Why has no country adopted the SA80/L85 rifle?
07.06.2025 04:25

Heck, even the G36 is a better rifle than the L85/SA80, and there is a couple of reasons why
2: Ergonomics
Simple, its not a super great rifle compared to other rifles.
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1: Terrible Quality
The way you charge the rifle bugs the crap out of me too. Like why wouldn’t you devise of a normal charging system like everyone else?
3: The Relevancy of Bullpup Rifles
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In conclusion, the reason why more nations do not use the SA80 system and bullpups in general, is because of the poor track record (SA80), poor ergonomics (SA80 and bullpup), added complexity (bullpup),
Bullpup rifles are rather niche when it comes to both the civilian market, and when it comes to the benefits and “quirks” of a bullpup platform compared to other configurations, like standard configuration, paratrooper, or even a PDW for that matter, they don’t really stack up. With a longer barrel length and a shorter weapon profile, you can get more velocity out of a shorter package, true, but the added complexity of having to move the entire action behind the trigger, and near to the stock of the rifle. You add loads more parts to the firearm that can cause it to fail or hiccup, and the biggest concern is the trigger group and linkage. With a standard rifle, you act directly on the trigger, which leads to a more firm, quick, and positive response, while also remaining simple as possible. With a bullpup, you introduce the linkage, and a sear that it acts on. That in turn adds 3 more axis of motion at a minimum, which in turn makes the trigger more mushy, and introduces more failure points. And another thing as well, ergonomics come into the picture. Majority of service members are trained with standard rifle configurations, and likely to the point where it is engrained in muscle memory. To retrain those service members on a completely new platform where it has all of the controls in a different place and a general distaste to what hand the shooter is dominant with, that makes it all the more difficult to retrain. In general, the bullpup configuration offers very little to justify its benefits, compared to the negatives it deals out.
Out of any bullpup, the ergonomics on this thing are probably the worst. When you stick this thing next to a FAMAS, the FAMAS feels like a KelTec (they are pretty decently balanced), and a KelTec is probably better than an L85. The ergonomics on this is like spoiled milk and rotten egg, not very good. It’s a heavier gun when compared with the AR, with the front of a gun being a chode to hold onto without a vertical foregrip, and pretty much says “fuck you” to all those who shoot left handed. It also is a rear heavy gun, which in my opinion is worse than a front heavy gun. Not only that, the optics that were issued with them generally had terrible eye relief, with a poor reticle, poor FOV, and non adjustable (albeit that is a civilian grope.). Was so bad that when the United States started handing out ACOGs to everyone, they took ‘em and they took ‘em fast.
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One of the things that plagued the earlier models was the quality of the parts themselves. This paired with the average grunt’s ability to clean rifle, is a perfect recipe for a shitstorm of problems. Adding in the fact that this rifle was issued before an active war, and was rushed to adoption by itchy government officials, this doesn’t make the rifle seem any better. Issues included corroded bolts, extractors, broken firing pins, etc. Those problems were subsequently covered up, and then it came to nip them in the ass in the engagements in the Sandbox. I have heard a Commonwealth soldier say something along the lines of “We had two Land Rovers at one point, one of them was for comms, the other was a cleaning factory.” This is because the metal in the guns were so prone to corroding, that after even some training practices, they had to keep those clean or else the metal would start corroding on them really quick.