Next project - DMR or Sniper??

[mightyjebus]

Like Esoteric said: The L86 ('long barrel L85') was designed as an LSW (light support weapon), but was superseded by the M249/L110/Minimi and the 5.56 it fires couldn't pack enough of a punch or go far enough (even with such a long barrel) for it to be truly utilised in Afghanistan as a designated marksman rifle so the L129 was brought in to replace it in that role too. That handle on the back was intended to be used from a prone position.

 

Basically it's all but obsolete these days.

The LSW uses the same calibre as the Minimi and could shoot accurately out to 600 meters due to the longer barrel. It's biggest failing, as found in Afghan and Iraq, was the magazine only held 30 rounds. For a support weapon this was found to be useless. The original idea was to stop the infantryman fielding a LSW from using too much ammunition. Turns out, funnily enough, that when you need to use a support weapon you need lots of ammunition.

The LSW could fire very accurate small bursts, just like its predecessor the LMG [bren], but both suffered from small magazines. Both were never meant to be used as a full time support weapon and would be supported by the GPMY but it was realised in the Falklands then Iraq and Afghanistan that something with a bigger ammunition capacity and lighter that the GPMY was needed. It took nearly 40 years for the military to buy, off the shelf, the minimi.

 

I wouldn't be surprised to see the minimi replaced eventually with the 7.62 version if NATO decides to stick with the 5.56 calibre (there's a possibility that a new 6 or 6.8mm round could be used in the future).

 

It was used as an stop gap DMR but the 5.56 calibre isn't a very good round for DMR use plus the Susat is bollocks for that type of work. Like the Sig226 the L129 was bought as an urgent operationally requirement and I think it will probably be replaced at some point in the future to something British made (god help us).

 

As for the original OP then consider a Gates WarFET if you decide to build a DMR. It's a programmable MOSFET that has the pre-cocking feature. I have one here and it's very good. The pre-cocking isn't that good on full auto but since you want a DMR then fitting one of these would be a good idea. If you are unsure of pre-cocking then I'll explain.

 

When you use pre-cocking the mosfet primes the cylinder ready to fire. it pulls the piston back and as soon as you touch the trigger it fires and resets the piston in the back position ready to fire again. The benefit of this is instant shots, like a bolt action sniper rifle.