Lithgow Arms is an Australian

small arms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

manufacturer located in the town of

Lithgow, New South Wales Lithgow is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and is the administrative centre of the City of Lithgow local government area. It is located in a mountain valley named Lithgow's Valley by John Oxley in honour of W ...

. Established by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

in 1912 as the Lithgow Small Arms Factory to ease reliance on the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

for the supply of defence materials, it is currently owned by Thales Australia.

History

Opened on 8 June 1912, the factory initially manufactured SMLE III rifles (and Pattern 1907 bayonets) for the Australian military during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, production expanded to include

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...

Bren gun The Bren gun (Brno-Enfield) was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by the United Kingdom in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in Worl ...

s and, postwar, branched out into sporting goods (including civilian firearms and

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety o ...

s), tools,

sewing machines Diagram of a modern sewing machine Animation of a modern sewing machine as it stitches A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolution ...

, (from the mid-1950s) the F1 submachine gun, L1A1 SLR, KAL1 general purpose infantry rifle

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

s, general purpose machine guns, and similar products. The Lithgow Small Arms Factory was known to produce their single shot models 1A and 1B as well as their Model 12

repeater In telecommunications, a repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it. Repeaters are used to extend transmissions so that the signal can cover longer distances or be received on the other side of an obstruction. Some ...

under the

Slazenger Slazenger () is a British sports equipment brand owned by the Frasers Group (formerly Sports Direct). One of the world's oldest sport brands, the company was established as a sporting goods shop in 1881 by entrepreneurial brothers, Ralph and Al ...

brand during the 1960s. The factory was first "corporatised" as Australian Defence Industries by the

Hawke government The Hawke government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Bob Hawke of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1983 to 1991. The government followed the Liberal-National Coalition Fraser government and was su ...

, then later sold in 2006. ADI Lithgow is now owned by Thales Australia and continues to manufacture the F88 Austeyr rifle and F89 Minimi currently used by the

Australian military The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Fo ...

. As a separate entity, not owned or run by the current owners of the factory, the volunteer-run Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum is located at the front of the disused section of site and has a large collection of military and civilian firearms manufactured at the factory and elsewhere. In 2019, the museum was placed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register which lists influential collections and documents considered key to Australia's history. The museum sees 9,000 annual visitors and is a big draw to the city of Lithgow.

Products

Military

Alongside the weapons listed below, the factory also produced bayonets, components, barrels, and magazines as well as repairing, modifying, and rechambering weapons. * Short Magazine Lee Enfield, at least 640,000 produced, with variants including Rifle No 1 Mk III & Mk III* and Rifle No 2 Mk IV (training), from 1912 to 1945. *

, 12,500 Mk I, Mk V, and Mk XXI produced from 1929 to 1943. *

Bren light machine gun The Bren gun (Brno-Enfield) was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by the United Kingdom in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in Worl ...

, 17,500 produced from 1940 to 1945. * L1A1 Self Loading Rifle, 222,773 rifles produced from 1959 to 1986 * L2A1, 9,557 produced * L1A1-F1, 460 produced * F1 submachine gun, 25,000 produced from 1962 to 1973 * Austeyr F88, produced from 1988 * Minimi F89, produced from 1989 * Australian Combat Assault Rifle (ACAR), produced from 2023

Commercial

A broad variety of weapons complemented the factory's military production, but also civilian products such as aircraft parts, golf heads, and tractor components, amongst other things. Discontinued firearms: * Lithgow Model 1 .22

single-shot In firearm designs, the term single-shot refers to guns that can hold only a single round of ammunition inside and thus must be reloaded manually after every shot. Compared to multi-shot repeating firearms ("repeaters"), single-shot designs have ...

rifle produced from 1945 * Lithgow Model 1A .22 single-shot rifle * Lithgow Model 1B .22 single-shot rifle * Lithgow Model 12 .22

bolt-action Bolt action is a type of manual Action (firearms), firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt (firearms), turn-bolt via a cocking handle, bolt handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (a ...

5-shot

produced from 1947 * Lithgow Model 12 .22 bolt-action 10-shot repeater (Bibby) * Lithgow Model 24 .22 Hornet cartridge produced from 1949 * A single-shot bolt-action shotgun using the .410" cartridge (name unknown) Current production firearms: * Lithgow LA101 CrossOver

rimfire rifle, available in .17 HMR, .22 LR and .22 WMR * Lithgow LA102 CrossOver bolt-action

centerfire Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A center-fire (or centerfire) is a type of metallic cartridge used in firearms, where the primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i. ...

rifle, available in .223 Rem, .243 Win, 6.5mm Creedmoor and .308 Win * Lithgow LA105 Woomera bolt-action centerfire rifle, available in 6.5mm Creedmoor and .308 Win * Lithgow F90 Semi Auto/Automatic Military Grade Rifle, available in 5.56×45mm NATO ** Lithgow F90MBR Modular Bullpup Rifle, available in 5.56×45mm NATO

References

External links