Assorted thoughts:
-I’m surprised that the Brits didn’t have a supply of 7.62 rifles of their own already. They already use the round for their L96 sniper rifle, and their light machine guns, so why not keep a few hundred “battle rifles” around?
-I would imagine U.S. troops have had similar complaints about the M4/M16 in Afghanistan. Wide open spaces and long lines of sight, and all that. I’ve heard a number of M14’s have been issued to deal with that problem.
-I’m not sure I completely buy this part of the story:
“It means that insurgents - who use 7.62mm ammunition for their AK47 rifles - back off and shoot at British troops from longer distances.” Half the battles in Helmand province, where British troops.”
The author seems to be suggesting that 7.62x39 outranges 5.56 and is comparable to 7.62x51. I’m not an expert, but I find that questionable. Or is it more about the SA-80 than the 5.56 round?
Maybe the reporter was thinking of the RPK - looks like an AK (sorta) and fires the 7.62 x 54R - certainly more powerful than the 5.56
Marine friends informed me that it’s not the size of the round, it’s the guy pulling the trigger. For close-in urban work, they prefer the M4 to long guns but the old M14 and the bolt-action M40, both in 7.62x51 NATO, are great to reach out and touch someone.
I think you’re on to something in your last sentence. The SA80 has been re-worked by H&K but MARSOC Marines I know say it’s still not a very robust design.
There seems to be considerable confusion regarding the 5.56mm (M-16. SA-80, the 7.62x39 (Ak, SKS) and the 7.62x51 (M-14, M-60 LMG). The 5.56 cartridge is the military version of the .223 Remington, a round considered adequate for groundhogs among hunters in the US. The 7.62x39 is considered to be a round of “intermediate” power, its ballistics being about 10% hotter than the venerabl.30-30 Winchester. The 7.62x51 equates to the .308 Winchester and is basically the .30-06 Springfield with a shorter case due to improved powders.
During the fighting in Fallujah, the 5.56’s shortcomings became very evident when used against adversaries who were doped up on a mixture of cocaine and adrenaline. One insurent was hit 17 times and when the Marines went to make sure he was really dead, the bad guy was still trying to set off his bomb belt.
You NEED a “real rifle.”