Two powerful SAS rifles and 500 bullets have gone missing in the past year
Two Special Forces rifles, 500 bullets and hundreds of laptops, computers and USBs went missing from the Ministry of Defence last year, Metro can reveal.
The powerful C8 Rifles, believed to be used by the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS) in close combat, were lost between January and December 2024, according to new data.
The weapons are believed to have been used by the Royal Military Police in close protection work and the special forces in room clearing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
More than 560 ‘explosive munitions’, including nearly 100 bullets used by the rifles, were also classed as ‘lost or stolen’ between January and December 2024.
Six deactivated rifles worth thousands of pounds were also stolen from the Ministry of Defence (MOD) last year, according to data obtained through a Freedom of Information request.
These included a mid-20th century Self-Loading Rifle, currently on sale for as much as £1,900, and a Lee-Enfield Rifle, first produced in 1892 and used by the British Army in both World War I and II, which goes for as much as £1,600.
‘It goes without saying that these are military carbines and could create havoc in the wrong hands,’ David Dyson, a firearms and weaponry consultant, told Metro.
‘Although I don’t have any confirmable information on where they were used, I think you can assume that they could have been used wherever the SAS were deployed.
‘If they were lost during an operation, that might be a bit more understandable than if they were lost in the UK.’
The MOD declined to comment on where the rifles were lost, but said that it takes the ‘security of defence assets extremely seriously’.
What is the C8 Rifle?
The C8 Rifle was first produced by Colt as the Model 725 for the Canadian Armed Forces.
It’s first show debut was in 1983.
While the rifle was initially made for vehicle crews, it has since been used by paratroopers and special forces across the world.
Troops in the British, Danish, Dutch and Norwegian militaries are all believed to have used the weapon.
The standard C8 can fire between 750 and 900 rounds per minute.
It has an ammo load of 150 rounds.
The ammo used is the 5.56x45mm NATO cartridge.
The rifle has a point-blank range of 300m, which is the distance it can hit a target without the need to elevate the barrel to account for bullet drop.
It weighs around 3.2kg when loaded and 2.7kg empty.
The standard C8 has a 36.8cm (14.5in) A1-profile barrel.
Firearms are deactivated through various methods, including cutting and welding, to prevent them from firing bullets.
However, senior forensic scientist James Clery says he has dealt with a ‘massive spike in casework’ involving deactivated weapons that were reactivated – something he claims is not hard to do with the right tools.
Mr Clery says reactivating a weapon is ‘relatively straightforward, either by boring out the chamber, which has been plugged to deactivate it, or replacing parts that have been removed or altered to deactivate it.
‘For someone with the right metal working tools it’s not hard to do,’ he told Metro.
Hundreds of electronic devices, including 125 laptops, 25 computers and 140 USBs were also lost or stolen from the MOD last year, according to the figures.
In June alone, 84 laptops, 7 USBs and 5 computers were either stolen or missing.
An MOD spokesperson said: ‘We take the security of defence assets extremely seriously and have robust policies and procedures to prevent losses and thefts.
‘If any assets are reported lost or missing due to suspected criminal activity, we take the necessary steps to investigate, prosecute and recover the items.’
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