Enfield EM-2 / Rifle, Automatic, caliber .280, Number 9 Mark 1 (Great Britain)

EM-2 assault rifle, officially adopted in Britain as Rifle, Automatic, No.9 Mk.1 but never put into service. Note that the backup sights are in raised position.

EM-1 prototype assault rifle.

EM-2 disassembled into major components.

From let to right: British experimental .280 (7x43mm) cartridge for EM-2; Soviet 7.62x39mm M43; US/NATO 5.56x45mm (.223 Rem); US/NATO 7.62x51mm (.308 Win).

Caliber: 7x43 mm (.280 British)

Action: Gas operated

Overall length: 889 mm

Barrel length: 623 mm

Weight: 3.41 kg with empty magazine

Rate of fire: 450 - 600 rounds per minute (depends on source)

Magazine capacity: 20 rounds

The history of the British EM-2 (Experimental Model-2) assault rifle is interesting and somewhat pitiful story. The EM-2 was born as a result of the experience with small arms, gained during the Second World War. It was obvious that the modern warfare will require the infantry to be armed with light, selective fire weapon with effective range of fire much longer than of submachine gun, but shorter than of conventional semi-automatic or bolt action rifles. This requirement effectively led to the development of the various "intermediate" cartridges. The first power to adopt this concept was the Germany, which issued in limited numbers the selective-fire weapons with intermediate cartridge (7.92x33mm Kurz) since 1942. The Soviet Union was the second to this case, developing its own intermediate cartridge in 1943 and began issuing weapons for it on limited basis since 1944 and on large scale since 1949. The Great Britain also felt the need to replace both Stensubmachine guns and SMLE No.4 bolt-action rifles with more modern equipment. The research and experience clearly showed that it is entirely possible to replace both of these weapons with single new weapon, with effective range of fire of no more than 1000 yards and with selective-fire capability. This weapon, of cause, required a new cartridge, which was developed after extensive research and development. This cartridge, an "ideal" from British point of view, was of .280 caliber (7mm) and had a bottlenecked case 43 mm long. The pointed bullet weighted 9.08 g (140 grains) and had muzzle velocity of about 745 m/s (2445 fps). The rough comparison of this round against other most common modern cartridges can be found in the table below. Basically, this cartridge offered significant advantage in effective range and penetration against not only 9x19mm Luger pistol cartridge, but also against 7.92x33mm Kurz German and 7.62x39mm Soviet intermediate cartridges, producing slightly more recoil, which was still significantly less than of .303 British rifle cartridge or latter 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge. This cartridge immediately attracted the attention of the Belgian company Fabrique Nationale, which at the same time worked on the advanced version of their SAFN-49 rifle. Canada also showed significant interest in this cartridge.

Having the "ideal" cartridge on hands, both Britain and Belgium began to develop its own assault rifles. The Belgian part of the story will be covered in the FN FAL article elsewhere on this site, and the British part goes right here. The Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) at Enfield Lock began to develop its new assault rifle in the late 1940s. The design team was led by the LTC Edward Kent-Lemon and Stefan Janson. New prototype rifles were called the EM-1 and EM-2 (Experimental Model 1 and 2) and were of similar layout and dimensions, being different mostly in shape details and controls. Both rifles were of bullpup layout, that means that the magazine and the barrel chamber are located behind the triggerguard and pistol handle. It must be noted that these rifles were not the first ever built in the bullpup layout - I know about al least one bolt action bullpup rifle dated back to post-WW1 period. The EM-2 attracted more attention, being slightly less futuristic in appearance. It was a very well balanced and laid out rifle, with comfortable controls, accurate and reliable. In 1951 the EM-2 rifle was nominally adopted for British service as "Rifle, Automatic, caliber .280, Number 9 Mark 1". Had it been put into service, the British troops could have a first class assault rifle prior to 1960, but due to the NATO standardization issues Britain followed the USA and adopted the overpowered American 7.62x51mm cartridge instead of more promising .280, and EM-2 simply could not be easily rebuilt for this round. So, Brits had to adopt another design, but this is also another story. There's also some rumors that infamous British SA80 / L85 assault rifle, introduced in 1980s, was based on the EM-2 design. It is not true, since the crappy L85 has nothing in common with EM-2 except for general external "bullpup" layout.

The EM-2 rifle is a gas operated, magazine fed, selective fire rifle. It uses gas system with long piston stroke, located above the barrel. The locking system is generally similar to one found in the WW2-period German Gew.43 or in the Soviet Degtyarov DP-27 machine gun (but turned back to front). Bolt locks into the receiver by two flaps, that are pivoted at their rear to extend out of the bolt and into the locking recesses in the receiver walls. Flaps are controlled by the firing pin sleeve, coaxially located inside the hollow bolt, and the sleeve is in turn connected to the gas piston rod by the projection on the rod. The recoil spring is located at the rear part of the gas piston, above the bolt. When gun is fired, the hot power gases cause the gas piston to go to the rear. This movement first causes the firing pin sleeve to retract within the still stationary bolt, causing the locking flaps to be withdrawn from locking recesses and into the bolt. As soon as the bolt is unlocked, it begin to move back against the pressure of the return spring, ejecting the spent case and feeding the fresh round into the chamber on its return into the battery. EM-2 fires from closed bolt all the time. The firing mechanism is striker-fired, with the main spring and the sear located in the bolt. The sear is located at the bottom of the bolt and is operated by the long trigger lever, connected to the trigger. In general, this was somewhat complicated but very dust-proof, reliable and neat design.

The cocking handle is located at the right side of the weapon, on the front part of the gas piston rod, and can be removed when gun is disassembled. The safety switch is located at the front of the triggerguard and is similar in operation to one found in M1 Garand or M14 rifles, and the fire selector is of cross-bolt push-button type, and located above the pistol handle. All controls are easily reachable with firing hand. The furniture (pistol handle and forend) is made from wood, the buttplate is attached to the receiver directly and can be easily removed for field-stripping. EM-2 was fitted with optical sights, mounted on the integral carrying handle as standard. Optical sights were non-adjustable, and range adjustment capability was built into the aiming reticle picture. The emergency (backup) iron sights were also fitted - rear folding peep-hole (diopter) sight was attached to the left side of the carrying handle, and the folding front post sight was mounted on the left side of the gas block.

comparison table: British .280 caliber intermediate cartridge vs. most common modern military cartridges

ballistic data is estimated using Norma ballistic calculator and Sierra Bullets data on ballistic coefficients.

Enfield SA-80: L85A1 and L85A2 assault rifle, L22 carbine (Great Britain)

Enfield SA80-IW (Individual Weapon), chambered for experimental 4,85x49 ammunition

image courtesy of LEI Ltd (UK)

L85A1 rifle, with carrying handle and front sight installed instead of more common SUSAT telescope sight

Upgraded L85A2 with SUSAT sight

British soldier sights the L85A2 rifle fitted with German-made 40mm grenade launcher

L22A1 carbine

image courtesy of LEI Ltd (UK)

L22A2 carbine, as issued to Royal Armoured Corps tank crews in Iraq; note thatit has a Picatinny rail above the front grip

image courtesy of Tony Williams (UK)

Caliber: 5.56x45 NATO

Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt

Overall length: 780 mm (709 mm in Carbine variant)

Barrel length: 518 mm (442 mm in Carbine variant)

Weight: 4.13 kg (with SUSAT optical sight and no magazine); 5 kg withSUSAT and loaded with magazine with 30 rounds of ammunition

Magazine capacity: 30 rounds

Rate of fire: 650 rounds per minute

Effective range: about 500 meters (with SUSAT sights)

The development of the SA80 (Small Arms for 1980s) system, which included two weapons -SA80 IW (Infantry Weapon) assault rifle and SA80 LSW (Light Support Weapon) light machine gun, began in the late 1960s when Britisharmy decided to develop a new rifle, which will eventually replace the venerable 7.62mm L1 SLR (British-made FNFAL rifle) in the 1980s.

When NATO trials were announced in 1977 to select a new cartridge, British state-owned Enfield Small Arms Factory developed its own small-caliber, high velocity round, which was more or less representing the US .223/5.56mm case necked down to accept 4.85mm (0.19 inch) bullet. When cartridgecame out, Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield developed a new weapon around it, initially designated as SA80-IW or XL65. This weapon, being somewhat similar in outline to the much earlier British Enfield EM-2 assault rifle, was internally quite different, and, basically, was more or less the US-made Armalite AR-18 rifle, put into bullpup stock and rechambered for 4.85mm cartridge. After NATO trials, which resulted in adoption of the Belgian SS-109 version of the 5.56mm cartridge, Enfield engineers rechambered XL65 for this cartridge and continued its development under the designation of XL70. Due to Falkland war new system was actually adopted only in 1984. Original SA80 weapons (both L85 and L86) were plagued with many problems, some being very serious. In general, L85 was quite unreliable and troublesome to handle and maintain, so, finally, in the year 1997, after years of constant complaints from the troops, it had been decided to upgrade most L85 rifles then in service.

The upgrade program, committed in years 2000 - 2002, was completed by the famous Heckler&Koch, whichwas then owned by British Royal Ordnance company (German investors bought the HK back in the2002). About 200 000 rifles were upgraded into the L85A2 configuration, out of total 320 000or so original L85A1 rifles produced. While official reports about the upgradedweapons were glowing, the initial field reports from the British troops, engagedin the Afghanistan campaign of 2002, were unsatisfactory. Most problems,however, were traced to improper care and maintenance of weapons, and for now the L82A2 performs fairy well both in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Other than the basic L85A1 variant, the SA80 IW also appeared in the shortenedCarbine version, and inthe manually operated L98A1 rifle, which got its gas system removed and a larger cocking handle attached. The L98A1 is used to train the army cadets for basicrifle handling and shooting skills, and the rifle is fired as a manually operated, straight pull magazine repeater rifle. The latest weapon in the SA80family is the recently adopted L22 carbine, which is issued to tank crews of Royal Armoured Corps. This weapon is available in two versions, L82A1 and L82A2,the latter being fitted with additional Picatinny rail on the right side of front grip base.

The current L85A2 rifles are recognized as reliable and very accurate,especially when using standard issue SUSAT telescope sights. The drawbacks ofthe L85A2 are somewhat poor balance (which can be improved with installation of HK-made 40mm underbarrel grenade launcher), right-side only extraction and rearward placement of the fire mode selector.

Technical description.

The L85 is a gas operated, magazine fed, selective fire rifle of bullpup layout.

The receiver of the L85 is made from stamped sheet steel, reinforced with welded and riveted machined steel inserts. The gas operated action has a short stroke gas piston, located above the barrel. The gas piston has its own return spring. Gas system has a three-positions gas regulator, one position for a normal firing, second for a firing in adverse conditions and the third for launching the rifle grenades (gas port is shut off). The machined bolt carrier rides inside the receiver on the two parallel steel guide rods, with the single return spring placed above and between the guide rods. The typical rotating bolt has 7 lugs that locks into the steel insert in the receiver, just behind the barrel breech. The charging handle is attached to the right side of the bolt carrier, and prior to A2 upgradecaused some problems by reflecting the ejected cases back into the action, thus causing stoppages. In the L85A2 configuration the charging handle was redesignedto avoid such problems. The charging handle slot is covered by the spring-loaded dust cover. The bolt and its extractor claw also were upgraded in the L85A2, toachieve more reliable extraction of the spent cases.

The trigger / hammer assembly of the L85A1 is also typical for a modern bullpup rifle, with the longlink from the trigger to the hammer unit, located in the buttstock. The hammer assembly of the L85A2 was redesigned to introduce a slight delay before thehammer release when the gun is fired in the full auto. This did not affected the cyclic rate of fire but improved the reliability and stability of the weaponduring the automatic fire. The fire mode selector is located at the left side of the receiver, well behind the magazine housing, and allows for single shots of fullautomatic modes of fire. The cross-bolt safety button is located above the trigger.

The barrel is rifled for a NATO-standard 5.56mm ammunition, with 1:7 twist, and is fitted with a NATO-standard flash hider, which allows to launch therifle grenades from the barrel.

The L85 is fed using NATO-standard (STANAG)magazines, similar to M16 type magazines, with the standard capacity of 30rounds. Early L85A1 steel magazines caused a lot of troubles, as well as amagazine housing itself, which had a thin walls that could be easily dented,thus blocking the magazine way. Both magazines and its housings were upgraded inthe L85A2 configuration.

The standard sighting equipment is the 4X SUSAT(Sight Unit, Small Arms, Trilux) telescope, with illuminated reticle. The SUSAT is mounted on a quick-detachable mount at the top of the receiver, and features an emergency backup open sights at tits top. The SUSAT allows for an accurate fire (mostly in single shots) out to 400-500 meters. For a second-line troops an alternative sighting system is available, that consists of the removable front post sight with high base and post protection "ears", and a detachable carrying handle with built-in diopter rear sight.

The L85 can befitted with the proprietary knife-type multipurpose bayonet. L85A2 rifles also can be fitted with 40mm under-barrel grenade launcher, using special handguard.Launcher is made in Germany by Heckler-Koch.