SA80

SA80 or Small Arms of the 80's is the name of a weapons family used by the British Army and Royal Marines, all are of bullpup design; meaning the magazine is placed behind the trigger allowing the weapon to be shorter yet still have a long barrel.

The series includes an assault rifle known as the L85 and a Light Support Weapon (LSW) designated the L86 as well as a Carbine variant for helicopter crews and a bolt action army cadet variant. The LSW variant is far more accurate than it's predecessor, and is prominent in army FSGs (Fire Support Groups). And although amazingly accurate for their size (Army marksmanship tests were redesigned after the SA80 introduction because it was so accurate), the SA80 family has been plagued by poor reliability problems that have been addressed with an upgrade by the German arms company H&K when it was British owned; resulting in the A2 series, however not all models have been upgraded and A1 generations can be recognized by their simple circular cocking handle. A new upgrade program is under way for a very small number of SA80s since late 2007.

The SA80 also has a cadet force variant (L98 A2 Cadet GP) that is the same size, but has no change lever (a lever that switches the mode of fire from semi-automatic to fully-automatic fire), and is used throughout the ACF, with a success rate far higher than the old, bolt-action A1 version.