So what the hell are left-handed squaddies supposed to do?
Design fail.
( Airman Gabber Living life like a 70's BBC presenter, Mon 19 Mar 2012, 11:50, 2 replies)

you're pulling a trigger, not writing prose.
if you're so lacking in hand co-ordination that you can't pull one finger towards you on your wrong hand, I'm not sure you should be provided with ballistic weaponry at all.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 19 Mar 2012, 11:56, closed)

On the plus side
The magazine release catch, which is on the left-hand side of the rifle, is often held against the body by right-handed soldiers, meaning that left-handed soldiers would be far less likely to lose all their bullets on the way somewhere.

When it comes to the SA80, design fail doesn't begin to cover it.
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Mon 19 Mar 2012, 12:04, closed)

been there, done that, had the shit kicked out of me.
Also, we could address it being totally un-dust and sand-proof, because there was no way we'd ever be involved in a desert-based conflict again, was there?
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Mon 19 Mar 2012, 12:13, closed)

I think my personal favourite has to be the little storage area above the barrel for the cleaning kit
because storing pieces of dry cloth and oil in a plastic bottle above a metal tube that gets very, very hot when in use tends to mean that the muzzle of your rifle bursts into flames when you try to shoot things
( emvee cruor deo cruoris, Mon 19 Mar 2012, 12:18, closed)

Design fail indeed
we all had our mags gaffa taped to wire tied round the trigger guard, so every time the fecking things fell off they didn't make a racket and spill rounds across the tarmac. Horrible Fisher-Price piece of shit rifle. I trained on a Sterling SMG- another piece of cheap shit, but slightly less prone to self-destruct.
( uncle bastard is twanging a dan moi, Wed 21 Mar 2012, 8:37, closed)