|
The '''SAR/SAC''' is an [[Assault rifle]] developed by Australian Automatic Arms/Leader Dynamics SAC.
The SAR/SAC was a contender for a .5'56mm Australian military service rifle to replace the then-issued LITHGOWLithgow L1A1-F1 SLR (Australian-made .7'62x51mm battle rifle, copy of the British ENFIELDEnfield L1A1-SLR or, if you want, semiautomatic-only clone of the Belgian FN FAL).
The T2-Mk5 was a "re-engineered" [[AR-18]] in a more modern shape "melted" with features from other assault/battle rifles (example: look at the position of the cocking handle, that is an HECKLERHeckler &KOCH Koch feature), that should have made it more practical to use, but also easier and cheaper to manufacture (example: it has 3 bolt lugs only instead of the 8 bolt lugs of the "original" AR-18). The entire thing is dated back to the mid-1980s.
Some state that the gun was in fact full of defects, as it was simplified too much. Some of the "defects" pointed to the T2-Mk5 are herein mentioned: the flash suppressor was said to be ineffective, the chamber was said to be undersized, and seems like a magazine could have been pushed all the way into the bolt area when the bolt was locked to the rear, which of course would have led to an instant jam upon firing the first shot. It was also said that the T2-Mk5 would also have suffered stoppages for seemingly no reason whatsoever.
What we (SECURITYARMSscurityarms.COMcom board) had occasion to hear, instead, was different. Mr. CHARLESCharles St.GEORGEGeorge, the engineer of the T2-Mk5 and of another assault rifle that was also submitted to that trial, the "Edenpine/Armtech" Bull-Pup (which lately spawned into the well-known BUSHMASTERBushmaster M17-S) tells a completely different story. Apparently (not unbelievably, in fact), when the RFT (Request For Tender) was issued, the Australian Armed Forces had already decided that their next issue rifle would have been the Steyr AUG (now manufactured by ADI - AUSTRALIANAustralian DEFENCEDefense INDUSTRIESIndustries Pty-Ltd as the "F-88" or simply the "AuSTEYRAuSteyr"), and that they were already decided in not buying, adopting or simply evaluating seriously any indigenous design that was not combat-proven already. I could understand such a position, but then, in that case, there was no need to issue an open trial and they could have simply issued a sole-source solicitation instead.
The LEADERLeader T2-Mk5 was later made in a semiautomatic-only version, when LEADERLeader DYNAMICSDynamics dropped the production it was resumed by AUSTRALIANAustralian AUTOMATICAutomatic ARMSArms, and it is interesting to know that almos none of the above-mentioned defects seem to be found on the civilian samples.
The T2-Mk5/SAR continued to exist (with some numbers of the rifles imported in the USA here and there, some reaching a handful of European Countries like Switzerland, also an agreement was almost reached with FRANCHIFranchi to import it in Italy) until the 1994 "Brady Bill - Assault Weapons Ban" was issued in the USA. The deadline for the design was in 1996 when all civilian ownership of semi-automatic long arms was banned in Australia because of a shooting in Tasmania.
| 