FAMAS (Fusile Automatique made for the army at St Etienne)

If you study the rifle Above you will notice that the Magazine is located behind the pistol grip(classic Bullpup design). This feature alone cuts down about 1/4th the length of the weapon.  French soldiers refer to it as "le Clairon." But this bugle spits bullets.First introduced in 1973 and subsequently modified, the FA MAS was adopted by the French armed forces and placed into production in 1979. Firing from the closed-bolt position, the method of operation is by means of delayed blowback.

A Shock Weapon

The FAMAS is a basic individual weapon for the fighting soldier, and its multi-mission functions enable the following:

I. Single shot or short burst accurate firing due to:

II. Assault firing:

III. Support firing:

These functions can all be performed with standard ball ammunition and without any modification to the weapon. They also make the FAMAS a multi-mission weapon adapted to a variety of modern combat needs. It is also well-suited for law-enforcement and VIP protetection due to its accuracy, compactness, and ease of handling.

A Performance Weapon

The FAMAS is solid and reliable; it will withstand, without loss of performance:

 

The FAMAS is compact, light, streamlined, and perfectly balanced around its pistol grip. It can easily be carried in the ready position with the use of a universal sling, thus leaving both hands free while maintaining the weapon on firing stand-by.

It is designed to satisfy particular shooter requirements:

 

The FAMAS can be obtained with a rifling pitch of either 7.9 or 12 inches. It is therefore capable of firing all NATO standard 5.56x45 caliber ammunition, including SS 109 and U.S. M193.

The British SA-80 system

The SA-80 is the standard issue weapon of the British Armed Forces, and the A1 version was introduced in 1985. Originally designed by Enfield as a mass-producable version of their experimental EM2 bullpup rifle.

Designed by target shooters, the SA-80 A1 was the second most accurate assault rifle on the planet (the most accurate is the Sig 552) and the A2 design is supposedly more accurate still. Its bullpup design1 makes it possible to have a longer barrel and a shorter overall weapon length, making it both more accurate and a lot less unwieldy.

Despite the SA-80's many good points, it is interesting to note that the British Special Forces (including the SAS) tend not to use it due to the fact that the safety catch is operated by the trigger finger, apparently making it difficult to set the catch to 'Fire' and open fire very quickly, as well as the old reliability issues.There are three major variants of the SA-80: the Individual Weapon (IW), the Light Support Weapon (LSW) and the Cadet General Purpose (GP). All the variants use a rotary locking bolt and ejector, which means very little grime gets into the mechanism from the barrel.

Although the LSW is technically a light machine gun, it's essentially a IW with a longer barrel, a bipod, a rear grip and a shoulder mount

Cadets under the age of 16 are not allowed to fire fully automatic weapons in the UK, and the Cadet GP was introduced in order to allow cadets to train in SA-80 safety and firing drills. Because of the necessity of recocking the rifle after each shot, the L98 is fitted with a more ergonomically shaped and placed cocking handle. The (nicer?) cocking handle is impractical on the automatic variants because the large weight rocketing backward and forward would create unnecessary stresses on the firing mechanism, decreasing the working life of the rifle.

At present the two types are destined to remain in service until at least 2015. That may not now happen.

Things went wrong with the SA-80 from the outset. Soon after production began during the early 1980s, reports poured in that the IW was too heavy, was poorly balanced and that bits fell off when least expected, including the magazine during firing. One of the main problems was jamming, especially under operational conditions, such as during the Gulf War.

Some of the early shortcomings were at least alleviated by teams of army technicians touring operational units and making modifications. Unfortunately those tours seem to have been made several times before it was realised that more drastic modifications would be necessary. By that time production had switched to Nottingham, causing some supply disruptions before production ceased in 1994.

In September 1996 the IW was suspended from the NATO Nominated Weapon List. That finally prompted official high-level action to rectify matters, leading to a series of trials following which Heckler and Koch was awarded a modification contract, which involved virtually re-engineering the interior of the weapon and providing a new magazine. The first modified IWs were reissued from February 2002, just in time for Afghanistan. It then emerged that the old problems were still there.

It would appear that the only certain way to rectify the IW/LSW unreliability situation is to start again. Both weapons have now gained such a reputation for unreliability that even the slightest shortcoming will result in calls for replacement, the most likely candidate being the Heckler and Koch G36.

Weapon name L85A1
Manufacturer Heckler & Koch (UK);Enfield;BSA
Length 785 mm
Weight 4,52 kg (empty)
4,89 kg (loaded)
Caliber: 5,56x45 mm
Mussel velocity 940 m/s
Rate of fire:- 800 s/min
Effective range 400 m
Ammunition:- same magazine as M16A2 with 30 rounds 

 

 

STEYR AUG A1

 
Steyr's newest offering, the AUG (Armee Universal Gewehr), is a space-age assault rifle with many appealing features. Based on the bullpup design, the AUG is chambered for the 5.56 NATO cartridge.

The AUG is an ambidextrous rifle as the bolt is replaceable and the ejection port may be moved to either side of the receiver. Even the carrying strap swivels may be repositioned for convenient port-side carry.

The AUG functions in a gas-operated, semi-automatic firing mode (in selective-fire configuration, it is the standard arm of the Austrian army). A gas-pressure adaptor has a shut-off valve located on the barrel with two settings-for firing under normal or adverse conditions.

 This high-tech assault rifle employs a unique 30-round, lightweight magazine made of transparent plastic which leaves no doubt as to the number of rounds one has left. The one-piece, greenish-colored stock is made of a durable plastic and houses the receiver group, hammer mechanism and magazine well. The pistol grip is integral with the stock, and a cross-bolt safety that locks the trigger is conveniently located just above the "rest" position of the shooter's right thumb.

Three interchangeable barrel lengths are available-a 20-inch tube is standard while 16 and 24-inchers are optional. The cold hammer-forged barrel is chrome-lined and locks into the receiver by rotating it 1/8th turn. The forward positioned folding pistol grip is utilized to provide a handle to remove hot barrels which may be plunged into water for immediate cooling without suffering any consequences. A flash hider is attached to the muzzle.

 What appears to be a top-mounted carrying handle doubles as a 1.5X scope that has full windage and elevation adjustments. The AUG quickly and easily breaks down into six basic component parts groups.

With the switch toward a heavier 5.56mm bullet, the AUG is ready with a barrel which has six lands and grooves and a right-hand twist with one turn in nine inches, which better stabilizes the heavier projectile. The lighter bullet - 55 grains - is better suited to a one in 14.

The AUG is futuristic in both design and concept. It seems to have solved many of the inherent problems with assault rifles, mainly overall size and weight. With the 20-inch barrel snugged into place, the AUG measures a compact 31 inches long and weighs just a shade under eight pounds...

 

The above text is an excerpt from an article authored by Art Blatt and initially published in the 1983 edition of Combat Arms, Volume 1 Number 4

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