I seem to remember reading last year, or possibly the year before a damning report on the India rifle. Its probably just resurfaced because of the G36 business
Blackstuff wrote:I seem to remember reading last year, or possibly the year before a damning report on the India rifle. Its probably just resurfaced because of the G36 business
Possibly. I guess they can't go wrong giving their soldiers in trouble spots (disputed by both China and Pakistan, ?) Ak's that will work come whatever may.
Not surprised at all, mate. It's the same mistake repeated time and again: designers create weapon, test weapon and then trial it against other efforts. Weapon is chosen and that's when the rott sets in. The bean counters get involved and hack the design to hell believing they are saving money without any real world experience of using one, the manufacturers cut costs to maximise profit and lastly corruption takes its bite.
It's no different from the SA80, M16, etc. It takes the death of serving soldiers to eventually necessitate the fixing of all the cock-ups created after the design has been accepted. It took almost 30yrs to fix the M16 and how many years before the SA80 was revised/fixed?
The AK must be about 60-70yrs old. A tried and tested weapon. No doubt the current generation of soldiers will lament the loss of the SA80 and despair at its replacement, when the time comes.
Scotsgun wrote:Not surprised at all, mate. It's the same mistake repeated time and again: designers create weapon, test weapon and then trial it against other efforts. Weapon is chosen and that's when the rott sets in. The bean counters get involved and hack the design to hell believing they are saving money without any real world experience of using one, the manufacturers cut costs to maximise profit and lastly corruption takes its bite.
It's no different from the SA80, M16, etc. It takes the death of serving soldiers to eventually necessitate the fixing of all the cock-ups created after the design has been accepted. It took almost 30yrs to fix the M16 and how many years before the SA80 was revised/fixed?
The AK must be about 60-70yrs old. A tried and tested weapon. No doubt the current generation of soldiers will lament the loss of the SA80 and despair at its replacement, when the time comes.
I guess the one thing communism got right was rifle that works anywhere and can be used by you, your kids, wife, mother and granny. I think there is an argument to be made that the SA80 would have worked sooner if it had stuck closer to the AR18 design and on the M16 I remember reading of a Piston driven variant that Colt came up with in the early 70's but passed on to work on what became the M16A2. Very strange stuff and corrupt stuff sadly.