LITHGOW F1
The F1 submachinegun, produced in the State-owned Small Arms Factory placed in LITHGOW (Nwe South Wales; recently passed to privates and changed its name to ADI, meaning Australian Defence Industry) had a very long production roll (from 1963 to 1987), and entered service in the Australian Armed Forces replacing the OWEN and the AuSTEN submachinegun, in response to all the other Commonwealth countries which had adopted the british STERLING submachinegun or an own-produced copy. In fact, the F1 is an australian modified version of the STERLING L2 design; known at the beginning as X3 (the F1 denomination came when it was officialized as an Australian Defence Forces' weapon in 1963), the F1 was appearently well liked in Vietnam for its resistance in all conditions. It had the same vertical feeding system of the OWEN, and a bayonet lug. It was ultimately replaced as the service submachinegun in service with the austran forces in 1988, by the ADI-Lithgow F96 (an australian copy of the austrian STEYR AUG/PARA-9mm). --- TECHNICAL SPECS: CALIBER: 9x19mm-Parabellum CAPACITY: Up to 34 rounds TOTAL LENGHT: 715 mm BARREL LENGHT: 203 mm WEIGHT: 3,26 Kgs RIFLING: 6 grooves, RH ROF: 600 Rounds Per Minute
Photo and information from: PIERANGELO TENDAS
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