SA80/L85 Butt pad, a question for those who have served

[Charlie Muggins]

In my (likely flawed) understanding the bullpup rifle is an inelegant solution which goes some way to compensate for the inadequacies of the 5.56 round. The round relies on having a very high velocity when it hits the target. Therefore the barrel needs to be in the 20"+ range. You essentially have a choice between an m16 length rifle in a conventional arrangement or m4 length rifle with a bullpup.

[leeroy7031]

Just kidding

Very nice, did you get this zeroed with the Susat and irons at the weekend ?

Can't wait to put a few rounds through this

[Charlotte the flyer]

To answer questions :

This isn't a CCF one, it's an un-issued rifle from Nottingham. Brand new barrel, everything is tight as a drum. It's standard L98 spec with the dodgy cocking handle.

Price is whatever the vendor asks for and the market is willing to pay. I'm saying no more on this topic.

I've got an LEI Picatinny rail for it and an ACOG is going on. Also have a front end rail system on the way.

[ordnance]

The straight pull should be alright, as you are not depending on the rifle to reload itself. It will probably go down in history as one of the worst service rifles put into production. Expensive to produce not taking into account the tens of millions spent replacing nearly every part by H&K. They managed to design a 5.56 mm rifle as heavy as the 7.67 mm rifle they replaced, terrible ergonomics. A disaster from start to finish.

[John MH]

But it shoots and is now very reliable.

[ordnance]

But it shoots and is now very reliable.

Yes it just took millions and German expertise to get to an acceptable level of reliability. It will be fine for the range reliability and weight is not an issue.

[Maggot]

But it shoots and is now very reliable.

Yes it just took millions and German expertise to get to an acceptable level of reliability. It will be fine for the range reliability and weight is not an issue.

That's a fair point. H&K really.

I remember when we first got the L85. It was a revelation, heavy enough but balanced better than the L1.

But at that stage it had never been tested in battle as such, funny what happens over time, mind you, like the Scout helicopter, it will probably be squaddie proof the day it becomes obsolete

[Grahamcs]

Less of the German expertise please

There are British Engineers listening

[pe4king]

Was H&K not owned by British Aerospace at the time of the upgrade ?

[User702]

Via Royal Ordnance, yes.