SA80 A2, Opinions?

[Guest BritishShooter]

I was wondering if anyone had any experience/knowledge of the SA80 A2 assault rifle, currently in use with the British Armed forces.

(Pictured below with the standard infantry SUSAT (Sight Unit Small Arms) x4 mounted optic)

I served for 3 years with the Royal Marine Cadet Corps, and therefore trained extensively with this rifle. The only difference between the cadet version and the version currently in Iraq is that the cadet version is modified to fire only manually, not semi-auto.

I really enjoyed shooting this gun, and got close groupings at up to 300 metres, which is very good considering its short length and Bullpup design. I didnt have the luxury of a SUSAT optic either, just plain old bar sight.

In Iraq it has proved more reliable than either the M16 or M4, but maybe the Brits just have better weapons maintenance drills

Anyway, I was just wondering if anyone else had used this rifle, and if so what were your thoughts and opinions?

[Seaslug]

It's a beast in SOCOM II, I can tell ya' that! Killed a lot of whiny, teenaged terrorists with that gun...

As for real life, I'm a little surprised to hear that it's been more reliable than the M4 or the M16 in the sandbox. I thought that IW actually scrapped the project for awhile a few years back because they were having some SERIOUS reliability issues. Maybe they got all that worked out...

[Guest BritishShooter]

It's a beast in SOCOM II, I can tell ya' that! Killed a lot of whiny, teenaged terrorists with that gun...

As for real life, I'm a little surprised to hear that it's been more reliable than the M4 or the M16 in the sandbox. I thought that IW actually scrapped the project for awhile a few years back because they were having some SERIOUS reliability issues. Maybe they got all that worked out...

The problems were with the SA80 A1, the A2's predecessor. The magazine used to fall out if the soldier ran to fast, semi-automatic fire disfigured the firing pin, etc...

After a complete remodelling we now have a gun that works, sometimes.

The reason it is more reliable in the sandbox is primarily the enclosed nature of barrel casing and cooling system, it doesn’t let sh*t into the workings every time you pull the trigger, unlike the M16.

On the other hand, British Special Forces use the M16 rather than the SA80, go figure...

[Seaslug]

The problems were with the SA80 A1, the A2's predecessor. The magazine used to fall out if the soldier ran to fast, semi-automatic fire disfigured the firing pin, etc...

After a complete remodelling we now have a gun that works, sometimes.

The reason it is more reliable in the sandbox is primarily the enclosed nature of barrel casing and cooling system, it doesn’t let sh*t into the workings every time you pull the trigger, unlike the M16.

On the other hand, British Special Forces use the M16 rather than the SA80, go figure...

I just read that H&K was responsible for the A2 upgrades. Very nice...

[Guest Todd@CIS]

Since the H&K upgrades, I've read that the SA80 A2 is now "serviceable" (the A1 was reported to be s%^t).

I have not seen any reports, however, that indicate the reliability has equaled or surpassed the M-16A2/M-4 platform.

Can you point us to any?

Edited May 31, 2009 by Todd@CIS

[Smith]

why don't you bring some to a shoot and let us try one out! I'm sure there is an immigration/ATF loophole somewhere!