Identify this rifle?

April 05, 2024, 09:57 AM

RogueJSK

quote:
Originally posted by PASig:
The Mini-14 is used by an entire Army!

The Royal Bermuda Regiment...all 350 of them

Was used...

They adopted the Mini-14 in 1983, but fully transitioned to the L85A2 in 2015/2016.

April 08, 2024, 08:27 AM

PASig

quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:

Was used...

They adopted the Mini-14 in 1983, but fully transitioned to the L85A2 in 2015/2016.

Not sure how good an upgrade that was, the British troops I encountered while in Kuwait in '03 had nothing good to say about the L85.

April 08, 2024, 10:54 AM

RogueJSK

Yeah, the L85 was seriously flawed for its first couple decades in its A1 form.

But the reworked A2 version from the early/mid 2000s onward is reportedly much improved (finally). And that's the version Bermuda has adopted.

However, that A2 hadn't been fully rolled out yet in 2003. So the guys you dealt with were undoubtedly basing that off their poor experiences with the preceding A1 variant.

Forgotten Weapons has a great video series on the SA80/L85 development, with a couple videos in particular that go into detail on this topic, such as the L85A1 vs. L85A2 video, as well as the one titled L85A1: Perhaps The Worst Modern Military Rifle.

https://youtube.com/playlist?l...&si=y1xzvCtoELrplUsu

April 08, 2024, 07:57 PM

wrightd

Hmmmm...

April 09, 2024, 07:17 AM

PASig

quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Yeah, the L85 was seriously flawed for its first couple decades in its A1 form.

But the reworked A2 version from the early/mid 2000s onward is reportedly much improved (finally). And that's the version Bermuda has adopted.

However, that A2 hadn't been fully rolled out yet in 2003. So the guys you dealt with were undoubtedly basing that off their poor experiences with the preceding A1 variant.

Forgotten Weapons has a great video series on the SA80/L85 development, with a couple videos in particular that go into detail on this topic, such as the L85A1 vs. L85A2 video, as well as the one titled L85A1: Perhaps The Worst Modern Military Rifle.

https://youtube.com/playlist?l...&si=y1xzvCtoELrplUsu

Very interesting!

I watched that and the one comparing the L85A1 and the L85A2 and did not realize the UK spent a ton of money paying H&K to essentially rebuild 90% of the rifle from scratch using the original receivers as shells.

Yes, the British troops I saw with the weapon were from the RAF Regiment and they definitely had the L85A1 and not the new H&K version.

April 09, 2024, 02:16 PM

kimberkid

When I got my M16, the previous owner said it came from a California prison (in the early 70’s) that had gotten them and then was forced to replace them with the mini-14 because the M16 is a military weapon and didn’t belong in a prison.
I thought it sounded weird but it was California … I don’t know how I could verify the story but now that I’m retired and have more free time I’d like to but I don’t even know what prison it came from.

April 09, 2024, 02:19 PM

CD228

quote:
Originally posted by kimberkid:
When I got my M16, the previous owner said it came from a California prison (in the early 70’s) that had gotten them and then was forced to replace them with the mini-14 because the M16 is a military weapon and didn’t belong in a prison.
I thought it sounded weird but it was California … I don’t know how I could verify the story but now that I’m retired and have more free time I’d like to but I don’t even know what prison it came from.

If it's a Colt you could try sending a letter to them and ask if they have records of who/where it was origionally shipped to.