>>558353
>balance
How?
>trigger weight
The trigger will probably be worse, but it doesn't necessarily mean heavier
>malfunction clearing
How? Having to move your hand back a few extra inches compared to standard rifles is really that much effort? And it's not really a matter of effort, it's just training and not being used to it.
>control operation
>general ergos
Depends on the gun, not really something inherent with the bullpup design, especially not any more now that companies are figuring out all these meme linkages to allow stuff like mag releases and fire selectors to be by the pistol grip like the AR-15. There are standard rifles with shit controls and ergos and bullpups with great controls and ergos.
>there is a theoretical logistics advantage of bullpups for poorfag countries that want one gun to fill two roles
>France and their FAMAS are the one exception
Right. Fuck off Ian, stop it with this meme, seriously. While some countries that adopt bullpups do also adopt carbine versions or SMGs, these are limited to very, very specific roles, unlike the previous mixture of guns that pretty much every pre-bullpup country had before. Take Britain for example, we used to issue SLRs and Sterlings, with NCOs getting Sterlings and non-machine gunner troops getting SLRs. The SA80 replaced both the Sterling and the SLR, not only simplifying the logistics of having two different weapons, but also the ammo logistics and making the ammo in the squad interchangeable, and no matter how many times Ian McCuckold screeches "ROOOOOOOO, LOOK AT THIS ESOTERIC L22 CARBINE VARIANT THAT IS ONLY USED BY AIRCRAFT CREWS!" will change that.
Ian is a complete fucking retard in this regard, the L22 is not a failure of the SA80 to replace the SMG, since the L22 is not issued in the place of the SMG, it is issued to helicopter crews, artillerymen and that sort of stuff, who would have previously been issued Browning 9mm PISTOLS. An SA80 variant replacing the Browning simplifies logistics of weapons and ammo as mentioned before, without having to give helicopter crewmen 20" barrel rifles in place of their handguns. Ian reeeing about this is almost as autistic if he said "The FAMAS failed because it didn't replace the Mle 1950 pistol".
So the SA80 single-handedly fully replaced both the SLR, the Sterling and additionally, in some roles, even the Browning HP. I don't see how that is a failure, sure the Browning's replacement is a shorter variant, but what do you expect? It's replacing a fucking pistol, and changing a weapon that has 0% parts and ammo interchangeability with the standard rifle to one that has 90+% parts interchangeability AND uses 5.56 is a massive positive, something that could not be done with a standard rifle of the same barrel length.
A bullpup being made into different variants to replace even more weapons that it previously would have been able to is NOT A BAD THING and I don't know why Ian McCommie and his fans think it is. The options are either: Have only a 20" variant, which replaces both battle rifles and SMGs and fits Ian McComrade's esoteric definition of "a successful design" and be stuck with inferior weapon and ammo logistics OR produce a shorter variant as well that further replaces EVEN MORE weapons in different roles that the original design was ever even intended to replace, further simplifying logistics by having much more (but not 100%) compatible parts than before and 100% compatible ammo/mags, but you don't get the approval of some ponytailed faggot youtuber.
tl;dr Bullpups like the SA80 actually successfully do complete their goal of replacing the two battle rifle and SMG roles, the shorter variants are usually replacements for pistols for artillery and helicopter crews, much like the M1 carbine, not failures of the bullpups to replace SMGs.
>inb4 "muh MP5 replacing the L34A1 instead of the SA80"
Only used by SAS/spec ops. 5.56 doesn't suppress too well compared to 9mm, so it's a failure of rifles in general, not bullpups.
Also, like the horsebacked barbarian was explaining, bullpups improve the use of rifle grenades, so OAL is not "the only advantage" like you stated. And even if OAL was "the only advantage", that's a massive deal for 5.56 rifles. OAL was such an issue for you guys that you adopted the M4 to replace the M16, and are now having massive issues with keeping 5.56 above it's velocity threshold for terminal ballistics at range, whereas the marines kept the M16, and are not having any such issues due to having 20" barrels. Bullpups like the AUG, FAMAS and SA80 solved the OAL issue the army was having, while still keeping 20" barrels and effective velocities like the marines.
>inb4 "muh L129A1"
That's to do with accuracy and armour penetration, not velocity, the L129A1 has a shorter barrel than the SA80, but because it doesn't use .poopoopee, it doesn't matter that it's velocity is lower.