SR-88A: Singapore's Final Evolution of the AR-18

[@anandakang]

Singaporean here who's done his fair share of national service, have fired the M-16S1, SAR-21, Ultimax 100, and P226, but never learned about the existence of this weapon in particular! Thanks for sharing.

[@Kelvin_Foo]

It would be surprising if you did, it was not picked up by the Singapore Armed Forces since the M16S1 (and the SAR-80) was still serviceable when this was developed. Only seen at ST Engineering booths at the old Asian Aerospace (precursor to the Singapore Airshow) airshows back in the 1980s and 1990s...

[@Clarissa_Star]

Hah nice, yeah I remembered having to fire the M-16.. oh jeez that was back in 2015. Some weapon familiarity thing - we just fired it in the range and that was kinda it. We didn't get to disassemble it to clean it up and stuff. Only the SAR-21 we got way too familiar with cleaning. Security Trooper guy turned Infantry's Support/Mortar.

[@seanchan7167]

Same man, fired and trained with the M16 (Not sure which version), the SAR-21, the Ultimax, and the GPMG (FN MAG), and was surprised to hear our weapons ended up in the Balkans of all places

[@cutsleeve117]

Were you MP?

[@anandakang]

@cutsleeve117 I was SCE!

[@NovaAge]

8:16 It was so broken it broke the microphone too.

[@drink_kompot3656]

I noticed that too haha

[@Rnn-Dnn]

I went crazy for a few minutes thinking it was my headphones...

[@BleedingUranium]

@@Rnn-Dnn I always skip back a few seconds and see if I get _exactly_ the same "broken" things (whatever it happens to be), since that's a good tell that it's not on your end. :)

[@mattruder5858]

Thought it was my AirPods ngl

[@AshleyBlackwater]

ty, came to the comments to find out if my headphones where dying lol

[@user-oq9ly8lr9z]

Ian has one of the best jobs out there. I bet he’s waking up everyday in a great mood. “I’m in the Czech Republic and I get to go review classic firearms in an ammo factory”. Say no more guy:)

[@Pottist-vl4dl]

Please don’t do that Ian is the only gunjesus.

[@bobbressi5414]

When Ian utters the rarely spoken by him, "I don't know," I just assume that probably nobody knows.

[@tomwinterfishing9065]

Confiscated by The Ministry of Truth and put down the memory hole!😳

[@mattorama]

Yes. He's a modest man. Other people would say "It's not known."

[@ScathingMobile]

Either that or someone got blind drunk one day and said, "wouldn't it be funny if we did this" and woke up the next day with a splitting headache and a frankenbarrel on their weapon.

[@Amplar2]

The minimi stock, carry handle and skeleton stock tells me their military may have specified their rifles to handle like a support weapon for training reasons. Left hand goes into the stock hole and you pull it into yourself.

[@toepopper]

So this is purely speculation but I would bet that the hole in the butt is to meet a requirement for securing weapons in the armoury. Once weapons were racked in their proper position, we used to run a chain through the M16S1's carrying handle and a hole in the rack and then lock it. This made it really hard for anyone to take just one rifle instead of 30 plus a rack. The SR88A doesn't have a carrying handle so without the hole in the butt, it wouldn't be possible to meet this requirement. As an aside, it's why so many M16S1s had wear along the inside of the carrying handle - when rushed, you unlocked the chain and just dragged it straight through as fast as you could.

[@thebfiaid957]

Oh thats neat, im going to the army soon, and if I get to armoury, maybe I get to see this happen

[@cutsleeve117]

​@@thebfiaid957 armskote IC is one of the least desirable IC roles to get

[@ericblair844]

​@@thebfiaid957no you won't. Issue AR's don't have carry handles anymore. And rifle racks have an angle iron bar that's used to secure the rifles.

[@jacobishii6121]

Yeah except the colts came with racks that lock with out a chain...... You got to remember that the carry handles who are removable after the A1 upper. By the time these guys we're working on upgrading the are 18 the racks with the locking bar meant for rifles with removable charging handles were already available and cheap

[@JeffEbe-te2xs]

Don’t be so happy Not as cool as think

[@thebfiaid957]

Every day that I see Ian cover Singaporean firearms is a good day... hope he gets to review the BR 18 when it comes out

[@FieryCheeze]

I suspect BR 18 project is dead or has been absorbed into a new project. ST Engineering showed off a new "Next Generation SAR" at the 2024 SG Airshow. Looks like it needs field ad troop testing though.

[@MasouShizuka]

@@FieryCheeze We'll see. Maybe they'll develop it further into a more reliable platform or use it as a stepping stone to a next iteration.

[@junglebiker2363]

Working in the South Pacific a few years ago, I encountered one of these (the carbine variant) in the hands of a local cop. It was broken, (looked like an over pressure cartridge or something? Case/head separation anyway). He was able to get some spares from another city and I was able to repair it for him. Finding info was not easy! I checked at the time to see if you had done a video on the SR-88, nice to see that you've finally got ahold of a couple of examples to talk about. I still have the original bolt--with a crack down the middle of the face--on my key ring.

[@billwall6271]

The hole in the buttstock is for your hand for bayonet usage. Gives you a solid handhold for leverage and striking with the buttstock.

[@jessicaregina1956]

@@billwall6271 its actually a skeletonised buttstock

[@max10474]

Had the opportunity to play around with a few of these, the sar80 and the sar21. Coolest guns I didn't know existed until it was in my hands.

[@stanislavczebinski994]

14:52 "...were produced from 1998 to 1995..." time-traveling Iain is once again back from the future....

[@constantinethecataphract5949]

As the "microphone glitch" shows. Definitely not t-800 glitching trust me.

[@Spectrecontrol]

His Delorean has a gun rack

[@Randomthailanderwhoplayhsr]

dude i thought that said "lain"

[@cesargonzalez4146]

The AR-18 is the most influential failure in the history of firearms, essentially every 5.56 assault rifle has its operating system, short recoil, rotating bolt, recoil spring in the receiver allowing retractable stocks.

[@garfieldh.8820]

Truly the Velvet Underground of firearms

[@recoilrob324]

Agreed. I had a couple chances to buy AR-180's back in the day and passed on them because they were just 'junky' feeling guns. Lots of very nice engineering in them but the production manufacture was just not up to par. Really a shame as they'd have sold like hotcakes if they'd have been built better I think.

[@HRHtheDude]

Short stroke gas piston operated buddy

[@chemistryofquestionablequa6252]

​@@recoilrob324to be fair the AR18 was designed to be produced as cheaply as possible so junky feeling construction is to be expected.

[@petesheppard1709]

Ian once described the AR18 as possibly 'the most successful failure'.

[@Kupalski0031]

The Ultimax 100, the SR 88A and many oddball guns are prevalent in Philippine cinema in the late 80s and 90s. And, we actually have a few in actual service with the Armed Forces.

[@Nelsonwmj]

Gun Jesus covering a Singaporean Armed Forces gun. Singapore mentioned "RAAAAAAAAH WHAT IS NATIONAL SERVICE!!!" My elation is immeasurable and my day has been made.

[@sarge89]

wgt ROD lor~

[@therahulrs]

Like for Gun Jesus!

[@efanefan-jy1yz]

Thank you for the video. I had been sourcing the internet for more information on this rifle for the last 20 years but it's so limited.

[@etelmo]

It does have a forward assist, you were just holding the charging handle backwards; the square part forces the bolt backwards, but pulling the lever out extends the spring loaded arm which will slide over the front of the bolt until it locks into an angled cut just back from the front of the bolt. This allows you to use it as a forward assist by pressing on the little serrated part at the base of the lever while holding it outwards (meaning it doesn't reciprocate, it only locks into the bolt when the lever control is pulled out).

[@smooshy1337]

Between steve reviewing MRE's and Ian reviewing guns i have never heard of - i am extremely relaxed

[@gunner1177]

always nice when you drop a video :)

[@johnqpublic2718]

Every day?

[@HQ_Default]

Congratulations to Singapore for making my new favorite AR iteration.

[@sarath431]

A rare weapon indeed. I like the carbine stock. Wish more weapons has that stock

[@rogerborg]

Great to see some love for the Shooty Rifle 88 variant of the Assault Rifle 18.

[@gregoryquek128]

I used the SAR 80 during my 2.5 years National Service . It is a heavier than the M16 n the recoil is very impressive as as it has 2 springs installed… very stable when open fire.

[@peyton_uwu]

1:30 that iron-sight shot right there is absolutely beautiful.

[@AttemptMade]

Wow I really should stop staying up so late that it becomes early.

[@Alfiy_Wolf]

It’s like fried rice from the far end of town, looks good taste good, but not the best, but you like it for family vibes

[@crabbyscrittercontrol3605]

True, except the fried rice comes from that “authentic” Chinese restaurant across the tracks (you know, the one with the health score of 65.1), as you mentioned. In my town, that restaurant is colloquially and lovingly referred to, as “The Diarrhea Machine”.

[@Goc4ever]

The SR-88A is certainly one of the best guns that are derived from the AR-18 not to mention it's quite exquisite to look at. The specifications of such a gun are very neat and the stock of the carbine variant definitely resembles the one of the FN Minimi Para/M249 Para Saw. Reviewing guns must be exciting and i'm happy for you Ian. I'm glad Singaporean guns get to enjoy some spotlight. Fun fact: CIS in Star Wars is the acronym of the Confederacy of Independent Systems commonly known as the Confederacy, the Separatist Alliance and the Separatists so yeah, the acronym of Chartered Industry of Singapore now known as ST Kinetics is very similar.

[@5oclock_Charlie]

8:17-8:30 has audio distortion/loss I am unsure if that is just me though.

[@joaoie]

That had me rewinding and reconnecting my Bluetooth headphones 😂

[@llamallama1509]

Not just you

[@maddaussie]

Yup slightly garbled audio

[@matthiasbaron245]

The first glitch is even earlier.

[@ptonpc]

Getting the same.

[@JippaJ]

Weird to see features for use with winter gear, since Singapore has nothing close to winter.

[@agactual7901]

Exports to Europe, hence winter ready.

[@dspserpico]

The closest thing to winter in Singapore is when the AC is broken and stuck in “always on.”

[@JeffEbe-te2xs]

Universal rifle

[@richardjames1812]

SG troops do train in places that get cold (Taiwan, Australia and even USA but that is more for their Air Force).

[@shawnc5188]

@@richardjames1812 Armour boys train on Leopard2 in Germany, but the training areas in Taiwan and Australia are more temperate.

[@Craptacular77]

5:52 a swingdown trigger guard for operation with gloves is important for operating in those Singaporean blizzards.

[@DiggingForFacts]

Either that, or in case WWIII happens and you need to wear CBN gear. Possibly also an eye to export sales.

[@nickthenuker7916]

Seems the air-con is stuck on the lowest setting again...

[@liamwhelehan2703]

I thought the AR18 was short stroke gas piston? I'll have to check your video on that gun ... You have become a real repository for how every gun in the world works👍

[@sergiom9958]

The AR18 and the unknown AR16; the fore fathers of a good bunch of today’s “modern” rifles in standard use.

[@sergiom9958]

@@FranzAntonMesmer long stroke comes from the MP43 (in an assault rifle) and the AK47

[@JohnDoe-fk6id]

Ian, I adore your documentation of these weapons, but at 10:08, you say the square plate pulls the carrier, and then at 10:47, you say that the hook does, and that it's not a forward assist. If you look closely at the carrier, there's a cavity into which that "hook" can fit, and it's only reasonable purpose *is* forward assist. Your example might have been broken, and not working correctly, but there's no way that the ramp direction on that "hook" is for charging the weapon.

[@BobSaint]

Also, on 12:26 he says that the gas piston will come out if the gas plug is removed, but how would that be possible if the piston is welded to the bolt carrier?

[@JohnDoe-fk6id]

@@BobSaint I'm assuming he meant the gas *tube* would come out.

[@BobSaint]

​@@JohnDoe-fk6idCould be, yeah. PS: Slovenian army was never issued this rifle.

[@jordaneimer2873]

Early morning with Ian. How nice

[@rogerborg]

He is risen.

[@bower31]

The stock design on the carbine is actually really cool

[@IPC-D_Media_Unit]

Papua New Guinea also acquired a large number of SAR-88s, you can see them in footage of the Bougainville crisis. Bhutan’s royal guard also picked some up, there’s a few photos on Getty images from the 2011 royal wedding.

[@Remington53]

The sideways collapsing stock is really cool, shame it didn't show up on any other guns. Seems like it's be less awkward to shoot with the stock collapsed than a lot of other designs, would be cool to see on something like a MP5k.

[@theevenstevenchannel8220]

Every new service rifle that has been adopted in the last...let's say 40 years has been either an AR-15, an AR-18, or an AK. Sometimes they'll combine elements of more than one, but it's one of those three things.

[@reonthornton685]

Or an AUG. Let's just ignore the SA-80 though.

[@blunderingfool]

@@reonthornton685 A truly AUGmented arsenal. =P

[@c1ph3rpunk]

So many Stoners despite the war on drugs.

[@kez0o9]

Yes its just the sights and laser ,lights etc that have seen major innovation for the last @50 years With a few exceptions (would have been intresting to see the HK g11 fully adopted and wonder where we would be now because of that) practical rail guns and the mark one phaser are still a little while off before they make there way into a general infantry soldiers hands ( wouldent doubt the rail gun being made into a long distance sniper rifle in next 5 /10 years though

[@charless7410]

exactly 🎉

[@ryanpeck3377]

Polymer dust cover and Flared Magwell .. ahead of its times

[@shawnc5188]

Uh no, the Singapore Army didn’t buy many SAR-80 or SR88s. They were used by a few logistic units while the combat units stuck to the M-16S1 until the SAR 21 started phasing in from 2000.

[@Kelvin_Foo]

I don't ever recall seeing a SR-88A or SR-88 in service, just seeing Ian field strip those rifles make the SAR-80 look refined in comparison.

[@shawnc5188]

@@Kelvin_Foo I saw the SAR-80 at a logistic unit I visited in the late 80s, while I was in serving in infantry. Reckon the SR-88 was an interim export design (the Singapore army does not use rifle grenades) before STE shifted production to the SAR-21, which has some of the same features.

[@Kelvin_Foo]

@@shawnc5188 Maintenance bases and NS CSS units had the SAR-80, until the SAR-21 became mainstream, at which point the M16S1s were passed down to them. Did my NSF range shoots with the SAR-80 and NS ICT shoots with the M16S1 until the last few ICTs, where we started using the SAR-21.

[@lktan224]

As a signaller in the reserve unit I use this Sar80.

[@seanchan7167]

Just a small correction, one I learned from a current employee: ST Kinetics is now called ST Land Systems

[@BleedingUranium]

3:09 I do believe that's actually an FN-pattern STANAG mag, originally designed for the FNC and carrying over to the F2000 and SCAR-L. In addition to being steel and featuring a black finish, the obvious visual tell is the two forward reinforcing ribs ending _before_ the bottom of the mag, rather than running straight through it like US mags. Thanks for covering the SR 88A! It's been near the top of my wishlist for ages; it's such a cool rifle, yet there's so little of it online (especially video). It's like a neat combination of AR-18, FNC, and AR-15, with some cool unique elements thrown in like the charging handle, stock, and carry handle.

[@100lancey]

Nice. Don't forget it's got features from the S Korean Daewoo k2. Ejector & gas piston type.

[@stephen2429]

Interesting. Never seen this. The SAF had M16 when I was stationed there. We had SLR and AR15.

[@Bayofthe91st]

I was waiting for this since Ultimax. Im also hope you are going to look at pindad ss2 series when their exports finally came to USA

[@michaelblacktree]

That's a cool looking rifle.

[@oddspaghetti4287]

10:45 that hook is quite clearly a forward assist.

[@tocsa120ls]

Watching that disassembly is like the watching Days Of Thunder. "Hey look, there's a part here that's not broken!"

[@andrewpaul3130]

I trained on the M16A1 manufactured in the US it never jammed on me. My unit were issued with rifles manufactured by Colt. The CIS M16A1 rifles were problematic, they were quite unreliable. The SA80s were issued to military police units, though they were rarely seen in infantry and combat support units.

[@ryanpeck3377]

So basically M16 lower/trigger, AR18 bolt/upper and AK long stroke piston... A combination of Those 3 guns are the basis of almost every rifle since the 70s.

[@5anjuro]

I worked in Singapore for a few years. Virtually every male has done NS and returns for the annual two weeks. Two of my bosses were old enough to have done their parachute and mountain warfare training in Taiwan in the 1980s and 1990s. They didn't like China one bit.

[@Exospray]

Misread that for a second and was very confused why Singapore had mountain warfare training when their tallest hill is only 164m

[@Pakiu1306]

And neither do us Malaysians mind you. Especially the ethnic Chinese here

[@5anjuro]

​@@Exospray I have been to that hill many times )) It gets really crowded with families on weekends. The trails between Bukit Timah and the McRitchie Reservoir are directly adjacent to the off-limit areas of the Central Catchment where the SAF do some of their training. In Singapore basically any wooded area without public hiking trails is some sort of a SAF training ground.

[@Akrasia-j3h]

Well then they're ignorant. Singaporeans have no reason not to like China except what western propaganda tells them.

[@WasLostButNowAmFound]

​@@Exospray Singapore has mountain warfare training to fight in the Mountain ranges in Malaysia. There you go, now you know.

[@worldtraveler930]

Some of those innovations like the bolt retainer springcatch and folding stock aren't just neat they're Outright Hard-core!!! 🤠👍

[@richardjames1812]

As Ian mentioned, that folding stock type is seen on FN Minimi LMG in the 70's I believe. It's cool but complicated / adds some cost.

[@sergiom9958]

Singapore: “The SR88A is a new design!” South Korea: “why is it oddly familiar to the K1?”

[@jalpat2272]

Only so much ways to creates guns, unless you went the toggle locking blow forward with 20 rounds rotary magazine.

[@simonzprahy9270]

@@jalpat2272 If it exists, then it has to be either french circa ww1 or experimental czech circa ww2, those two seem to be the gold standard for weird firearms

[@ivanivanovic5586]

Was about to mention that. Neat guns both.

[@jalpat2272]

@ Ironically both of them created simpler and more successful designs at the future.

[@anderoo9260]

There is almost nothing familiar between those two. The k1 is DGI gun that has no similarity to sr88 apart from dual recoil spring- which doesn't even go into the carrier, only hooks the top of it. The k2 is long gas operated but it is not at all similar to sr88 either. The carrier is nothing like the sr88, it's much more of an ak-ar hybrid being a single recoil spring-disassembly latch layout. Both K1 and K2 were developed from the m16/car15 and not ar18. The k2 is basically an m16 with a long stroke gas piston directly going from the "entry point" for DGI tube on an ar carrier, and recoil spring relocated to the receiver top. While K1 is almost straight up a car15 DGI system with a dual recoil spring on the top of the action. So also not ar18 at all.

[@Sturdy_Penguin]

Would love to see an overview of the CIS droid variants. Who knew Droidekas were manufactured in Singapore?

[@jm9371]

Curious that the two reference models both have broken firing pins. Clearly that remains an issue...

[@MarkzOng]

Perhaps it was intentional to prevent guns for being use.

[@klg1216]

thank you

[@aragorn256]

Since you're reviewing a Singaporea firearm, why not revisit the SAR-21 rifle again? I would love to see it in higher definition since the previous video you made was quite old.

[@FieryCheeze]

I doubt we'll get it. He has to find a SAR 21 first, then review the history & info on it. Only Singapore & Brunei seem to have adopted it as a service rifle, rather than a special forces weapon. Given its rarity outside SG, he might as well petition MinDef to just get access to everything.

[@Dorimeme187]

@@FieryCheeze it’s available in America actually

[@jessicaregina1956]

Yup, it's so available that sar21s run wild and can be bought in any gun store 😂

[@Dorimeme187]

@ it’s easier to gain access than the Howa Type 89.

[@Calvin_Coolage]

​@Dorimeme187Man I want a video on the Type 64 and Type 89 so bad, ColdWar/modern Japanese guns are very interesting.

[@Jde38]

The bolt carrier group looks extremely familiar, glad to see the predecessor of my rifle that I'd cared for for 2 years.

[@JosephArchel]

The collapsing stock version with a longer barrel was once issued to my Dad when he was still with the bangko sentral ng pilipinas

[@RickySpanish1313]

Great video. Any chance of seeing or hearing about the AEK-919k ?

[@hemisphere22]

These things were out of service by the time I did NS. I was always curious about them but after watching the field strip I'm glad we had M16 S1s. The later models of Ultimax was a much more streamlined and user friendly.

[@nguyenminhle8694]

3:50 nice

[@evenjohansen4584]

Where... did the ending go? :o in any case, that is one helluva cool stock!

[@amosgoh85]

Will there be another video firing the SR-88A?

[@leoa4c]

I think that the opening in the buttstock was likely for the attachment point to be within it, which they then found out that it could made the stock lighter and/or stiffer, *OR* it was the other way around. They placed the hole in the buttstock to lighten, or more likely to stiffen it, and then decided to place the attachment point within it.

[@kickstart118]

With all the knowledge you have what is your favorite gun? Thanks for the videos!

[@hendriktonisson2915]

Very rare and interesting rifle!

[@hancock63]

Is this the first video where Ian doesn’t end with “thanks for watching?”

[@MrbonitoMrCai]

Singaporean here as well, ive never seen or saw this weapon as well

[@ivanivanovic5586]

Interesting specimens today, a visual cousin to korean k1. I see an interesting design element for an alternate weapon development(where piston being below barrel is the usual setup rather than one above or even around the barrel).

[@jeffreymcfadden9403]

Ian gets to go to cool places and see cool guns. I am jealous.

[@YosheetaBoneeta]

We haven't had many broken guns on the channel before, I'm wondering the more guns Ian gets access to, and the longer the channel runs there will be more. Like a channel looking at classic cars, if you were looking at classic 60s cars in the 90s, there would be be more broken 60s cars in 2025.

[@X-Chë-X]

Unrelated to video, but do you think you will ever do a video about Metal Storm?

[@sorryociffer]

Interesting. I have a few cases of Singapore made NIW 30rd mags that fit these.

[@HansJoahiemmerssei-z6j]

Yay singapore we finally got mentioned. But we are actually using the sar21

[@wittsullivan8130]

It would be cool if the owners of these reference collections would track down replacement parts or make them, especially something as simple as a roll pin.

[@___Danny___]

You can try beach road market 😁

[@rostahornak8764]

Judging by the cut on both bolts in seemingly the same place as the charging hadle is, I would guess that the 'hook' that protrudes once you unfold the charging handle actually is there for pushing the bolt forward. It looks to me like it's (also) supposed to push something forward and there is also a serration on the back of the charging handle (for which I see no other reason)

[@gfin4576]

3:24 Kind of like the Canadian C7 Polymer mag actually! shockingly close.

[@Royce16727]

Lol! I was literally planning on commenting on this video with the question: "How durable was the furniture? The M-16 family of rifles, as far as I understand, suffered from durability issues up until recently,. Were these copies similarly afflicted?" and then you started talking about how parts of your Example rifle were broken in multiple places. That answers that! 🤣

[@Cyan_Nightingale]

Trivia: numbers of SAR-80 & SR-88 were seen in use by Slovenian & Croatian forces during the Yugoslavian Civil War in early 1990s

[@shrikes45]

Why no: "I hope you enjoyed that. Thanks for watching!"?? My day is incomplete.

[@humanbass]

I would love a review of the super techy and obscure BR18

[@JohnHughesChampigny]

So the guys at Sellier at Bellot beat the shit out of these things?

[@markjmaxwell9819]

Another interesting take on the AR-18 with another successful ArmaLite design copied and modified to great success. Some excellent design elements have been added to the rifle, with the charging handle and adjustable gas regulator just two of the clever upgrades done to this firearm when compared to the original design. 😎🇦🇺👍

[@sisseeboy]

Do you have any slow motion footage of firing with a closed dust cover? I would be curious to see how fast it actually opens in relation to the speed of bolt travel.

[@Vtarngpb]

I always thought Sellier & Bellot was French 😂😂

[@JanFWeh]

They were Germans of French origin.

[@koenvangeleuken6544]

that is a cast lower receiver, not a milled one. (although there has been some milling on it)

[@owllymannstein7113]

So are the broken parts due to these not being the best quality or have those two examples just had a ton of rounds put through them?

[@richardjames1812]

They don't look like they've been fired much, bluing is very intact.

[@owllymannstein7113]

@@richardjames1812 I considered that, but if they're factory sample guns they likely would have been fired indoors and taken care of.

[@danielc2701]

Could be cannibalized? Their pins taken for other weapons and the broken ones given to these less used guns?

[@richardjames1812]

@ The idea of cannibalizing parts is that you take the good parts from several non-functional machines to form a lesser number of functional machines. You don't add broken parts back into the mix. There is some reason why both of these firing pins were broken. I've never seen an AR series firing pin break with the two that I own or when I was in a US Army NG infantry battalion (M16A1 and M16A2).

[@danielc2701]

@@richardjames1812 I never seen that happening before either which was why I found it so weird that it could actually break.

[@Integritys_Sum]

Hi Ian 👋

[@yoochoob1858]

Interesting.. did they re-use the setup from ar-15 production to make the lowers? It seems a wierd choice to make a whole new lower design, but if they're milling them I guess the square cut at the back makes sense. Any idea whay they chose a long-stroke piston? Also, I assume the guide rods lock into the front trunnion, but we didn't get to see that.

[@danielc2701]

Well... I guess maybe they encountered more fouling with direct impingement than they expected?

[@bullgerbil842]

Senator, I'm Singaporean

[@richardjames1812]

That was a funny exchange.

[@danielc2701]

@@richardjames1812 And IIRC Senator Cotton was the one that proposed to Trump about annexing Greenland. Nice to see he's performing up to his usual standard.

[@richardjames1812]

@ We'll see how the Greenland and Panama things play out. Negotiating positions always start higher than end goals. Revised security agreements seem possible and likely.

[@danielc2701]

@ Personally, I think it's more economic that really security. Transit costs were going up due to water shortage so he threatened them with military action to force them to eat the loss. The problem I see with this is that if a company continually had to take a loss, they'll go bankrupt soon and you'd end up with NO service at all. If Panama can't pay their workers, no one is going to go through the canal, much less at a low cost.

[@richardjames1812]

@ The Panama Canal is a super valuable asset. It's not going to go broke or out of operation. It also formerly belonged to the USA, who built it. President Carter of the USA gave it to Panama (a decision unpopular then and now) but the treaty that turned it over to Panama had clauses that give the US security assurances and the right to re-enter the Panama Canal Zone if not met.

[@cathoderay305]

That flared magwell tells me that they know what they are about.

[@lavenderpants8695]

God I love this channel

[@hoppinggnomethe4154]

5:16 I think you made a mistake here. This is an A1 style of rear sight, not A2. Both got equally sized opening.

[@richardjames1812]

I lived and worked in SG for many years and, since every Singaporean male is conscripted ("National Service") that was something we had in common (I was in the US army national guard) and also I am into guns - so we talked a lot about their small arms and tanks and stuff. These rifles were not regular infantry weapons of the SAF (Singapore Armed Forces). Those are the M16's and the SAR21's. These SR-88's and the earlier 80 may have been used by some units, but not to any large degree. Side note - you can own guns in Singapore. But they have to be kept at a gun club and you keep them in your locker there, check them out to use at the range on-site, and then check them back in. Lots of hoops to jump through in terms of paperwork and stuff. I had a British friend that owned a nice 1911A1 - which he could never own back home in England! You could only buy ammo at the club, and it was S$1 per round of 9mm (about US$0.70 at the time). Just possessing a gun or even a round of live ammo was some draconian penalty, like the death sentence or life in prison. So I always made sure I didn't leave any live rounds in a pocket when leaving the range! And yet still, while I lived there, there were a couple of incidents of guns being used. Memorably, a murder by a gangster who had the nickname "one eyed dragon" (he actually had one eye, which made the nickname pretty cool). Overall, obviously, a very safe and well-governed place.

[@___Danny___]

fyi , the one hand dragon is dead.

[@ShadowMoon878]

Kind of foolish to allow purchase of guns but can only keep at a club! What if their homes get invaded or they get robbed by a gun-wielding maniac? No wonder China wanted them to be part of the country since they can be easily invaded 😂😂😂

[@ShadowMoon878]

​@___Danny___ only coz he let himself get caught! I bet i can walk around with an Uzi and nobody cares!

[@Pigness7]

If i didnt know it was real i would have thought this an imagginary video game gun

[@Matt-md5yt]

hahaha, I can see why.

[@MrSabram07]

Another great Gun Jesus video

[@GaryBleck]

Nice

[@chroniclesofalazyriderbyde9504]

Saw this back in my army days in 1998.

[@mgraham1985]

Because they're in a sub-1000 serial number, is it possible they're trial/research rifles for field testing by units before full production?

[@geodkyt]

The only *good* reason I can think of for the hole in the rifle stock (the weight savings isn't enough to bother, I would think) is someone wa stinking of potential bipod use, and wanted to allow an easy way to grip the stock with the off hand.

[@GrumpyGenXGramps]

Were the firing pins broke purposely to “deactivate” them?

[@workingguy-OU812]

just a low-quality manufacturer. These were seemingly miserably made, or they had a big learning curve with these early models between the firing pins, fit and finish, and other soft-metal parts.

[@jessicaregina1956]

Im sure no machinist in this world ever could make a firing pin.

[@100lancey]

Probably heat treatment issues

[@MarkzOng]

I believe it's deactivated. For those who said lousy quality on the pin , take note in basic military training units in Singapore, the rifles given to recruits have been passed and cycled through thousands of rounds per year over different batches. Both blanks and ball type. If it's a firing pin issue these rifles would have broken down in doves yearly. Some have serve so long that it may have served from fathers to sons.

[@workingguy-OU812]

@@MarkzOng The "lousy quality" was including the pin and other visibly poor items on those from the video. Ian was being kind with not mentioning how bad they presented.

[@davefellhoelter1343]

kind of hard to see. Did anyone think to cut out or adjust the carry handle for battle sights in the carry position?