UK Cadet Force Weaponry: Armament Research Services, British Enfield SA80 Cadet GP Rifle
By Jonathan Ferguson In the UK there are several “Cadet” forces. These comprise the Army Cadet Force, the (RAF) Air Training Corps, the (Royal Navy) Sea ... Read more.
Emergence of the Carbine: The British Enfield SA80 Carbines
From the inception of the (Section) Small Arms of the 1980s project in 1970, the intent behind British adoption of a bullpup rifle had been to replace as many s... Read more.
End of an Era in British Firearms Manufacturing: The British Enfield SA80, XL70 – Part 4
The final prototype series of the SA80 family actually overlapped with the service L85A1 and L86A1 variants and consisted of 10 variants; although the E1 is the... Read more.
Hitting the Reset Button: The British Enfield SA80, XL70 – Part 3
As other installments in this series show, there were already significant issues with the first few iterations of the new prototype “Small Arms of the 1980s... Read more.
The L85A2 Rifle Still Going Strong: British Enfield SA80, SA80 A1 vs. A2, British Enfield SA80, XL80 SERIES, PART 5
As our previous instalments have covered, the SA80 family endured a very troubled development cycle, and many of these challenges continued well into its actual... Read more.
Ahead of Its Time: British Fosbery Pump-Action Shotgun with “Stoner” Bolt
George Fosbery is best remembered for his Webley-Fosbery “Automatic” (self-cocking) revolver and his “Paradox” shotgun rifling system. He arguably also ... Read more.
Replacing the Bren: The Post-War British Army Considered Korsak’s Bullpup Design LMG for Infantry Support
This experimental British light machine gun or automatic rifle was developed from 1945–1947 under the auspices of the British Armament Design Establishment (A... Read more.
Trials and Tribulations: Britain’s Quest for Area Effect Weapons, British Enfield SA80 Grenade Launchers
An “area effect” weapon was a requirement from the outset of the SA80 program and appeared in wooden mock-up form in the “1970 Preliminary Study” (publi... Read more.
