Originally Posted by SHERMAN

Only there is no reason for it to happen. I fire the M16 and the M4 from the oppsite shoulder several times and did not get any brass hitting me.

With the A2 version and upward the M16 series has a built in brass deflector to the rear of the ejection port, even the A1 had a deflector that could be attached.

yep. Also if you are carferull you can fire ones without the deflector from the left shoulder and still not get hit....Been a while since I did this but i remember being able to...

As for "suck it up," go and shoot a bullpup that's been configured for a leftie and if you can shoot that thing the whole day and still hit the target with a decent score and not have a migraine as a result, then I won't have anything to say really.

What?

Kind of like being stuck with a right handed person's gas mask. Because the filter comes out the side, it's IMPOSSIBLE to aim with your left hand, so I'd have to shoot with my weaker hand, weaker eye and through a gas mask lens that cuts your vision significantly. Fortunately I was able to find one for left handed folks.

You don't use the ones with a screw in slot on each side?

Originally Posted by BritinAfrica

Fire a British SA 80 from the left shoulder and the cocking handle will take your teeth out.

Always wondered how that design flaw got approved.

Originally Posted by 03USMC

Always wondered how that design flaw got approved.

I agree Gunny. I don't know why they didnt fit a similar design cocking handle as fitted on the L1A1 or the FN FAL, where the cocking handle doesnt move when the rifle is fired. But that wouldnt solve the problem of getting a hot case in the ear if fired left handed

A family friend worked on the rifle at Enfield Lock before the factory closed down. The design team were basically told how it was to be built and had to work around and solve any problems. There were so many of problems with the rifle that one day in frustration he went into the office of his boss, threw one rifle on the desk and told him the rifle is crap and should be scrapped. He was told that because so much money had been spent on the rifle, its now political and that they HAD to get the rifle working.

I have heard that the latest type of the SA80 does perform a lot more reliably then the original, but it still has the problem of not being able to be fired left handed, which I think is a major design flaw.

Did they even bother asking the people who were eventually going to have to use it?

Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

Did they even bother asking the people who were eventually going to have to use it?

Thats the point 13th, they never do.

As far as I am aware, the SAS firmly refused to use it, instead going for the M16 and or the M4, I also heard that the Para's or the Royal Marines tried to get rid of it, but were overruled.

Young soldiers today know nothing else (in the main) then the SA80 and have no experience with rifles such as the old British L1A1 SLR. I suppose in reality, its all down to what one is use to. I have talked to blokes who have used the SA80 and they tell me that they liked it and thats its pretty accurate.

When I was issued a L1A1 for the first time I didnt like it, I prefered the old Lee Enfield, but then I began to use the L1A1 and liked it.

Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

Did they even bother asking the people who were eventually going to have to use it?

The Corps did. That's how the M16A2 evolved, and the M16A4.

Probably why it's more of a success.
I liked my K-2 rifle. I think anyone who got their hands on one would like it. It's pretty light, it hits good, the buttstock folds and I've never had it jam on me once ever. Once they make it modular it'll be ready to serve well into this century.
It's a very conventional layout.

Originally Posted by SHERMAN

Elad, do me a favour and ask him how they fire it from the left shoulder. NOT left hand shooters, right hand shooters when they have to open a corner to the right.

so i spoke to him today,and he told me that they just do it the same way they open the other corner,they shoot with thier right hand over thier right shoulder,he says that they dont teeach how to use it with your left shoulder and that u would no need that because there is more than 1 person openning a corner at a time