Lithgow Small Arms Factory
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Industry | Firearms, Defence |
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Founded | June 8, 1912 |
Headquarters | Lithgow, City of Lithgow, Cook, New South Wales, Australia |
Area served | worldwide |
Products | Pistols, Rifles, Carbines, Submachine guns, Machine guns |
Parent | Thales Australia |
Website | www.lithgowarms.com |
Coordinates: 33°29′15″S 150°08′23″E / 33.4875718°S 150.1397288°E The Lithgow Small Arms Factory, or Lithgow Arms, is an Australian small arms manufacturing factory located in the town of Lithgow, New South Wales.
History
Opened on 8 June 1912, the factory initially manufactured SMLE III rifles (and bayonets thereof) for the Australian military during World War I.[1] During World War II, production expanded to include Vickers machine guns, Bren guns and, postwar, branched out into sporting goods (including civilian firearms and golf clubs), tools, sewing machines, (from the mid-1950s) the F1 submachine gun, L1A1 SLR, KAL1 general purpose infantry rifle prototypes 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 under the Slazenger brand during the 1960s.[1] The factory was first "corporatised" as Australian Defence Industries by the Hawke Government, 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.[1] 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.[2]
List of sporting rifles manufactured under the Lithgow name
Discontinued firearms:
- Lithgow Model 1 .22 single-shot rifle produced from 1945
- Lithgow Model 1A .22 single-shot rifle
- Lithgow Model 1B .22 single-shot rifle
- Lithgow Model 12 .22 bolt-action 5-shot repeater 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 bolt-action rimfire rifle available in .17 HMR, .22 LR and .22 WMR
- Lithgow LA102 CrossOver bolt-action centrefire rifle available in .223 Rem, .243 Win and .308 Win
- Lithgow F90 Semi Auto/Automatic Military Grade Rifle, available in 5.56x45mm NATO[3]
Notes and references
- 1 2 3 "History and production". Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
- ↑ "Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum". Retrieved 17 October 2016.
- ↑ "F90 Automatic Rifle Family – Lithgow Arms". www.lithgowarms.com. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
Further reading
- Griffiths, Tony (2006). Lithgow's Small Arms Factory and its People. 2 volumes. Terrey Hills, New South Wales: Toptech Engineering. ISBN 9780975064610.
External links
- Official website
- Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum Website (not affiliated with Lithgow Arms or Thales)
- Lithgow Tourism
- Thales Australia