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I was issued with an R4 in late 1980, our unit, 1 SAI was one of the first SADF units to have these weapons. I did plenty "unofficial shooting" with my R4, mostly on automatic and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I found it to be reasonably accurate and while a tad heavy was an improvement on the old R1/FN I had carried in basics and second phase. Our R4's still had the wooden stock and bipod and the gyppo handle had not been removed either. The cleaning kit was not equipped with a proper pull-through though, a rope with a threaded fitting was supplied and was totally useless. Before Ops Daisy all of our R4's were taken into the tiffies for modifications to the firing pins, and we carried those weapons till we kla-ed out. The R4 was reknown for being quite robust and many guys would take theirs into the showers with them after a heavy day in the mud at De Brug. We usually carried five 35 round mags and were issued the 50 round mags in mid 1981 and while we never had long enough ammo pouches they seemed to designed for use inside the Ratel firing through the gunports.
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