I like the SA80

[mrclark303]

What the hell accent does this bloke have? I counter him calling us 'guys' over 107 times...... Bad teaching practice I say!

Half English, half Kermit the frog on helium gas...

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[Peter Laidler]

Dear o' deary me....... what on earth is the soldier at 1 minute for 10 seconds wearing on his head? And what on earth is his badge doing over his left ear? Don't they have platoon Sgts, section Sgts and CSM's to wear it properly? The age old problem and enemy of all laser sights is daylight and especially sunny daylight! I expect the new binoculars are one-way-trip jobbies.

[browningautorifle]

Don't they have platoon Sgts, section Sgts and CSM's to wear it properly?

That's always been an issue...always.

Lasers cause the troops to fiddle to try to get on target. Instinctive shooting has two rounds down and usually on. It needs to be practiced though.

[Gil Boyd]

The RSM's of today Peter are not made of the same stuff as us mate, that would have earned the badge holder at least a "SHELLING"

[Bruce_in_Oz]

Flying10K mentioned the Avro Shackleton for its impressive service longevity.

It first flew in 1949.

But like a lot of things, it had "history", being based on the major bits of the Avro "Lincoln" bomber.

The "Lincoln" was essentially a Griffon-engined "last gasp" of the legendary Lancaster. Post WW2, starting in Canada, it also spun off the "civil", version, the "Lancastrian".

But, the Lancaster bomber was itself derived from the Pre-WW2 "Manchester", which provided the basic fuselage and outer wings. The Manchester was woefully under-powered with only a PAIR of the notoriously unreliable "Vulture" engines, compared with the four Merlins on a standard Lancaster.

Designed development, not wild "flights of fancy".

[Flying10uk]

The Avro Lancaster proved that the Avro Manchester was a good well designed aircraft, apart from the engines. Many of the early Lancasters were made from converted Avro Manchesters. I believe that I am correct in stating that the Avro Lancaster that is now in the RAF Museum, Hendon, London started out life as a Avro Manchester fuselage although it was never completed as a Manchester, I stand to be corrected on this point.

[browningautorifle]

So much for the SA 80...

[blurrededge]

I'll just add from my brief experience of shooting the L98A2, for what it's worth amongst the input of the genuine experts that deal with it regularly, that I found it to be a very stable rifle when shooting prone, up on my elbows. I normally avoid that position as much as I can, as I get some discomfort caused by too much Motocross when younger. Not sure why exactly but I had no problems with the SA80, perhaps it's due to the longer length of pull because of the design, and that caused my arms to be at a less acute of an angle when holding it. I found it to be a rock solid position to shoot from, better than I've experienced with pretty much anything I've shot from that position, the angle of head in relation to the sights I also found comfortable with no straining or awkwardness at all and the butt fitted in my shoulder extremely well too. I had no problems with the controls either, the safety was easy to operate, Off with right fore finger and on with left thumb, the bolt was no problem, it felt ok to roll the gun over cock it with thumb and forefinger, I tend to often roll my Enfields over a little as I chamber a round anyway to check what's going on, mag release was fine too, grab the mag and thumb falls on the release no problem. Bolt release just needed a quick touch to operate and was good. Didn't use the bolt hold open leaver and no fun switch of course. As noted earlier in the thread I got a bit excited about the rifle because it surprised me, once in the shoulder it felt well balanced and comfortable, for me personally it all just came together, perhaps it's my body proportions who knows.
The only thing I didn't like was that the trigger housing, the small box like structure the trigger is suspended from was rubbing on my trigger finger at times which was a little irritating... so that's my SA80 gripe!
I think to look at the rifle now in 2017, to me it looks better than it did in the 80's, with or without the Daniel defence rail, it's certainly grown on me, it's a cool looking rifle, which may seem a bit fatuous me saying that but to a 19 year old taking it into harms way I'm sure it helps to one extent or another if you feel your weapon looks the part. And if you see that distinctive rifle in the hands of troops anywhere, you'll be in in no doubt that it's the British coming.

[Gil Boyd]

Spot on

[mrclark303]

So that's another thumbs up by a user, the one thing that's really missing here is a negative report from someone who has actual experience with the rifle ... Tumble weed ... Deafening silence ...