SAF Lithgow Mk.III*

[smerdon42]

Lithy , we used to use black boot polish to hid rust spots on the SLR , it was mixed with metho and boot polish and we used a lighter to heat it up just like you did to fill in cracks in your GPS when spit polishing those bastard of a things .

My wife's grandfather told me it was common practice before big parades/inspections for diggers to apply their tan boot polish to the woodwork of their rifles to even out the colour and hide the dings and scrapes that service arms acquire from their intended use. What you are looking at as paint could well be boot polish.

The U prefix serial number isn't Lithgow.