The intention of this entry on the site is intended to showcase information and images relating to some unusual and interesting aspects, variants, iterations and configurations of the SA80 weapon family. Also some of the lesser documented spottings of the guns and strange locations in which SA80s have been seen or found.
Unlike the AR or AK families of rifles, the SA80 series has only been adopted by a very limited number of national military and police forces, and since there is no civilian-sale aftermarket catering to the rifle in terms of parts and accessories, there is a comparatively limited number of different variations to be seen anywhere in the world. The guns also don’t show up in a great many places in comparison to the likes of AK variants or M16s and M4s.
There is no specific order to the following content, it varies in depth and levels of obscurity and will appeal to different people depending on how much knowledge and experience you have with regards the esoteric aspects of this weapon family. But, given that the vast majority of SA80s that exist (and have ever existed), are kept in standard issue configuration, I like to think there will be at least one or two items/examples of interest in here for everybody.
Absolutely every image and item of information is purely open source and found on the wider public internet, none of this is private from within the MoD, I have simply compiled the ‘best’ content I could find here.
A lot of the best imagery and information publicly available on early versions of SA80 is to be found on the Armament REsearch Services website. In fact it was my discovering of their articles that spurred me on to put together this post, along with working on an unusual type of body/upper assembly for my own airsoft replica.
ARES have quite a few articles written by Jonathan Ferguson himself already published covering the development of the SA80 which you can view for free, but my personal favourite is Part 6 of their series, covering the Carbine variant:
https://armamentresearch.com/british-enfield-sa80-part-6-carbines
On the subject of L22s, while not highly unusual, this particular setup isn’t too common either. The paint job looks in line with the tan paint that was added by unit paint shops to a lot of L85s that deployed around the 2013-14 time frame; it even covers the SUSAT. Also included is the CAA brand folding vertical grip that was issued extensively alongside the L129 Sharpshooters (LMT MWS in 762). These grips have sometimes found their way on to other UK service weapons.
After posting the above images of developmental Carbines to my social media, a kind gentleman commented below my facebook page post with this image showing another, earlier, carbine variant with a slightly longer barrel than any of the L22s (and a different gas system):
Not content with just having the image alone, I tracked down the source a few pages in to a google search on SA80 carbines. I found his PDF hosted on the Small Arms Review website. Unfortunately their site will not actually load for me (perhaps a geographical restriction), but I managed to download the file through the google search, so I have re-hosted it here just in case the SAR site is inaccessible to others or otherwise goes down at some point in future.
Link: Small Arms Review PDF
There are quite a few interesting images contained within the document, but the rare intermediate barrel rifle shown above is my personal favourite. Though with that said I feel like I also have to showcase this picture of an A1 with a silencer and an unusual attachment to the SUSAT. I have no info about either accessory, but there is more content relating to suppressed SA80s further along in this article.
Below are some clearer modern images of the very early SUSAT shown on one particular L85A1 within the document. The main body of the optic appears unchanged, but this mount is fairly different to the one that was eventually issued en masse and has been in use for decades now. Rather than having the elevation/range adjustment drum at the rear directly under the ocular lens, range is dialled on the front left side. Windage is zeroed with a flat head screw on the rear left side of the mount. The spring-loaded detent and plastic wing-nuts that secure the mount to the dovetail rail on the rifle remain the same as the later standard mount however.
Below is perhaps the most whacky physical prototype of anything related to SA80 in existence. This is a wooden mock-up of some wild plans that the Enfield factory supposedly had for potential future iterations of the L85 rifle. Probably made in the early to mid 1980s. The rumour I read is that the extra housing space behind the magazine was intended to locate an electronic 3-round burst system.
The infamous HK G11 rifle was also in the latter stages of its’ development around the same time as this, which I only bring up as it helps to illustrate the sort of headspace that firearms designers and manufacturers of the time were working in. The technology needed to miniaturise and ruggedise all sorts of electronics was progressing rapidly and computers in general were proliferating at quite a rate, so I can only presume that military procurement officers and firearms companies were throwing around all sorts of wild ideas for applying new, sci-fi concepts to military equipment, including small arms.
At this juncture I’ll also have to include this video from the Royal Armouries covering the Electronic IW (L85) because I will get tons of comments about it if I don’t. As you will see in the video, this was a project in the 90s that produced a number of L85A1s that used purely electronic triggers (no hammer to drop) and 556 ammunition with electrically initiated primers in place of conventional percussion caps:
Troops of the Bermuda Regiment have their L85s equipped with ACOGs. These are of course attached using the famous gooseneck mount that clamps on to the rifle’s 19mm STANAG dovetail type rail.
The first two Bermuda images came from an excellent post on The Armourer’s Bench: https://armourersbench.com/tag/acog
Of interest are the rubber eye pieces on the rear of the sights, which are most likely an MoD contract specific item; I’ve certainly never seen them on US issued optics.
Presumably the entire fleet of sights was supplied to Bermuda after the UOR expired which had called for the purchase of said optics for operational usage in the Middle East. Given the scarcity of SUSATs and LDSs within the supply chain and the durability of ACOGs, I would imagine it just made financial sense for the MoD to send the ACOGs to equip Bermuda once they were no longer in use on UK rifles.
At first I had wondered if the ACOGs might have been specifically purchased for Bermuda rather than being transferred over after their fielding in Afghanistan, as generally the pictures from the Middle East do not show the rubber eye piece fitted. However, I would wager that usually by the time a photo was taken of any given rifle in Afghan, the eye piece had either been removed by the soldier or simply fallen off/been knocked off while in use. The photo below does show the eye piece in use, possibly in the Middle East, or maybe at one of the Afghan-style training facilities that was built in the UK using an awful lot of sand.
I would guess that this gentleman was either a regular Army dog handler or part of SFSG/some other SF element, undoubtedly deployed in either Afghanistan or Iraq. His Gen 2 Crye combats in Multicam pair nicely with this L22 Carbine, which itself has a very uncommon set of accessories. There is a micro red dot up top, possibly a T-1, on a mount that I can’t personally identify, but of course most likely it has a picatinny/1913 base. Hence there will be an adapter inbetween the optic mount and the NATO dovetail rail, which looks to be one of these:
I have seen these adapters floating around somewhat frequently, but never in use and they unfortunately lack any identifying markings. If I were to guess they might have been made by ISTEC given that company’s history, but I can’t say for sure.
There is also a PEQ-15 on the right side of the tiny picatinny handguard of this L22, plus of course a little bit of tan paint striping on the rest of the weapon. I cannot make out the vertical foregrip (or maybe that’s an item of LBE?), but it looks like it might have the pressure switch for the PEQ attached to the right side.
The fact that UKSF essentially never use SA80 is another limiting factor in terms of the weapons ever seeing uncommon modifications or interesting accessories outside of what is standard issue across the wider MoD. But in this instance we have something of a break from that rule (in one form or another).
As an update to the above, a kind anonymous contributor over on Facebook sent me the following information and imagery with relation to L22 Carbine usage in Afghan with non-standard accessories and gear:
“Sometimes the attached arms (eg RAVC dog handler, Dr, female terp/searcher, ATO) carried the SA80 Carbine, particularly if they were attached for the deployment or a short rotation, rather than deployed from the support units at Hereford.
These images show an ATO and his kit, attached to the SAS in Afghanistan.
Suppressors were also issued for the carbine sometimes.
This example features a standard SUSAT, PEQ with pressure switch taped to the fore-grip which is a cut down/modified standard issue pop out bipod type, to give a lower profile as the standard vertical grip was long.
Easy clean weapon specific paint and a laundry bag were used to spray the gear.”
Silencers are rare to see on SA80s, but these images from some type of weapons trial show one being fired through on an L85A2. The SFSG-style SUSAT with top mounted red dot is present, along with the B&T handguard, but those items are comparatively well known when put up against instances of L85s with sound suppressors.
My best guess is that some time around, or just before, the brief adoption of the SureFire 4 prong muzzle device on the L85, there were tests done using the correlating SureFire SOCOM silencers which fitted on to said muzzle devices. I would imagine these photos were taken on an MoD range, where tests were carried out using SF SOCOM cans attached to the aforementioned SF 4 prong flash hiders.
A canine trainer L85 (replica).
I first saw this very odd L85A2 in a couple of photos which were featured in news articles referencing instances where Ukrainian military police dog handlers were conducting training alongside British Army dog handlers.
These objects started life as airsoft guns, but with none of the airsoft inner workings now left. The handguard is unique and is not the usual DD Quad rail (though it is shaped very roughly like one), there is a rather large muzzle device and a cable going from the butt end of the rifle back in to a pack.
The faux silencer of sorts is actually a noise and flash generating device using high voltage electricity in order to mimic gunfire without any projectiles or hot gases actually leaving the rifle – as you would get with blanks. A battery in the soldiers’ backpack supplies electrical power to the device. Something not a million miles away from the SAT/DCCT range simulator L85s and almost akin to the various tracer/muzzle flash/smoke generators built in to faux silencers that are fairly common on the airsoft market – though likely a fair bit more powerful than the latter.
You can see these in use in the Forces News video here:
My first guess when stumbling upon this image was that it was a rifle that had been loaned to B&T in Switzerland in order for them to develop accessories for the platform which might later be purchased by the MoD. However the origin of the image is in fact the below facebook page, where the author discusses their “Swiss collection”. A very small number of repetition (semi) limited L85A1s were made during the original rifle production at Enfield, and to my knowledge they mostly ended up in private hands in Switzerland, where they can be legally owned of course (unlike here in the UK).
https://www.facebook.com/sa80fanpage
If you are reading this article then you should probably also check out the page linked above as it contains a treasure trove of imagery related to all sorts of rare and unusual accessories and parts of the SA80 rifle series – though I have shamelessly stolen my favourite images from there and utilised them here.
Above is another Swiss collection, semi-only A1 that has had Duracoat surface finish applied to almost everything other than the green plastic parts of the rifle. Something of note aside from the paint is the unusual Smith Enterprises Vortex flash hider, which reportedly was trialled at the same time as the SureFire 4-prong, with the SureFire winning out in the end of course. The image below is a later iteration of the above, with the handguard changed to a DD quad rail in tan and the Vortex muzzle device changed over to the SureFire.
On the topic of privately owned L85s there is also at least one in Norway, seen below sporting an aftermarket cocking handle, extended butt pad (probably 3D printed?) and a Magpul 40 round 556 PMAG which itself features an extended base plate.
Despite there not being a lot to see in this low res image, for me it is one of the most intriguing SA80 pictures out there. This gent was part of the Paras in the mid to late 2000s and he has a very unusual SA80, one fitted with a silencer. Since weapon has a full 20.4″ L85 rifle barrel, then the flash eliminator runs pretty close the end of where this can finishes, and I’m not sure how much suppression effect would have actually been forthcoming in use.
Above is what appears to be the same rifle, or at least one with the same configuration, back home in the UK. This model was a reflex type of silencer i.e. it encases a decent part of the forward end of the barrel. I would estimate that if the barrel is the standard L85 length and using the standard flash eliminator, then the end of the muzzle device would sit roughly where the silencer slightly increases in diameter towards the forward end – a slight bulge in the can is visible just below the right hand edge of the window in the background.
Perhaps the aim here was to keep the overall package as short as possible since the L85 is already a ‘full rifle’. But again, since the barrel is standard length then I’d only estimate a couple of inches of silencer is sitting forward of the front face of the flash eliminator. Clearly a fairly short trial but one that did make it out to operational theatres.
As it turned out, after initially publishing this post I was very fortunate to be furnished with some even better images of this particular suppressor, which you can see here:
The markings simply state that this is for a 5.56 calibre weapon and that it was imported by Riflecraft, who are well known for also importing many of the DD quad rail handguards. I would suspect that the separate collar/sleeve piece fitted over or in to the standard flash eliminator and that the silencer body then attached on to it.
There was a period where the Rheinmetall LLM-VarioRay shown above (often referred to as the LLM Mk3 in service) was issued to front line units that would be early recipients of the L85A3; but at the time of receiving the LLMs they still had A2 rifles with Daniel Defense qual rail handguards. As shown, the supplied remote switch nestles very nicely in to the side of the handguard above the 3 o/clock picatinny section. I’ve never seen this area labelled as specifically being intended for remote switch mounting, but it is definitely cut out for that purpose.
I would be interested to know how easy it would really be to actuate the switch in this position, however. I’d imagine it is mounted here on account of there not being sufficient rail space on the left side for the LLM due to the built-in sling loop; plus the switch cable is fairly short. The end result is somewhat reminiscent of the incandescent forends that SureFire produced for ARs and MP5s back in the 90s, with right-handed firers (all SA80 firers) having to reach under and up with their support hand fingers to reach the pressure switch.
The most common occurrences of SA80s being depicted with non-MoD issued accessories are when British troops are training overseas with other militaries. Often in such circumstances the different nations will exchange rifles, so there are for example plenty of images of US forces shooting L85s and Brits shooting DoD issue M16s and M4s. Based on such images, it seems to be somewhat common practice for the MoD optic to stay attached to the L85, but for the foreign force to use their own lasers and lights on the rifle handguards.
Above we see French troops conducting Simunition training (conversion bolts fitted), with the man in the foreground using an Inforce white light (left side of the handguard, away from the camera) and his own laser aiming module on an L85A2, possibly a DBAL variant; plus a windowed Gen2 PMAG in tan. Just behind him a B.E. Meyers MAWL is visible and while it does appear to be mounted to another L85, it is setup for left handed use, so I’m not sure what is happening there.
Would lasers hold zero on the swinging top cover of an L85A2 quad rail handguard? I would imagine not, but the MoD’s commonly issued LLMs have always been too tall for 12 o/clock mounting anyway so that isn’t normally a problem. I’m guessing these temporary users of the rifles weren’t too fussed about their lasers actually being zeroed, especially if this was only a short, day time exercise using Sim FX rounds.
Images of camo painted SA80s aren’t very common and this one has a particularly good looking pattern on it, with matching painted EMAG to boot. Probably some jungle training happening here given the lush foliage, lack of an optic and emphasis on personal camouflage. Note that the serial number has been masked off and remains free from paint.
Another unusual example of an L85 with a camo paint scheme (plus SUSAT, UGL and LLM-01 in this instance). Both above images seem to feature the same bloke from the Parachute Regiment and presumably the same rifle in both shots, though perhaps a little more paint had been added by the time of the second photo being taken.
Credit to Para Data for hosting these photos:
https://www.paradata.org.uk/article/l85a2-556mm-rifle-sa80a2-underslung-grenade-launcher-ugl
This is not in fact a real rifle but a very well done airsoft replication of an SFSG L85A2. The real photos of said rifle are extremely low res and details are very difficult to discern, so I actually think it makes more sense to host this image of the replica here instead. Of particular note are the B&T handguard (which can mount a laser at 12 o/clock and have a good chance of keeping zero) and the red dot sight mounted atop the SUSAT.
Credit to Taranis blog for this one – much more info available via the link and some more unusual pictures of SA80 setups as well.
Above is a better view of the piggyback mount that allows a red dot to be mounted on to a SUSAT. Two holes on the rear of the mount allow two screws to go in to the threaded holes on the SUSAT body that usually affix the rear peep sight, which itself forms part of the SUSAT’ Emergency Battle Sight backup irons/BUIS (if you use Imperial measurements).
This early L85A3 setup is pretty well known and will come up right near the top of a google search for the A3 variant of the rifle. This very early HKey handguard is often mixed up with the slightly later HKey handguard that was issued for a short time, and there are a couple of other items shown here worth highlighting. First is the ACOG TA02 attached directly to the A3’s pic rail and featuring a Trijicon RMR. There was presumably a fairly limited trial for the optic, as I have only seen these 2 images featuring the TA02 on the initial configuration of A3 rifle.
Also shown is a fairly recent version of the HK GLM, which was primarily designed to mount to the HK416A5, but here has an additional mounting bracket which allows it to fit to the L85A3’s handguard. Since the version of the HK UGL used on the L85A2 is not compatible with the A3 without first removing the mounting block for the freefloat handguard, I would imagine that there was at some point a plan to purchase this newer launcher alongside the A3 rifle. As of the end of 2025 however, the L123A3 40mm UGL with black plastic handguard that was used on the L85A2 is still in service.
Another little-known trial muzzle device for SA80 was this one from Gemtech. Depicted above is an L85A2 in its’ late stage form, in one instance being held by Ian McCollum of Forgotten Weapons renown. Presumably on the range at Shrivenham since Ian has filmed there before and published videos showing the same background when shooting L85s. The device
These images again come from the excellent ARES articles written by Jonathan Ferguson of the Royal Armouries Museum. While you can of course just read all of those articles yourself, I wanted to highlight this specific accessory here as it is not mentioned in said articles and is easy to miss. The device itself is aesthetically quite reminiscent of a common M16A2 ‘bird cage’ flash hider, with the exception of 2 lugs towards the rear which would allow for attachment of a Gemtech QD suppressor in a similar manner to HK’s famous tri-lug muzzle mounting system.
While there is nothing supremely rare or unknown about either of the rifles or any of the accessories in the above photo (2 Royal Marines in Afghanisatn), I do think this picture is a great example of highly unusual configurations featuring only MoD issued equipment.
The rifle to the rear is setup in a way that was not uncommon for front line troops towards the end of the L85A2’s life, but the rifle in the foreground is a lesser-spotted setup. With the L123 40mm grenade launcher, LLM01, SureFire muzzle device and CWS night vision optic with piggy-back Shield CQS red dot.
Not an SA80, but there is a SUSAT in this image that very randomly appeared in my personal facebook feed. As you can tell, a pretty young Tom Hardy depicted here in 2010, supposedly at the midnight launch of Halo Reach and holding a replica of the DMR that is featured in some of the Halo games. Interesting that whoever made this model gun would have obviously put in a lot of time and effort to making what is probably just a rubber gun or plastic shell copying the rifle, but then rather than replicating the in-game scope, they opted to put a rail on top and fit an optic from the 20th century. I’d imagine that the creator wanted a sight that actually could be looked through and had magnification, so probably opted for an airsoft replica SUSAT rather than just making a hollow body of the fictional scope from rubber/plastic.
Overall I thought this was a pretty interesting picture, given that 3D printers of course were not commonplace in 2010 by comparison to 2025 when I’m writing this. Plus the whole Cosplay scene was tiny back then compared to what social media turned it in to throughout the 2010s.
https://www.instagram.com/streakingdelilah/p/DSSms3NjV_X
There are only a very, very small number of L85A2s that are not in the possession of the MoD, but since so many of the weapons spent time in Afghanistan and Iraq from 01 to 21, there is evidence online of a few that are still over there in civilian hands. No doubt these will have changed hands through various black markets after being stolen and ended up with enthusiastic firearms collectors in the middle east. Above is an IG post by @streakingdelilah with the following possible explanation:
“Anecdotal evidence exists that several L85’s may have been supplied or gifted to Iraqi police forces in Basra during the 2013-2015 time period.”
Below is another video clip of a different individual, about which I have absolutely no information, just another example of a stolen rifle that has slipped through the cracks.
Speaking of illegally obtained L85s, here we can see an A1 in the hands of some gang members in Brazil. Don’t ask me what’s going on with the emojis though.
The fitment of a modern 556 drum magazine is a sure fire indicator of a posing gun or ‘look at me’ item that isn’t used, basically a status symbol a bit like the AKs-74u that Bin Laden used to pose with back when he was alive. As anyone knows who has tried it, it is pretty much impossible to hold on to the pistol grip of any SA80 and actually aim/shoulder the rifle properly when you have any sort of drum fitted.
Credit to Passive Shooter for finding this one: www.instagram.com/passiveshooter
Not a modification of the rifle here, but it turns out that at some point the Bolivian government acquired some quantity of L85A1s and a few SUSATs. The photos in use are very interesting to see and this specific one is really quite the visual spectacle.
Credit to TheFirearmBlog for hosting the above images, which I’m told are depicting the Bolivian Special Forces troops.
Above are Bolivian police units. Unsurprisingly, the Bolivians don’t have access to spare parts. So, since the rubberised elements of the A1s (like the butt pads) were not terribly well made originally, those parts of these guns are now largely broken or missing entirely.
Perhaps the most obscure spotting of any (part of) an L85, is entombed within this sculpture from Mozambique.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_Life_(Kester)
As you would expect, most of this ‘tree’ is made up of AKs and an MP40 is clearly visible in the lower centre here. But also in the lower left area, oriented vertically, is the unmistakable TMH (lower receiver) of an SA80 A1 series weapon. The front section with the pistol grip has been chopped off, but the rest is clear to see. How it ended up as scrap metal in Mozambique, is anyone’s guess.
Above is an extensive compilation of SA80s (mostly L85s) in film and television. Much to my surprise I hadn’t actually seen some of these clips before, but a lot of them are not too bad in due fairness (for film and TV depictions).
Henrik Thomassen
Interesting read. I happened to aquire an L85 this summer in civilian possession here in Norway. My youtube is @carlvolt if you want to see it used in IPSC Rifle competition
TheFull9
Thanks for dropping by to read, that’s some interesting new info I’ll add it here. Is your extended butt pad designed for ergonomics or is it a legal consideration relating to a rifle’s length?
MB
There is also footage of the Taliban toting SA80 A3’s during the fall of Kabul and the subsequent British evacuation operation. I have heard of several instances of these weapons falling into insurgents hands during Op Herrick, including one lost by a unit I was attached to, when a young boy snatched one that had been left propped against the rear of a Mastiff by it’s owner. Despite many shura’s and offers of bribes in the days that followed, it was never recovered.