Just A Young Man And His Dad Who Appreciates An SLR

My Son is 15 and shares my passion for collecting and shooting Commonwealth arms. Last summer we had the opportunity to take this SLR to the range. It started life as a Lithgow mixed in with some British parts and then ended up at Century Arms to be made into a sporter. ARS made it run the way it was suppose too several years ago. It has an Imbel metric receiver but alas I had sold my all British Law Enforcement sample years ago. I was fortunate in the early 80's to do one of the exchange shoots in Germany and loved them ever since. Never humped one like many of you on the forum but respect all who have.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...qlhgrigr-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...wdtmwz8a-1.jpg

BruceHMX,

All credit to you for introducing your son, the BEST rifle we ever had in service which excelled in ALL conditions thrown at it.;)

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Originally Posted by Gil Boyd

BruceHMX,

All credit to you for introducing your son, the BEST rifle we ever had in service which excelled in ALL conditions thrown at it.;)

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To be fair from what I have read on the SA80 (especially before the Germans fixed them), anything is basically a better alternative. They didn't call the FN the right hand of the free world for nothing.

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Originally Posted by BruceHMX

My Son is 15

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He looks about as old as I did when I started shooting FN also...I was 17 going on 12...all he's lacking is the combat clothing.

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Originally Posted by Eaglelord17

To be fair from what I have read on the SA80 (especially before the Germans fixed them), anything is basically a better alternative. They didn't call the FN the right hand of the free world for nothing.

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Don't let Peter Laidler hear you say that! The SA80 was built to budget, had they been allowed to incorporate what they wanted in the first place, the HK update would not have been required. They simply put into practice what Enfield wanted to do from day one.

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Originally Posted by Brit plumber

. . . They simply put into practice what Enfield wanted to do from day one.

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More like what H.M.G., namely the sitting government at the time, wanted since they wanted to 'shift' ROF Enfield and get out of the weapons production business.

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Originally Posted by BruceHMX

My Son is 15 and shares my passion for collecting and shooting Commonwealth arms. Last summer we had the opportunity to take this SLR to the range. It started life as a Lithgow mixed in with some British parts and then ended up at Century Arms to be made into a sporter. ARS made it run the way it was suppose too several years ago. It has an Imbel metric receiver but alas I had sold my all British Law Enforcement sample years ago. I was fortunate in the early 80's to do one of the exchange shoots in Germany and loved them ever since. Never humped one like many of you on the forum but respect all who have.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...qlhgrigr-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...wdtmwz8a-1.jpg

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Well done Bruce, the L1 looks good! Are there any States where the law prohibits the ex law enforcement L1A1's ?

They do seem to be a rather grey area with some in the US regarding them as Machine Guns (due to the presence of the safety Sear).

I saw the progressive mods to the SA80 come in and each time something new developed after lengthy firing. It is a story all on its own and one I'm not going to lengthen by pretending it didn't cause grown men to cry in frustration, I'll leave that to those who got their hands dirty in quick time to try and resolve ALL the issues!!
I remember as if it was yesterday, handing in my issue SLR and drawing out an SA80 for the first time, and all the pain barriers of dry handling and lesson plans, completely foreign to many, even after they gave the lessons. It took a long time to be accepted as the replacement, so you can imagine what was being said when it started going miserably wrong, compared to my trusty steed the SLR IMHO.

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Originally Posted by Gil Boyd

I saw the progressive mods to the SA80 come in and each time something new developed after lengthy firing. It is a story all on its own and one I'm not going to lengthen by pretending it didn't cause grown men to cry in frustration, I'll leave that to those who got their hands dirty in quick time to try and resolve ALL the issues!!
I remember as if it was yesterday, handing in my issue SLR and drawing out an SA80 for the first time, and all the pain barriers of dry handling and lesson plans, completely foreign to many, even after they gave the lessons. It took a long time to be accepted as the replacement, so you can imagine what was being said when it started going miserably wrong, compared to my trusty steed the SLR IMHO.

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That had to be horrible to say the least. Going from a trusted weapon system to something that was totally different and unreliable. While we had some of those issues going to the M9 Beretta from the 1911 that was not your primary weapon system to most.

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Originally Posted by Eaglelord17

They didn't call the FN the right hand of the free world for nothing.

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I taught lots of lefties to use the FN without problem. They had no issues. We had the same problems stated by Gil changing over to the C7. Whether or not it fit the spot for the FN doesn't matter, the FN was gone and that was a done deal. It was foregone before they had been withdrawn, so when they say "Trials" it's a misnomer. They aren't even close, it's just how it is.

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Originally Posted by browningautorifle

I taught lots of lefties to use the FN without problem. They had no issues. We had the same problems stated by Gil changing over to the C7. Whether or not it fit the spot for the FN doesn't matter, the FN was gone and that was a done deal. It was foregone before they had been withdrawn, so when they say "Trials" it's a misnomer. They aren't even close, it's just how it is.

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Funniest bit is the fact they have now made the C7A2 loaded weigh the same amount as the FN C1 loaded.

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Originally Posted by Eaglelord17

C7A2 loaded weigh the same amount as the FN C1 loaded.

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You are correct sir. The only ones of us that know the difference are the old guys that had M16A1 on issue at one time or another.

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Originally Posted by Eaglelord17

Funniest bit is the fact they have now made the C7A2 loaded weigh the same amount as the FN C1 loaded.

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Now that does surprise me, I would have thought the the C7A2 was significantly lighter, I assume that's thanks to alloy railed forends, scope ect?

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Originally Posted by mrclark303

I would have thought the the C7A2 was significantly lighter,

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No, the C79 opitcal sight starts off adding 1.5 lbs. The super heavy barrel they added didn't help. Instead of making the barrel a uniform thickness they went thin behind the gas block and heavy front. That's entirely unnecessary. They said the barrel was prone to damage there...so instead it bends back where it's thin now. Stoner had a pencil barrel that worked just fine.

1.5lbs for the scope, 1lb for the stupid tri-rail attachment at the front, barrel is heavy, sling swivels aren't matched (i.e. two different types of sling swivels, one being the original, one being a different version which doesn't like working with the original).

Is it another case of don't ask the troops, but get the "committee" to tinker with a perfectly good rifle until its lost all the weight saving advantages it had over the C1A1! If its getting heavy, you may as well have done with it and go back to 7.62 NATO..

L29A1 anyone, the ultimate issue Armalite with attitude...

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Originally Posted by mrclark303

until its lost all the weight saving advantages

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No, no...you don't understand, the weapon weight was never part pf the equation or question. It was ammunition weight and size. Three to one if I recall...

Ah, I see, 30 Rds instead of 20, more bang for your buck so to speak.

I was speaking to an ex Royal Marine the other week Jim who used the L29A1 in the Sandpit, he had nothing but good things to say about it.

He's the one who said "Armalite with attitude", rated it as one hell of a piece of kit...

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Originally Posted by mrclark303

30 Rds instead of 20,

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Before that, we just carried the ammo we needed...

As a Yank back in 1998 I had a chance to shoot the C7A1 and I really liked it. The scope was so clear and , well it was like shooting in a video game, at least that was my impression at the time.

As the time the US still using the M16A2 and it was my introduction to a day optic in the 3.4 x range. Seemed like the best thing ever.

Of course that was before body armor and the need to hang lasers/ hand grips/flashlights/weather vans/ small hot dog cooking appliances/ off of the handguards. I understand these items are required these days.

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Originally Posted by Frederick303

Seemed like the best thing ever.

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Yep, as long as conditions were perfect it would be. After they'd been carried a while and were loose, all bets were off. If you happened to have your helmet touch it while aiming it would push your MPI off. Mine pushed off 4 feet at 100 M. The thumb screws were plastic and would come loose of the shafts so they'd need to be replaced or come loose at the worst time. They had to be checked continuously. There was so much more...