ferretfixer

The head on The US variant is a different weight. therby affecting some performance. We started out in 4.85mm on the L85 weapon system. I was at the school of Infantry in Warminster when the system was inistially trialled. The 'diffiulcities' on this calibre were many & varied, & also the weapons themselves. MANY mods were requested & then retrialled. One of the main reasons the calibre of 4.85mm was dropped was because of the rate of twist in the rifling. & the fact that the round was quite 'Hot' in speed terms. it was wearing out the rifling after only quite a few hundereds of rounds! Then U.S,5.56mm was suggested as a 'perfected' & in service round. It worked, but also there were ensuing problems. We developed our own heads for this calibre for optimum peformance & so it is in service today. The thoery of utilising any similar N.A.T.O in the SA80 is sound. And indeed in an emergency situation COULD be done. However, the British Radway Green round is the ONLY ammo allowed to be used in it in British Service usage. There are STRICT guidelines laid down in regualtions as to the use of all equipment & wepaon systems that are Rigerously applied. And always have been. BUT, as I have mentione previously. In a Theoretical Battlefield secenaro, If found to be in a situation of great emergency. What have you got to lose? You WILL do all you can to survive & get out ot that situation as dictated by that particular circumstance. The will to live is VERY strong when under a life threatening pressure Gentlemen, Believe me!!!

Robin, With Lewis's dimentions, & Andys excellent drawing. You couldnt go wrong! When painted up, NO ONE will give them a second glance! Easy as peas!....Mike

I would defeinately take the heat exchanger out & pressure test. I changed quite few of these in service. This componant takes a LOT of heat & works very hard all the time! From what you say in your post. If there are visual leaks with a power pack run up when it's outside the vehicle. I would strongly urge you to look at the H/Ex for this problem. It wont get any better if left. And the ensuing potetial damage if not corrected could end up costing you a heck of a lot more! Good luck, & keep the forum updated with your progress for other 432 owners please.

Story I heard - just as I was leaving all those many years ago came up during the initial trials of the Sterling design of the "bullpup" design that eventually became the SA-80. One of the (many) complaints was the 5.56 round lacked both penetrating power and range compared to the 7.62 round currently in service. The response on that one was two fold: (1) The MoD believed that the day of the major battle was effectively over so that all future conflicts would be urban style counter-terrorism ala N.I. (2) Our allies across the big pond had a huge surplus of the 5.56 round that we could have free if the MoD agreed to standardize on that calibre. Free being ever the magic word to the MoD Procurement mob. Interestingly - I have in the rather copious amounts of email here a report from a friend out in the SandPit that the Talibans AK's out-range and out-punch the 5.56 rounds we are using. I'll try and find it. Neil, Sterling never actually had a 'Bullpup' designed weapon. However, it WAS the internals from the Sterling AR180 in 5.56mm that was slightly modified & used in the SA80 Weap/System. It had also been decided that 'Warfare' in the future. Would rarely involve engaging targets over 300 Mtrs in a 'Normal' Battle secenario. (How they came up with this decision was probably utilising the MKI Crystal Ball!) To that end, the L85 series was designed & produced. As regards to the AK outranging the SA80. It is probable IF, they were using the earlier 7.62 x 49mm Round. (Heavier head than 5.56mm) The later Ak's have a SIMILAR smaller Round to the SA80 but a smaller diameter head. These are designed to tumble upon impact thus causing more horrendous wounds. But balistically, less mass, less kenetic 'Thump' upon impact on an intended target!

Robin, they ARE easy to make. The steel plate is 1/4" thick & drilled for a section of tube aprox 1.5" long. Enough for the ends of the support bar to drop into. You can see from the photos posted & work out from your studs on the hull. Where to mark & drill the mounting plate holes. Good luck. Mike

Not quite right Neil, But a modicum of truth from the days before we adopted the SLR. The talk at the time was that the US wanted to standardise on a common N.A.T.O Calibre for logistic standardisation. Then said at the time 7.62mm was the way to go (They had the M14) we agreed at that moment in time also. Then they adopted the M16! We went down the route of an optimum common calibre adoption as did the ivans. So we designed a new weapon system around the 4.85mm round. This was a failure in techinical terms (Too indepth to go into here) & the 5.56mm round was trialled. Balistically, this provided what we needed & was adopted. The arguments are many for & against this calibre. BUT, it is in service & we have to make the best of it!

Agreed, But dont forget, a LOT goes out the window when the Sh*t begins to land all round you in a MAJOR Battlefield scenareo. Afgansitan is a little bit different. You poor buggers get sniped at a lot & have time to make quick decisions & CAN work to fire control orders. But if you are under a heavy attack, often things change VERY quickly & it' is sometimes impossible to control what is going on. If the Sec commander & 2 I/C get hit under heavy fire. Im sure you can imagine what it could be like. In the Falklands things changed VERY rapidly indeed! Training under 'Ideal Conditions' does indeed prepare Troops for action. But if you have been under fire & the world is comming apart all round you. Pressure is sometime enourmous & the 'Rules' can be forgotten instantly. It is a reaction to throw back as much as you can to 'Discourage' the enemy & lay down fire which makes you feel 'safer' at that moment in time. Anyone who says they werent scared under fire is either a liar, or got something wrong with them! Troops today have excellent equipment at thier disposal to ease the burden & ease communication between personell. This is excellent & is a great aid to chohesive fire & manouvre. I have evey admiration for our Armed Forces today. There remains a continous problem with most equipment though. Never enough at the right time when needed! Some things never change!

As an addendum to my last post with regards to the L85 Weapon system. One of the 'Benifits' driven in the advertising blurb at the time. was the fact that because it was a smaller calibre weapon. The 'User' could carry twice the amount of ammo. Forgetting to add, that it also had the addition of a Full Auto selector. Well, the user in the heat of battle is really going to want to switch to 'Rock N Roll' to put down as much firepower as he can. To discourage his opponant! Therby, actually WASTING ammo in a blizzard of fire. Instead of well defined & accurately selected targets, thus making his rounds count! This was modified in the slr which was modified to semi-auto only for the above stated reasons. Full auto IS great fun in usage, but in a light rifle, is extremly wastefull of ammunition. The first round may go where you want it, but muzzle climb & recoil WILL pull the barrel off it's originally intended target. ESTABILSHED FACT!

Yep, we used to put a messtin on them & cook in it!..:-D you had to wait Hours sometimes to let one cool down enough to be able to effect a repair! :-X

Lee, is that yours, boiling your 'Smalls' at W&P!..........:-D

Andrew, I must say that my original post was to CORRECT your original statements as regarding the L9 Pistol,9mm. You will realise that if INCORRECT information concerning ANY vehicle /equipment is dissiminated. Then that had a VERY bad habit of being absorbed as 'The Truth'! This forum has MANY members who are well versed & indeed gifted with HUGE amounts of knowledge & expirience accorss the board. Fair enough if a statement is made of 'I heard', 'I think in MY own opinion', Etc. But statements without genuine expirience or evidential backup can leave you high & dry if your not carefull! I must also correct one further important statement you made for the record. As to your remark that 'Equipments eventually wear out' Etc, Etc. This is 'Sort of true'..In as much as in the pistol & other smallarms. COMPONANT parts wear out & are subsequently Replaced. Therfore keeping the Pistol or other Smallarm BACK in a Servicable condition. The ONLY componant that would condom a COMPLETE pistol or other Smallarm, is the MAIN Frame, or correctly termed, The Reciever. This is THE one & only HEAVILY accountable componant that would condem the weapon as Worn Out. (VERY rare for this to happen) When a Smallarm IS condemed as B.E.R is is broken for componant parts for spares & the frame is Destroyed. To that end, No Pistols/ smallarms would be in Service if they were 'Worn Out' as you state! I have already explained in previous posts how a weapon in service would never be in a state of disrepair, or Worn out due to the nature of the R.E.M.E Inspection Procedures laid out in Engineering Regulations.

Seems like a good argument to bring back Hanging!...............:whistle:

Chris, thats interesting. I only worked on MKI's in Canada & MkII's In B.A.O.R. They certainly were noisey Buggers, even WITH the silencer on! I assume this is the life extention package for 432's (Bulldog)? I see the steering unit is totally different also. Are these more reliable? The original ones used to almost boil the oil, they got so hot! The K60 was OK if the vehicle was used regularly. BUT, in most units they stood on the vehicle parks or in hangers for months before the whole unit deployed on Major FTX's. The first week, we were contstantly getting Radio calls for recovery/repair asistance. Once all the bugs in the units had been ironed out after the first weeks driving. They ALL seemed to settle down again & were very reliable. Of course, at ENDEX & all the vehicles returned to Barracks & parked up. They sat again for months before being driven very far. And the next excercise, yep, they were breaking down again!.....:cry:

Chris, I have visted a few R.A.F base Armourers shops & concur with your statements. To my mind, R.A.F Armourers have a bit more responsibility. YOU guys issue & Recieve any smallarms from your Armouries which are combined with your workshop. In the Army, WE, as Armourers Only are responsible for inspections, repairs, modifications & Examination of Ordanance when required. All Rifile Companies at Infantry Barracks, have thier own respective Armouries. As your system is similar to our, for repairs which are beyond Local repair. IE: needing special equipment not held at first line (Unit) level. We have Unit (X) Field (Y) & Base (Z) levels of repairs. Also at unit level, The senior Armourer (usually a SNCO) can write off certain equipments as B.E.R (Beyond Economical Repair) These include just a FEW as: Bayonets, Watches, Compasses, & Binoculars (When broken in two from an Airborne Parachute decent for example) The British Armed Forces have had legendary reliability from thier Smallarms & Ordanance over the last Two world wars & postwar. This has been down to a good system of periodic inspection & repairs. I would also state, that the L85A1 was a problimatical Weapon when introduced as an exception. The 'Difficulties' have APPARANTLY been ironed out & it is now a reasonably relaible weapon system. The argumants are MANY with for's & againsts for this calibre smallarm & it's design. But I wil NOT go into a Scientific depth explaination from an Armourers perspective here!

Interesting 432 Variant, with JUST an exhaust pipe outside the hull! Is this a RE-Engined MK 2 variant? Or, is it being run just without a silencer. they are quite noisey up close with a silencer anyway! Can anyone shed any light on this vehicle at all? :nut:

There SHOULD be a metal LOOP bracket on either side the the ends oon either side of the fighting compartment for the bar to drop into. (Bolted on) I had these in one of the ferrets I acquired. But i sold them along with the cover when I fitted a Turret to one to revert it back to a 2/3 which it SHOULD have been. Sorry robin, as they are gone, i cannot provide a photo showing them.

Can you tell me where you got this 'information' from Please? Or is this a purely personal opinion of your own? I was a Service Armourer (Army) for over 19 years, & I can assure you. ANY, smallarm in Army Service is never, 'Poorly Maintained'. this is effected by the fact that there is an established system in place for maintainance procedures. Every three months & sometimes six months in some units. Evry single weapon is inspected & repaired as nessacary by Unit Armourers. there is also a yearly PRE examination. This prevents weapons from falling into 'disrepair' & keeps all equipments battleworthy. The Arms storeman (Sometimes erroneously called 'The Armourer'. he is NOT! He is a Storeman) also has a book/leger. That any weapons taken out on excercises or for whatever reason. IF they have a defect or do not function correctly. that he writes down the weapon type, serial number & the defect reported by the user. This is then taken to the Armourers shop on generally a weekly bassis. & the Armourer will then inspect & repair/ correct the defect as nessacary. With 9mm Pistols, your remarks to the user droping the hammer down & NOT lowering the hammer under control. Are correct in as much as, the firing pin retaining plate at the rear of the slide. DOES begin to crack through at a line of it's weakest point. Where it is drilled through to allow the head of the firing pin to protrude. This IS what happens when constant 'Hammering' of this little plate from the hammer occurs. The pistol WILL still fire correctly, but it is indeed a DEFECT & they are replaced by Armourers when cracked. it is not my intention to go through a full R.E.ME Inpection procedure from E.M.E.R.s here. I have written down the above to Correct an INACCURATE statement as to the working condition & Inspection practices used in Service to prevent the 'Chinese wisper' effect of an INCORRECT statement of 'POORLY MAINTAINED'....:goodidea:

It is the correct profile & astheticly correct model. But these are Ex Belgien Army/police variants. A REAL L9 would have a N.A.T.O Stock number & 'Pistol, Automatic, 9mm L9A1' nomencleture on the left side of the slide.

The Pensalvania National Guard made a Spirited Attempt at a Road Block....................:shocked:

The Airborne Jeep Trainer was not a complete sucess..............

Cannons have a 'Ball' at the rear. This area is known as the cascabel, & terminates in a ball. is it POSSIBLE with the reference to 'Brass Monkeys' (Correctly BRONZE in a Cannon) that it perhaps this 'end trim' item that is refered to? I suspect that the true meaning of refering to Primates Reproductive 'Equipment' is the original phrase. But that is only MY opinion. :nut:

I notice the word 'Fair' used at the end of this article. A LOT if Firearms legislation is FAR from that!......:-\

Excellent improvement with the super detailing! I remember the real thing back in the sixties as a kid when we lived in Bharain. Hangers full of them & Saracens & Ferrets, Wonderfull! I think the lines of the Saladin are one of the nicest Wheeled AFV designs ever put on the drawing board. I have a pipe dream of building a Radio Controlled version in as large a scale as can be managed. The biggest problem ther is going to be finding Tyres in the correct profile! Without tyres, it's a non starter!

Well done Mate! Pricless! Wish i could find a new VW Polo!.......:nut: To get me out of trouble from my Accident, discribed in a previous post on this thread. I contacted a 'Person' I know at out local TA unit. I enquired if I could borrow some chain from one of thier Recovery wreckers. They kindly obliged & I drove round the rear of one of the main Wksp hangers. There is an Anchor plate concreted into the tarmac there. Wrapped chain around lower radius arm & shackeled the chain the Anchor point. Revved the engine & drove backwards 'Rapidly'! BANG! & 'Imediate Halt'....Bit of a drastic bodge, But HEY! It pulled the arm & wheel Back away from contacting the inner wheel arch & ALMOST back to it's original position. Uncouple & a quick inspection underneath. The Radius arm is now only SLIGHTLY bent! Buckled wheel changed & she drives with only a SLIGHT pull to the left. As obviously the tracking is now out of alignment. MY plan is, when the weather improves a bit, jack her up & remove radius arm. Beat flat, as paralell as I can get it with a 'Suitable Hammer'. & refit & get the tracking redone. SHOULD get me through in my opinion. (In theory, but we all know what theory & reality can be like!) The car is too old to put too much money into. Next year I am going to put my Ferret up for sale & buy a 'New' Car! Mike.