Silenthunter:
They at first were thinking of making parts interchangible for
left-handed shooters if I remember correctly but apparently, they
did some research and found out the learning curve for shooting in
the other hand wasn't too steep so they did away with it. I have to
agree with it to a certain extent cos it isn't that hard for me to
fire from my left hand (I'm right handed).
I agree to the charging hander looks and feels rather flimsy. I
think it would have been better if they had simply made it like the
FA-MAS kind of charging handle. The FA-MAS one certainly looks much
more sturdy.
I don't think it has a bolt hold open device though.....which means
that the bolt will have to be cycled manually each time the
magazine is emptied, much like an AK47/AKM.
About the optical sight, I think they intentionally put it rather
far into the carrying handle so it would be quite hard to damage it
physically. As for the fogging, I think most new optical scopes
have some gas inside which prevents it or something. I'm not sure
though, so correct me if I'm wrong.
Viper52:
Regarding the magazines, how exactly does the magazine catch on the
SAR-21 hold onto the M16 magazines? If I recall correctly, the
magazine release for the SAR-21 is at the back of the magazine
well, so I would assume that it would catch onto something on the
back of the magazine, whereas the M16 magazine catch holds onto the
groove on the side of the M16 magazines.
About the SAR80, I've been trying find out stuff about it over the
internet but info about it as hard to come by and is usually very
sketchy. All I know about the two locally produced rifles, the SR88
and SAR80, is that they are derived from the AR18/AR180 design and
they were meant as a replacement for the M16, due to licensing
issues from Colt. Since they already had a working design (two in
fact), why didn't they totally replace the M16s with them and
instead only did a half-job? Was it the cost, or flaws in the
design, etc? And will the introduction of the SAR21 result in just
another rifle that is issued only to some units, which would
probably create a logistics problem? And yes, I'm wondering why you
didn't take up the offer to test fire the SAR-21 
Apparently, almost everyone who has reviewed the SAR-21 thinks
rather highly of it and to be honest, its quite a well thought out
design. (AK style gas system, bullpup layout, etc) I still think
they should have designed a select-fire lever that was as easy to
operate as the M16's one though...in a combat situation being able
to switch from semi-auto to full-auto should be something that is
done in the blink of an eye and normally not require removing
either the firing or supporting hand from the gun. (the H&K
style fire-select lever comes to mind...its better than the M16 one
IMO)
Laksa:
I agree with you....I think would rather be issued an M16 over the
SAR80 anytime, since the M16 has been proven to be rather reliable.
The SAR80, Ultimax100, SR88, and all other Singapore-designed
weapons are supposed to be on the whole, well-designed and reliable
though. If I recall correctly, the SAR80 has been adopted by at
least one country (either European or Middle Eastern) as its
standard issue rifle. I can't remember the exact country and can't
find the website I got this info from though...sorry about
it.
hunter:
Why was the SAR80 only issued to logistics unit? Why not the basic
M16? Just curious...
Joe Black:
I don't think I've actually seen the SR88 anywhere else other than
in one of the exhibits in the Singapore Discovery Centre.
About the American company trying to sell the SAR-21, I would be
too surprised. One fact that few people seem to know is that
Singapore is one of the largest exporters of weapons in South-East
Asia, if I'm not wrong.
Anyway, for everyone's viewing pleasure, here's a picture of an
SAR80:
& here's a picture of an SR88A:
By the way, sorry about the lousy quality of the pictures.
Information and pictures of both weapons are really hard to find
and that's the best I could do. Also, does anyone know what the
hole in the buttstock of the SR88A is for?
