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Enfield SA80
The SA80 (Small Arms for the 1980s) is a series of 5.56x45mm bullpup assault rifles and light support weapons which are, officially, the standard rifle of the British army. Designed on the operation of the Armalite AR-18 and SAR-87 (An advanced AR-18 made by the rival company Sterling Armaments of Dagenham), and produced from 1985 to 1988 by the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock. In 1988 production of the rifle was transferred to the Royal Ordnance's Nottingham Small Arms Facility (later British Aerospace, Royal Ordnance; now BAE Systems Land Systems Munitions & Ordnance) till production ceased in 1994.
The stacking of many issues including its design teams lacking any prior firearms experience (even firing), cheating at trials, a target production cost half that of other modern rifles, being manufactured by workers who knew their employer would be closed regardless leading to low effort production, and the replacement factory having no experience in firearms manufacturing resulted in an extremely unreliable firearm, to the point an internal British Ministry of Defence report noted "Most [users] expected a stoppage in the first magazine fired". These issues would eventually become so widely known that in 2000 Heckler & Koch was contracted contracted to upgrade existing stock into the L86A2, a process which cost nearly the price of an entirely new rifle. This and further upgrades resulted in a rifle that was functional, but extremely heavy for its cartridge. No further units have been procured since production of the original ended in 1994, and British special forces avoid its use in favor of imported rifles.
Nearly all SA80s have been issued with magnified optics, allowing official sources to make a spurious claim of high accuracy by comparing the practical accuracy of the scoped rifle to scopeless rifles. Initially all were issued the fixed 4x power SUSAT, but in 2011 complaints this was ill suited to close quarters combat led to the SUSAT being supplemented by the ELCAN Specter, which could swap between a 4x power and slightly above 1x power. Unlike other bullpup weapons like the FAMAS and AUG series, the L85 series has no ambidextrous ejection port, forcing it to be used right-handed only.
The SA80 can be seen in the following films, television series, anime and video games used by the following actors:
Specifications
(1985-1994)
- Type: Assault Rifle
- Caliber: 5.56x45mm NATO
- Capacity: 20, 30-round STANAG Magazines
- Fire Modes: Semi/Auto (safety is separate from fire selector)
L85
L85A1
The original variant of the SA80 series issued to the British forces. These were manufactured by Royal Ordnance (formerly known as Enfield) from 1985 until 1994 after the notorious faults of the weapon in battlefield conditions.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aliens | Seen on gun rack on Sulaco in extended edition | 1986 | ||
| Patriot Games | British Army Guards | With covered SUSAT scopes and bayonets | 1992 | |
| Patriot Games | British Army soldiers | With SUSAT scopes | 1992 | |
| Police Story 3: Supercop | Royal Hong Kong police officer | 1992 | ||
| Cyber Tracker | Seen in armory | 1994 | ||
| The Devil's Own | British Army soldiers | With SUSAT scopes | 1997 | |
| K-911 | Seen in Phil Cage's armory | 1999 | ||
| 28 Days Later | British soldiers | With SUSAT scopes, with and without bayonet | 2002 | |
| 28 Days Later | Naomie Harris | Selena | With SUSAT scopes, with and without bayonet | 2002 |
| Dog Soldiers | British Army soldiers | With blank-firing adaptors and SUSAT scopes | 2002 | |
| Underworld | With SUSAT scope, seen on gun rack | 2003 | ||
| In Her Line of Fire | One of the rebels | With SUSAT scopes | 2006 | |
| Resident Evil: Extinction | Linden Ashby | Chase | With M68 Aimpoint red dot scope | 2007 |
| Doomsday | British Army Guards | Appear to be old airsoft toys (due to mini Union Flag near butt plate) | 2008 | |
| Punisher: War Zone | Seen on gun rack | 2009 | ||
| Kick-Ass | Seen on gun rack | 2010 |
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note/Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mr.Bean | Training British Army soldiers | "Back to School, Mr. Bean" (S1E11) | 1990-1995 | |
| Mr.Bean | Rupert Vansittart | Guard Watchman | "Goodnight, Mr. Bean" (S1E13); with bayonet | 1990-1995 |
| Soldier Soldier | Miles Anderson | Lt Col. Dan Fortune | w/ SUSAT scopes and with or without bayonets | 1991 - 1997 |
| Jerome Flynn | L Cpl. Patrick "Paddy" Garvey | |||
| James Cosmo | Lt Col. Philip Drysdale | |||
| Ian Curtis | Cpl. Mark Hobbs | |||
| Robson Green | L Cpl. David "Dave" Tucker | |||
| Shaun Dingwall | L Cpl. Steve Evans | |||
| Conor Mullen | C Sgt Maj. Alan Fitzpatrick | |||
| Holly Aird | Cpl. Nancy Thorpe | |||
| Fiona Bell | Sgt. Angela McCleod | |||
| Lucy Cohu | Maj. Jessica Bailey | |||
| Duncan Bell | Lt. Paul Philips | |||
| Ben Nealon | 2nd Lt. Jeremy Forsythe | |||
| Sean Baker | C Sgt Maj. Chick Henwood | |||
| British soldiers | ||||
| Warriors, BBC | Ioan Gruffudd | Lt. John Feeley | w/SUSAT scope | 1999 |
| Matthew Macfadyen | Pvt. Alan James | |||
| Damian Lewis | Lt. Neil Loughrey | |||
| Cal Macaninch | Sgt. Andre Sochanik | |||
| British Soldiers | ||||
| Dempsey and Makepeace | Mark Ryan | "Extreme Prejudice" (S03E05) | 2002 - 2006 | |
| British soldiers | "Extreme Prejudice" (S03E05) | |||
| Firefly | ??? | Alliance soldiers | w/SUSAT scopes | 2002 |
| Firefly | Eddie Adams | Bendis | "Serenity" (S01E01) | 2002 |
| Ultimate Force | British MOD police | w/SUSAT scopes | 2002 - 2006 | |
| SAS troopers | w/SUSAT scopes, only used for ceremonial occasions | |||
| Red Cap | Tamzin Outhwaite, others | British Army | W/SUSATs or Iron Sights | 2003 - 2004 |
| Zero Hour | ??? | British Army soldiers | 2004-2007 | |
| Battlestar Galactica | Honor guards | w/white-painted handguard and lower receiver | 2004 - 2009 | |
| Battlestar Galactica | Caprica Resistance fighters | w/ SUSAT scopes, "Resistance", "The Farm" | 2005 | |
| Situation Critical | British Army soldiers | w/SUSAT scopes | 2007 | |
| The Day of the Triffids (2009) | British Army soldiers | 2009 | ||
| Occupation | Stephen Graham | Danny | w/SUSAT scope | 2009 |
| James Nesbitt | Mike Swift | |||
| Adam Beresford | Richard Swift | |||
| Warren Brown | Lee Hibbs | |||
| British Soldiers | ||||
| Midsomer Murders | UK Territorial Army soldiers | "Days of Misrule" (S11E06) | 2009 | |
| Accused, BBC | MacKenzie Crook | LCpl. Alan Buckley | w/SUSAT scope (S01EP02) "Frankies story" | 2010 |
| Ben Smith | Pvt. Frankie Nash | |||
| Ben Batt | Pvt. Peter MacShane | |||
| British Soldiers | ||||
| Caprica | Caprican police officer | 2010 | ||
| Midsomer Murders | RAF personnel | W/SUSAT Scopes; "The Incident at Cooper Hill" (S18E02) | 2016 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear | w/ SUSAT scope | 1999 | ||
| Ghost Recon | SA80 | w/ SUSAT scope | 2001 | |
| Battlefield 2 | w/ SUSAT scope | 2005 | ||
| Black | Stock footage | 2006 | ||
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl | IL86 | w/optional M203 grenade launcher and suppressor | Erroneously shown with controls inverted onto the lefthand side | 2007 |
| Cross Fire | with SUSAT scope | 2007 | ||
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky | 2008 | |||
| Combat Arms | 2008 | |||
| War Inc. Battlezone | 2011 | |||
| ZombiU | SA80A2 | 2012 | ||
| Jagged Alliance: Back in Action | L85 | 2012 | ||
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | SA87 | Created by fitting the L86A1 with the "SA87 18.2" Factory" barrel | 2019 |
Anime
| Film/Series Title | Character | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akira | Neo Tokyo Police troops | w/SUSAT scopes | 1987 |
| Seven Cities Story: Arctic Front | Kung Lung | 1994 | |
| Spriggan (1998) | British (?) troops | 1998 | |
| Ergo Proxy | Scavengers | "Return Home/Domecoming" (E06) | 2006 |
| Magical Witch Punie-chan | Barbaroque's soldiers | "Holy Crap, Deciscive Battle of Breakfast?! If you don't cray you'll be killed, Cuckoo-san!" (E2.A) | 2006-2008 |
| Upotte!! | Elle | with SUSAT | 2012 |
L85A2
The L85A2 is a revamped version of the L85A1 with improved components, most notably the external 'Comma' shaped combined charging handle/brass deflector and stronger internal parts. The upgrading of L85A1 rifles to the L85A2 standard was carried out by Heckler & Koch (which, at the time, belonged to BAE) between 2002 and 2006; since then further improvements have been made in response to operational requirements, including new RIS/RAS equipped handguards made by Daniel Defense and the adoption of the ACOG sight by some units in Afghanistan. The new handguards and the adoption of the ELCAN Spectre as the official replacement of the SUSAT will be applied to all British Army units over the next three to four years.
The L85A2 are also currently issued with Magpul EMAGs.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children of Men | British soldiers | With SUSAT scopes | 2006 | |
| The Mark of Cain | Shaun Dooley | Corporal Gant | With SUSAT scope | 2007 |
| The Mark of Cain | Leo Gregory | L/Cpl Quealy | With SUSAT scope | 2007 |
| The Mark of Cain | Matthew McNulty | Pte Shane Gulliver | With SUSAT scope | 2007 |
| The Mark of Cain | Gerard Kearns | Pte Mark "Treacle" Tate | With SUSAT scope | 2007 |
| The Mark of Cain | British soldiers | With SUSAT scopes | 2007 | |
| Cockneys vs. Zombies | With SUSAT scopes | 2012 | ||
| How I Live Now | British Army soldiers | With SUSAT scopes | 2013 | |
| Kilo Two Bravo | British Army soldiers | 2015 | ||
| London Has Fallen | Queen's Guard | 2016 | ||
| The Girl with All The Gifts | Gemma Arterton | Helen Justineau | 2016 | |
| The Girl with All The Gifts | Paddy Considine | Sgt. Parks | 2016 | |
| Terminator: Dark Fate | Seen in weapons cache | 2019 | ||
| John Wick: Chapter 4 | seen in armory | 2023 |
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note/Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor Who | ??? | British Army paratroopers | w/and w/out Surefire weaponlights | 2005 - ???? |
| Ultimate Force | ??? | British Army soldiers | w/SUSAT scopes | 2002 - 2006 |
| Sherlock - Season 1 | ??? | British Army soldier | w/SUSAT scope, "A Study in Pink" | 2010 |
| Sherlock - Season 2 | ??? | Royal Military Police soldier | w/SUSAT scope, "Hounds of Baskerville" | 2012 |
| Midsomer Murders | Seen on the photo of British Army soldiers (S21E01) | 2020 | ||
| Secret Invasion - Season 1 | Royal Navy soldiers | w/SUSAT scopes; "Betrayed" (S1E03), "Beloved" (S1E04) | 2023 |
Anime
| Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost in the Shell S.A.C. 2nd GIG | British soldiers | With futuristic furniture, cybernetic sights and underbarrel M203 | 2004-2005 |
| Upotte!! | 2012 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delta Force: Task Force Dagger | Sa-80 A2 | w/SUSAT scope | 2002 | |
| Söldner: Secret Wars | 2004 | |||
| Battlefield 2 | With L123A2 grenade launcher | 2005 | ||
| Project Reality | With Grippod foregrip and optional L123A2 grenade launcher, ACOG or SUSAT scopes | 2005 | ||
| Alliance of Valiant Arms | With EOTech red dot sight or ACOG scope | 2007 | ||
| Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 | w/various optional accessories | 2008 | ||
| 7.62 High Calibre | w/ various attachments | 2008 | ||
| Counter-Strike Online | 2009 | |||
| ArmA II | L85A2 | w/ RIS, SUSAT, EOTech sights; also can be fitted with L123A2 grenade launcher | 2010 | |
| Battlefield 3 | L85A2 | With various accessories | 2011 | |
| Battlefield Play4Free | With black furniture and optional EOTech red dot sight or M145 MGO scope | 2011 | ||
| Sleeping Dogs | Fictional/futuristic version fitted with L123A2 grenade launcher | Part of Tactical Soldier Pack DLC | 2012 | |
| State of Decay | "L85A1" | w/SUSAT scope | added in Breakdown DLC | 2013 |
| "L41A1" | with L41A1 .22LR conversion kit, added in Breakdown DLC | |||
| Battlefield 4 | L85A2 | With various accessories | Fitted with Daniel Defense railed foregrip and Magpuls on the magazines | 2013 |
| Warface | railed handguard | 2013 | ||
| Survarium | 2013 | |||
| Payday 2 | "Queen’s Wrath" | added in Clover Character Pack (2014) | 2013 | |
| Rainbow Six: Siege | L85A2 | 2015 | ||
| Squad | L85A2 | Daniel Defense railed handguard | 2015 | |
| Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades | L85A2 | Optional SUSAT scope | 2016 | |
| Ghost Recon: Wildlands | Fitted with Daniel Defense railed foregrip | 2017 | ||
| World War 3 | SA-80 | Added in 2019 update | 2018 | |
| Insurgency: Sandstorm | L85A2 | 2018 |
L85A3
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World of Guns: Gun Disassembly | w/grenade launcher | on the book cover | 2014 |
L22
SA80 AFV Prototype
In 1989, Enfield speculatively produced a shortened variant of the SA80 for potential use by vehicle crews and other troops not requiring a full length rifle. Contrary to internet lore, these were not built from surplus L86A1s, as shown by the lack of the LSW bipod outrigger holes in the receiver, and are instead built from standard L85A1 receivers. This confusion possibly comes from the fact that the vertical grip is the same as the rear grip from an LSW. The weapon proved very unreliable (more so even than standard L85A1s) due to issues with shortening the gas system that were never fully resolved.
The SA80 AFV prototype was not made for a specific MOD requirement and saw little, if any, official testing by British forces. Supposedly, a small batch was produced for trials by an unspecified Middle Eastern country, however these weapons were destroyed in a warehouse fire. The only surviving examples of this weapon bear commercial Enfield markings rather than British military markings, giving some credence to this story.
With the introduction of the L22A2 this weapon has been been retroactively referred to as the L22A1 (even in Ministry of Defence documentation) and is often referred to as such - however this is incorrect as it was never close to adoption and being given an official 'L' designation, being known only as an SA80 AFV or Armoured Fighting Vehicle.
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note / Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Blacklist | Airsoft replica / "Anslo Garrick (No. 16)" (S01E09) | 2013 |
L22A2
In 2003 Heckler & Koch began production of a carbine variant of the SA80 known as the L22A2 which was intended for use as a personal defense weapon by helicopter aircrew and armoured vehicle crews. They have also been issued on occasion to troops not requiring a full size rifle, such as drivers, dog handlers and combat cameramen, as well as Royal Navy and Royal Marine boarding parties. In form it is very similar to the failed 1989 AFV prototype, however H&K have solved the reliability issues caused by the shortening of the gas system. H&K also produced a new 20 round magazine that doesn't protrude past the grip of the L22A2 allowing it to be more conveniently stowed in racks inside various vehicles.
The designation of this carbine is a subject of some confusion, with the argument being made that it cannot be an A2 as despite the fact that it has the "A2" upgrades it is the first weapon to receive the L22 designation so it should logically be the L22A1. However, the right side of the magazine well is marked "L22 A2 5.56 x 45", it has an "A2" stamp on the top of the receiver, and is referred to as the L22A2 in official Ministry of Defence documentation, with the earlier prototype sometimes being retroactively referred to as the L22A1.
As with the AFV prototype, it is often stated that these weapons were made from surplus LSWs, and again this can be seen to be untrue from the fact that there are no mounting holes for the LSW outrigger on the receiver. Instead, these appear to have been made from surplus L85A1s that were not yet converted to the A2 standard.
Video Games
| Game Title | Referred as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Reality | With SUSAT scope | 2005 | ||
| 7.62 High Calibre | w/ various attachments | 2008 | ||
| Killing Floor | Bullpup | with EOTech XPS sight and 40-round magazine | 2009 | |
| Ghost Recon: Future Soldier | L22A2 | w/ various attachments | 2012 | |
| Payday 2 | "Queen’s Wrath" | as a modified L85A2; added in Clover Character Pack (2014) | 2013 | |
| Squad | L22A2 | 2015 |
L86
L86A1
The L86A1 Light Support Weapon is the sustained fire variant of the SA80 series. Many have been replaced by the FN Minimi in this role or converted into L22 Carbines for AFV/Chopper crew members as a personal defense weapon.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Sound of Thunder | Apartment Resident | Lacks either iron sights or optics | 2005 |
Television
| Title | Actor | Character | Note/Episode | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soldier Soldier | British Army Soldiers | w/various optics, w/ and w/O BFAs | 1991-1997 | |
| Red Cap | British Army Soldiers | w/SUSAT optic | 2003-2004 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fallout 2 | Light Support Weapon | converted to a sniper rifle | features tan plastics, lengthened barrel | 1998 |
| 7.62 High Calibre | 2008 | |||
| Modern Warfare 2 | w/ RIS foregrip, suppressor, red dot sight, EOtech holographic sight, SUSAT, thermal sight and/or extended magazine | 2009 | ||
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 | L86 LSW | 2011 | ||
| Battlefield 3 | Available in Close Quarter expansion | 2012 | ||
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | SA87 | Thirty round magazine by default, includes elements of L85A1 | 2019 |
Anime
| Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Lagoon: Roberta's Blood Trail | Seen on wall, with SUSAT scope | 2010 |
L86A2
A revamped L86A1 LSW. The L86A2 is in limited usage alongside the FN Minimi, only for DMR purposes as it has superior accuracy/range. The L86A2 is also used by the ACF but only 3-Star+ Trained Cadets are allowed to use this weapon.
As of 2009/10, further modifications have been made to L86A2s used in Afghanistan. These have the current foreguards replaced with the DD-quad RAS foreguard (with the ability to add various extras on all surfaces, such as foregrips or flashlights). The outrigger under the barrel can been removed (but bipod retained) or replaced with a RIS/RAS rail system. SUSATs retained, with the intention of replacing them with ELCAN Spectre optics. These modifications have only been made to a select few units L86A2 DMRs. Those units not in, or immediately going to Afghanistan have yet to receive the upgrades.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our Girl | British soldiers | 2013 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Project Reality | optional SUSAT scope | 2005 | ||
| Cross Fire | "L86 LSW" | 2007 | ||
| ArmA II | Trijicon ACOG | Added in Operation Arrowhead: British Armed Forces | 2010 | |
| Battlefield Play4Free | With black furniture and optional EOTech red dot sight or M145 MGO scope | 2011 | ||
| Ghost Recon: Phantoms | L86 | w/ railed handguard | 2014 | |
| World of Guns: Gun Disassembly | L86A2 LSW | SUSAT scope | incorrectly belongs to the Assault rifles | 2014 |
| Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex First Assault | L86-SEO | w/ various attachments | Added via the "Fear the Unknown" update | 2015 |
| Squad | L86A2 LSW | 2015 | ||
| The Division | L86 LSW | 2016 | ||
| The Division 2 | L86 LSW | 2019 | ||
| Ghost Recon Breakpoint | 2019 |
L98A2
L98A2 Cadet General Purpose (GP) Rifle
A semi-automatic only version of the L85 used for weapons training.
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blood Red Sky | 2021 |
SA80 Prototypes
In 1969, Enfield began to develop a series of new Bullpup weapons for the newly-developed 4.85x49mm intermediate cartridge. The XL64E5 Individual Weapon and the XL65E4 Light Support Weapon, first unveiled in 1976, are the two components for the system. When NATO adopted the US 5.56x45mm round and began implementing cartridge standardization, the two weapons were re-chambered for the 5.56mm NATO. These are the early prototypes for the SA80 family.
XL64E5 IW
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note/Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Professionals | Lewis Collins | Bodie | "Wild Justice" (S04E02) | 1980 |
| The Professionals | Martin Shaw | Doyle | "Wild Justice" (S04E02) | 1980 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fallout Tactics | "XL70E3 Enfield" | fires 5.56mm rounds | 2001 | |
| Call of Duty: Black Ops | Enfield | w/ various customization options | 2010 | |
| World of Guns: Gun Disassembly | on the book cover | 2014 |
Anime
| Film/Series Title | Character | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upotte!! | with SUSAT | 2012 |
XL65E4 LSW
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fallout 2 | "XL70E3" | Bipod removed | fires 5mm rounds | 1998 |
See Also
- Royal Small Arms Factory - A list of weapons produced by RSAF Enfield