So some British soldiers in Afghanistan are going to be issued with more powerful rifles to replace the SA80 popgun. It's about time - I've been banging on about how ineffective the SA80 is in a theatre like Afghanistan for ages. It should be a national scandal that the Army's most effective infantry weapon in Afghanistan is a machine gun that first saw action in WW2.
Now all we need are some proper armoured patrol vehicles, decent close air support aircraft, a properly defined strategy and around 100,000 extra troops to implement it and we might start to win this war.
7 comments:
Na. I would still take a mk III, or IV Lee Enfield over any of them. And THEY came from the FIRST world war.
The SMLE was a terrific rifle and I'm sure it would do well in a theatre like Afghanistan even today in skilled hands - but my preference would be for the L1A1.
Was at Bisley with the SMLE (Mk 4
IV). We used Stirlings and sidearms (BHPs) mostly in the army (Military Police), but all the grunts, Paras, etc had nothing good to say about the L1A1.
HOWEVER, speaking to lads who had both L1A1 and the SA 80. They look back on the F.N as "the good old days".
Just bloody USELESS in a pig or carrier.
Furor Teutonicus
(NOW this pile of fucking Google shite will not let me register without a fucking Mobile telephone number!!!
Not content with making my register a new fucking account EVERY time I wish to reply.
I hope ALL google employees and their fuckwit families die this year VERY slow and VERY painful death.
Most of the complaints that I remember about the L1A1 were that it was semi-auto only - apparently it was a bit of a beast on full auto, but it still would have been a nice option for close quarters.
Too long for CQs. That's why we had the Stirlings.
But L1A1s had single shot as well, if I remember? (Only used one about three times, two of them in training.)
Brit L1A1s were only single shot - I don't know about Aussie or other Commonwealth versions though.
Hugely enjoy my SMLE - great rifle -and thinking of getting an L1A1, for fun and use against hogs/coyote and, of course, nostalgia. Never fired the SA 80... seemed underpowered, not that I'm an expert. Interesting to note that the M14 had a resurgence.
Thanks for the blog.
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