and was too easily damaged;
- the magazine release catch was easily knocked accidentally, dropping the magazine on the ground (a protective housing was subsequently glued around it);
- the catch on the housing over the gas mechanism was far too weak, constantly popping open, and was routinely taped down;
- the magazine springs were very weak and could only be loaded with 26-28 rounds. The magazines also had to be kept very clean and the lips checked for any dents;
- the LSW couldn't provide effective suppressive fire due to its small-capacity magazine and the tendency of the barrel to overheat (after about 120-150 rounds, fired in short bursts);
- the weapon was difficult to strip and reassemble, containing many fiddly parts (especially in the bolt-carrier assembly). The gas plug, which needed to be removed for cleaning, would easily jam in place and then required an armourer's drill to remove;
- there were some ergonomic problems, e.g. the safety catch has to be operated by the trigger finger rather than the thumb, and to cock the weapon it is necessary to reach over to the right side of the rifle with your left hand. The location and stiffness of the fire selector switch has also been criticised. To be fair, these issues don't seem to be considered major problems by most users.
After various attempts at denial, and years of applying minor fixes that eased some problems but failed to solve the big ones, the Ministry of Defence bowed to the inevitable in 1997. They considered buying the M16 and M4 "off the shelf", but in the end commissioned HK to undertake a thorough revamp of the SA80 (HK was by this time owned by Royal Ordnance, so was in effect a British company - it has since been returned to German control). The changes were expensive (£92m - about 145 million dollars/euros) and comprehensive, as follows:
- internal machining to clear feed and extraction paths
- new breech block and bolt
- new extractor and ejector with spring
- new recoil springs
- new firing pin
- new cocking handle
- entirely new magazine made from pressed steel
- new gas plug and cylinder
- new hammer
- new barrel extension
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