L8A1 (7.62 mm)

Description

The L8A1 is a British 7.62mm General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG), it is an Enfield L7 GPMG with modifications to make it suitable for use as a tank co-axial machine gun, in game it is found as the co-axial machine gun for the Chieftain series of tanks. The Enfield L7 GPMG of which the L8A1, L8A2, L37A1 and L37A2 are all variants is itself a British licence-built version of the Belgian FN MAG GPMG. As such the L8A1 performs identically to the FN MAG and L8A2 and almost identically to the L37A1 and L37A2. Being only a 7.62mm machine gun it is largely ineffective against all but the most weakly armoured, or open cabin, vehicles.

Vehicles equipped with this weapon

The L8A1 is used as the co-axial machine gun on the Chieftain series of tanks, these are the:

• Chieftain Mk 3
• Chieftain Mk 5
• Chieftain Mk 10

General info

The L8A1 performs identically to the L8A2 and FN MAG machine guns, while the only difference between it and the L37A1 and L37A2 is a marginally higher rate of fire on the L37 versions.

Available shells

The L8A1 can only be equipped with one ammo belt consisting of two Armour Piercing (AP) bullets, followed by one Tracer (T) bullet. Neither bullet has much penetration (maximum of 10mm), however the AP bullet performs much better than the tracer bullet.

Penetration statistics
Ammunition	Penetration in mm @ 90°
	10m	100m	500m	1000m	1500m	2000m
AP	10	9	7	4	1	0
T	5	4	2	1	0.1	0

Shell details
Ammunition	Velocity in m/s	Projectile Mass in kg	Fuse delay in m:	Fuse sensitivity in mm:	Explosive Mass in g (TNT equivalent):	Normalization At 30° from horizontal:	Ricochet:
							0%	50%	100%
AP	853	0.0108	N/A	N/A	N/A	??°	??°	??°	??°
T	835	0.0095	N/A	N/A	N/A	??°	??°	??°	??°

Comparison with analogues

The L8A1 performs identically to the L8A2 and FN MAG machine guns, while having a slightly lower rate of fire than the L37A1 and L37A2. It has the same ballistic performance as the L3A1 found on previous British Vehicles, but has a higher rate of fire.

Usage in the battles

Due to the very low penetration this weapon it is largely ineffective against enemy armour (although you may be able to penetrate some vehicles with extremely thing armour). The gun is primarily useful for killing exposed crew members in open topped vehicles (although there are few such vehicles at the battle ratings this gun is found at). The gun can also be used for marking enemy vehicles and obscuring the view of enemy players (shooting at their gun sight). You can use the gun against aircraft however it does minimal damage, and being co-axially mounted means it can often not be brought / kept on target against aircraft.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Better rate of fire than L3A1 machine gun

Cons:

• Lower rate of fire than the L37A1 and L37A2 machine guns found on later tanks
• Low penetration makes it ineffective against armour
• Low Damage

Historical part

Along with the L8A2, L37A1 and L37A2 the L8A1 is a British License built variant of the Belgian FN MAG GPMG. The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, it was designed in the early 1950s by Ernest Vervier, while working at the weapons company Fabrique Nationale (FN). Between 1956 and 1957 the British armed forces trialled the FN MAG against the american M60, and selected the FN MAG. The MAG was built under license as the L7 GPMG by Enfield in Britain, with minor modifications being made. It entered service under the Designation L7A1 in 1963.

The L8A1 variant was designed for co-axial use, primarily in the Chieftain series of Main Battle Tank (MBT). It was modified with a fume extractor, removal of the shoulder stock, and a folding pistol grip, in order to allow the weapon to function better in the confined space available inside a tank.

Media

An excellent addition to the article would be a video guide, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

• L8A2 (7.62 mm)
• L37A1 (7.62 mm)
• L37A2 (7.62 mm)
• FN MAG 60-40 (7.62 mm)

Sources

Wikipedia - FN MAG

Military Factory - Enfield L7 General Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG)

Tank machine guns
USA
7.62 mm	M37 · M60D · M73 · M240 · M1919A4 · Mk.52
12.7 mm	FN M3P · M2HB · M80 · M85
Germany
5.56 mm	MG4
7.62 mm	C6 · MG3A1
7.92 mm	MG13 Dreyse · MG34 · MG37(t) · MG42
12.7 mm	S.MG.50
USSR
7.62 mm	DT · PKMB · PKT · PKTM · RP-46 · SGMT
12.7 mm	DK · DShK · 6P49 · NSVT
14.5 mm	KPVT
Britain
7.62 mm	Browning MG4 · L3A1 · L8A1 · L8A2 · L37A1 · L37A2 · L94A1
7.7 mm	Vickers
7.92 mm	BESA
12.7 mm	L21A1
Japan
6.5 mm	Type 91
7.62 mm	Type 74
7.7 mm	Type 97
12.7 mm	Type 60 (B)
China
5.8 mm	QJT
7.62 mm	Type 55 · Type 59 · Type 86
12.7 mm	QJC88A · Type 54
14.5 mm	QJG02
Italy
7.62 mm	Beretta MG42/59 · FN MAG 60-40
8 mm	34/40M · Breda Mod. 38
13.2 mm	Breda Model 31
France
7.5 mm	AAT-52 · MAC 31
7.62 mm	A-A-F1N
8 mm	Hotchkiss Mle 1914
Sweden
6.5 mm	ksp m/14-29
7.62 mm	ksp 39 C · ksp 58 · ksp 94
8 mm	ksp m/36 · ksp m/39B
12.7 mm	ksp 88