Lithgow Arms

Lithgow Arms is an Australian small arms manufacturer located in the town of Lithgow, New South Wales. Established by the Australian Government in 1912 as the Lithgow Small Arms Factory to ease reliance on the British 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. 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, 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 under the Slazenger brand during the 1960s. 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 EF88 Austeyr rifle and F89 Minimi currently used by the Australian military.

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.