No.4Mk1(T) and L96 Accuracy International (Guns and Ammo Review)

[Badger]

Martin Pegler talks about British sniper rifles on Guns and Ammo ...

Information

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[MJ1]

Interesting but why did it take so long for old Bod to recognize this fact? Just joking not a bad film.

..MJ..

[m4carbine]

I am a bit disappointed that Plegler called the L96A1 an AW.
The L96A1 is a PM, Precision marksman rifle. The AW is the Arctic warfare rifle.

They are very different, there are only a half a dozen parts in common, sights, stock screws, butt pad, the scope will transfer and the Mags are interchangeable. Also how old is that interview...Bipods are a new thing???

[Peter Laidler]

There's been a bit of a discussion regarding the L96 and the AW series on a thread recently M4. How about giving us a breakdown of all the interchangeable parts etc etc. I know it's not exactly Lee Enfield and all that but the L96 is a good runner up and worth a place in any Lee Enfield collection. Agreed?

On the same subject, I understand that Brian at BDL has the complete EMER/parts list/user handbook for the L96 if anyone is thinking of getting one in the future

[breakeyp]

Peter is quite right, Brian has an outstandng set of books on the L96 series. I got mine at Knob Creek and have been very happy with them.

[Peter Laidler]

I would imagine that the basics contained within the L96 EMER will cover the 7.62mm AW and AE variants if you have such a beast.

As a matter of interest, there was a larger diameter telescope mount available for the L96 and AW if you wanted to (as the Army did) replace the 6x 42 standard green S&B tele

[TonyE]

Mr.Pegler is not my favourite "expert" by a long way. The book being pushed in the film is about OK, but his subsequent books, particularly the one on sniping in WWI, are full of mistakes, not something one expects from someone who was senior curator of firearms at the Royal Armouries Museum! It smacks very much of the "can you give me 50,000 words by Wednesday" type of publishing.

Regards
TonyE

[bigduke6]

There's been a bit of a discussion regarding the L96 and the AW series on a thread recently M4. How about giving us a breakdown of all the interchangeable parts etc etc. I know it's not exactly Lee Enfield and all that but the L96 is a good runner up and worth a place in any Lee Enfield collection. Agreed?

I had a reply back from AI, regarding the L96 and AW, never got the full detail on the difference, but for anyone looking for a L96, I hope the following does not upset them too much,


Dear Geoff

Thank you for your email. The L96 was the PM model that ceased production in the 1990’s when the AW series was created. There are only a very few PM rifles in civilian hands as most went to the British army or the British Police so it would be very difficult to source one. The British military have scrapped the L96’s recently and would not allow them to be sold to the civilian market. The AW rifle is a different rifle – it is more modern (see photos attached).

We thank you for your compliments and are glad you enjoyed your AE rifle.


Best regards

Accuracy International Ltd

[m4carbine]

I bet there is one guy on this form that knows more about this than I do, Right Peter?

OK, a quick review of the L96A1:

The L96A1 is the original Military contract rifle made by Accuracy International, it was adopted about 1985/86.

The AW or arctic warfare was the follow on rifle to the L96A1, the British version of the AW is the L118A1, for the purposes of this text we will refer to is as the AW, less typing.

The L96A1’s chassis is made of 4 parts, the front tube, rear tube assy, and a right and left side center section where the action mounts. This is unique to the L96A1, the AW series use a solid one piece center section.
The front and rear tubes are welded onto the center section, on the L96A1 this clamps the 2 center section halves together.
The chassis is not interchangeable, if you have a AW chassis and a set of L96A1 skins they will go on but not fit correctly.

The L96A1Bipod is truly unique, it is mostly aluminum, and similar to the current Parker-Hale bipod in function, pinch the legs together and rotate it into position, up or down, but rotate it 90º along the barrels axis and it pops out.
I think the bipod was not up to the ware and tear of the real world, but I always wondered if a beefed up version could be made. The Bipod fits a special socket that is located in the front tube of the stock.

The AW uses the current issue Parker-Hale all steel bipod. Note, the L115A3, Britton’s new .338 Long range sniper does away with the P-H bipod and uses the Harris Bipod.

The Skins are made from a cast polyurethane compound poured into a mould. On the AW they are injection molded from polypropylene, the same thing that soda pop bottles are made from. The skins are held on with the same bushings and screws across the L96A1and AW series of rifles.

On to the muzzle, the L96A1 has a front sight base that slip onto the barrel and is located with a set (Grub) screw. The AW’s have a threaded muzzle with a screw on/ clamp on muzzle break/front sight base. The sight is permanently mounted on the L96A1, on the AW its operator installed.

The barrels are interchangeable across both platforms but are not intended to be interchanged.
Other than the differences in muzzle geometry, the AW barrel has something called an Ice groove in the back of the barrel. This is suppose to stop the bolt from freezing shut in hostile winter environments, from personal experience, it does work.

The receiver or action body are very similar but do have some big differences, the biggest being the L96A1 has a receiver mounted safety that looks like its off an Enfield, a clear tip of the hat to its predecessor I think.

Both receivers have no locking lugs, instead they use a breaching ring, a cylindrical
piece with the lug geometry machined into it, this piece is clamped between the barrel and the receiver, this design was first used on a WW2 pack artillery piece and in the early 1980’s an Australian custom rifle maker made actions with this feature.

The bolt is composed of 4 major components, bolt head, bolt body, the firing pin assembly (consisting of Firing pin, FP spring, cocking piece and the bolt shroud) and
the knob. The Firing pin assy of the AW has the safety mounted to the shroud, of all the bolt mounted safeties on other rifles, this is probably the best version of this technology on any rifle.

Both models use a 60º dovetail to mount optics, this dovetail runs the length of the receiver. This is now being replaced by the M1913 Mil Standard optical rail or “Picatinny rail” as it in most commonly known. The L961A1 uses a simple 1 piece extruded aluminum ring mount that is attached with a long single piece clamp foot locked down by 2 large thumb screws. The L118A1 has a very cool throw lever ring mount, don’t even try to get one, AI will disavow knowledge that it even exists.

Lastly, the Magazines are interchangeable.

It is getting late and I think I covered any salient features.

I hope this helps

[Son]

Marty, just out of interest sake, could you confirm the safety on the AW is either on or off.... as I understand there is another option with a third position.