Lee Enfield to the SLR: Service Rifles of the Australian Digger in Combat

Рет қаралды 51,511

Күн бұрын

Australia's history of indigenous small arms production begins with the opening of the Lithgow small arms factory in the eastern part of the country. Starting with Lee Enfield production before the First World War and ending with the Self Loading Rifle before the takeover of Australian Defense Industries (ADI) after the Vietnam War. During this time period, Lithgow and other facilities in the country produced the majority of small arms and ammunition that armed the Australian infantry in WW1, WW2, and Vietnam where Australians fought alongside Vietnamese and American allies against the Viet Cong and Noth Vietnamese Army.
Things came to an end for the small arms factory at Lithgow when Australian Defense Industries took over operations as part of a government-wide effort to privatize the defense industry. Many in the town today still feel animosity over this move
Today visitors can and are encouraged to visit the Lithgow Small Arms Museum that is still open and operating in the town.
Thumbnail image was taken at the Australian War Memorial Museum.
Read more at:
www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2...
««« GUN + GEAR GIVEAWAYS »»»
TFBTV is viewer supported and does not accept money for positive reviews of products. Please visit our Patreon and SubscribeStar pages if you enjoy our independent content and consider helping us.
/ tfbtv
www.subscribestar.com/tfbtv
NOTE: These giveaways are not affiliated with, associated with, or in any way endorsed by KZfaq and TFBTV is solely responsible for the giveaways mentioned in this video and this description. No purchase required for guns/gear worth over $250.
««« FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA »»»
/ thefirearmblogtv
/ tfbtv
/ tfbtv
««« TFB CHAT ROOM »»»
Want to join the TFBTV chat room? We are on Discord:
/ discord
#TFBTV #Lithgow #Australia

Пікірлер: 148

@salokin3087 4 жыл бұрын

Australia has always been the little army that could, from Korea, Vietnam, Timor and Afghanistan, the range of operations is impressive

@cptjak519 4 жыл бұрын

Lili k

@asdfasdf7199 4 жыл бұрын

they can also boast draconian gun control measures for their civilian population. hard pass.

@SoultalkOG 4 жыл бұрын

I thought that was the swiss😤

@radaraacf 4 жыл бұрын

Little but highly trained and professional army! It was expected to have a solid base of excellent personnel if we ever had to rapidly expand for another world war type conflict

@venners4288 3 жыл бұрын

They're not draconian, they're realistic. Fortunately, we have a solid foundation of firearm ownership, but without the concept of them being a "right" for everyone. I don't want my neighbour's friend's dog groomer to have access to an AR platform rifle, as they just don't need it here. We all have our own view of what is fair and right, but in my opinion, as a gun loving Aussie, we're fine as it is. Cheers cobba's.

@charleskd4110 4 жыл бұрын

Speaking as Someone who lives nearby to lithgow in the town of bathurst I’m loving the recognition of this important factory thanks for the video love your work guys! And great to see an American who can pronounce Lithgow 👍 you have one up on forgotten weapons their lol!

@paulvenn4447 4 жыл бұрын

Haha yeah always end up hearing it as a Ow as in Cow, Lith-ga-OW.

@xgford94 4 жыл бұрын

Yes well done, you pronounce Lithgow correctly 🇦🇺👍, thank you for the content too!

@My3nMy4 4 жыл бұрын

That’s in exchange for butchering “chagrin” at 1:25.

@unfitforpurpose6422 4 жыл бұрын

Still have my Lithgow mk4 but sadly lost my SLR and a few other items in a boating accident 19/03/2019...I always wanted a Bren gun but sadly that’s no longer allowed

@theoxmountaingang2585 4 жыл бұрын

Aww no not a boating accident

@jeffprice6421 4 жыл бұрын

@@theoxmountaingang2585 I hear there's a lot of that going around.

@surfingtothestars 4 жыл бұрын

@georgewells6661 4 жыл бұрын

Wait how do you have an SLR?

@byutube4360 4 жыл бұрын

Mad respect to the Aussies. Hope they get their semi autos back.

@jameshealy4594 4 жыл бұрын

@@hoilst This is a line trotted out by a lot of people but the vast majority of us cannot qualify, since we are not primary producers or professional pest controllers. All they had to do was allow competition as a valid reason like they did with handguns, which are almost all semi-autos anyway. That and appearance laws are my two biggest problems with our laws.

@gureno19 4 жыл бұрын

@@jameshealy4594 I remember purchasing an M1 Garand on my collectors license and getting knocked back by WAPOL because it was a centre fire semi auto and it was a danger to society..... This was regardless of the fact that i held CAT B Centre fire bolt action rifles on open licenses, CAT C Pump Action Shotguns for competition and CAT H Handguns for a few different disciplines within IPSC. So regardless of owning probably the most prevalent and highly sort after firearms for crime and murder, which is easily concealable handguns....it was the 85 year old 4kg battle rifle that threatened the fabric of society within Western Australia the most.

@mik4209 4 жыл бұрын

Echo Delta lol it's still hard to get the license for it, plus ammo is expensive ASF here.

@MrRdvs87 4 жыл бұрын

Did they? I don’t know a ton on their laws.

@mik4209 4 жыл бұрын

MrRdvs87 yes after the Port Arthur massacre, one guy had to fuck it up for everyone.

@Key_highway 3 жыл бұрын

Great video, I carried a Lithgow produced EF88 in Afghanistan, and while (thankfully) I never had to use it in anger, it was nice to know I had a reliable weapon if I did need it, that was produced in my own country.

@kingbaldwiniv5409 4 жыл бұрын

Miles, I really love your videos. You always get a great historical or international subject and make me want to engage in gun tourism!

@definitelynotacrab7651 4 жыл бұрын

Looks like a really cool museum, always love to see prototype and field modified guns that never entered general production on display. Great video Miles!

@RuthlessMojo Жыл бұрын

I was in the last class of recruits to be trained with the SLR. 3 months later I had to qualify with the Steyr, which had just been introduced. I fired left handed but we only had right handed models which meant everytime I fired the thing I would catch an empty shell in the forehead.

@DefunctYompelvert 10 ай бұрын

What year was that may I ask? In New Zealand they transitioned from the SLR to the M16 for about 2-3 years before the Styer

@RuthlessMojo 10 ай бұрын

@@DefunctYompelvert For me it was 1993. Honestly I was more of a fan of the SLR. I hated the fixed optics. I think later on they bought in the pica-tinny rail option but the ones we were issued with had the fixed 1.5 scope. They were absolutely rubbish for CQB. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the plastic, quite often the magazines would crack if you fell on them awkwardly or were a bit rough with them. I also liked the weight of the SLR. For sharpshooting the rifle was much easier to control.

@ReHerakhte 4 жыл бұрын

Some SLRs so modified were not actually SLRs (i.e. the L1A1 Self Loading Rifle), they were actually modified L2A1 ARs (Automatic Rifles), essentially the Australian version of the FN FAL-HB. The immediate identifying point for these AR modifications is the rear sight, the L1A1 has the typical rifle sight while the L2A1 has a machine-gun type sight. Also, popular rumour has it that one example of the Bitch survives as a memento in the Sergeant's Mess at Campbell Barracks, home of the Australian SASR.

@wayneorellana2549 4 жыл бұрын

What an awesome suprise, great to see some Australian content. Keep it up.

@paulvenn4447 4 жыл бұрын

As an Aussie thanks for doing this! :D

@alfredlear4141 4 жыл бұрын

Love the concept of "the bitch" I often wonder if the additional noise and flash of shorter barrels actually increases lethality (due to additional shock value). In jungle fighting this tactic seems sensible

@gotthesinglelife 4 жыл бұрын

The "Bitch" and the USMC "The Stinger" were one bad ass weapons modified in the field.

@xfirehurican 4 жыл бұрын

(sha-grin v char) Nevertheless, an excellent vid!

@calebspicer3818 4 жыл бұрын

Still making great arms i grew up shooting 303 and 22 great weapons made for Australian conditions, i worked at a site where the satellite factory in Orange was it was Electrolux then making fridges.

@tomcrews8467 4 жыл бұрын

When I was in Vietnam from 6/69 - 3/71, I worked with the rangers. I found them an M14 with the full auto selector switch. The stock was replace with a simple homemade stock with no shoulder stock, a pistol grip and a forearm grip. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any extended magazines. It was was used by the point man in one of their 6 men hunter killer teams. He used a simple circular web sling that when carried over his shoulder allowed the M14 to swing free by his right side. Because he also carried a CAR15 weight was a problem so I only knew that it was used on a couple of shorter missions. The major complaint besides weight was the incredible plume that you got when dumping 20 rounds of 7.62 NATO. They couldn’t use it at night.

@Jobotta 4 жыл бұрын

Really good video. I love esoteric small arms history like this. Thanks Miles, and keep up the good work.

@nz540im3 2 жыл бұрын

Amazing research also dude. Glad to see an American taking interest in the pacific island countries during WWII

@mattberry4457 4 жыл бұрын

i was working for an importer in the late eighties and early nineties. we imported 36000 lithgow enfields and had two weeks to stamp and catalogue them. in that bunch we found a few 1st lighthorse rifles, no1mk5s and about 40 22 trainers

@olihaub 4 жыл бұрын

Can confirm, the Lithgow small arms museum is deffinately worth a visit if your in Sydney. Also the war memorial museum in Canberra is also deffinately worth a visit. Probably one of the best war museums in the world by far!

@dotcassilles1488 Жыл бұрын

They have increased or will be increasing their display sizes a heap. Im not sure but part of it was meant to be developed to showcase more of the larger pieces in their collections. Try searching "Australian War Memorial, Canberra" for more info. They are also putting more of the collections online and even creating digital collections and virtual reality tours for those who can't make it thru the buildings. I have to go again to see what has been done. Blessings, Dot

@paulvenn4447 4 жыл бұрын

7:30 little tid bit for those reloaders here, ADI produce the bulk of our reloading powders here in Australia, one of the main popular powders is AR2208, this is repackaged and sold in America as Varget :)

@tfbtv 4 жыл бұрын

That’s a different ADI. The ADI I’m talking about in the video no longer exists. -Miles

@PaulA-bv1rt 4 жыл бұрын

@@tfbtv .Thales owns Lithgow and ADI . ADI make our reloading powders, military spec powder and explosives etc. ADI started out as a Gov't organisation and ran Lithgow before privatisation and eventually both ended up being owned by Thales , a French company.

@roblox-vp1rq 2 жыл бұрын

Great video. That does put a lot of otherwise difficult-to-find information into clear perspective. Very interesting and enjoyable to watch this.

@donaldmack2307 2 жыл бұрын

I have one of these I inherited from family that was my granddads first rifle he bought after he got back from WW2. It still has an amazingly smooth bolt and the barrel is in great condition despite it being deployed for service many times based on all the stamps on the buttstock.

@Stickman87 4 жыл бұрын

Really enjoy that, super interesting. Would really enjoy a specific video on sort of each time period you talked about, going into more depth and detail.

@maxk5038 4 жыл бұрын

Dont usually enjoy these sorts of videos but this one was interesting, thanks!

@junkyarddog8277 8 ай бұрын

Picked up an Australian Lithgow sht.le 1921. Had no idea till I got home. So glad the only Lee Enfield I have is an Australian.

@nickheath1927 4 жыл бұрын

Love the channel I just sent this report through to all the groups I know in Australia to show how our government has taken our nuts

@petethebastard 4 жыл бұрын

From an Aussie... Good vid!

@ArkyJane 4 жыл бұрын

They make one hell of a fantastic 22 rifle.

@krisguntner4805 4 жыл бұрын

Miles where you been man? These historical firearms videos are some of my favorites on the channel!

@Velma-And-Scooby 4 жыл бұрын

My Mauser K98k is my favorite of my milsurps. Lee enfields have fast actions but I can’t get over the rimmed cartridge.

@afmo500 4 жыл бұрын

It's funny, the biggest thing I remember about going to the museum in Lithgow was the Luger collection, pretty much every variation you knew existed and quite a few you didn't seem to be there; I'm sure somewhere a larger collection exists but I've yet to find it.

@dirtyleppa666 4 жыл бұрын

Great video. Would love to see one about South africas firearms history if you ever decide to do more

@whocanmakeyourwholeweek7272 3 жыл бұрын

well researched enjoyed very much 👍👍

@jezrix7257 2 ай бұрын

Such a great video. 🇦🇺

@Yugetubes 4 жыл бұрын

The words in the thumbnail are one typo away from chaos.

@davidmilisock5200 4 жыл бұрын

Great video.

@jimrodriguez8047 4 жыл бұрын

Nice review...would be great if you did a feature length video with more detail!

@michaelbrillantes6168 4 жыл бұрын

This video doesn't show up on the main Video list for some reason. I only saw this by scrolling through the updates page and not the video page itself.

@xgford94 4 жыл бұрын

Michael Brillantes yes the views sure make it look like this vid has been buried by the algorithm

@Botclone 4 жыл бұрын

The release date says 1 hour ago, this probably is a patreon thing

@Pablo668 4 жыл бұрын

Heya, thx for doing a vid on the Aussie experience/firearms story. Yeah we we produce pretty good soldiers and have a habit of getting involved with the US in various conflicts. I think with the historical firearms at least we were sometimes in a position where we could end up on our own down here and would need to be able to produce our own firearms locally, hence things like the Owen gun. I think there is still a company called Lithgow that makes civilian firearms... Edit: Ooops, I forgot, that battlefield mod of the SLR is the kind of thing Australian troops would do, shucking of the rear echelon command and knocking up a weapon fit for service. Not to say they weren't professional soldiers or anything.

@joshburke4083 4 жыл бұрын

Lithgow is still around. I think both them and ADI work in a partnership for the military contracts and just Lithgow itself for the civilian market ie; the LA101 and LA102.

@jhoshouse 4 жыл бұрын

Miles back at it again! Good stuff. Sorry to hear about the PayPal crap.

@tfbtv 4 жыл бұрын

Yea PayPal sucks man. -Miles

@AndrewMay100 4 жыл бұрын

if your ever in lithgow drop in and have a look at the Bowenfels Gun Emplacements there are some 93 mm AA guns there that are amazing

@tomgready5473 3 жыл бұрын

Just to note in between wars they would make things like .22Lr martini Henry rifles and .303 rifle for the civilian market

@globalfart 4 жыл бұрын

Can you do a video on the rohrbaugh 9mm and the seecamp 380

@faryldaryl3975 4 жыл бұрын

Lots of good info there, only complaint is that this should've been 5 times as long!

@BrodieTheAthlete 4 жыл бұрын

I live 40 minutes from Lithgow

@chrisspencer6502 4 жыл бұрын

Do they have any of the Lewis guns from the great Emu war?

@nirfz 4 жыл бұрын

Somehow the last part seems to explain to me why there are quite some AUS and NZ soldiers that were disappointed with their issued AUGs.

@joshburke4083 4 жыл бұрын

Proably why NZ went with the LMT MARS-L instead of the F90.

@SKALS-ICY-TOM 4 жыл бұрын

Love the green book spine 'BEST GUNS' Very saying

@cwu4591 4 жыл бұрын

What is that intro music called?

@fishook96 4 жыл бұрын

Hate that tfb videos are always edited down sooo much. I feel like miles was laying out some good info

@darrynworthy7129 3 жыл бұрын

british aerospace has a big impute into optics ect too, lithgow produced 22 rifles that we learnt to shot with from kids on farms, most we still use, and work just as good 50 plus years on. those little rifles provided meat though the depresion saving many many lives. pitty, they make new rifles now we the poor cant afford.

@DeimosPC 4 жыл бұрын

My No 1 Mk 3 is so super odd. It's all matching, with the mag cut-off. Has both Lith and BSA markings on every single piece. Date has been stamped out and restamped 1940 which makes me think it survived WW1 and then was used during WW2.

@mrhappyface4181 4 жыл бұрын

Lithgow arms: The SLR is a semi-auto, flash-suppressed battle rifle. Scout #1 in vietnam: lol bitch go **tinnitus**

@tabanox1927 4 жыл бұрын

Haha the Minimi definitely belongs in a museum.

@trapper9998 4 жыл бұрын

Been hear8ng the latest that they are looking to drop the ef88 in less than a few years

@holbrook5743 4 жыл бұрын

Awesome

@justinarcher8683 4 жыл бұрын

Chagrin.... (SHA - GRIN) 🤣🤣🤣🤣

@tfbtv 4 жыл бұрын

jesus. I’ve mentioned this to Miles before. That’s his favorite word to mispronounce.

@tfbtv 4 жыл бұрын

I’m kinda dyslexic like that-Miles

@blockmongler 4 жыл бұрын

You can say digga, digger is our word

@FALPhil 4 жыл бұрын

Very informative and enjoyable. But, I have to say, I have never heard 'chagrin' pronounced that way before.

@allangibson8494 4 жыл бұрын

Pratt and Whitney Machine tools were only connected to the Pratt and Whitney Aircraft Engines only by the fact that the Engine company didn’t have a name yet and they got Pratt and Whitney to build the first prototypes and Pratt and Whitney cast P&W into the first crankcase casting...

@nz540im3 2 жыл бұрын

I’m currently very interested in a mkIII* here for sale in nz at an amazing price made by Lithgow. I did think going for a British made would be more provenance etc. but it’s more than likely my grandfather carried a Lithgow model as that’s what nz and Aus troops had in abundance obviously In ww2. I was quite young when my grandfather passed. But I would of loved to have been able to talk to him about how he felt about his rifle. I do have an image of him marching on day of deployment from Christchurch New Zealand. It’s definitely a MK III or III* wish I knew the manufacture though

@EireGenX 4 жыл бұрын

Wow i have fired the steyr aug in full auto standing up. The guy at the end of the video must be disabled in some way!

@vic771 4 жыл бұрын

I can dig it...

@surfingtothestars 4 жыл бұрын

I think their SF guys are using HK 416's over the AUG now

@francinii 4 жыл бұрын

SASR and the other Aussie SF tend to use AR-15 platform weapons because of their interoperability with other nations. Prior to the F88 SA1, the Austeyr didn't have a picatinny rail, making optics availability limited. Even with the inclusion of top, side, and bottom rails, the unusual form affects the viability of certain attachments.

@davidjensen2411 4 жыл бұрын

ADI still makes some of the world's best Propellants.

@erik1974dk 4 жыл бұрын

Great video. Only complaint is that I was unable to see the full text on the t-shirt. I joined the military .....????

@TheBEAST205 4 жыл бұрын

...so I could afford a Dodge Charger and a wife that's a stripper.

@ralph769 4 жыл бұрын

Rather than the name bitch I like slaughtermatic as in the book crossfire. Will have to get to Lithgow sometime to check this out. Thanks for the Aussie content.

@TJjjjjjjjjjj 4 жыл бұрын

Lithgow is a tiny country town out past the blue mountains. It’s just a jail town now

@MrShtbrick 4 жыл бұрын

I was hoping that the Lithgow ATRAX F90 would have been imported here into the U.S., because I would have actually sold a couple guns to fund that purchase.

@NicksgamertagXP 4 жыл бұрын

Cool video. Kinda ended abruptly though.

@GF_Burke 4 жыл бұрын

Awesome. I just wish I didn't read that title so wrong...ly......

@mikehoare1338 4 жыл бұрын

There´s a certain canadian-australian animosity going on, can someone explain ?

@olihaub 4 жыл бұрын

Canadians come to Australia and tell everyone how we are racist and sexist. Long story short. Just further to that I have alot of family who live in Canada, I have noticed how their views on the world are becoming extremely biased to the left. Like all of them. I do not know what is going on in Canada, but it's like your traditional politeness has been highjacked into this extreme version of political correctness.

@leopoldoreyes2928 4 жыл бұрын

Un cordial Saludos

@gotenks9222 4 жыл бұрын

Danger Close was a great movie.

@barneybrown7543 4 жыл бұрын

Miles how many miles do you get with that t shirt between oil changes?

@allenjenkins7947 4 жыл бұрын

Are you sure that the full auto SLR was a dodgy modified L1A1 and not the L2A1 which saw limited issue to Australian troops?

@Doctoranthetardis 4 жыл бұрын

There's an old Ferengi saying war is good for business Peace is good for

@TheOnlySgtRock 4 жыл бұрын

Chagrin, It's pronounced Sha-Grin not Char-Gin. Good info on the factory.

@gureno19 4 жыл бұрын

Gotta love Aussies... "What she we call this thing thats extremely uncontrollable,unpredictable and hot to handle" "Hmmmm how about Bitch"

@ianashby6294 2 жыл бұрын

I knew someone who owned a Lithgow 303

@rudolfyakich6653 4 жыл бұрын

So things spiraled downhill after Vietnam?

@phucgiang395 4 жыл бұрын

Miles is TFB TV's equivalent of Ian McCollum

@dancing_odie 4 жыл бұрын

The video ended so abruptly

@AussieCarsRule 4 жыл бұрын

"char-grin"? Sorry to be that guy, but it's "sha-grin" my man :) Great video though

@lachlanmoore9619 4 жыл бұрын

TFB mentions how Lithgow was one of the 1st to apply a camouflage coating to the firearms, yet ironically the current EF88 (basically an enhanced AUG) is just all black and stands out like dogballs out on a bush exercise 😂

@nirfz 4 жыл бұрын

I would not have thought that if the rifle is made for Australia in Australia that they would make it completely black. I imagine australians know their climate, and a black surface to put the cheek on in hot sunny weather...

@teggy689 4 жыл бұрын

yeah they made it black because it looks better on parades but you are allowed to paint them for deployment and field exercises with the COs discretion...

@bruni5289 8 ай бұрын

DIGGER! DIGGER! DIGGER!

@jdslipknot 4 жыл бұрын

ngl, i misread the title.

@callhoonrepublican 4 жыл бұрын

I guess the mags on thier SMG are upside down because they're upside down?

@pepsiandrew16 4 жыл бұрын

Loved the pronunciation of chagrin.

@crekow 2 жыл бұрын

So I'm guessing this guy is partially reading from a script he didn't write. It seems he doesn't know how to pronounce "chagrin". 1:23

@muumoo111 4 жыл бұрын

Never forget the great Emu war of 1932, when ausfailia declared defeat relinquishing occupied territory to the new emu overlords

@dbmail545 4 жыл бұрын

Try to avoid using words you don't know how to pronounce. Chagrin is shah-GRIN not CHAR-gin.

@mabs9503 4 жыл бұрын

miles come hang out in discord with us

@JakeXSV 4 жыл бұрын

🧠

@miguelcardenas3636 4 жыл бұрын

I want jamis reeves

@baneofbanes 4 жыл бұрын

Then go watch one of his videos.

@doomsayer7937 4 жыл бұрын

It's too bad Aussie citezens had all of there guns just like these destroyed. They cannot own any of them again.

@ReHerakhte 4 жыл бұрын

That's not correct. Certain firearms are classified as restricted, this category covers semi-auto rifles. If you can demonstrate a need for a semi-auto e.g. culling pest species like feral camels (and more importantly, if you can afford the exorbitant price at the gunshop), you can apply for a restricted licence.

@SnoopReddogg 3 жыл бұрын

Really... news to me

@DefunctYompelvert 10 ай бұрын

There’s more underground semi autos still in Australia than legally held transferable machine guns in the US, a lot more infact