In regards to comparing the AR to the SA80, is the British gun as unreliable as it's said to be? Are there any civilian versions/kits of this rifle available?

Thanks

last i hear, lots of brits were trading in thier bull pups for some canadian or american ARs

yea, its reliability was pretty bad; i heard that HK was helping to work out the kinks.....

not sure on any kits--i'll say no

Quoted: In regards to comparing the AR to the SA80, is the British gun as unreliable as it's said to be? Are there any civilian versions/kits of this rifle available?

No, it's not that bad. Since the upgrades they're much better (it's now the L85, not the SA80).

On its side is great accuracy and a good sight. It's not the perfect weapons system but it's doing what it's supposed to do.

I have heard alot of rumors about its abysmal performance, but I've yet to see any photos of Brits in combat areas who are carrying anything but. Seems like they kill Iraqi insurgents just fine.

There are no civy versions of the gun, nor will there ever be. There are a few floating around that came in country, I know someone who has an early SA-80, but they are hard to find and very pricey...and not that great of a weapon in their early versions.

Small amout were brought in before the 89 ban.

Last one I saw for sale the asking price was $19.000

I do not think they are worth a penny over 15K  

The 1st gen SA80 was pretty bad and had a horrible record in Gulf War I. The most common problem was mags falling out during shooting. HK was called in an fixed the issues and the SA80 runs fine now. Feedback in some of the Mil UK forums has been positive

It's hard to find in the USA due to the import restrictions. Very rare and very expensive if you wanted one

Royal Ordnance did offer a manual cocking "Cadet" version that may also be out there in civilian hands. Note the large cocking handle:

Yes, there are some semi autos versions out there.  Golden State Arms Co. imported some prior to '89.  They were British Aerospace marked, not Enfield. I saw them for sale NIB at a gun show in Texas in '88 or so.  They were $5,000 brand new with no semi-auto ban legislation in sight back then.  I had the opportunity to buy one back in '97.  The guy wanted $10k for it and he had a LOT of SA80 parts (traded out of Brit hands in Gulf War 1) to go with it.  Wish I'd done it.  Ebay UK has a lot of the A2 parts made by HK and it would be quite something to have one of these semis with the HK-made A2 parts in it.  Talk about valuable.

The Cadet version is also not importable, despite manual charging handle.  The receiver is an MG receiver with some easily changed out parts that make it manual.

There are some parts guns out there.  I know The Arms Room in Nevada (now defunct) made some receivers and built up complete semi-auto SA80s with imported SA80 kits, but they were are not impressively built and are still way above $10k when you find one for sale.  These were also done pre-922r, so the imported parts count did not/does not matter.

Quoted: No, it's not that bad. Since the upgrades they're much better (it's now the L85, not the SA80).

It's always been the L85 (L85A1), the SA80 is just a different designation for the same rifle (similar to M16/AR15). It is now the L85A2 or SA80A2. The L98 is the Cadet GP (General Purpose rifle) that StealthyBlagga posted and is a single shot rifle. The L86(A1/A2) is the Light Support Weapon (LSW) which is an SA80 with a bipod, heavier longer barrel and some trigger differences and a few other minor changes.

Matt

Quoted: Small amout were brought in before the 89 ban. Last one I saw for sale the asking price was $19.000 I do not think they are worth a penny over 15K

Probably the most expensive semi-auto in the country, even more than a PSG-1 or SIG 550 Sniper model.