Enfeild L85A2 AR

[Nothing]

thought i would share my build progress on this British AR. it is 1/1 scale and i started with the scope. the scope is 6 pages, 30 parts with 3 being transparent. the whole rifle has 5 phases. the scope being phase 1. in all there are close to 200 parts.

 

[Mousemuffins1]

WOW. Didn't event occur to me to make the scope see through. but I've got so many others to finish.......

 

[ltla9000311]

Nothing-Is this one for sale?

 

[Nothing]

it will be after i get this build done. there will also be an upgrade pack done which will have the assemblies to make the A2 carbine, A2 AFV(really short barrel) , L86 LSW(long barrel/bipod) and possibly a grenade launcher attachment.

 

[ltla9000311]

D**n you're one prolific designer! I like the fact that you're doing 1/1 scale weapons. A subject that is not represented enough. I await your next progress pics!:thumb:

 

[Nothing]

second phase done- the lower receiver...

 

[Nemesis7485]

Wow! Marvelous job so far. I'm looking fwd to seeing this one finished as it will bring back memories for me.

 

[Nothing]

thanks Nemesis7485! i take it you were a soldeir once?

finished the upper receiver and put the 3 sub assemblies together.

 

[Nemesis7485]

Good grief that's looking impressive, Nothing!

I was indeed a soldier, mate. Way back in a previous life. I was lucky, or unlucky enough to be serving at the time the British Army transitioned from the SLR to the SA-80 so had experience of them both.

When it was first issued, the SA-80 was a bag of garbage. It fell to pieces in your hands, cooked rounds off when hot even with the safety on and suffered with stoppages. It's always been very accurate, though. After at least one rolling recall for modifications it became an awesome weapon. Having being used to the SLR, the main thing most of we original users of the SA-80 didn't like was the lack of stopping power of the 5.56 round as against the 7.62 the old SLR used. It was more complicated to field strip than the SLR, too.

 

[Nothing]

thats awsome! i myself have never been fond of either the 5.56 or the 9mm adopted as standard.

 

[Nemesis7485]

Are you ex military too, Nothing?

 

[Nothing]

yes. i was a crewman on a M1A1 during the 90-91 gulf war. i was fortunate enough to be in the final action of Pattons 2nd Armored Division. having been disbanned after the war. i always considered us fortunate that still had our 1911 colt .45 and never transitioned to the 92f 9mm. we also had a m16 on board but it was a standard and hard to bring out inside a tank. the m16 is a nice shooting rifle but i just dont like the .223 for combat.

 

[Nemesis7485]

I salute you, Nothing. I left the Army the year before that particular party, much to my displeasure.

I never had a chance to handle the M16 but was always curious about it. As for the sidearm, we used the L9A1 Browning HP 9mm but was only issued this when acting as aircrew.

 

[gkcooper]

I would really enjoy the chance to build a "Modern Weapons Set" in 1:1. The M4/203, AK-47, and G3 would be really good in addition to this one.

 

[Rick Thomson]

I too wondered what were they thinking, when the Canadian Forces went from the FN to the M16. The 7.62 round is far superior to the 5.56 imo. Of course I expect that there were those saying the same about the FN when the SMLE was retired...

Rick

 

[Nothing]

the switch was inevitable with NATO adobopting the 5.56 as the standard.
clip trigger and grip done. just the front left.

 

[Stev0]

Combat distances and round capacity came into play for the shift in round sizes. If your humping a kit for X kilometers/day the last thing you want to quibble about is the amount of rounds your restricted to. Better to have a lot of lead in the air and a ready supply then run out.

7.62 is indeed a better round then the 5.56 for stopping power. It's just the arguement of 20 round mag capacity vs. 30 rounds. Stopping power vs. Accuracy.

Take a look at all the FN-Fal's and G3's kicking around as the standard issued weapon.

 

[Rick Thomson]

Just out of idle interest, isn't the L85 some oddball calibre? 4.5mm or something like that comes to mind for me.

It's a very impressive build sofar.

 

[Stev0]

Nope ... Nato standard.

I think the PDW is close to 4.5-4.6mm.

 

[Janx]

That looks the business Nothing, having seen and photographed the L85 that looks really good.

A slight note though, you did say you were producing a A2 upgrade kit bit I noticed you have the A2 cocking handing on it already, or are you producing the kit as an A2?

BTW the Susat sight looked spot on, excellent job.