Thanks. Now I understand the reference to Pirbright instructors and drill.
Although learning that is a bit of a disappointment. I rather liked the idea of Purbright special issue Brasso for making pussies sparkle. 
Sometimes ignorance really is bliss
ā¦and where one attended drill instructorsā courses.
ignore thisā¦having a ādurrh!ā moment.
Apolgies - the post you are responding to is from a friend of mine. He his having difficulty registering to the site. I merely transferred his comments which were a response to my first post - from elsewhere, where we where discussing this topic. - in my haste to edit before posting I didnāt mention this.
For myself, I have never fired the SA80 my comments come from conversations with those that have used it, those that have sold it and from reading. My experience of standard weapons are the SLR and the AR15. Generally, I preferred the SLR but there are situations when the AR15 could be more beneficial.
Especially down the mine, Dai!
My ignorance has been replaced with the clearest understanding.
But Iām still, and always will be, disappointed about nobody rubbing the pussies with Purbright until they shone.
Iām not sure if Iāve confused a couple of metaphors here, but you might as well be hung for a sheep as for a goat. Dai.
Sheep are rather more prolific in Wales, as, I am informed, they are in OZ. Personally, I only eat mutton when itās been roasted or toasted and then with a little mint (but not when itās dressed as lamb).
Nothing like in New Zealand. In Oz, where men are men and sheep arenāt afraid of men, sheep are bred to eat. In Kiwiland, sheep are just as likely to be part of the family. Usually the mother. Or fiancee, or girlfriend.
Personally, I only eat mutton when itās been roasted or toasted and then with a little mint (but not when itās dressed as lamb).
Mate, if you can eat mutton without gagging youāre a hero. It wasnāt that flash 50+ years ago when I was a kid. I ate a ton of it in the shearing sheds in the 1960ās when the kindly cockies (farmers) got rid of their old unsaleable sheep to feed to the shearing gangs. After eating only lamb in the interim Iām not going back to that foul gamey taste.
Just to make a pretence of getting back on topic, Iād rather eat fourby after itās been pulled through a recently fired SLR.
Fair enough - I assume your mate hasnāt used the A2 yet (got out before 2003/04 for example, or is with a unit that hasnāt been upgraded yet?)? It really is a world apart from the crappy old A1, hard to believe itās the same weapon as the one I spent half of exercises in Basic trying to clear stoppages from.
ā¦But it still has all the ergonomic issues and is as heavy as the SLR āBattle readyā
True, although the weight could come in handy if youāre out of ammo and you want to smack someone with itā¦
Which goes back to my point at post #4
One advantage of the SLR was its wooden stock. Could be, and at times was, used as a club in Vietnam. Canāt do that with modern plastic stocks.
Iām not familiar with the weapon being talked about here, but the SLR had sufficient length to generate lethal force as a club and to belt the enemy unconscious or dead with the stock, rather than just upsetting them by tapping them on the head with hollow plastic or risking clogging the cocking handle or other operating parts with body gunge. Although body gunge clogging moving parts would rarely be an issue if one is reduced to using the firearm as a club.
Would that be the safety catch?
A shorter weapon can be advantages when working in-close, but I wouldnāt know as mine isnāt.
I have to say, the comments regarding firing from the opposite shoulder (in the link) are, in my opinion, a load of tosh. I could never get my eye into a position to line up the sights, when trying to shoot from the left shoulder. Anyone else try this?
I have no problems shooting the SLR from the weak shoulder,1 of the shooting disciplines I do occasionally requires it. Talk to some of the old and bold, they will also tell you it is not Tosh. plus what about left-handers?
Right, a nonexhaustive list of SA 80 ergonomic āissuesā:
Right shoulder only
terrible balance, top and back heavy
safety catch
controls scattered all around the weapon on both sides, ffs!
Magazine release
itās a bull pup!
Other issues:
How the hell does it muzzle flip so much, with such a low bore line?
Barrel axis to sight axis is ridiculously far
reaching over to cock it
length for bayonet fighting
I donāt need to ask the old and bold, my friend, I have my own experiences.
The point regarding left-handers is another issue. I was speaking of changing shoulders. It didnāt work for me and it didnāt work for those around me. If you are able to shoot accurately from both shoulders, then good on you.
Almost anybody can be taught to shoot moderately well from the weak shoulder. Some units did this as a matter of course.
I suppose anything can be taught, but Iād expect that my attempts as a right hander to shoot from the left shoulder aiming with my left eye would be about as successful as my attempts to write left handed. The few times Iāve tried it didnāt encourage me to continue, not least because I always wanted to get my right eye over the sights. I suspect that right handers shooting left handed is about as successful as left handersā attempts to do things right handed.
Wouldnāt it have been simpler to have left and right eject models, to ensure maximum efficiency from each soldier?
Sure, thereās a problem for the disarmed odd hander picking up another opposing hand weapon on the battlefield, but by the time it gets to that stage for most members of a unit theyāre probably not far off using the firearms as clubs anyway.
A battle is more likely to be won by effective initial use of weapons by all members of the unit than attempts to use found weapons in desperation in the final moments. In which case it would be better to issue them with the weapons they can use best.