The UK’s path to develop the SA80 is littered with fascinating kitbashed mock-ups and (some might say) abominations. These sort of mock-ups and prototypes are common within firearms development and the UK’s Royal Armouries is custodian of quite a few of them, including a series made during the design of the SA80 bullpup family of weapons. A couple of weeks ago we shared a video published by Murdoch & Co., a US-based company, who have just launched a line of American-made SA80 clones, which looked at a bullpup Stoner 63 assembled by UK’s Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield.
In their latest video from the Royal Armouries, Murdoch & Co., spotlight a pair of bullpup mock-ups based on Armalite AR-18s. One, like the Stoner 63 bullpup, was assembled at the UK’s state-owned small arms factory at Enfield, the other was assembled by the Sterling Armament Company, who held the manufacturing license for the AR-18/AR-180 at the time.
Jonathan Ferguson, Keeper of Firearms and Artillery at the Royal Armouries Museum, explains the full story of the prototypes to Evan Murdoch. Check out the video below:
Sterling, best known for their submachine guns, obtained a manufacturing license in 1979 and upon hearing that RSAF Enfield was experimenting with basing a new rifle on the AR-18 built their own mock-up. The Sterling bullpup is not functional but does demonstrate the potential layout of the rifle. It uses an original buttstock chopped to fit on the receiver but there is no effort to link the trigger to the action.
It’s fascinating to see the two mock-ups side by side, with the similarities and differences becoming obvious. The Enfield AR-18 bullpup has bespoke wooden furniture and a new buttplate added, and is more functional – though not firing. It also has a sight base for mounting a SUIT optic. Conversely the Sterling simply moves the AR-18’s rear sight forward and stacks a second front sight post on the original.
According to Jonathan Ferguson, the Sterling mock-up was displayed at trade shows and wasn’t, as the story goes, a joke (at least not entirely). It’s clear to see the early origins of the SA80’s design language and layout in the early Enfield mock-up, even at this early stage of the program is a big step on from the Stoner 63 mock-up.
It looks like we’ll be treated to a few more videos from Murdoch & Co.’s series highlighting some of the SA80 program’s developmental steps. Check out their channel for more.
