Parts Differences and Evolution

Parts of the SA80 were being improved long before the A2. A great one was the snow buildup behind the trigger with it having a flat profile at the back of the trigger itself, soon became inoperable ! A "snowcutter" trigger was soon produced which had an edge at the back so when the trigger was squeezed it would part the snow and push it to one side.

A2 gas parts at top marked HK A2.

A2 gas rod and spring at top. There does not seem to be a difference in the rod but the spring is stronger and is recognised by the red spray paint.

A2 return spring set at top. Again, there is no noticable difference with the spring guide but the spring is longer and therefore stronger and is recognised by the white spray paint.

Trigger cages showing the different anvils on the A1 groups and the A2 in the foreground with different hammer and stronger spring painted red.

2 trigger guards with HK on the right one.

The original mag catch.

Reprofiled catch to avoid releasing the mag when knocked.

An obviously expensive early attempt at a mag catch guard.

The final solution on current models.

A series of modified cocking levers with the adopted A1 version on the right.

The final A2 cocking lever in current use.

An early white plastic dust cover in closed position.

Dust flap open showing expensive looking catch system. This flap has to have a modified top receiver to work. Note the metal block for the catch to snap on to.

The next attempt at saving money.

The current L+M dust cover. As far as I know there has been no problems with dust covers as the sand gets in everywhere else.

A super rare black dust cover shown against the two others.

An original tin plate trigger.

The non-snow cutting trigger. The back of the trigger is flat and acts against the flat part of the pistol grip so if you get anything behind it will not pull.

The final solution and the one in use today.

A rare black trigger. We do not know much about this. It may have a non-stick coating.

Some safety catch variations.

Rear sling loop variants.

Some takedown pin variants. The ones in the foreground have all modifications. A groove in the head to allow fingernails to be used ! And a hole in the bottom to allow a live bullet to be used to push the pin out !

A black rubber cheekpiece as fitted on some of the earliest models.

Three different cheek pads. Note the extra bit on the top one.

The catch at the top was fitted to all SA80s and LSWs on site. A crew took some SA80 lowers already fitted with catch guards as templates and all work was done at the armoury of each Regiment etc. These lowers had the front end cut off so as they couldn't be made into a live gun. The lower catch guard in the picture is an original attempt and was designed to be glued on !

Two versions of the new SA80 flash hider. One is slightly shorter than the other and is marked S.E.I. on the spanner flat which stands for Smiths Enterprize Inc. and is the Vortex flash eliminator. With its angled slots it is said to completely eliminate muzzle flash and therefore save lives by not giving away the location of a soldier.

LSW

A very early LSW rear grip.

4 different LSW rear grips. Some are thicker and of varying colours.

A "Value Engineered" version of the bipod lock. The LSW bipod used to become unlocked and flop down at every available opportunity.

The most common catch.