Translation
The main focus of my collection is the Lee Enfield and more specifically Lithgow production. I also have several of the various .22 trainers from across the Commonwealth.
It only seemed natural that I also gather examples of the Lithgow sporting rifles (mainly .22's) so here they are, and how they came to be.
Just after WW2 before international firearms movements had began again, there was a need for a supply of cheap but dependable sporting rifles. Many people were depending on taking game for the pot... Rabbits and duck helped many families through the depression.
The rifles hit the market in the late 1940's with the Model 1. The barrel and receiver were machined in one piece, according to Lithgow, out of the same steel the service rifle barrels were made of. The single shot action, cycling the bolt to load, but required cocking manually by grabbing and drawing he cocking piece back. The trigger in the Model 1 was hung in the stock from a cross pin through the woodwork.
The next model, the 1A did away with the hung trigger and saw it as part of the action.
The third single shot, the Model 1B had a couple of other minor mods.
Lithgow then made a bolt repeater, the Model 12. It was better finished with a longer barrel and had either a five or ten round magazine. The last of the Rimfires was the Model 55 which was a carbine length rifle based on the same set up as the Model 12.
Here'a pic of all the Lithgow sporting rifles. Bottom up there is the Model 1, 1A, 1B. The the Model 12 and 55.