Small correction: the incident with the British Operator (he went public last year, Christian Craighead) was the hotel attack in 2019 and NOT the shopping mall. The shopping mall attack happened in 2013.
Although by strange coincidence there was an private security contractor (who'd previous been UKSF) in Nairobi when the mall was attacked. He went into the mall armed only with a handgun to rescue people and was award a George Cross for his efforts.
The high proportion of left handed operators in the special forces is due to the fact that we, the left handed, are preparing a worldwide coup against the tyranny of the right handed. They will have to use awkward weapons, corkscrews, writing and tin snips.
@Shutbyotch As a left handed from continental Europe, I can tell you that driving in Britain is just as sh*t to us as it is to any righthanded person used to driving on the right side of the rodad.
@Shutbyotch we started it. The world’s first traffic sign was on London Bridge instructing traffic to keep left. Keep left because when two gentleman pass on horseback, they are able to shake hands…
I used a rifle with that charging handle for 5 years and I can't say that I ever had an issue with it really snagging on anything. The one time I can think of it snagging was when I had my sling attached to the castle nut plate, then the handle would occasionally catch on the sling when I went to rack the rifle. I also didn't have any issues with it jabbing my chest whether I was wearing my vest and armour or just wearing a shirt. But I guess everyone's experiences are different.
Everyone's different on that one, man. I immediately changed out mine for a old style standard cocking handle as did a lot of my platoon mates, but lots of guys left it too.
Yeah, I had my charging handle changed out during my second tour, and deleted the ambi mag release. One loud click of the charging handle catching on my chest rig during a night recce patrol was enough for me to not repeat that possibility again.
Honestly I had a preference for this style of charging handle. It made racking the bolt with the left hand for stoppages and mag changes a bit easier, plus having a hook to hang the rifle off my chest rig while rucking.
Rule #1, let the end users test them and listen to their feedback. A great example in my time was there heavyweight BDU uniform with the giant collar. Virtually everyone hated them, and in the field we used old Vietnam era camo uniforms. I was in the 82nd Airborne at the time and we could wear them in the field but not in garrison. When I went to Special Forces I still had a few of the heavyweight BDUs and once wore a set in a HALO jump. That damn collar beat me to death on the way down.
@@Followme556 OG107s, I loved those things. When someone up the food chain finally realized that BDUs sucked they allowed the wear of OG107s and made them available in clothing sales for something like $3.50 each for pants or tops. I bought a few to wear, I should have bought them by the metric ton.
It's funny how the people who will be actually using the weapons are the last to be asked for their opinion, and usually when it's too late to change anything.
@@joejoseph7198 Because the MoD has a 60-odd page document to spec out equipment like this written by civil servants who's combat experience is limited to office stationary warfare.
We had guys test driving GMVs here in the 82nd, they reported their thoughts on it like what's good, what isn't, etc. Fast forward a year and half and we get them and they're the same. Great to drive. But mechanically they're pieces of shit.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine Only real complaint I have heard or think of is it is very front heavy because of the thick profile barrel. I’m issued the V2, which has a shorter rail length, but is overall the same rifle.
The part about the sling ring rattling reminds me some stuff I read about the MACVSOG guys who were running the incursions into Laos and Cambodia, where by one account the first thing every guy had to do when joining their unit was to ditch everything metallic in their standard issue kit or duct tape it securely to eliminate any rattle, which was a big problem for guys who were supposed to be moving quickly and silently in enemy territory during raids. Sling mounts and so on were completely replaced by tape. I guess not many lessons were learned since then when it comes to issuing rattling kit if units are still having the exact same issues.
"So you're telling me that we could have a sling mounting system that's silent, has less weight, is easy to fix in the field AND costs next to nothing? Sir, we are the military, we have a budget to spend and you can be damn sure we will! Now get me HK on the line, those hooks for 50$ a piece sound like a bargain!"
@@Kremit_the_Forg "Yes, but it will require every soldier to dedicate one pouch in his webbing to hold a roll of gaffer tape. Also, gaffer tape rolls need to be continually re-acquired, a permanent sling swivel goes through exactly one acquisition." "Aren't you just going to gaffer tape the sling swivels anyway?" "Not at government expense we are not, no sir."
Vietnamese Soldiers said they tracked US Soldiers by the smell of Cigarette Smoke and the trail of Cigarette butts they left behind. I hope those Special Units were self aware enough that they and their gear didn’t smell like ashtrays.
Not only SF did that. British SAS have done that in Malaya Borneo and up to date, passing on lessons to the USSF via the jungle school with British, Australian, New Zealand and even Rhodesian Instructors with jungle combat experience. My uncle was a Regular soldier in the UK and before i joined he taught me a lot of the tricks and techniques. It was fascinating learning all the small details, and he always said meticulous attention to detail will keep you alive longer ,"slapdash means dead" Those MACV SOG guys get my salute any day, that so many paid the ultimate price saddens me
The coating on the barrel may be part of the waterproofing process. These weapons all come ready for maritime ops and diving. This was one of the improvements from A1 to A2.
@@destroyerarmor2846 Every weapon known to man jams in the Sahara, some more than others but they will all jam. Including spears and bows, don't know how that works but there it is.
The ambi mag catches could also be a training /creature comfort thing as anyone who starts out on an L85 will be used to 'beer canning' the mags out with their left hand and using the thumb on the release on the left and keeping a stronger firing hand grip rather than using the trigger finger on the right side button. I put one on my replica QBZ97 because I preferred the familiarity in the manual of arms and because the original button is a tiny god awful stiff affair that's nigh on impossible to operate comfortably.
Damn wish us Americans could get qzb97 bullpup. And as an American iv never seen a charging handle like that. Lol. Thank goodness for raidian raptor charging handles
I'm guessing the higher percentage of left handers in the British Special Forces was due to them preferring to put themselves through harsh training than suffer shooting right-handed with the L85. I know I would consider it if I was British or I would have enlisted in the Canadian Army like Matsimus.
There are also multiple studies that suggest left handers are more prone to having a psychological profile that is better suited for high stress situations, along with having more moral flexibility. Basically 2 of the things you really want in your special forces. That said, tbh this rifle is still really right handed only, it lacks the ability to alter the ejection. You can use it left handed, but you have to accept there may be occasions were you'll get a face full of hot brass. Still beats the L85 for left handed use, but only just, it's a tradeoff. Easier use, far worse maintenance. Don't be surprised when you see British special forces "liberating" local arms because they keep getting given junk to work with.
@@cgi2002 on the ejector port you will see a triangular bump, thats a case deflector thats purposly designed to redirect any brass away from your face when firing left handed. Its been standard on ar designs for a very long time. Think the m16a2 was the first model that added this.
@@Gruvy that's why I said occasions rather than constantly. Usually it will be in very specific circumstances such as tight quarters CQB and/or when firing using non-standard firing stances were the rifle is pulled further back than normal. Situations basically only special forces soldiers will find themselves in. Essentially times were you have the rifle further back your not clear of the ejection port itself or were there is a wall for the cases to deflect back off towards you.
@@andro7862 possibly. Frankly you can create a study to prove nearly anything with psyche profiles for large enough groups so I take them all with a grain of salt. But speaking from personal experience i do find left handed people (myself included) to have more flexibility in how we view certain situations, but my judgement there may be biased as I am from my own experience, more morally flexible than most people I've met, I tend to have more grey area than black and white and in most situations just don't care one way or the other as its "not my problem" usually.
Sort of what happened to the Pathfinders in the 1990s. They were using M16A2s that had been handed down through contacts in the SAS. However as the unit was not officially scaled for them they had no real maintenance support. Once they got worn out TBTB decided not to continue with them and the unit went back to SA80 force few years, and this is what they took on the early Telics. It was only later that they started getting L119s.
to be fair the latest L85s are really good now. The A3 upgrade really has made the rifle a joy to shoot (unless you're left-handed, then good-luck). If only they had been this good when they first came out, the A1 was dreadful and completely destroyed it's reputation. Still, for Special Forces you'd be better off with a lighter weapon and one that has more flexibility.
I've used the Colt US monolithic upper, I really liked it. It held zero fairly well, my only issue was that it was heavy and a little on the chunky side. Oh and as long as you're slung, those sling rings don't rattle that much.
When your trying to pretend your not actually there, not much is too much. I'm honestly surprised most guys haven't had them cut off within 30 seconds of seeing them.
These have a lot in common with the current Dutch service rifles(Colt C7/C8 NLD). The dutch rifles have handguard plates with intergraded heat shields that can be taken off to clean the outside of the barrel. And they kept the dogleg gastube and bigger vents for better heat dispersion. you should really take a look at them if you can!
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine Now that I think about it I almost forgot to think logically and realized that folding stocks are horribly wobbly nevermind this conversation didn’t happen
The Dutch rifles were Colt Canada's first iteration of this monolithic upper. The Dutch kept the original barrel as well, which meant they needed to have access to the original type of barrel nut. I don't know how the later (Danish and UK) barrel nuts differ from this.
There has at least been a some trial usage of a replacement/upgrade for these with an MLOK rail. I have only ever seen one though, I believe it is based on the Colt Canada MRR. It was also missing the grenade launcher support lug, so they have obviously decidede they are never using the thing.
@@ArcturusOTE Not at all. Until the 1950s the system was Mark 1, Number 1, then Mk .1, No.2 etc. It then changed to L1A1, L1A2 etc. What I was getting at is that there is no 'Mark 1' or 'Mark 2' L119A1, or L1A1 for that matter. Two different systems :)
Doesn't seem like they did. Procurement probably looked at the L119A1 program, saw how much of that was COTS parts, and figured they could do it on the cheap. Then the SF guys got burned.
@@Double_Vision So which nation's military gives their troops all the best, totally sorted equipment from the outset? None. The US spent millions on finding a 'Universal' camo for their uniforms, and came up with UCP. After years of complaints from troops in the field, and million of dollars more spent testing, it was replaced by the pattern codenamed 'Scorpion', which they had commissioned from Crye several years before, but had then ignored. Crye had already improved the design and called it Multicam, which the army wanted... but they were forced to use the older 'Scorpion' pattern, because they already had the rights to it. There are thousands of such examples from forces around the world... because no country has unlimited financial resources.
@@Double_Vision So which nation's military gives their troops all the best, totally sorted equipment from the outset? None. The US spent millions on finding a 'Universal' camo for their uniforms, and came up with UCP. After years of complaints from troops in the field, and million of dollars more spent testing, it was replaced by the pattern codenamed 'Scorpion', which they had commissioned from Crye several years before, but had then ignored. Crye had already improved the design and called it Multicam, which the army wanted... but they were forced to use the older 'Scorpion' pattern, because they already had the rights to it. There are thousands of such examples from forces around the world... because no country has unlimited financial resources.
You'd think with all the really nice ambi-charging handles out these days, you'd have one that's actually an improvement...I wonder why they stuck with that one?
I actually did a tiny bit of training with one of these last year. Spent the day with a couple of SBS dudes and they taught us the basics of their first aid (different from the rest of the military) and we had some time left over near the end of the day so they took us to their indoor range, turned the lights off and we did room clearing with NVGs. A great day.
This is the sort of thoughtfulness that the Australian Army receives when thier gear is being decided on. Its insane how goodd the standard soliders gear is. Better than most spec ops.
Their standard gear is so good we Kiwis couldn’t afford to buy their new AUSTEYR, to replace the old IR AUSTEYR we had for decades. So we bought the MARS-L, an M4 clone made by LMT. We had quality issues straight away. Apparently LMT had never made as many rifles in one go. Lolx
The handguard on those uppers are actually pretty sweet. I've personally never seen pic rail handguards were the sides are scalloped like that. It would be a great way to reduce weight without using MLOK handguards, which I personally am not the biggest fan of. It also looks like you would be able to get a better grip on the gun since the scalloped out area is so thin.
@@MuhammadAli-qh8tg urgi would like to have a word with you. It's pros and cons to it all like anything. I'm a quad rail guy but like mlok stuff too. If you just need a LAM and flash light not really all that neccessary to have all that pic rail. Other than obviously it being more rugged and durable.
why would a flat surface, that you cant attach anything to, be better than a surface with some holes that you can actually attach things to? unless you are running a 6" handguard, there is no need for a quad rail
Theres alway been some question of legality of Colt Canada parts in the US because of the way Colt started bringing in things. I think some Colt Canada guns went to LE but Colt seemed to have forgot about 922r compliance and then never seemed to have a clear plan on Colt Canada products coming into the US.
Looks like a Proctor sling, instead of an improvised paracord sling attachment. You can see the other side pretty well where it attaches to the CTR stock. It's got the sliding tube to tighten up on the paracord and keep it in place.
They shoulda left the gas block on the outside so it could use standard gasblocks/tubes. Maybe this would have let them use a standard dogleg tube that sits closer to the barrel before rising to enter the receiver. I'll have to watch again to see if this would have been enough to enable such a switch. The urge to cut off that grenade launcher support must be yooj.
“It’s not uncommon to find them missing. [brief reflection] Well, to not find them”. Nice pedantic self correction. I really enjoyed that little demonstration of Ian’s desire for verbal precision.
Feel like it may just be a general heat reduction coating. That suppressor and the muzzle device are going to get significantly warmer than the barrel with high volumes of fire so I am doubtful of the usefulness against IR.
Could it be as simple as just really aggressive anti glare matte coating to prevent reflections of the smooth barrel surface? Like a really minor thing compared to the whole rifle, but kinda like a thing one would think manufacturer might be able to sell to buyer. "oh and this special ops special version comes with our super new uber black anti glare coating on the barrel so the guys don't get caught by a random reflection". Again utterly useless compared to "ehh it's a metal thing with lot of smooth and round surfaces", but again something Colt Canada might have sold the MOD on for it being a "special rifle with the best tech".
I'm surprised at the upper when you said that it was an MRP licensed from LMT. The real MRP since it was released ~15+ years ago has used a method of securing the barrel that uses two screws that are easily accessible from the outside of the upper. This was one of the selling points of the system; you could change barrel length and caliber in minutes. Is this a special military specific design? The reason for my question is that I've owned two of the railed MRPs and neither of them looked anything like this.
@@Antigonus. so thats why no one else makes them anymore, thank you for explaining that. It seems like thats created a misperception with the public that they are inherently unpopular because the designs have been discontinued.
I believe colt and colt Canada pay royalty payments to LMT for the monolithic upper reciever. Colts lawyers did not do proper patent check before making it. When it first came out.
A small update for those wanting it: Popo Medic here on YT has done a great video on said attack. 5 terrorists went in, 1 blew himself up to cause chaos while the remaining 4 did their cruel work via AKs and grenades. The Operator is Christian Craighead, 22nd Regiment of the SAS, the video has a wonderfully clear picture of his kit and weapon. He'd gotten a call from a unknown friend and he just genuinely went rogue to do his job, saved a unknown number of civvies while carrying wounded ones and escorting the rest. He'd provided help and leadership with armed civvies, off-duty police and some private security before actual military support arrived but he broke off from them when he heard rifle fire somewhat close by, he'd end up killing 2 of the terrorist himself and providing more support and guidance as well as more security for fleeing civvies. The man retired from the SAS in 2020, a his book on the attack is pending release. Respect to this hero.
For my first deployment I was issued a rebarreld GAU-5 and that barrel was shot out too. The the parkerizing had been warn off on every touch point and the places it remained it was so thin you could see through it. Every spring including the hand guard was mushy, and I’m sure that just about every surface was out of spec in some way. My second deployment was with an M4. It was more dependable but by then it had a decade of hard use behind it and it wasn’t exactly trustworthy either. So I was horrified when the SCAR 16 didn’t get picked up because I was firmly in the “ARs are junk!” camp. Now I’m a little older and a little wiser, but can’t help but but wonder if some of the ongoing “reliability concerns” about the AR family of rifles stem from work guns that are kept way beyond their service life.
@@jackjmaheriii 249s are pretty good, the US military takes really bad care of them, like no repairs/part replacements in over 10 years bad care. If anything, the fact that they still are decent despite how terrible US care for them is compared to other rifles shows that they are very good rifles.
LMT’s quick change barrel system predated the Colt IUR. I presume Colt didn’t go with it because they wanted to offer the upper receiver as an upgraded upper for existing M16/C7 users. Which did happen with the Dutch and Danish C7s and C8s.
I was in the Canadian infantry reserves I used the c7, the longer charging handle is in my opinion better then the typical m4 charging handle. You can rack it faster and more efficiently, and I have never had it snag rucking, or in the field.
The reason improvements sometimes end up as compromises is that the people involved will undoubtedly have their own idea of what suits best, for them. Another great bit of knowledge from Ian, thank you.
How and WHY do they keep going for the most horrible rear sling mounts lol? The C7A2 we use in Canada had a small recap that introduced a smaller ambi charging handle that doesn't require the locking clasp to be pressed, and a QD ambi sling mount. I find this all very odd...
I owned a 10" upper for several years, I actually preferred the barrel replacement on these to a regular AR. As long as you HAVE access to the barrel tool it's a breeze. The heat shields are definitely finicky as hell. I have to disagree about the heat buildup on these... I've got video of me blasting it on my channel, and I was lucky enough to get mine onto a select-fire lower receiver several times for testing (no video). Never got any hotter than other AR platforms. I did not shoot mine suppressed, the extra gas buildup from this might be to blame for the extra heat you're referencing. I now have a Colt Canada MRR upper, the next generation of this upper receiver setup. It's basically the same thing, but with M-LOK.
We Brits seem to be doing a lot of business with Colt Canada as the Royal Marines are now all being equipped with the Colt C8, so far 42 and 43 Commando are fully equipped with the C8 with 40 and 45 to follow.
I have several of the newer SAS barrels and the coating could be vest described as being similar to the rubbery coatings put on truck beds. They are designed to prevent corrosion, considering the difficulty in cleaning the barrel under the monolithic handguard. Pretty neat texture.
Only reason I can see is because colt Canada already had them around for their C7/C8 rifles. And that charging handle is not just for ambi use, that giant lever is also meant to be easier to operate with thick winter gloves, because Canadian winters are cold.
I've got a few buddies on the teams, most common load out as per his unit, was a short barreled m4 with a suppressor and a glock in 9mm. Granted, it's been close to a decade since we talked about that stuff, so I'm sure things have changed at least a little bit.
In the past 20 years or so, it seems to be common for "inspiraton" to come from the private sector instead of the past gov-to-civ transfer of ideas, at least with fighting rifles and precision guns.
@@mattfleming86 no, that's the way it has always been. The Kentucky rifles that American revolutionaries were using definitely outclassed the production war muskets.
I love the magpul ASAP plate. It doesn't make noise when it actually has a sling attached. Not that it matters. If a tiny rattle gives your position away you have worse problems. Heavy breathing, footsteps, stepping on garbage, gear rattling are more of a "problem" if you're sneaking around playing metal gear solid.
Ian I love to see you do a video on the Dutch version of this rifle. Because we had our new versions of the colt canada c7 c8 and for the Dutch marines laow (lsw) and they already fixed the heating problems. Thing is we already had those guns in (i want to say) 2012-2013 if memory is correct.
As far as I know the KCT transfered over to the HK416A5 in 2010, and recent pictures of NLMARSOF do show HK416's as well. They did use C8A1GD before, and I am not sure when the transferred to the HK416 (or if that is even public knowledge). Regardless, the C8 was in service already before 2010. I do know there was a modernization of existing C7 and C8 rifles in 2009, called the C7/8NLD, which might be the version you are referring to. These are the versions with the relatively iconic hand-guards and stock in tan coloring. I am not sure when the colt LOAW was introduced either, might have been at the same time as the modernization of existing C8/C7 weapons.
Ambi mag release is also nice for right-handed folk using their thumb. Surprised no one made an effort to update the charging handle. SO many good options for years now.
All L119A2 are ambidextrous That was part of the brief The sling on the Nairobi rifle is a Frank Proctor sling. Paracord is in the design You've the wrong charging handle on the A1
Thats pretty much the Danish M10/C8IUR. i'm pretty sure we use standard triggers on our guns... we have the same stock, ambi mag release and ambi charging handle. i have had one issued for over 4 years now and i must say that the gun gets hot in situations like CQB or suppressive fire but it's not that bad ( it's nice in the winter). i have on the other hand never had any issue with cleaning the gun nor maintaining it in daily service and deployment.
I'd love to see a video on the history of "handedness" in firearms. I assume at one point (like with so many things) everyone shot right-handed because that was the only "proper" way that one should shoot. This gun shows nods to the ambidextrous user, and truly ambidextrous firearms have been out there for a while now but never seem to become the norm. I'm left hand dominant but do some things righty and some ambi-, I started shooting lefty until I discovered that I'm very right eye dominant. So switching to righty was easy and meant I don't have to worry about controls as much.
there was one video on this channel where the sound was coming out at only one speaker(otherwise, it was a good video). This channel does experience issues with the sound. But I give him a pass because of the variety of the places he records these videos.
@@PureRushXevus Camera shotgun mics are only good for witness/sync audio. You just can't beat a properly placed lav mic when it comes to audio where you have no control of set sound and the talent moves around at all. The solution here would be to use a good lav mic like a Sennheiser, ensure the foam on the lav mic hasn't fallen off, and ensure it's not going to get rattled by a beard or clothing.
I was in SFSG and we used the A1s, the tier 1 guys (Hereford/Poole) had these and I can’t remember the reasons why but I do remember alot of them preferring the A1? As I say I can’t remember why exactly but my best memory of it was some of the SFCs attached to our unit got issued these as they were considered tier 1 (up for debate, don’t shoot the messenger lol) and I do remember both of the dudes I worked with said they preferred the A1 for some reason, I think it was a durability issue or something because they both had to take their rifles to the armorer numerous times, I just remember thinking these looked sick because of the monolithic rail and desert coloured grip and butt lol
@@nickjohnson710 I didn’t sadly! They were in the armoury when I got to SFSG from 3 Para and they were used as a section/team sharpshooter rifle or DMR, I only did a short stint in a rifle company then went to snipers where they used the HK417 as they semi-auto 7.62 rifle as it’s considered better for a sniper role, so I missed out on ever firing a G3! Another thing that was annoying was seeing MP5s in the armoury but never getting the chance to fire one as they had been phased out by the time I got to the unit.
@@nickjohnson710 yeah I absolutely loved it! I did more in 3 years there than I did in nearly 6 years at 3 Para lol I only got out because of family stuff really, if I was single with no kids I’d still be there. And as for other units I can’t say too much. The two obvious ones quite a lot, and US 75th Ranger regiment a fair amount as well as they were seen as our US equivalent. Any others would be unprofessional to say due to opsec.
I love the story about the 1 sas operator taking matter into his own hands. You can guarantee he was making a cup of tea before deciding “watch my tea, ill be back” legend has it, he got back to his tea BEFORE the water was even boiled (jokes of course)
@@skyblue1954i feel like only the SAS would have operators that would go into a situation like this without backup. i may be bias because I believe the SAS are the best special forces unit in the world. Not saying other SF units arent great, of course they are. I just feel the British SAS are a cut above the rest
This rifle was used by a member of the sas that was embedded with the Kenyan special forces when al shabab attacked a business and shopping complex in 2019
Like a proper modern British rifle Ian takes some time to describe all the random parts that will fall off it Yes it's actually Canadian, but they were making it to requested specs and probably sent a very sincere letter when they heard about it so I'm letting them off the hook.
SF would probably want heavier barrels, use collapsible stocks, super tough rigid rails (like this one) that hold zero of IR lasers. Its a pretty good seeming rifle. Would take one over a wwsd2020
@@tristanhodgden4286 Yeah, the WWSD is a fine civie/leo rifle, but a bit lacking for mil/sof. Though, the lancer handgaurd would probably make a nice, still semi light substitute, along with faxon's 'gunner' profile barrel, which is only 3 oz more and adds a decent bit of meat.
Regards the cocking handle. I'm sure some in service rifles have been pictured with Giessele airborne charging handles. Also, the Aimpoint T2 seems to be the standard CQB optic for A2s and is seen in more images than the Sig R4T and 'Christian Craighead' was using a Frank Proctor sling in Nairobi, rather than a self made paracord mod but a variety of slings have been seen in use on UKSF rifles.
It was basically “how can we make an ambi charging handle, but without changing the basic body of the standard charging handle?” Other than milling off that massive protrusion on the left, I’m not sure how you’d be able to do much better.
Really like the videos. One improvement I'd suggest is if you could slow down the camera a bit when you run it the lenght of the gun. The details might come through a little better.
My first thought when Ian pointed out that monolithic upper was that getting to the barrel and gas system has to be a pain. Pity the engineers didn't get a little input from the users.
You got a small amount of guys that use it and it's important that all their attachments stay zeroed to land shots with their laser/IR combos. So I wouldn't care much either if an armourer needs a long tool to take it apart or clean it in case someone dropped it in between the chicks in the 24/7 mud wrestling pit. There aren't a lot of options to quickly fix that issue and those uppers were already on the market.
I think someone (maybe LMT themselves or DD or someone) makes a version where the bottom rail is removable to be able to use M203s that attach in the standard fashion and not to the rail like the british chose (for some weird reason).
@@МихаилЛевченко-с3б Why would you want to hang that anchor off your barrel if you can keep it free floating by hanging it off the bottom rail? That is the whole point of it.
The British seem to really enjoy their time-honored tradition of fielding their troops with quirky rifles. It has to take a lot of effort to get a mass produced M16 variant wrong in 2019.
Ian - if you’d like to do a review of this rifles big brother (in .308, from LMT) I’d be happy to lend mine. I’m in Phoenix and take my kids to the air museum in Tucson every few months, so I can either ship or drop off. I don’t have an FFL so we’ll have minor complications, but that’s easy enough to overcome.
I question a few points on here, mainly the comment about the barrel. One of the main reasons for A1 was adopted instead of rivals such as the M4 was the barrel. It was superior in accuracy than the M4, the M4 was found to be lacking in the level of accuracy demanded by the UKSF. I've been issued and worked operationally with the A1, and later in life I used the M4 in various theatres as a civilian contractor, the A1 is superior in accuracy and built quality, and the slight increase in weight is not worth worrying over. It does have a couple of areas that can be improved on, the main one was the rails and the A2 seems to have cured that issue. I haven't used the A2 but I also haven't heard many complaints from people still in the service who are using them. I am surprised they go for a superior barrel and just flute it to take the weight out, as the LWRC does with it's very good rifles (now adopted by the Swedish SF).
THE "TEXTURED" APPEARANCE OF THE BARREL IS DUE TO APPLICATION OF A CORROSION RESISTANT MATERIAL. THIS WAS NECESSARY BECAUSE THE RAIL CANNOT BE REMOVED FOR CLEANING, BY THE END-USER AND LUBRICATION AFTER EXPOSURE TO SALT WATER ENVIRONMENT.
Suspect the barrel coating is to hide shine or glint from the round surface, you should get sinistral to send them a couple of full auto kp15's then they'd know what light is. Just send .750 barrel profiles, at that length they balance perfectly on the mag well.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine I've heard the monolithic lower already makes it a bit front heavy, I'd imagine any more shit on the front would make it outright suck lol.
Those grenade launchers have bugger all recoil to be honest so it'd be fine. Contrary to popular belief they are very low pressure on the launch, like a 38 special by the time it's ruptured into the 2nd chamber to actually launch the grenade.
I love how Ian implies the British Gov’t would be annoyed to find out that we can effectively get our hands on an exact copy of there SF rifle. I wonder if they would be even more annoyed to learn that most people wouldn’t choose this option over other ar-15 variants even if it flooded the market. That’s fun thing to think about, does it annoy them more that we can get it or that most people wouldn’t even buy it given the option? Not that it’s not good, just that you can get way more for your money on the American civilian market.
I don’t understand why the charging handle needs that extended clamp-hook thing. Every other AR style firearm i’ve seen, including the L129 sharpshooter rifle, doesn’t have them. edit: I always thought that the usual way to operate the charging handle was to put one finger either side of the handle, like pulling a bowstring with an arrow between your fingers.
At this time there weren't Razor Gen III optics with 1-10x, only Gen I and Gen II. Nowdays there are the Razor Gen III 1-10x, but they were announced early 2020.
Seems like the “cons” of this rifle is on an armorer level and not an operator level. The only one thats operator level is the heat issue but I have yet to find any modern rail thats not a full quad with heat sheilding that doesnt heat up too quickly. Where the section is that isnt quad rail on this would def appear to heat up quickly after a few mags. Looks like a nice rifle to me tho, nice video
You might want to do something at some time about what being "left handed" actually means. That is generally thought of as being monolithic, you are right handed or left handed, and people are defined "Lefty" that way. In fact there are many more complications. I'm very much right handed, I write and throw with my right arm, but I bat left, shoot golf left, and shoot hockey left. Most people will bat right, almost everyone golf's right, yet the vast majority of those people will shoot in hockey left, and that requires changing their hand position on the stick from the way they golf or bat a ball. My hand order never changes and my right thumb touches the bottom of my left hand (or could in the wider grip for hockey). I'm also right eyed. I'm a photographer and like to watch other people pick up cameras. They will just put the camera's viewfinder to one specific eye without thinking, and that defines whether they are left eyed or not. It's almost impossible to change, and that's too bad, because 35mm style cameras are designed for right eyed shooters. In any case your comment about finding more left handed shooters in that Brit special forces group, may turn out to be more "left eyed" shooters. I don't think that there's been much if any research done on this subject at all and I'm sort of surprised that it doesn't come up more often. From where I sit it looks like all of this "left" and "right" business is completely independent from each other, so the "left brain" "right brain" theories seem to hold very little water.
He shoots right despite being a lefty all the time, and points out that ambi guns are useful for switching up shooting left or right on the fly. The majority of people are still going to go "I'm a righty i shoot right" though.
@@realityshotgun the PDQ ambi bolt catch on the WWSD carbines actually makes the gun more right hander friendly :) I shoot with a sling a lot, no more twisting the rifle over to slap the release. I also like ambi safeties for quickly putting the rifle back on safe. It wasn’t difficult with just one, but it’s a little more convenient with two.
