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Posted: 10/31/2002 3:31:28 AM EDT
| This may be a dumb question, seeing as how "assault weapons" are "evil" but im in the military and stationed in europe, and as a result we "play" with the british army alot. As a result of this i have become quiet interested in their current basic issue combat rifle the SA-80 (which i have also seen refered to as the L-85A1). I wanted to know A: if anyone knew the year it came into service, and B: does anyone know if theres any "clones" of it available on the american market? |
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The SA-80 had it's beginings in the '50's with the EM-2. The actual gun started life as the XL64 in 4.85mm and also came in left handed versions. When NATO adopted the 5.56mm, the gun was redesigned to 5.56mm and redesignated the XL70. It was finally adopted after much develeopment as the L85 in 1985 and production began in 1986. "SA-80" was the developmental name and the name pretty much stuck. Just as the Brits referred to the L1A1 ans the "FN" the L85 is referred to as the "SA-80" or "SA" for short. The rifle has been plauged with reliability problems from way back. There are no clones available in the US that shoot real bullets (Air Soft ones exist). There is one semi-auto SA-80 in the US. I've seen it with my own eyes. The guy was trying to sell it, enough parts for a second gun, and the US manufacturing rights as a package. I talked to the guy for a very short time and examined the gun in person. It was along time ago, and the guy wanted alot of bread for the package. Some may remember his ad in Gunlist. He wasn't kidding though, it was real. The closest you'll come is the Bushmaster M17s. It takes M16 type mags, and uses similar mechanics and operation as the SA-80 but it is an entirely differnt gun. It's about the only bullpup you can get in the US that's worth a darn that won't cost you an arm and a leg. Ross |
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just as an after note i understand from some of my brit counterparts that there was a big to do a few years ago when the government (british) spent more money tryin to fix the problems, according to them it would have been cheaper to develope a totally new rifle. im familier with the M17s and had planned to buy one eventually, but i was hopin and wishin that in all my research into the topic i had somehow missed someone offerin a clone for sale, oh well. but on that note i guess there is one somewhere so just maybee,,,,,,, ya right, thanx alot |
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Although very rare. The British government was letting the manufacturer of the L85/SA80 produce a single shot (but I have heard it was east to install a gas tube and make it Semi-Auto) and many were sold on the Canadian market about 6-8 years ago. You may want to do a lot of emails and phone calls to fun stores in Britain and Canada to see if somebody can dig one up for you. Good Luck! |
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thats some news that i can use, i assume since its a single shot i wont have to much trouble with any import attempts. my wonder now is how far im gonna get bent over the barrel for this thing. o well it`ll be worth it ta be the first kid on my block to have one. i guess i`ll have the added fun of trying to figure out how to convert it, i just love projects!! of course anyone who might have any info on where i could pick one up is encouraged ta post the info here, i know someone out there knows where theres one just sittin around screaming for a new owner. |
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well machine it wont be near as hard as some of our other quests, like driving 3 hours, humping our gear a mile and a half in 3 feet of snow and than sleepin in sub zero temps just so we can shoot a couple thousand rounds in an afternoon. i think this one will be a lot less demanding, but thats just my opinion. o ya man, u need ta post some pix of that new ar u got |
| Larry Remier of the AREA 51 guns have a L86 version of the the gun. this is the light support weapon version of the standard L85. He begun to manufacture the gun in the late 80s but since British aerospace bought British ordnance, the gun hating BA told Larry he could not have any parts kit to finish his American version of the L85. Larry's business hit the floor because of that. He still keeps a semi L86 today. I had the pleasure of playing with it inVegas, he offered for me to shoot it, but since there is no parts of those guns, I refused it and thank him for his kindness. |
| I am in the Army also, and have served with the Brits on many occasions; Even was able to shoot the SA-80 once. They (Brits)hate the rifle. For one, its heavy. About 10 pounds. Its parts are fragile, and it is not reliable. The Brit SAS use the M-16. That should tell you something. I went on a H & K factory tour a couple months ago (stationed in Germany), and they were busy rebuilding the SA-80. Virtually every piece on that thing was redone. If you go looking for the SA-80 on the British gun market, it might be a little hard. I have looked in the British version of the Shotgun news "gun mart". They have allot of different manually operated assualt weapons, but no SA-80s. The manually operated version was called the "cadet" if I remember correctly. Even if you find one, good luck getting the receiver back to the States; it might be a full auto receiver (this is legal in Europe), or could still be interchangable with a semi auto. I did see a de-activated one for sale; But it was for the about $2k. Also remember in Germany, a military looking rifle is illegal even if is manually operated . Go to : members.madasafish.com/~relics/. They sell a dummy SA-80. If you want, send me your APO address offline and I will send you the copys of "gun mart" that I have, free. |
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