L1A1 NZ Service Allocation

[sydneyoz]

Hi there
Is there anyway of telling which New Zealand service a L1A1 was allocated to, my L1A1 has a AD69- Serial No.

Cheers

[woodsy]

As your gun was one of only 30 bought by NZ in 1969 and the very last shipment, it would have been as a replacement for previous rifles lost or damaged beyond repair. It was probably for the Army as they were busy in Vietnam at the time, and the Air Force anf Navy fifles were mainly used for parades. In service, NZ Army L1A1's had the carry handles removed and the slot was filled with a black rubber washer, but many were refitted by new owners when the rifles were sold out of service. Air Force and Navy rifles were left in the original state. No serial number records are known which show issue to any particular service.

[sydneyoz]

Thanks Woodsy

The actual Serial No. is AD690380*, any other information would be appreciated

Cheers

[woodsy]

Your rifle is actually one of the batch (AD6900001 - 6900465) that was sold to Singapore. The NZ batch was 6900516 - 6900545.

[sydneyoz]

Thanks Rod

My mistake, the serial No. has a number where the * is

AD6903804

Sorry about that

Cheers Gary

[woodsy]

Hi Gary. Your rifle is ex Aussie Army from one of five batches for them that year. Your batch (the 3rd for the year) was 6903461 - 6905300. The Aussie involement in Vietnam at that time was probably why they needed them.

[sydneyoz]

Thanks Rod

My rifle must have been re-finished as the metalwork 90-95% finish (better than average) and no real wear marks, it has ended up here in NZ

Thanks very much
Gary

[commodorevz]

sydneyoz and woodsey, if you obtain the armoury issue records from Home Command Wellington, any permanent issue SLR's are serialed to the soldier of record, unit and foriegn posting orders, but you must specify year of issue for the trace

[gadget]

Hi there I have a new spec de ac L1A1 with serial number AD6217980
I understand it's a Lithgow built in 1962 and sold to New Zealand. What I'm more curious about is just how it has ended up here in the UK? its in great condition just a shame it is a recent deac not a pre 95.

Any other info would be much appreciated.

I also have an Enfield made one which I believe to be tpr final serial number from that factory. I'll confirm the serial number tomorrow.

[woodsy]

Your rifle was one of a batch of 3,000 (6217776 - 6220775) for NZ. The NZ Defence Forces had 15,633 L1A1's and these have been progressively sold off in batches since 1988. Only the first batch of 2,500 was sold in NZ. All the rest have gone offshore.

[gadget]

Many thanks Woodsy much appreciated.

This one will be sadly going up on the classifieds soon. Such a shame as it's a cracker. I was originally informed that it came back from the Falklands after coming over from NZ but I have no way of confirming this. And not sure if indeed any were sold to the British Army prior to 82?

[woodsy]

The L1A1 was the front line issue rifle in NZ until 1988 when the Steyr AUG was adopted. The first disposal was in March 1988. The M16 was also in common use since Vietnam and they were also replaced by the AUG. The M16's were never part of any official disposal and were either destroyed or returned to the US. A very small number are now with collectors via the Army Museum and are mainly Hydramatics.

[gadget]

From that I would assume that none would of made it back to the U.K. prior to the start of the Falklands conflict. It must of come to the U.K after 88.