So you think you're an Enfield collector?

[Patrick Chadwick]

Just back from a visit to OZ.

First, the bad news: it is the most expensive country I have visited up to now.

But the good news: the Aussies are the most helpful people I have ever met. If you hover on the pavement looking at a map for more than a few seconds, or just stand about looking puzzled, someone will offer help and guidance. My wife and I have a theory that it comes from a couple of centuries of living in a thinly populated country where cooperation is truly a survival factor.

By chance, I spotted a bus that seemed to be an omen.

Attachment 41101

The bus to Lithgow, maybe? Not in fact, but some might like to guess where the photo was made.

The next day, we made a round tour of the Blue Mountains. And as Lithgow was a handy halfway-stop for a bit of lunch, you can guess where we ended up...

Attachment 41102

Not just a lot of SMLEs, but one from every year of Lithgow production.

There were hundreds of excellent, informative, and downright curious exhibits. And I discovered that my most beautiful No.3 rifle butt is made of Tasmanian blackwood (acacia melanoxylon), which was one of the woods tried out by the Lithgow plant as a replacement for walnut. How it came to end up in a gunshop in Rome, where I found it, will always remain a mystery. Does anyone have a plausible explanation?

This is the Lithgow example:
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To anyone who goes to Australia - and of course, those who already live there - please visit the Lithgow Small Arms Museum and show your appreciation. The word "unique" is overused, but if this collection is ever broken up, I doubt that it could be put together again.

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