British Army's latest SA80: The L85A3, with firearms expert Jonathan Ferguson
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- čas přidán 5. 07. 2024
- The SA80 is, no surprise, not a stranger to this series but this week we get to showcase the latest & greatest iteration of it's hotly-debated legacy: the L85A3.
Jonathan will reveal all in this week's episode of #WhatisthisWeapon
0:00 Intro
0:15 L85A3
0:50 A Small Flex...
1:20 And a Small Plug.
2:23 Firearm History
3:21 Changes from A2
7:20 A2 Comparison
8:44 Disassembly & Features
11:57 Features Continued
20:11 Weight Difference
20:37 To Conclude...
21:05 Outro
Jonathan's Book:
Thorneycroft to SA80: British Bullpup Firearms, 1901 - 2020. United States: Headstamp Publishing. Available at: shop.royalarmouries.org/produ...
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Looks like I had a bit of "duff gen" on the reversion to HK steel mags - the EMAGs were to be replaced but if it was by HK steel mags that was only temporary. L85A3 and A2 should now be fed from M3 PMAGs, at least in infantry use.
I recently encountered Royal Marine Commandos. They had L85A2s and EMAGs. The Gen 4 PMAG doesn't exist under that name and I'm not sure what you mean.
the e p-mag has been std issue for just over 10 years..................
The EMAG is also discontinued. The EMAG was only made because the current generation of PMAGs at the time would not fit and feed in HK416’s or L85’s. New generation PMAG’s (gen 4) can, and are slowly being introduced into Std issue
Jonathan, do you happen to know if Gen3 PMAG's fit the SA80? Also, what are they doing with A3's for Jungle warfare? Just re-issuing A2's?
@Colin_Shapton yeah or a1s both with iron sight handle shit
This Jonathan seems like a knowledgable fella, he should write a book.
I think you're onto something there...
Providing he doesn't advertise it, with elevator music.
😆
Great video as always. As an MOD armourer that takes a real passion to this system, and plays with it every day, this was very informative. I really appreciate the clarification on the "A2/3" body marks, as that throws a lot of people off.
Here's some extra points that are worth noting:
As a few have said, the SUSAT is far from gone, it still very much outnumbers the LDS, and is seen by many as the more easy to use system.
The internals are not the same as the A2. While they are rated to be able to use A2 components, the Bolt and BCA get marked up with the serial of the weapon (as does the Barrel) in order to show that they are tested to A3 standards. If they do not match up, then they are likely A2 components fitted, though this practice (marking up the bolt and Bca) is being phased out now.
The BUTT is different! Not a huge thing, but the butt screws used on the A2 are flatheads, while the A3 has hex screws. No living human knows why.
The HAND-GUARD that you have is, interestingly, the post-mod version, as you stated. But the biggest change is not so much the shape of the holes, but the guards fitted near the safety. If you compare the older designs, the safety-bar is unprotected as can get caught in webbing, only to snap. The newer version has those two "buffers" either side that aid in things not getting caught up.
Now here's your challenge if you want a real SA80 collection:
L85A2/3 (IW)
L22A2 (Carbine)
L86A2 (LSW)
L98A2 (General Purpose)
L402A1 (SA80 in .22)
L103A2 (Drill Purpose)
L116A1 (Inert)
L126A1 (Parade Purpose)
Thanks for your insightful input :)
You need to put the absolute abomination of the L98A1 in there with its bobin style cocking handle 🤢
I do wonder if the A2s with the Daniel Defense handguards are still around.
My best guess is that the flat screws in the butt have been changed to stop people being able to disassemble the butt plate. The flat heads could be done with the combination tool. Hex would try to stop troops removing the plates themselves.
The L85 series makes me think the British army had far more animosity for left-handers than they ever did for Germans.
Rightly so, deviants.
They don't take kindly to practising sinisterists.
Ironically there is an relatively large amount of british SF guys that are left handed.
Copyright strikes? For your own book?
For the 'Elevator Music' we'd play over the plug :)
@@RoyalArmouries ring up John Cleese and see if you can get the rights to the Monty Python elevator music.
@@RoyalArmouries if you were some tree hugger plugging your sparkling water on yt I'll wager you wouldn't get a strike for some harmless background music. 🧐
@@beefycheesecakeNot how it works
@@beefycheesecakeI prefer to think of them as lentil munchers.
pixel Jonathan Ferguson is something I did not expect.
but very much welcome.
I eagerly await the inevitable 2D indie platforming/bullet hell game.
Very much so!
@@Darwinist They could probably sell it as a pixel art "lego" with a selection of iconic firearms in the museum.
It'd be a cool little souvenir to stick on a shelf :)
"Do you feel subscribed, Punk? Well, do ya?"
They'd need about 50,000 different weapons in the game, from flintlock grenade launchers to aircraft guns.
It is the year 2050 and the British troops have received the latest A4 version of the L85.
2050 , the A1066 Longbow was introduced to service 😅
Phased plasma SA80 in the 40-watt range?
Unless the people down range change, then the bullet probably won't and if the bullet doesn't why not keep the familiar rifle? With refinements.
I'm holding out for floating mind controlled knives.
@@RoyalArmouries it's just what you see, pal!
Hang on.. L85s were bartered to the Elbonians in 2045 for their new artillery service in return for mud.
I'd like to add a caveat/correction to the part about the quad rail and brown coating.
It may well be standard for the army but not for other services, at least not in practice. In the various RAF armouries I've been in, there's still plenty of black coating, green handguard L85A2s sitting around. People going out on ops or guard duties are getting the "TES" fit (as it used to be known), quad rail and SUSAT but even these are still black not brown. Only the regiment so far have the new A3.
And there's still plenty of polymer mags floating around.
Yeah the a3s are only being issued to frontline troops but that will be mainly infantry
That Ian McCollum picked the SA80 as a weird weapon apparently still stings :D
22:02 The lack of a flip up cover to clean the gas parts is a massive ball ache. The infantry lads always developed drills that might not be in the manual. Carrying a paint brush for cleaning crap and dust off was one. The other was cleaning the gas parts as soon as you safely and reasonably could after a contact. For all the L85's faults the ability to pop the gas parts out with the rifle in one piece for a quick ream out was a good feature.
That’s a non-issue. You could leave them untouched for years and you’ll never have an issue.
@@ar568 no, thats completely wrong mate.
@@ar568 Are you not aware how carbon fouling works?
Even as a cadet we had issues when you put a lot of rounds through where the gas system would become extremely clogged, stopping it working properly. It also became an absolute PITA to clean.
@ar568 nah, not quite true. Had some bods try that at Def Osc a few years back,3000 ish rounds in and that was a mistake
@@ar568 So how many mags have you put through a L85 in one go sweetie? 😂
This feels like one of those 'What British people say' 'What British people mean' moments. :D
"Yes the intercourse was perfectly adequate dear."
I'm not sure about what you mean by that. Is it a simple case of saying to that irritating pesky neighbour of yours, out of pressured politeness, that you would "love" to have them over for tea, all the while praying and hoping they would just decline your coerced invitation?
Not sure if you mean the onscreen corrections, but even Ian McCollum has to use asterisks sometimes, because mistakes in the video do happen.
I've still got scars on my hands from the A2 'cheesegrater' handguard. Using it with bayonet used to rip your hands to shreds if you weren't wearing gloves.
Those gloves are important 😂. Always get issued with bipod grips now.
As said in the video
@lewisallan9963 always remember going on tabs with no gloves always made a better tab. Went through bayonet with no gloves aswell but didn't get any scars
Thank you, Jonathan Ferguson, the keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries museum in the UK, for this review.
You know when Royal Armouries posts a video, it'll be a good day. Probably the most academic and factual authority on firearms in the world.
I've always liked the visual design of the L85. It looks very unique and nice.
It's a tin cuboid with a grip and magazine well!
@@imnotusingmyrealname4566 Your face is a tin cuboid with a grip and magazine well.
Taste is truly subjective lol
@@User-gd5unBatman and CIA couldn't get me to say a bullpup looks nice 😂
I think we've found the L85's designer
Your editor was having entirely too much fun with that book plug bit :p
It's the small things
@@RoyalArmouries always appreciate the little touches, it's stuff like that which makes Aardman so eminently rewatchable
As I’m local to Fort Nelson I’ve been there many times, but went this weekend for the DDay 80 display, and I have to say it did not disappoint. It’s the only time I’ve been in a museum and when the videos play, everyone stopped to watch them both. It’s well worth a visit, but the silhouette’s were quite special
We're glad you had a good time! I'll pass it on to the folks in Portsmouth
That’s a beautiful rifle.
This, with the KS-1s, the boys finally have some proper kit.
Not everyone is getting it, will be one bod from a section 2 if you're lucky
Got a few mates in the army who highly rate this rifle as a significant improvement over the previous iteration of this rifle!
Hi Jonathan, I can confirm Magpul E-Mag is still the standard in service magazine, some Gen 3 P-Mags are now also in service. However if a unit has a substantial stock of HK mags, they generally won't replace them unless there is a significant need
I am going to throw this out there I used the A1 and A2 and NEVER had serious problem with it, lots of people try to jump on the band wagon saying its a pile of shite. Yes initially some teething problems with the A1 the magazine release catch but apart from that it was a reliable weapon. Only had one stoppage using the LSW and adjusted the gas plug to excessive and continued firing no problems. That said I actually cleaned my rifle so it done what it said on the tin. Yes loved the SLR but different strokes for different folks. If the end of the world came what weapon would I choose to roll with to survive . . . . .AK47 ;) lol
A2 was a nice rifle, you're right it was the A1 that had some teething issues. However while abroad using this it was easier to have an AR platform to be able to exchange parts with American colleagues.
End of world weapon..... a Bow.
the SA80 family were exceptional weapons, for a weapons designed by a bunch of Engineers with little to no knowledge of Firearms and had to learn from scratch.
@@Ami_BK yeah I have a nice flat bow in likelihood I won’t get my hands on an Ak 👍
@@MrTrilbe indeed , they were working on it from the mid 70’s I’ve actually seen photos of a prototype with wooden furniture
The A1 was awful.
Cocking shaped in such a way that it threw empty cases back into the working parts, TMH had the ability to not fit to the upper properly affecting zero and worst of all the firing pin would always break.
It was made and designed by people that do don’t know what they was doing.
Gladly fixed with the A2.
As a serving soldier in the army reserve, I'm still waiting to get my hands on the A3. We're still using the A2, with the SUSAT, and Daniel Defence handguard
Please do more British Army firearms! Never enough!
13:30 Thank you for answering a question which came up last weekend: one of my cadre's A2s had the extended rail and newer-style welds around the trunnion (but still saying A2 on the markings), which caused some confusion.
Since you mentioned the L98 cadet rifle, I thought I'd mention that when I was a cadet, there were 2 "types". One was normal and the other had concrete in the barrel which was sometimes used for drill. It also had some different colours, like red on the bolt assembly. I'm sure you are aware, but I thought I'd mention it.
Sean Connery sees the scope marking:
"Ahh, Schpecter."
Love this family of rifles, iconic.
Jonathan would agree ;)
Which goes to show that icons don't have to be any good. It's a long and embarrassing road to get to where we are now, and unfortunately, no matter how good the latest version is, it's original failure has left a stink on it.
@@ericgrace9995 The soldiers I've interviewed loved it.
I accept however that the development process is an embarrassing lesson in bureaucratic meddling that needlessly cost millions and normal soldiers had to foot a terrible bill.
Well, to be honest, soldiers on the field _will_ be using tactical gloves most of times, so it's not like a quad-rail cheese grater is a big problem under _that_ point of view. Fact is, quad-rail handguards are substantially heavier. And nowadays, ounces are pounds.
You should have the monopod.
Never going to grate cheese the same way again
Great video as usual. However something that REALLY needs mentioning about the A3, is that the front grip is no longer supported by the barrel. Effectively allowing the barrel to float. If you fit a collimator to an A2 and put any force on the grip you will see deflection. The UOR bipod for the A2 ruined its accuracy because of this. The A3, like the A2 is an incredible system.
Ian will approve of the title card. 😂😂
First time I’ve seen that hand guard. Had to do a double take when you had that close up and the rail seemed to move quite easily. Glad to know you just had it loosened up.
To the best of my knowledge not true regards Cerokote on L85A2. There were for a time instructions in the AESP for the local temporary application of Coyote Brown spray paint. Those instructions were removed several years ago. I've certainly never encountered a Cerokoted A2 at any unit I've carried out an inspection at.
Also the SUSAT is very much far from gone. All second line and reserve units now have SUSAT as a bare minimum. Infantry reserve units do have Elcan LDS.
Yeah there's plenty of black L85A2s still around, the brown paint was only temporary for ops.
Black is still standard for the RAF at least
Everywhere I've been has been a mismatch of kayote and black.
i've only seen a couple of the painted A2's, confused me at the time
@@CornishMoose strictly speaking all A2s should be black, the instruction was to return them to black when the paint instructions were removed from that AESP. Obviously that never happened in many cases and I often see painted A2s & SUSATs all looking pretty ratty by now too.
L85A2 (with carry handle) is one of my dream guns even though it's british.
Thank you for covering this! I always have a soft spot for the rifle despite it's infamous reputation.
We got issued with the Original SA80 rifle, I thought it was a good weapon accurate, the magazines were a bit naff, we also complained about the magazine release, as we had some incidents of soldiers doing soildery things of jumping and rolling around and magazines falling off! so they did listen and put a release catch guard on, good video, you should do a book mate.
I recognized that quote from the thumbnail 👀
Absolutely gorgeous rifles. I prefer the looks of the A2 but man the colors on the new A3s are fantastic. Thanks for the video. Hopefully one day they'll sell these to us Americans so I can own one
Some L98A2s have been fitted with the A3 body… that means that the old A1/A2 sub calibre adapter cannot be safely fitted to the weapon… so the sub calibre kit has been withdrawn…
I like the new A3 hand guard a lot lot more. Always liked bullpups, but was previously never a fan of the any of the SA80 systems.
The new front hand guard looks similar to the silhouette of the MDR, which is my favourite rifle.
8:05 Thought you should know that the SUSAT is very much still in service, especially in reserves.
Jonathan seems to know a lot about L85s, perhaps he should write a book about them.
the "combination" i saw most in service, a few years back, was A2 weapon in all aspects except fitted with "A3" marked receiver, but with the welded picatinny rail for accepting the Elcan LDS. still black in with Daniel Defense rail. however that was with a Branch that never got the "proper" A3. SUSATS fitted A2s were and probably still around! just mainly for training and recruits.
the old nato standard rail is fitted on the italian ar 70/90 too
I started out my training with the 7.62mm SLR and converted to the SA80 during training.
The old crusties will harp on about the SLR for stopping power and reliability yet most never fired it in combat or the few that did would have been NI & the Falklands.
Times change and so does the need to adapt.
The modern Infantry soldier carry more weight than their predessors in terms of additional kit,body armour, etc.
They also need to realise that the modern battlefield is more mobile so its about compatibility and fighting close quarters and a lot of snap shooting.
As for stopping power and reliability.
99.9% is down to the individuals responsibility of maintaining his weapon and honing his shooting skills.
I was achieving first round kills around the 400m mark in Iraq in 2004 will very little reliability issues.
You only have to look at the videos coming out of Ukraine to notice to absence of long-barrelled weapons in trenches and AFVs to see those days are gone.
If the British infantry need more suppressing firepower there's a Turret and their fire support group or sharpshooter rifles.
I was issued the A1 and never had any problems that others had but the A3 still has familiar parts. The Magazines i was issued were x US Military mags and the feed jaws had a habit of spreading. If they were dropped {remember the A1 magazine release problems?} the rounds would auto eject every where {not good searching long grass looking for rounds}. Over all this looks and sounds like a better weapon
I only ever carried the A1, after 6 years of carrying the SLR, there were a lot of 'modifications' I seem to remember that used to come down on microfiche to unit armourers at the time, now am showing my age..
Microfiche? Now there's a word I haven't heard for a while.
The A1 had a *lot* of in services mods to try and correct it's deficiencies. For instance the magazine catch guard; loads of people think it was an A2 mod but it was one of the first major mods to be released. I even think the very last A1s ex-Nottingham had them from the factory.
@@DavidCowie2022 Didn't he used to do the weather? 😂
I don't think I ever used an A2. Left in 98. Sure all the obvious mods were done for the time.
Got to mess with one of these when we did some cross-unit training with 3 Para here in the states when they came to visit. Pretty neat rifle, always had a sweet spot for bullpups.
yay new SA80 vid
Always loved the various models
Of the SA80. Never had an issue with the rifle once. Gets too much bad Rep from people who have never fired it. Great weapon system.
I recently ordered Jonathan's book on bullpups from Headstamp (the signed version, of course). I haven't received it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.
I also took the opportunity to get the facsimile of the EM2 manual, because why not?
Best gun in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.☢️. Hope this variant will be in the second part of the game.
Sunday .....cant wait 😊
Carbine also used by Military Working Dog Handlers easier to sling when working the pooch searching for IEDs and such.
I preordered the british bullpup dev book originally and have to say it was a great read. Couldn't recommend enough.
Ahhh my weekly Firearms History class from Mr. Jonathan Ferguson, keep up the good work👍
Mr? Mr? How dare you sir. You should address him by his proper title at all times which is Jonathan Ferguson the Keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum in the UK, which Houses a Collection of Thousands of Iconic Weapons from throughout History.
In a rush, you may abbreviate to JFTKOFAAATRAMITUKWHACOTOIWFTH.
@@bunburyodo ah I forgot that part xD
Class is in session 📚
I was going to say, you should do the L98A2, though difficult if you don't have one. You could always travel to a cadet centre for an "on-location" video! You could do a side by side with the L103A2 for fun.
Love the title/thumbnail for this review. haha.
I'm still a bulpup fan, but the history of this rifle has more twists than a Green-meanie.
Nice video as always 👍
Undoing the move to a polymer magazine is disappointingly on-brand for the UK MOD.
Jonathan is mistaken there, they are still widely fielded
Again all front line units will keep the poly mags, only second and third line units are reverting to the steel mags. And there is a new green PMag that has been issued to some frontline units in place of the older IMags
@@neilconnor2699the steel magazine has no place here, imo. It’s heavier, more expensive, & more prone to corrosion. Apart from making money for H&K, there’s no upside.
It sounds like it was more of a political courtesy move towards H&K, I have no doubt frontline units will continue to "acquire" poly magazines and keep a few H&K ones around for inspections and parade work.
the reciever on my L1 bent to one side in a weapons valise being transported to BATUS, I went from being on the shooting team to only hitting a fig 11 at 100mts. I saw an armourer straighten a barrel in a vice with a hammer. when they worked it was very accurate and I never had a problem with stoppages. The sling got worn and shiney so it fell off me running on patrol in Bosnia so I had to tie a knot in the end to stop it slipping off. Bring back Enfield
thanks Jonathan
Do you mean Jonathon Ferguson, Keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum in the UK, home to thousands of iconic weapons from throughout history?
The originals with the rounded cocking handle always got double feed jams, the H&K ones with the curved cocking handle I never had a problem with,
I was 16 years in the RAF starting 1999. During annual weapons handling the rock apes would always stress out about not getting the gas plug stuck by removing it when rotated. Was it actually a big deal or just a minor annoyance?
If it did happen, you'd need to drill/cut the gas plug off, so yes.
You would also owe your armourer lots of biscuits!
I'm ex army, used A2 and A3, and I don't really understand where it would get stuck, the port from the barrel is too small, and the port in the top of the gas block is wide enough to shove a combi tool down.
I want to read your book, hope it's in a library near me
L98A2 was so great as a Cadet!!! Miss using it.
Apart from the 300 times you had to clean it because the armorer was having a bad day...
@paulnorris1967 Main thing I remember is stripping and reassembling constantly for an entire weekend. Got so quick at it that we beat a few service crew when we were on the range.
@@JakeyBaby6 When I was a cadet and on the shooting team we used to strip and re-assemble the L98A1 (showing my age here) blind folded just for you know fun...
@paulnorris1967 Sounds about right for my experience! The A1 was phased out as I was a cadet. Some regions were still using it. The crossover was around 2009/2010.
@@JakeyBaby6what are service crew?
Looks good..hopefully it is as a good as it looks😎
I used the A1 and A2 ...apart from the cocking handle knocking the empty case back into the working parts on the A1 I thought them both great weapons
L85 my beloved
AKA the weapon from Jonathan's t-shirt
There is a BFA for the Surefire flash suppressor, but the MOD was to cheap to purchase them at a MRSP of $2-300 USD or it was just coming out for issue.
Given that the price tag for the A3 upgrade is said to be astronomical (£75 million for 44 thousand rifles), one can see why they were penny-pinching. Of course, nowadays the priorities are different, hence why you get 10 thousand L403A1 rifles with sights & accessories for £90 million (and in 10 years time) courtesy of KAC & Edgar Bros. Choose your poison, as they say.
What did they do with all the LSWs which were binned off? I recall being in a Cadet unit in 2003 when our LSWs were being recalled for front line service in Iraq!
So can you change the gas plug setting without removing the handguard? Couldn't quite tell if it was accessible
Hey I would really like to know How many Guns do you guys have down there in the collection and Jonathan have you shot them all ?? and what is your favourite ?
So, the bolt release catch doesn’t snap off anymore? Doesn’t the magazine not drop off when you run with the weapon anymore? Have they fixed the trigger mechanism housing developing a rattle/wobble after the weapon has been disassembled for cleaning more than half a dozen times? And finally, have they redesigned the charging handle so that it doesn’t snag on undergrowth and cock the weapon without you noticing?
The couple that I was issued with back in the early 90s felt like they were made from old bits of Mechano.
Thinking back to when I went from SLR to SA80 (very long time ago) I seem to remember on the SA if you moved the gas plug in the wrong direction you could completely f the weapon up? Couldn't the detent pint go up the gas plug and really piss your bombardier off?
RAF Aldergrove had A2 cadet rifles when I was in cadets. Maybe try a RAF base you might get lucky if they'll sell you an older one?
Do we have any information as to why some black A3 uppers were put into service ahead of the A3 proper? Presumably the black A3 uppers were then removed, cerakoted, and had the new rail welded on when the whole rifle went in for A3 upgrade.
Because as John said, it was incremental upgrade to the upper. But at the time the Army was still flirting with the idea of replacing the SA80. But went with the stupid idea to upgrade the A2 (Cost saving). The black A3 uppers are still on A2 rifles as a technological upgrade to the A2 and to bring it inline with the A3. Because lots of the A2s will not be upgraded to the A3 standard.
The SUSAT hasn't quite gone away, it is still around, more so with Reserve units.
Has it got the same Firing Pin design from the A1? I had lots of problems with those.
How do you not have a L98a2? There are so many out there.
Best Video Ever!
the HK logo on the L85A3 is just the biggest flex that they fixed the A1
"Fixed" was really more just "quality controlled". HK did remarkably little to the rifles actual design, they just made the same parts from higher quality material and did proper QC.
Also, HK were working on it from the start, as they were part of the conglomeration of British firearms companies lumped in to work on it (HK was British owned at the time). This is the reason they so quickly identified the issues around cleaning that were so prevent back then, they knew the rifle worked!
No, please bore me with the A2 specific polymer handguard. We only have airsoft replicas of those in the states so this is always fun to see. It's exotic and new to the eye compared to most other rifles.
A3s have made it some reserve infantry units with polymer magazines
Plenty of SUSATS still in service in combat units. Royal Armoured Corps still have many of them.
Because there not a combat unit lol
Have book . :)
May I ask for an overview of Singapore BR18? It seems to be an extremely unique rifle.
The H&K handguard juxtaposed against that British sheetmetal looks like a Borderlands Upgrade to something someone found rusting in an outpost somewhere.
After 40 years of work the L85 is now fine. Great job everyone.
Now, to slowly replace it with the L403A1 over the next 40 years.
It’s like pimping out your 2011 corolla while the Royal Marines are being issued a Lexus.
Chad L85s vs third-world military dictatorship weapon of choice AR15 variants
8:09 the SUSAT is definitely not out of service, sadly we still have them and will for the foreseeable future.
Heckler & Koch really said "If you're not getting a HK 416-B, you're getting an L85A3 with a huge HK on it c: "
Susat isn't completely gone there's still some new ones and lamp changes are still being carried out
Regarding accessories, I do believe though not issued with a handstop or vertical grip, the A3 is effectively always issued with a grippod and of course an LLM Mk.3, the former serving the very snazzy dual purpose of being a vertical grip and bipod in one. Grenadiers also get a new model of the M320 UGL as well, so they don't have to change handguards. You'll note that all to be the case effectively every time you see them on deployment or on exercise.
About the SUSAT, you will still see them in service with non-combat units and secondline units. Effectively when the LDS was adopted and the SUSAT was taken from the infantry, the SUSAT was rolled back to the non-combat and secondline units - replacing the iron sights and carry handle which you really won't see much of nowadays, bar on cadet training rifles.
Also regarding weight, though the overall weight of the rifle has largely remained indifferent from the A2, the handguard and front end of the rifle has gotten notably quite lighter so even more weight of the rifle is situated to the rear. That of course is good for reducing the felt weight of the rifle and fatigue induced by carrying it.
Really glad you guys made a video on the new model, a lot of people seemingly don't even know it exists despite having been in service since 2018. Really hoping to finally see it in newer video games. Fitted with all its attachments, it definitely is not a bad service rifle. Rather, the attachments and barrel length give it a comfortably longer effective engagement range compared to carbine-length rifles.
C&Rsenal history content will tell you it took 30 years of improvement to get to the SMLE
...is this clip a response (patchup) to Ian picking the L85 as the worst/weirdest rifle the last time you did a weapon video together 🤔😊?
Great video again 🤘🙂👍
SUSATs are 100% still in service and A3s are becoming far more widespread, Engineer units are now equipped with them. They're also being issued with the same Grippod foregrips.
It's only taken over thirty years to get the L85 the way it should have been when it was first issued back in the late eighties.
The most important part of any service rifle is the soldier holding it... and the ones that will be holding these are the best in the world.
I must admit I never really understood the LSW it seemed a step back as a support weapon so glad it's gone.
DMR before DMR was even a thing. Trouble is, no-one wanted to use it for its strengths and just saw it as an overly-heavy rifle.
oh wow HK actually made an mlok rail
I got first class marksman with the cadet L85A2, so it was a decent rifle.