Small Arms Manufacturing in the UK 1984 – 2005.

[Bernard Woolley]

Small Arms Manufacturing in the UK 1984 – 2005.

Introduction
There is a long history of manufacturing small arms in the UK both for domestic use and export, dating back to the first black-powder firearms. Many iconic weapons, such as the Baker Rifle, Lee-Enfield family, L1A1 SLR and the L7 GPMG were manufactured in ordnance factories in the UK. However, by the 1980s the small arms manufacturing sector had shrunk somewhat. For example, the Birmingham Small Arms Company became defunct in 1973, and the Sterling Armaments Company would go bankrupt in 1988. Leaving the only large companies like the then Royal Ordnance, Manroy Engineering and small specialist firms like Accuracy International. By the end of the 1980s small arms manufacturing would be concentrated at a smaller number of sites than had been previously the case.


Royal Small Arms Factory
The Royal Small Arms Factory was probably one of the best-known small arms production facilities. Also known as ‘Enfield’, after Enfield Lock, the area of London where the factory was located, it has been established after dissatisfaction with privately produced weapons. Until an expansion related to the Crimean War, the factory had fought closure. The factory would expand during the Nineteenth Century, producing millions of weapons between its establishment and the 1980s. Decline set in post Second World War and half the site was closed in 1963.

With the election of the Thatcher government in 1979 the RSAF was identified as a government owned organisation that would ‘benefit’ from privatisation. In 1985, RSAF Enfield, the twelve ROFs that still remained open, plus the Waltham Abbey South site, and three agency factories, became a UK government-owned company: Royal Ordnance plc. The privatisation was troublesome, RO needing an injection of funds from HM Treasury and a number of other barriers to floatation of the company that are beyond this work. The rather hurried nature of the privatisation would have a deleterious impact on the development of the SA80 family, which was under development at the time at Enfield. Once the various barriers were resolved, RO would be sold to British Aerospace, becoming a subsidiary of that company in 1987.

For Enfield, privatisation and sale to the then BAe was almost a death sentence. For a number of reasons, including the fact that they did not want to modernise the site and, basically, that they just did not want to deal with the workforce, BAe announced in August 1987 that it would close the site. Production of the SA80 would be transferred to the new Nottingham Small Arms Facility (see below). Understandably, the workforce at Enfield decided that since they were being ‘screwed’ by BAe, there was no real reason for them to put in any effort for the company. Quality would suffer, which did not help the reputation of the SA80 family.

BAe would start the process of auctioning off the site’s machinery in late 1988. However, before anything could be removed, events in Eastern Europe changed the government’s attitude to the loss of such an important strategic facility. As with a number of other privatisations, the government had retained a so-called ‘Golden Share’ in RO, which temporarily allowed it to hold a controlling interest. The Thatcher and Major governments would subsequently sell off most of these ‘Golden Shares’. However, in the case of the RSAF, the government used its controlling interest to prevent BAe from closing the factory and selling off the machinery. Much to the irritation of the senior management. After much negotiating between BAe, the MoD and the Department of Trade and Industry, it was agreed that most of the facilities at Enfield would be mothballed and that RO would be allowed to lease spare capacity to other companies.

One of the first companies to take advantage of the facilities now available at Enfield was Manroy Engineering. [1] Which had taken over production of the L7 GPMG from the RSAF and also manufactured a number of variants of the Browning Heavy Machine Gun for the British Armed Forces. Manroy would move its manufacture of the GPMG and some HMG components (notably barrel manufacture) to Enfield, allowing it to expand production of its other products at its own sites. Manroy would recruit many recently redundant workforce from Enfield, paying them more than RO had been willing to do. Relations between the workforce and Manroy management would also be better than it had been during the period when it looked like the RSAF would close.

Enfield would also get back involved in the saga of the SA80 (see more below). In 1999 BAE Systems, as it had recently become, established a facility at the RSAF to convert A1 models of the SA80 to A2 standard. The factory would also produce most of the L22A2 carbines. From 2002, with the vast majority of A1 models now converted, Enfield would switch to converting the cadet L98A1 to A2 standard, The factory would also produce a batch of new L85A2 rifles as a proof of concept. Manufacturing a small batch of new rifles each year to maintain skills.

Across at the Manroy operated section of the factory, a production line for the FN Mimimi, Light Machine Gun was set up. The factory making both the standard (L108A1) and Para (L110A2) variants. Manroy would also take on refurbishing old L4A4 Bren guns, which were being issued to the Territorial Army’s Home Service Force.

During the Transition to War, the RSAF would start full-time production of new SA80s. It would also become the main centre for the repair of badly damaged weapons. Many a smashed rifle and LSW would be brought back to life by the Enfield workforce. While production of the factory’s other weapons would also be stepped up, the RSAF was also involved in the conversion of L1A1 SLR to the L1A2 Designated Marksman Rifle.


Nottingham Small Arms Facility
Built on part of the site of the existent ROF Nottingham, the NSAF was intended to be the ‘high-tech’ replacement for the RSAF. Production of the SA80 family began at Nottingham in 1988 and almost immediately ran into problems. If stopping production at one site and restarting it elsewhere was not enough of an issue, the workforce at the NSAF had little experience when it came to the manufacturing of small arms. Quality of the finished products were often poor, with the SA80 quickly gaining a reputation for unreliability. The full details of the SA80 saga are beyond this work, with many good accounts of the rifle’s history available. Some of the rifle’s problems were exaggerated by the media, but it was clear that the A1 version had serious problems. [2]

In 1992 with experience of the Gulf War, Royal Ordnance stopped production while it carried out a partial redesign that cured many of the problems, production restarting in 1993. These rifles were sometimes known as the A1+, or retroactively the A1.5 While the rifle was much more reliable it still had some niggling design problems, such as the cocking handle and a more extensive redesign was carried out by H&K (UK), then a part of Royal Ordnance. That work cured the remaining problems and the L85A2 was claimed to be amongst the most reliable and accurate rifles in NATO.

With the RSAF being available for conversion work (as discussed above), it was decided that the NSAF would switch to manufacturing new rifles. From around 2002, with the introduction of the Mimimi LMG into British service, it was decided to all but halt production of the L86A2, with only a few dozen being produced each year from then onwards. The facility would instead concentrate on production of the L85A2 and work on development of the next upgrade of the rifle. Which was planned to enter service around 2007. By early 2005 the facility had produced a small batch of rifles incorporating the upgrades, which were informally known as the A2+. These would become the basis for the future A3 variant.

While Heckler & Koch was sold to a group of West German investors in 2002, it retained a link with the Nottingham facility. Two variants of the AG36 underbarrel grenade launcher; the L17A1 fitted to the the L119A1 carbine and L123A1, fitted to the L85A2; were manufactured at the NSAF. The West German factories not having spare capacity to fully meet British requirements. H&K would also use Nottingham to manufacture the MP7SF (SF=Single Fire) for the MoD Police and provide ongoing support for the weapon. It was also strongly rumoured, though not as of 2005, confirmed that a batch of MP7A1 was produced at the NSAF for UK Special Forces use.

During the Transition to War, the NSAF moved production to a higher gear. Producing rifles on a ‘round the clock’ basis. Thanks to the efforts of both its workforce and their colleagues at Enfield, Britain did not go short when it came to small arms.


Interlude – The Pattern Room.
The RSAF was famous for its ‘Pattern Room’, containing an example, or master set of every weapon made at RSAF Enfield. When the factory was mothballed, it was relocated to a purpose-built building at Nottingham, where it became known as the MOD Small Arms Museum. With planned expansion due at the NSAF and greater requests by civilian experts and historians to view the collection, it was decided in 2001 to transfer the collection to the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds. Within a public museum context, the collection was more easily available to study. Indeed, when Royal Armouries experts were able to study many of the weapons, they uncovered a number of things that had been previously unknown and that some items had been mislabelled, assembled wrongly or were misidentified.


Radway Green
One cannot discuss the manufacture of small arms in the UK without at least touching on the production of ammunition. As without that, rifles and machine-guns just become expensive paper weights.

ROF Radway Green (now BAE Systems Radway Green) was established in 1940 and by the 1980s was the primary manufacturing site for small-arms ammunition in the UK. The factory produced a wide range of ammunition for the British armed forces, including both FMJ and blank rounds. [3] All ammunition produced at Radway Green was NATO certified, bearing the appropriate markings. Which meant that it could be used in any weapons in standard NATO calibres.

During the Transition to War, Radway Green stepped up production, working 24 hours a day. As the only large producer of military ammunition in the UK, Radway Green was an obvious single point of failure. BAES sought to move finished ammunition away from the factory as soon as possible to secure storage sites. It was fortunate, therefore, that the dedicated railway spur that connected the factory to the mainline had been reinstated in the late 1990s. Large amounts of ammunition being moved off site by rail. BAES also contracted some of the smaller commercial ammunition producers, such as Eley Limited, to produce some NATO standard ammunition. Though, the amounts were relatively small, however, as the advertising slogan of a well-known UK supermarket put it, every little helps.


Conclusion
The UK small arms industry was, perhaps, lucky that the Cold War reignited when it did. In other circumstances Britain might have been left with a single small arms facility. As it was, saving Enfield meant that Britain had just enough capacity to meet its needs. The decision to continue to produce weapons of the SA80 family at Nottingham (and to a lesser extent at Enfield) after the military’s needs had been met would pay off. Most of those additional rifles went straight into storage but were issued to mobilised reservists and eventually National Servicemen when needed. That is not to say that there was not a temporary shortage of some weapons, cadet L98A2 rifles being issued to many new recruits in lieu of L85A2 rifles until production caught up.

Enfield, Nottingham and Radway Green were all targets for Soviet air attack and sabotage. It was fortunate that no critical damage was done to the factories, however, the same could not be said for the surrounding communities. All of which suffered from Soviet missile strikes.

There was a great debate within the armed forces as to which factory, Enfield, or Nottingham, made the better-quality rifles. With passionate partisans on both sides; Enfield was said to have the greater experience in small arms production, while Nottingham had ‘high-tech’ facilities that had finer tolerances; the debate would continue to rumble on to the present day. The truth was that there was very little difference between an L85 made in either factory. Moreover, after a certain length of time in service a rifle would contain components made in both factories. Not that that fact would stop the fierce debate that continues to the present day.

While Nottingham continues to manufacture batches of the latest A3 variant of the SA80 family and Enfield still refurbishes and converts existing weapons, the MoD has started the process of looking at what comes next in terms of British military rifles. What the next generation of rifle may look like is unknown and will depend on what lessons are learned from the Third World War. It will also depend on whether NATO decides that it needs a new rifle calibre to replace 5.56mm. Whatever decision is made, it is hoped that small arms manufacturing will continue at both sites. [4] In any case that decision is not likely to take place until the mid-2020s. There are a lot of perfectly serviceable SA80 weapons in British service and without a decision to change rifle calibre, there is no rush in thinking about a replacement for the rifle. The last SA80 to be manufactured will probably not leave Nottingham, or Enfield for some time yet.

***

[1] Now FN Herstal UK.

[2] SA80 Assault Rifles by Neil Grant is worth reading. Some information can also be found here.

[3] Ammunition produced at Radway Green included the following:

- .38 S&W (Mk IIz ball): production ended in the 1960s
- .303 British: production ended in 1973
- .280 British: production ended circa 1956
- 4.85×49mm - (small amounts for developmental purposes of the L64/65 in the 1970s)
- 9×19mm NATO - (standard FMJ, starting in the Second World War and still in production). 9mm 1Z ammunition was superseded in March 1944 by the more powerful 2Z cartridge.
- 5.56×45mm NATO - (standard FMJ, tracer and blank ammunition)
- 7.62×51mm NATO - (standard L44A1 FMJ, plus ‘Green Spot’ and L42A1 for sniper use, tracer and blank ammunition): production of 7.62mm started in late 1953.
- 4.6×30mm - (standard FMJ) for the Heckler & Koch MP7

[4] That is what would in @ become Project Grayburn. As of 2005 in TLW, the MoD is only in the very early stages of defining a replacement for the SA80. Depending on war experience and if no caliber change occurs then the replacement for the SA80 may be another SA80.

[Jotun]

Interesting. Maybe I‘ll do a piece on the West German small arms manufacturers, including at least one (Sauer und Sohn in Eckernförde) whose production facilities end up behind enemy lines.

One of the main reasons HK was acquired by Royal Ordnance was actually the dearth of government contracts after reunification, leading to financial woes.
In a continued CW scenario with NATO members and affiliated nations needing firearms in large numbers, it can be argued that HK never went Brit, even for a limited time…

[Bernard Woolley]

In a continued CW scenario with NATO members and affiliated nations needing firearms in large numbers, it can be argued that HK never went Brit, even for a limited time…

I'm sure I can find a reason that H&K became part of RO for a while. The G11 fiasco for example...

[James1978]

Good fact file. I enjoyed reading it.

[Bernard Woolley]

Thank you.