The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

For anyone who is interested, I was at a defence expo a few weeks ago and got my hands on the upgrade for the L85 (along with robots, Apaches and some other obscure things)... It was kitted out with an Elcan and a MUNS.

They've made it a different colour... that should solve everything.

It is looking very dated these days regardless of a new coat of paint and a few rails. The words pig and lipstick come to mind.

Jesus, didn't anyone get the memo regarding a single RAL colour? Reminds me of the FN SCAR in FDE. Function is one thing, but is it too much to ask that such an expensive firearm at least have matching colours across the main components?

EDIT: Chose a picture that wasn't mahoosive.

It was expensive to make, expensive to fix and still has life left in it. Sadly, it's going to always be cheaper to put on more lipstick than to replace it and train up the troops on another platform.

I see the photo as a display piece showing the colour options rather than a representation of the issue kit.

The overblown numpties at Enfield should have just left it as it was , the Stirling AR180 , aka Armalite AR18 . With a couple of smal modifications to accommodate m16 mags and a thicker , faster twist barrel it would have been fine . No need for that bullpup bulsh_t , nor the use of maraging steel for the firing pins , idiotic.

My only complaint with the A2 version was that its got lots of sharp edges and sticky out bits that cut you to ribbons when your trying to clean the thing. Not great for left handed shooters either (I've seen the results of someone trying...)

Ovenpaa wrote:It is looking very dated these days regardless of a new coat of paint and a few rails. The words pig and lipstick come to mind.

I've worked on both the A1 and A2 version. The words turd and polish come to mind.

I also saw one of these and by the time FOE 2035 comes into play, the Army will probably consist of 2 of those and a Corporal with remote control sat in a contractor owned porta-cabin.

User702 wrote:It was expensive to make, expensive to fix and still has life left in it. Sadly, it's going to always be cheaper to put on more lipstick than to replace it and train up the troops on another platform.

It's never too late to abandon that silly bull-pup concept. We just dumped the Steyr AUG in favour of the LMT MARS-L. Don't foresee any issues at all retraining the troops.