1942 Lithgow No1 paint marking question

[muffett.2008]

The question that should be asked, is how a firearm with provisional major repair indicators, found it's way into the system without the marks being removed.

The firearm in question was found to be defective to the extent that it required backloading to a Base Repair Facility...….this means that the repair was beyond the scope of the RAEME attached to the Unit or Inspection Team that identified the fault.

If the repair was beyond the scope of the Base Workshop(highly unlikely) the firearm would be either classified UR, or if it was a receiver problem and replaceable, marked FR and sent to factory where it would have gone through an FTR program.

Once the firearm was repaired by Base Workshops, it would be returned to Unit, if forwarded to Factory, a replacement would be issued to the holding Unit to maintain their holdings.
All paint markings would be removed after either Base Repair or FTR, as the firearm would have been restored to as new condition.(this includes the Cadet paint band)

As this rifle was FTR'd it means that the downgrade to Cadet green was after the FTR date, the further downgrade and marking for Base Repair would have been from the Cadet Unit storage, or possibly about 1980 when the rifles were withdrawn from Cadet Units.


To have survived with the red paint intact is an indicator that the firearm was never repaired...….maybe sold as is with the JJCO purchases.

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[kpj53]

The question that should be asked, is how a firearm with provisional major repair indicators, found it's way into the system without the marks being removed.

The firearm in question was found to be defective to the extent that it required backloading to a Base Repair Facility...….this means that the repair was beyond the scope of the RAEME attached to the Unit or Inspection Team that identified the fault.

If the repair was beyond the scope of the Base Workshop(highly unlikely) the firearm would be either classified UR, or if it was a receiver problem and replaceable, marked FR and sent to factory where it would have gone through an FTR program.

Once the firearm was repaired by Base Workshops, it would be returned to Unit, if forwarded to Factory, a replacement would be issued to the holding Unit to maintain their holdings.
All paint markings would be removed after either Base Repair or FTR, as the firearm would have been restored to as new condition.(this includes the Cadet paint band)

As this rifle was FTR'd it means that the downgrade to Cadet green was after the FTR date, the further downgrade and marking for Base Repair would have been from the Cadet Unit storage, or possibly about 1980 when the rifles were withdrawn from Cadet Units.


To have survived with the red paint intact is an indicator that the firearm was never repaired...….maybe sold as is with the JJCO purchases.

Great post, thank you. This is not a JJCO, its an IA CO, one of the many importers from the 80s-90s. Most likely they came from the same batches that JJCO got them from. I have seen many rifles with the bands painted on the stocks of all colors floating around for years so who knows what stores they came from. Plus many with the yellow painted noses I still see at shows for sale. Of course you never know if that stock even belonged on that particular rifle, many dealers/buyers swapped stocks and removed the paint bands.

Not to drift off topic too much but here in the states on the M1903s they welded the barrel to the receiver, welded a rod in the chamber, welded the face of the bolt shut and welded the magazine cutoff so the bolt could not be removed when they were converted to drill rifles for VFW and ROTC parade/drill use. After all of that many were converted back to firing status when 1903 prices started soaring in the last few years. It is a fair amount of work to put one back in firing condition (and some safety concerns as well) but there are thousands of new WWII era barrels around, many bolts and stocks as well so you have to be careful when buying a 1903 these days. My son took some pictures of the rack of 1903 rifles they still use in JROTC (high school cadet sort of) for parade/drill and most are over 100 years old. Certainly getting their use out of those things

Thanks again everyone for the replies, I was going to restock this one but I think I'll just leave it as is. Not wartime history but interesting none the less.

[Bindi2]

Thanks again everyone for the replies, I was going to restock this one but I think I'll just leave it as is. Not wartime history but interesting none the less.

1942 rifle certainly would have seen action, WW2, Korea. The cadets came later. If the Butt hasent been changed or sanded there will be many stampings showing the rifles history. The paint is only one chapter of its history.

[kpj53]

1942 rifle certainly would have seen action, WW2, Korea. The cadets came later. If the Butt hasent been changed or sanded there will be many stampings showing the rifles history. The paint is only one chapter of its history.

I meant the paint markings didnt have any wartime history, but the cadet history is interesting too. Matter of fact every time people see the rifle the first thing they ask about is the paint markings, the red and green paint is really bright in daylight.

I'm sure the rifle has seen some action over its lifetime. Only markings the stock has is SLAZ 52 and the painted marks, many I have seen had all kinds of markings but this ones doesnt. I assume the wood was replaced when it was FTR'd or later down the road.