The SA80 is famed for its disastrous introduction into British Army service, even inspiring unofficial t-shirts to be worn by soldiers stating it was, "Designed by the Incompetent; Issued by the Uncaring; Carried by the Unfortunate."

During development, the British Army gave serious consideration to manufacturing a left-handed version for up to 10% of the total weapons produced. Jonathan explains what happened to these plans and this early version of the rifle.

Subscribe to our channel for more videos about arms and armour

Help us bring history to life by supporting us here: https://royalarmouries.org/support-us...

Sign up to our museum membership scheme here: https://royalarmouries.org/support-us...

⚔Website: https://royalarmouries.org/home
⚔Blog: https://royalarmouries.org/stories/
⚔Facebook:   / royalarmouriesmuseum  
⚔Twitter:   / royal_armouries  
⚔ Instagram:   / royalarmouriesmuseum  

We are the Royal Armouries, the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Discover what goes on behind the scenes and watch our collection come to life. See combat demonstrations, experience jousting and meet our experts.

Have a question about arms and armour? Feel free to leave us a comment and we'll do our best to answer it.