rjwood_uk

now this is a joke but not the haha normal kind of joke

i present to you the humble Enfield L85A1 SA80



this weapon has been in service under the british armed forces since 1987 and after a recent re-call for modifications my Hekla & Klock (H&K) will continue to be in service untill 2020!

now the reason why i am bringing this up is very relivant to this site!

everything on this weapon you can see that is green was (untill the re-call) made by....you'l never guess......AirFix!!!

the muzzle protector, the pistol grip style handle (very comfortable actually!), the trigger, the barrel grip, the but rest and pit rest, the cocking handle (on the other side)...and also the magazine!!!

now do we wonder why they all stuffed up out in the desert? i can just imagine the drill instructor marching around inspecting his troops whilst they sat there with a craft knife and wet and dry paper trimming and sanding the parts so they would fit right!!

and just as easy as it is to make an AirFix skill level 3 kit these rifles can be dis-mantled and put back togeather in under 2 minutes (trust me i had to do it to pass the course to be able to fire one (although that was the L98A1...(non automatic version)

now our MOD must have a very long history with Enfield, as im sure most of you know the Enfield Mk.4 and 303 were both used as standard issue rifles in the first and second world war, infact we even provided our friends accross the atlantic with some nice enfields during the american civl war.

maybe when they start designing a new assault rifle for the british armed forces in ten years time they should ask Tamiya or Dragon to do the moulds...

AerynPk

wow very interesting there mate i wouldnt believe its airfix.

wonwinglo

Airfix have made many interesting things over the years for the armed forces,including kitchen utensils,buckets and utility items.
Airfix historians should not forget the many cereal premiums moulded by this company over the years ( and gone un-recorded) as well,including a great Galaxy,Boeing 747,Sea King helicopter and a Hovercraft,there is no trace of their name on any of these items which are now pieces of history.
During wartime when toy production was banned the famous Meccano factory produced the tins used to place the survival rations in.

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

AerynPk

wow i didnt know that thanks barry for the facts

5thelement

Would of never guessed that! out of interest, how do you know?

rjwood_uk

from being in the ATC (air training corps) and learning to fire one!!!

5thelement

Fair enough lol just wondered as i've read shitloads of stuff about the SA80 variants and never heard that before! interesting.

Here's my own L85A1 (replica)



Sure the pic you posted is an A2 version, note the trigger shoe that's common to the A2's.