Lithgow L1A1

[Peter Laidler]

Just make sure that you follow the thread on this forum regarding the re-manufacture of sub calibre kits. GREAT fun with the added bonus that when you give up full bore shooting, you can keep the rifle for small bore shooting

[jjjxlr8]

We love those parts kits here in the States! Too bad they are long gone, now.

[browningautorifle]

My first private purchase FN was AD6405676. Was that ever a rough rifle. Looked like it went to Vietnam and was never cleaned...no finish left, rough front half of the bore and rust under the wood. Still shot OK and worked fine though.

[mrclark303]

Hi Peter,

I will keep a look out for .22 kit, that would be fantastic!

Cheers, John.

[enbloc8]

I wonder where my trusty old L1A1 AD6104714 ever went. It was a nice loose rifle and it would shoot all day and night with the gas port fullly open - just closed down 2 or 3 stops. Don't ask me how you ever remember these numbers!!!!! While talking of pooled Ordnance stockpiles, it must have been done on a pro rata basis because most (but not all) of our vehicles were pom Bedfords and big stuff, Australian type Land Rovers and NZ CAC made ammo

Well, I can report that its distant sibling, AD6113173, is alive and well in the American Midwest, and is an equally nice and loose rifle that will eat anything and thump targets longer than I can!!

What kind of furniture did yours have? Did it still have the solid wood handguards, or the laminated ones?

[Peter Laidler]

Solid wood handguards to start with when I got it but when the laminated (and FAR better to hold in my opinion) came on stream in 1967/68, I swopped them for laminated. Great rifle. IT would go like a train!

[Fozzybear]

There's a good book on Australian SLR's titled......SLR...Australias FN-FAL.
Had one years ago when I had my two SLR's.
At the back of the book is all the batch numbers{by serial number} and where they were issued/sent/made for.

Weirdest place I've seen an Australian SLR was in Ghana {West Africa} whilst working there I took a trip to "Mole" national park to see the Elephants and a park ranger had one, so I asked for a look....and low and behold it had an Ozzie serial number.

I checked in my book on my next leave break and it did match with a batch made for Ghana.

[Peter Laidler]

The reason why Australia captured the largest export marked for L1A1's was because they were the cheapest price and at the same time, made a substantial profit too. It was also said that Australia had the most relaxed export rules in relation to exports to Africa but I don't believe that. They could make and sell cheapest

[enbloc8]

The reason why Australia captured the largest export marked for L1A1's was because they were the cheapest price and at the same time, made a substantial profit too. It was also said that Australia had the most relaxed export rules in relation to exports to Africa but I don't believe that. They could make and sell cheapest

Interesting; I'd always figured it was because Australia had a much smaller military to equip than Britain, and so had the available production capacity sooner. I remember somebody (maybe you?) commenting that the British government was pretty ticked off at Australia over the whole thing!

What countries bought L1A1s from Britain? It's a shame there's not a book along the lines of Skennerton's work out there for Britain's L1A1s.

[Peter Laidler]

At the time of peak production, Australia had a big Army comparatively speaking, with 10 full-strength Infantry battalions AND support arms AND with 2+ battalions fighting in Vietnam AND a full battalion permanently in Malaya.

I don't know for sure but I don't think Britain sold many L1A1 rifles - they were just tooooo expensive! We tried to sell virtually new but certainly FTR'd L1A1's to the newly formed Lebanese Army in the late 80's but that failed even for a give-away price. although we did ''gift' zillions to the Sierra Leone Army - but enough said about them....... I think that they started to 'gift' rifles eventually but not until the 70's. I only have the saga piecemeal from the people I know and worked with. One of my bosses, WO1 Clive Connors had the full insight into the episode. Australia had to make a living and exports were valuable currencyespecially when the African Countries were paying in the £Sterling they'd received as foreign aid.

Another person who was well aware of the story was one of the members of the steering committee who was involved with the interchangeability of parts called Capt Steve Sxxxxxx from the SASC. He often used comment that Lithgow were always well ahead of the game, once they'd got the new machinery.

I'm sure that I have asked this before, but did Canada sell LB made L1A1's abroad? Gift them to foreign nations?