A couple of British L1A1 Rifles

[enbloc8]

Yes, it's true that only a handful of FN C1s (A1) exist out in the civilian market. Most were bought by DCRA members way back when that was the thing. Some were sold by the OPP when they changed rifles, but most were destroyed when they were no longer required in war reserve...just in time for the war... There's the odd one deactivated, but most are Aussie or UK...the live ones too.

When the FNs were retired from active Canadian service, something like 50,000 rifles were overhauled by Colt Canada and put into war reserve. From which they went straight to the chopper.

I understand there are a *very* small handful of legitimate Canadian-made C1/C1A1s in the States, but the emphasis is on "very". And since they would have "walked" across the border and were probably never registered as machine guns (stupid auto-sear!), it's a safe bet they stay well out of sight.

Most of the C1s and C2s in the States are the result of literal years of searching for Canadian parts to build on a legal US made receiver. Very few parts kits made it over here, all parts are expensive, and some items, such as Longbranch-made barrels and many C2 parts, are made of unobtainium at this point.

---------- Post added at 07:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:08 PM ----------

Well, I know some of the people who chopped up the C1 FN-FAL in the early 2000s. Truly sad, the one guy was telling me how they still had some NOS in the box from 1960 and they were just taken out of the box, wood taken off for burning and the metal chopped with a torch.

There are only two legal sources the C1 FN-FAL could have come from that I am aware of. One being the ex-OPP rifles, the other was back when the C1 was being made they offered some for sale to members of the DCRA so they could buy them for service rifle competitions. From what I understand very few took up the offer, as the catalog I saw it in advertised show it as 150 or 160$ back then (in comparison to 10$ Lee Enfields).

I've been told that rifles remaining in stock at Longbranch Arsenal/CAL were sold off along with the plant machinery and other assets when the Arsenal was closed in 1976.