Surprised at your comments, D. My personal weapon was initially the 9mm Stirling SMG; OK-ish. But I never wanted to be that close to the enemy that I would be able to use it effectively.
Then I got promoted:
"This, Sah, is your noo Personal Weapon – the 9mm Browning Automatic Pistol, Sah!"
"What do I do with it, Sergeant? Throw it at him?"
"No, Sah! You frighten the nearest LAC with it, ooh shoots the commie ba$tard for you, Sah!"
"Oh, jolly good! Will they do that a lot for me, then Sergeant?"
"Yes, Sah. Just as long as you 'ave been really nice to 'em in the past, Sah!"
"Arrr, I'm bu@@ered then, aren't I, Sergeant?"
"You could well be, Sah!"
The 9mm BAP was not a piece of kit that I was terribly, ever, very keen on.
Then we got the SA 80/L85. Being Light Blue, we didn't get SUSAT sights – just iron ones. I found it really 'handy', light, easy to fire and VERY accurate. Fired off 100's of rounds with no jams as I recall. Complete pain in the arse to strip I grant you with all the small fiddley bits – and this was in the days of the Cold War when everything was done in NBC kit with at least 2 layers of gloves. No, I liked the SA 80. But I understand why some might not. Perhaps it was because they were 'new' and not worn like they must be now.