posted on Jun, 27 2010 @ 09:22 AM
Originally posted by maintainright
a gun being too accurate?
never heard that as a complaint before
It can be a factor in a support weapon. These need to be able to cover a certain amount of ground with fire to keep the enemys heads down. The L86A1
(LSW) on the other hand fired nice tight groups. You had to make distinct body adjustments to cover any amount of ground with fire. Fine if you're
going for precision target engagement, but not so good if you want to produce a beaten zone on a pair of fire trenches while your mates assault.
It's a weird concept for most shooters to grasp as precision is usually the name of the game in target shooting, but there you go.
As an asisde, from someone who carried one for 6 years, I think that the L86 susffered from two main problems.
First it was built on the Enfield weapon system (same as the SA80), and as such was very unreliable. This has been addressed by H&K, and the A2
version is extremely reliable.
Second it was mis-rolled. It was (and still is) a crap choice for a support weapon, and replaced what is arguably the most iconic fire support
platform available - The L7 GPMG, or FN MAG. The LSW can serve in the role of a 'poor mans' sharpshooter, and is capable of extremely precise fire
at 600m+. Indeed it was SOP for some time to issue it to the No. 2 in a sniper pair for night time engagements out to 400m. However with the
introduction of the L129A1 in the sharpshooter role, the L110 (Minimi Para) for short range fire support and the re-introduction of the GPMG in the
medium-long range role, the LSW is being left in armouries more and more. Some battalions haven't dusted them off in years.
[edit on 27-6-2010 by PaddyInf]