SAR 80

The Story

Having largely completed production of the M16S1 for SAF, Chartered Industries of Singapore were left with a factory lying unused, and sought to continue manufacturing rifles, in order to sell them internationally. However, with the rights to the AR-15 design still belonging to Colt, any export sales would be subject to the whims of the US defence industry (with which CIS intended to directly compete) and the State Department, who could refuse to permit sales to states they deemed unfriendly. In this climate, CIS began looking for a novel design, which they could put into production and sell as they wished.

Meanwhile, the Sterling Armaments Company of Dagenham, Essex, was looking to break into the military rifle market, having successfully produced and marketed the Sterling submachine gun since the late 1940s/early 1950s. Having acquired a production licence for the Armalite AR-18 in the early 1970s (itself designed to get around Armalite having sold the AR-15 patents to Colt), they were familiar with the short-stroke piston, multi-lug rotating bolt operation of that design, along with its stamped steel and plastic construction. With some strengthening to make it soldier-proof, plus a few subtle design changes to get around the AR-18 patents, Sterling were ready to bring the Sterling Assault Rifle 80 (SAR 80) to market. CIS, seeing a tough, easy to mass produce and exportable rifle design, purchased the rights to the SAR 80 (with the designation changing to 'Singapore Assault Rifle'), and - with a few tweaks - put it into production at their plant on Jalan Boon Lay. With the exception of a small number of prototypes and early production examples, all serial SAR 80 production appears to have taken place in Singapore. 

Being mostly comprised of boxy sheet metal stampings, with high-impact plastic grip, stock and handguard (lined with a metal heatshield) plus a forged gas block, the SAR 80 was a simple, cheap and easy gun to manufacture. Reportedly, it was slightly above half the cost of its intended main competitor, the AR-15. Many of the features are intentionally very similar to their counterparts on the AR-15, which, as the M16S1 (a licensed Colt 614S/M16A1), was already the standard SAF service rifle. The selector, magazine catch, sights and even the design of the grip are all close to those on the the AR-15, and the magazines, bayonet, bipod and sling are interchangeable. Disassembly, too, is reminiscent of the M16 - remove the rear pin and the rifle hinges open, permitting the recoil spring assembly and bolt carrier group to be removed. In these ways, the existing accessories for the M16 did not need replacing, and training could be simplified by keeping much of the manual of arms the same across the two platforms.

The SAR 80 in Singaporean Service

While primarily intended for export, the SAR 80 was also to see limited service with the Singaporean Armed Forces. Following a first trial batch, which reportedly had quality control issues (including improperly fitted cocking handles), somewhere around 20,000 SAR 80s were delivered to supplement the M16S1 and AR-15 rifles already in use. These rifles went to non-frontline logistics units, who kept them in service all the way until the mid-2000s, when they were replaced with SAR 21s. Weighing slightly more than the M16, albeit with a reduced length, opinions of the rifle were mixed. It was considered reliable and dependable, but many found the M16 more easily shootable and much nicer to carry. Unlike the M16, the SAR 80 does not have any provision for low-light sights, and so NSmen issued with it were exempted from having to pass the night shooting test!

The rifles delivered to SAF all appear to have been Type 2s, as one would expect, and it is unclear whether there was a separate serial number block for them.

The SAR 80 Overseas

Somewhat unsurprisingly given the SAR 80s origins and purpose, CIS tried very hard to market the SAR 80 internationally, producing advertisements in at least English, French and German. Across all of the marketing literature, two main themes are apparent: affordability and reliability. With their target market being less developed countries for whom the saving of ~$200 USD per rifle (relative to the M16A1) would make a big difference, the cheap sheet stampings for the upper and lower receivers and plastic furniture, along with the general no-frills design, allowed costs to be kept to a minimum. As an AR-18-derived design, too, it can be assumed that CIS's claims of reliability are not far exaggerated. The inclusion of a sliding dust cover and a reasonably well-sealed action keep dirt out, and the short-stroke piston system is famously tolerant of harsh conditions. Examples occasionally turn up in the hands of rebels in the Central African Republic and Somali pirates, usually in very poor condition, having seen a lot of abuse. It is a testament to the quality of the design that they're still functional!

Export orders were initially slow, but significant purchases were made by Somalia, for the army, and the Central African Republic, who issued them to the Gendarmerie. Sri Lanka, too, purchased a number of SAR 80s during the 1980s, along with a batch of Lithgow L1A1 SLRs which CIS refurbished on contract for the Sri Lankan Police. The Papua New Guinea Defence Force reportedly bought some SAR 80s, although they are more commonly seen with a later CIS product, the SR-88A (which was far less successful on the export market). Various Croatian paramilitary forces operated some SAR 80s during the Yugoslav wars, and they can be seen with a mix of Type 1 (Sterling) and Type 2 (CIS) rifles, and a decent number of rifles with Sterling AR-18-style optics rails. Finally, and most notable, the Slovenian TO (Territorial Forces) bought a large quantity of Type 2 SAR 80s, which they used during and after the Ten-Day War. Reportedly, most SAR 80s in Slovenian service were modified to remove the bolt hold-open, a feature which already very rarely functioned. This was presumably to standardise the manual of arms between the SAR 80 and Zastava M70, significant numbers of which had been inherited from Yugoslavia. Most SAR 80s on the surplus market are ex-TO, including the one pictured in this article. Another large batch, which seems to have largely ended up on the Polish civilian market, came from Croatia. Many of the Croatian rifles have a simple dovetailed scope rail in front of the rear sight protectors.

Variants

Across the ten or so years for which the SAR 80 was in production, two main variants were produced, as initially identified by the Machine Gun Dad channel on YouTube. These are commonly known as the 'Type 1' and 'Type 2' SAR 80 in collectors'/historians' parlance, but no such official nomenclature change took place. It may also be appropriate to refer to the Type 1 as the 'Sterling' SAR 80, and the Type 2 as the 'CIS' SAR 80. With total production estimated at around 80,000 rifles (although CIS have never released official figures), the overwhelming majority of rifles made are Type 2s, but the increased likelihood of the early rifles surviving in the private sphere (as trials guns, demonstrators, and so on) means that they are not as uncommon to encounter as one might expect. It is worth noting that several key parts (bolt carrier, bolt catch mechanism, trigger group, lower receiver and upper receiver) do not interchange between Type 1s and Type 2s. The pistol grips, however, do interchange, and it seems that the earliest complete Type 2 rifles were still fitted with early grips. The type class into which a specific rifle falls is determined based primarily on the design of the rear sight protectors, magazine catch and bolt catch mechanism.

As well as production differences, CIS developed a folding stock variant for export sales, but no orders appear ever to have been placed and production seems to have been limited to a small number of demonstrator guns. Another optional feature was the addition of a simple dovetailed scope rail on the top of the receiver, which seems to have been primarily ordered by the Croatian Army. At least one SAR 80 with optics rail was trialled by the Finnish Defence Forces in the 1980s.

Type 1 (or Sterling) SAR 80

As a result of Sterling's experience and familiarity with the AR-18 design, their initial design for the Sterling Assault Rifle 80 has a number of AR-18-influenced features. Firstly, the magazine catch is on the left side of the lower receiver, a simple thumb-actuated sprung lever. The AR-18 had the catch on the right and used proprietary magazines, but the SAR 80 takes STANAG type AR-15 magazines and so the location of the catch had to be switched to the left. Next are the rear sight protectors, which are taller and rounded, and very reminiscent of those on the AR-18. Internally, the bolt catch mechanism is lower than the later versions, and the bolt carrier is machined to match it. The pistol grip of the Type 1 is also more curved than that of the Type 2, and has a pin at the bottom to affix a sling swivel. The gas block on the Type 1 features a fixed sling swivel, mounted just below the bayonet lug.

The Type 1 SAR 80s have their markings on the left-hand side of the upper receiver, including 'Sterling Assault Rifle' in large lettering, below the serial number and calibre. Type 1s only seem to exist with very low serial numbers, less than 2000 (although they are all six-digit numbers, they just have two zeroes at the beginning). Most Type 1 SAR 80s were produced under contract for Sterling in Singapore, with Sterling branding. Some early examples, along with prototypes, were made in Dagenham, at the Sterling plant. While Type 1s show up in a lot of early promotional materials regarding the SAR 80, production does not seem to have lasted long - no later than 1982. 

Type 1.5 (or Transitional) SAR 80

As well as the two main models, a small number of SAR 80s (produced circa 1983-1984) were made to a transitional pattern - they display the outward features of a Type 2 upper receiver (triangular rear sight protector, no markings on left side) and a Type 1 lower receiver (Type 1 pistol grip, left-side magazine well). These rifles sometimes show up in CIS promotional literature, and some of the rifles made for the Somalian contract were transitional variants (although most seem to have been ordinary Type 2s). At least one  piece of promotional literature shows a transitional SAR 80 with the markings on the left, including the words, 'Sterling Assault Rifle', despite having the triangular rear sight protectors. 

Type 2 (or Singaporean) SAR 80

The standard serial production version of the SAR 80, the Type 2 has features that bely the fact that, where Sterling were familiar with the AR-18, CIS had experience producing and using AR-15s. The magazine catch was moved back to the right-hand side of the lower receiver, and functions much like it does on an M16. The markings were moved to the right side of the magazine well, on the lower, and reference to Sterling was dropped. The rear sight protectors were simplified in shape to be very reminiscent of the M1A1 Thompson, likely to cut costs and reduce snagging. The pistol grip was also simplified, dropping the sling swivel and going to a straighter shape, very close to that of the pre-M16A2 AR-15. The gas block was changed slightly, deleting the sling swivel. In its place, a separate, sling swivel, on a freely rotating collar, was fitted to the barrel. The gap between the sling swivel and gas block provides a positive interface to hold a bipod in place, if fitted. Internally, some subtle changes to the trigger mechanism took place, and the bolt catch was raised slightly, with a corresponding modification to the bolt carrier. Despite this change, SAR 80s are notorious for having faulty last-round hold-opens, and the example pictured here is no exception.

As the standard variant, almost all SAR 80s that one encounters 'in the wild' are Type 2s. Most CIS promotional material includes photographs of Type 2s, although some earlier pictures are of Type 2 rifles with Type 1 pistol grips. Production of the Type 2 seems to have been finalised by around 1984, and known serial numbers go up to around 50,000. It is unclear whether SNs were ever reused for different batches of rifles, or where numbering starts from, as the numbers on known examples fall short of estimated production by around 30,000 rifles, and the ex-Slovenian and ex-Croatian rifles will be from later in production, given the fact that those countries only came into existence with the collapse of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

Magazines

One of the wiser changes Sterling made when redesigning the SAR 80 from the AR-18 was to drop the latter's proprietary magazines. The SAR 80 is compatible with any STANAG/AR-15-style magazines, and was offered for sale with either 20- or 30-round steel magazines. While broadly typical, there are a few features that make the CIS-made Singaporean magazines unique. Without knowing what to look for, these magazines are hard to spot, as they are completely sterile, not being marked with designation, manufacturer, or anything at all. While STANAG-compliant, they also have interfaces to function with the Ultimax 100 Squad Automatic Weapon, also produced by CIS and used by SAF, as well as the AR-18. This is likely a holdover from Sterling, who had been making dual purpose AR-15/AR-18 magazines for a while before the SAR 80 project even started. That said, it seems unneccesary effort given the fact that CIS never produced a rifle with an AR-18-pattern magazine catch!