The following is a draft of a coming article. As usual, comments are welcome.
John
The British Enfield L85 assault rifles
(click for larger view)
These guns were prominently displayed as the British military carried them during the funeral services for Queen Elizabeth II. Knowing that I’m a “gun guy,” a few friends asked exactly what those weird guns were. My wife remarked that what they were carrying under their arms looked like large books. I myself thought it was a strange way to carry a rifle – under the right arm upside down, with the barrel grasped by the left hand behind the soldiers’ backs. It seemed to me that was an obviously awkward way to march under arms. In fact, it is a special mark of respect for funerals and mourning called “Reverse Arms.”
Well, at any rate I explained to my friends that what they were carrying was the British L85 rifle. I told them that it was a bullpup rifle loosely based on the American AR-18 assault rifle. This usually drew blank or puzzled stares.
I then had to explain that a bullpup rifle was basically a normal rifle, but with the action pushed back near to the buttplate, making a much shorter rifle still having a normal-length barrel. As for the AR-18, it was developed in 1963 by Arthur Miller, George Sullivan and Chuck Dorchester for Armalite, utilizing an action originally designed by Eugene Stoner. Were it not for the U.S.’s substantial investment in the M16, the folding-stock AR-18 well could have become our standard military rifle. It’s one of the firearms I covered extensively in my book 101 Classic Firearms.
The British were very impressed by the AR-18s, having encountered them when some were used by the outlawed Irish Republican Army. A good number were even manufactured by Sterling in Great Britain. Because of their efficiency in the hands of the IRA they were nicknamed the “widowmakers.” The Brits’ Royal Ordnance group began work on a new rifle, but using a bullpup framework to achieve a more compact arm.
They selected the AR-18 action for it and experiments continued in the 1960s-1980 time frame. The resulting initial prototypes were dubbed SA-80s (short for Small Arms for the 1980s). The objective was to replace the 7.62mm L1 SLR (the British-made FN FAL) rifles and the Sterling submachine guns then in service.
Initially, the rifle was to utilize a British-developed small caliber design using a 4.85mm (.19 caliber) bullet that was essentially the U.S. 5.56mm cartridge necked down. When NATO adopted the 5.56mm round, the new rifle was re-designed to accommodate that cartridge.
This modified rifle was put into production in 1984 as the L85. These first rifles turned out to be disasters and were disliked immensely by the British troops. In general, the rifles were largely unreliable and were awkward to handle and maintain. Dust, dirt and this rifle did not go well together at all.
In 1997, after years of complaints, an upgrade program for existing rifles was put into effect in 2000-2002 and was completed by the German firearms firm of Heckler & Koch. H&K at that time was owned by the British Royal Ordnance company, although German investors bought it back in 2002. Of the approximately 320,000 original L85A1 rifles, about 200,000 were upgraded to L85A2 specifications. Initial official commentary was favorable, although British troops in the Afghanistan campaign of 2002 filed some unsatisfactory field reports. Most of the reported problems were traced to improper care and maintenance of the rifles, and now the overhauled L85A2 versions are performing convincingly well. They are recognized as very accurate, especially with the SUSAT telescopic sight which was designated as standard for this arm. The rifle illustrated here is one of the L85A2 versions and is equipped with a SUSAT.
The L85 is gas operated, magazine fed, and selective fire. The receiver is made from stamped sheet steel, reinforced with welded and riveted machined steel inner steel inserts. It utilizes a short stroke gas piston placed above the barrel. The gas piston has its own return spring. The gas system has a 3-position regulator for normal, adverse conditions, and “off” for launching rifle grenades.
The machined bolt carrier rides on two parallel steel guide rods, with the return spring above and between the guide rods. The rotating bolt has seven lugs that fit into a steel insert in the receiver. The charging handle is attached to the right side of the bolt carrier. Prior to the A2 upgrade, the handle caused some ejected cases to bounce back into the action, causing stoppages. In the A2 version, there were many internal parts that were re-designed. Also, the charging handle was re-configured to act as a case deflector and the bolt and its extractor claw were also modified to give more reliable extraction and ejection. The charging handle slot is covered by a spring-loaded dust cover similar to the one on the AR-18. A fire control lever on the left side selects either full automatic or semiautomatic fire. A crossbolt safety is provided above the trigger. The magazine release is on the left side. A manual bolt-hold-open switch is on the right side and a bolt release is on the left. The weight is 8.4 pounds empty, the length is 30.9 inches, and the barrel length is 20.4 inches.
All varieties of the L85 rifle are designed to use optical sights. The A2 version of the rifle is equipped with a Sight Unit Small Arms Trilux (SUSAT) scope on a quick-detachable mount above the receiver. It has 4X magnification and a tritium-powered illuminated reticle. Backup iron sights are mounted on the body of the scope. This optic is a very heavy design, making the total weight of the combination almost as heavy as the previous L1 SLR 7.62mm rifle. A lighter Trijicon Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (ACOG) scope is sometimes used as an alternative. A newer option to replace the aging SUSATs is the Elcan SpecterOS 4X lightweight optical day sight. A black water-resistant cloth cover is provided to slip over any of these scopes for protection when not in use.
It appears that the L85 rifles are destined to be around for a while, although these bullpups have never been all that popular with the troops in the field. A hard-to-get-around problem is that bullpups are almost always awkward to handle and the balance is undeniably horrible. The L85 ejects only to the right, making it very annoying when lefties try to use it from the left shoulder and get fired cases thrown into their faces. The magazine latch is still quite exposed on the left side, and if the rifle is pressed against the body, the magazine can be inadvertently dumped. Some British Special Forces have preferred to use the Canadian version of our M16 (the C8 Diemaco), giving them a reliable and less awkward firearm. One wonders if the Brits shouldn’t have elected to use the original AR-18 rifles that were equipped with folding stocks. They were boringly dependable, relatively lightweight and the stock could be folded for better maneuverability in close quarters. They were easy to handle and not at all awkward. Perhaps hindsight is indeed perfect, but in their quest for the latest and greatest, the British Ordnance group gave their troops nothing but troubles for the first several years until the major kinks were worked out of their design. Unfortunately, the earlier rifles’ sad reputation stuck, causing many – right or wrong - to also doubt the current iterations.
In spite of the problems of the early guns, the modern L85A2 rifles seem to work acceptably well. Their unique design that has been established as standard in Great Britain makes them both interesting and classic. Examples are still few and far between here in the United States, making them almost unknown here regardless of decades of service with our most loyal ally overseas.
(c) 2022 JLM
John
The British Enfield L85 assault rifles
(click for larger view)
These guns were prominently displayed as the British military carried them during the funeral services for Queen Elizabeth II. Knowing that I’m a “gun guy,” a few friends asked exactly what those weird guns were. My wife remarked that what they were carrying under their arms looked like large books. I myself thought it was a strange way to carry a rifle – under the right arm upside down, with the barrel grasped by the left hand behind the soldiers’ backs. It seemed to me that was an obviously awkward way to march under arms. In fact, it is a special mark of respect for funerals and mourning called “Reverse Arms.”
Well, at any rate I explained to my friends that what they were carrying was the British L85 rifle. I told them that it was a bullpup rifle loosely based on the American AR-18 assault rifle. This usually drew blank or puzzled stares.
I then had to explain that a bullpup rifle was basically a normal rifle, but with the action pushed back near to the buttplate, making a much shorter rifle still having a normal-length barrel. As for the AR-18, it was developed in 1963 by Arthur Miller, George Sullivan and Chuck Dorchester for Armalite, utilizing an action originally designed by Eugene Stoner. Were it not for the U.S.’s substantial investment in the M16, the folding-stock AR-18 well could have become our standard military rifle. It’s one of the firearms I covered extensively in my book 101 Classic Firearms.
The British were very impressed by the AR-18s, having encountered them when some were used by the outlawed Irish Republican Army. A good number were even manufactured by Sterling in Great Britain. Because of their efficiency in the hands of the IRA they were nicknamed the “widowmakers.” The Brits’ Royal Ordnance group began work on a new rifle, but using a bullpup framework to achieve a more compact arm.
They selected the AR-18 action for it and experiments continued in the 1960s-1980 time frame. The resulting initial prototypes were dubbed SA-80s (short for Small Arms for the 1980s). The objective was to replace the 7.62mm L1 SLR (the British-made FN FAL) rifles and the Sterling submachine guns then in service.
Initially, the rifle was to utilize a British-developed small caliber design using a 4.85mm (.19 caliber) bullet that was essentially the U.S. 5.56mm cartridge necked down. When NATO adopted the 5.56mm round, the new rifle was re-designed to accommodate that cartridge.
This modified rifle was put into production in 1984 as the L85. These first rifles turned out to be disasters and were disliked immensely by the British troops. In general, the rifles were largely unreliable and were awkward to handle and maintain. Dust, dirt and this rifle did not go well together at all.
In 1997, after years of complaints, an upgrade program for existing rifles was put into effect in 2000-2002 and was completed by the German firearms firm of Heckler & Koch. H&K at that time was owned by the British Royal Ordnance company, although German investors bought it back in 2002. Of the approximately 320,000 original L85A1 rifles, about 200,000 were upgraded to L85A2 specifications. Initial official commentary was favorable, although British troops in the Afghanistan campaign of 2002 filed some unsatisfactory field reports. Most of the reported problems were traced to improper care and maintenance of the rifles, and now the overhauled L85A2 versions are performing convincingly well. They are recognized as very accurate, especially with the SUSAT telescopic sight which was designated as standard for this arm. The rifle illustrated here is one of the L85A2 versions and is equipped with a SUSAT.
The L85 is gas operated, magazine fed, and selective fire. The receiver is made from stamped sheet steel, reinforced with welded and riveted machined steel inner steel inserts. It utilizes a short stroke gas piston placed above the barrel. The gas piston has its own return spring. The gas system has a 3-position regulator for normal, adverse conditions, and “off” for launching rifle grenades.
The machined bolt carrier rides on two parallel steel guide rods, with the return spring above and between the guide rods. The rotating bolt has seven lugs that fit into a steel insert in the receiver. The charging handle is attached to the right side of the bolt carrier. Prior to the A2 upgrade, the handle caused some ejected cases to bounce back into the action, causing stoppages. In the A2 version, there were many internal parts that were re-designed. Also, the charging handle was re-configured to act as a case deflector and the bolt and its extractor claw were also modified to give more reliable extraction and ejection. The charging handle slot is covered by a spring-loaded dust cover similar to the one on the AR-18. A fire control lever on the left side selects either full automatic or semiautomatic fire. A crossbolt safety is provided above the trigger. The magazine release is on the left side. A manual bolt-hold-open switch is on the right side and a bolt release is on the left. The weight is 8.4 pounds empty, the length is 30.9 inches, and the barrel length is 20.4 inches.
All varieties of the L85 rifle are designed to use optical sights. The A2 version of the rifle is equipped with a Sight Unit Small Arms Trilux (SUSAT) scope on a quick-detachable mount above the receiver. It has 4X magnification and a tritium-powered illuminated reticle. Backup iron sights are mounted on the body of the scope. This optic is a very heavy design, making the total weight of the combination almost as heavy as the previous L1 SLR 7.62mm rifle. A lighter Trijicon Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight (ACOG) scope is sometimes used as an alternative. A newer option to replace the aging SUSATs is the Elcan SpecterOS 4X lightweight optical day sight. A black water-resistant cloth cover is provided to slip over any of these scopes for protection when not in use.
It appears that the L85 rifles are destined to be around for a while, although these bullpups have never been all that popular with the troops in the field. A hard-to-get-around problem is that bullpups are almost always awkward to handle and the balance is undeniably horrible. The L85 ejects only to the right, making it very annoying when lefties try to use it from the left shoulder and get fired cases thrown into their faces. The magazine latch is still quite exposed on the left side, and if the rifle is pressed against the body, the magazine can be inadvertently dumped. Some British Special Forces have preferred to use the Canadian version of our M16 (the C8 Diemaco), giving them a reliable and less awkward firearm. One wonders if the Brits shouldn’t have elected to use the original AR-18 rifles that were equipped with folding stocks. They were boringly dependable, relatively lightweight and the stock could be folded for better maneuverability in close quarters. They were easy to handle and not at all awkward. Perhaps hindsight is indeed perfect, but in their quest for the latest and greatest, the British Ordnance group gave their troops nothing but troubles for the first several years until the major kinks were worked out of their design. Unfortunately, the earlier rifles’ sad reputation stuck, causing many – right or wrong - to also doubt the current iterations.
In spite of the problems of the early guns, the modern L85A2 rifles seem to work acceptably well. Their unique design that has been established as standard in Great Britain makes them both interesting and classic. Examples are still few and far between here in the United States, making them almost unknown here regardless of decades of service with our most loyal ally overseas.
(c) 2022 JLM
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