Enfield L85 The Enfield L85 ( also known as SA - 80 ) is the family of standard issue weapons used by the British Armed Forces and Jamaican Defence Force . All weapons in the SA80 ( Small Arms for the 1980s ) range uses the 5 . 56mm Nato round . Production . The development of the SA80 ( Small Arms for 1980s ) system , which included two weapons - SA80 IW ( Infantry Weapon ) assault rifle and SA80 LSW ( Light Support Weapon ) light machine gun , began in the late 1960s when British army decided to develop a new rifle , which will eventually replace the venerable 7 . 62mm L1 SLR ( British - made FN FAL rifle ) in the 1980s . When NATO trials were announced in 1977 to select a new cartridge , British state - owned Enfield Small Arms Factory developed its own small - caliber , high velocity round , which was more or less representing the US . 223 / 5 . 56mm case necked down to accept 4 . 85mm ( 0 . 19 inch ) bullet . When cartridge came out , Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield developed a new weapon around it , initially designated as SA80 - IW or XL65 . This weapon , being somewhat similar in outline to the much earlier British Enfield EM - 2 assault rifle , was internally quite different , and , basically , was more or less the US - made Armalite AR - 18 rifle , put into bullpup stock and rechambered for 4 . 85mm cartridge . After NATO trials , which resulted in adoption of the Belgian SS - 109 version of the 5 . 56mm cartridge , Enfield engineers rechambered XL65 for this cartridge and continued its development under the designation of XL70 . Due to Falkland war new system was actually adopted only in 1984 . Original SA80 weapons ( both L85 and L86 ) were plagued with many problems , some being very serious . In general , L85 was quite unreliable and troublesome to handle and maintain , so , finally , in the year 1997 , after years of constant complaints from the troops , it had been decided to upgrade most L85 rifles then in service . The upgrade program , committed in years 2000 - 2002 , was completed by the famous Heckler & Koch , which was then owned by British Royal Ordnance company ( German investors bought the HK back in the 2002 ) . About 200 000 rifles were upgraded into the L85A2 configuration , out of total 320 000 or so original L85A1 rifles produced . While official reports about the upgraded weapons were glowing , the initial field reports from the British troops , engaged in the Afghanistan campaign of 2002 , were unsatisfactory . Most problems , however , were traced to improper care and maintenance of weapons , and for now the L82A2 performs fairy well both in Afghanistan and Iraq . Other than the basic L85A1 variant , the SA80 IW also appeared in the shortened Carbine version , and in the manually operated L98A1 rifle , which got its gas system removed and a larger cocking handle attached . The L98A1 is used to train the army cadets for basic rifle handling and shooting skills , and the rifle is fired as a manually operated , straight pull magazine repeater rifle . The latest weapon in the SA80 family is the recently adopted L22 carbine , which is issued to tank crews of Royal Armoured Corps . This weapon is available in two versions , L82A1 and L82A2 , the latter being fitted with additional Picatinny rail on the right side of front grip base . The current L85A2 rifles are recognized as reliable and very accurate , especially when using standard issue SUSAT telescope sights . The drawbacks of the L85A2 are somewhat poor balance ( which can be improved with installation of HK - made 40mm underbarrel grenade launcher ) , right - side only extraction and rearward placement of the fire mode selector . Techinical Description . The L85 is a gas operated , magazine fed , selective fire rifle of bullpup layout . The receiver of the L85 is made from stamped sheet steel , reinforced with welded and riveted machined steel inserts . The gas operated action has a short stroke gas piston , located above the barrel . The gas piston has its own return spring . Gas system has a three - positions gas regulator , one position for a normal firing , second for a firing in adverse conditions and the third for launching the rifle grenades ( gas port is shut off ) . The machined bolt carrier rides inside the receiver on the two parallel steel guide rods , with the single return spring placed above and between the guide rods . The typical rotating bolt has 7 lugs that locks into the steel insert in the receiver , just behind the barrel breech . The charging handle is attached to the right side of the bolt carrier , and prior to A2 upgrade caused some problems by reflecting the ejected cases back into the action , thus causing stoppages . In the L85A2 configuration the charging handle was redesigned to avoid such problems . The charging handle slot is covered by the spring - loaded dust cover . The bolt and its extractor claw also were upgraded in the L85A2 , to achieve more reliable extraction of the spent cases . The trigger / hammer assembly of the L85A1 is also typical for a modern bullpup rifle , with the long link from the trigger to the hammer unit , located in the buttstock . The hammer assembly of the L85A2 was redesigned to introduce a slight delay before the hammer release when the gun is fired in the full auto . This did not affected the cyclic rate of fire but improved the reliability and stability of the weapon during the automatic fire . The fire mode selector is located at the left side of the receiver , well behind the magazine housing , and allows for single shots of full automatic modes of fire . The cross - bolt safety button is located above the trigger . The barrel is rifled for a NATO - standard 5 . 56mm ammunition , with 1 : 7 twist , and is fitted with a NATO - standard flash hider , which allows to launch the rifle grenades from the barrel . The L85 is fed using NATO - standard ( STANAG ) magazines , similar to M16 type magazines , with the standard capacity of 30 rounds . Early L85A1 steel magazines caused a lot of troubles , as well as a magazine housing itself , which had a thin walls that could be easily dented , thus blocking the magazine way . Both magazines and its housings were upgraded in the L85A2 configuration . The standard sighting equipment is the 4X SUSAT ( Sight Unit , Small Arms , Trilux ) telescope , with illuminated reticle . The SUSAT is mounted on a quick - detachable mount at the top of the receiver , and features an emergency backup open sights at tits top . The SUSAT allows for an accurate fire ( mostly in single shots ) out to 400 – 500 meters . For a second - line troops an alternative sighting system is available , that consists of the removable front post sight with high base and post protection " ears " , and a detachable carrying handle with built - in diopter rear sight . The L85 can be fitted with the proprietary knife - type multipurpose bayonet . L85A2 rifles also can be fitted with 40mm under - barrel grenade launcher , using special handguard . Launcher is made in Germany by Heckler - Koch .