Our L2A1

[Pedro_The_Swift]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8cm_SmNE08

[W&KO]

Didn’t come across many of these while I had to fix the damn things. Never sore on in the field.

[Tins]

Didn’t come across many of these while I had to fix the damn things. Never sore on in the field.

I was shown one at Kapooka in 72. Never fired one. Dunno if it's true, but I was told that with a little mod to the sear you could get the L1A1 SLR to act as an AR, only not for long as the barrel would overheat.

[W&KO]

I was shown one at Kapooka in 72. Never fired one. Dunno if it's true, but I was told that with a little mod to the sear you could get the L1A1 SLR to act as an AR, only not for long as the barrel would overheat.

There were a couple of ways.......to make em auto. Done wrong and it empty’s the whole mag after the trigger is pulled once.

Frey had a different advert catch safety catch readily available, this was the easiest way to make them auto.

Never worried anybody firing at a higher rate......wasn’t as if they were paying for barrels.

[Tins]

There were a couple of ways.......to make em auto. Done wrong and it empty’s the whole mag after the trigger is pulled once.

Frey had a different advert catch safety catch readily available, this was the easiest way to make them auto.

Never worried anybody firing at a higher rate......wasn’t as if they were paying for barrels.

Thanks. Ny SLR had the auto setting position etched into the body, but of course the selector wouldn't go there.

[W&KO]

Thanks. Ny SLR had the auto setting position etched into the body, but of course the selector wouldn't go there.

Buggered if I can remember,

I was happy when they switched to the F88

[Tombie]

Buggered if I can remember,

I was happy when they switched to the F88

And the F90 looks the goods [emoji16]

[101RRS]

They were pretty good when used on patrol vessels to provide covering fire if needed during boarding operations. There was a special mount either side of the bridge so they just sat in - saved the need to break out heavier weapons - I seem to remember the bigger magazine being used but it was a long time ago so may be wrong. As highlighted in the vid, not the most reliable weapon. The L1A1 could be changed to full automatic with a matchstick inserted in a particular position but again was a long time ago and I cannot remember the specifics.

In boarding operations the L1A1 with its long barrel was too cumbersome and too slow to swing around in tight situations so the F1 Sub machine gun was used with its short barrel but had a propensity to go off so we had a tendency to just use 9mm pistols, night sticks and Bob10's 12" long torch was a major deterrent, as was his Stoker mates inviting detainees down into the fishing boat engine room to look for the Golden Rivett was a deterrent to bad behaviour [bighmmm].

[W&KO]

And the F90 looks the goods [emoji16]

I assume the F90 is the next generation......I’m trying to dump all my knowledge military therefore not up with the latest.

[ramblingboy42]

I was a small arms coach and range safety officer and infantry section commander.

the L2A1 wasn't a very good weapon , mostly because of it's impracticalities. It could not be used for anything above short bursts of fire as the barrel would very quickly overheat. The folding bipod legs would unfold when you didn't want them too. The L1A1 did everything the L2A1 could except fire bursts.
In the infantry battallions the L2A1 was left in the armscote and the Bren was drawn instead.....one of the best fighting weapons ever made. Its only bug bear....the magazines....which you could share with others in the section.

As for the F1 it was prone to loading one up the spout if you bumped the stock firmly enough. The SAS wouldn't use them. Helicopters hated them.

I would say the king of firepower was the GPMG-M60, sustained rate of fire , interchangeable barrels , massive cone of fire , ability to fire in fixed lines on compass and elevation bearings over more than 2 km.

[cripesamighty]

I was just recently watching an older gun jesus video (see below) where he was talking about the Vickers gun. They too used to be fired on fixed bearings and elevation at great distance as an area denial weapon before light weight mortars replaced them. When taken out of British service in the late 1960's they still had 5 million rounds left for the guns, so what to do? Easy, set up one gun at the firing range, run it 24/7 with crews that switched every 30 minutes, and blow through all 5 million rounds! It took around 9 days and when stripped down at the end, it was still within manufacturers tolerances. I suppose that's the difference between a heavy MG and GPMG.

As for the L1A1, I was reading a book about the Australian SAS in Vietnam where a few enterprising souls cut off their SLR's flash hider and used a 30 round magazine first up, and afterwards switching back to 20 round mags. Their view was that the sheer noise, flame and volume of fire when first in contact with a larger force would confuse the hell out of the enemy and gave them a chance to scoot outa there. One wag mentioned the large flame out the front was enough to inflict the wound, and then cauterise it too...

Vickers Heavy Machine Gun - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSG2Flnc1Rs)