Weapon performance
Name: F 1 submachine gun
Manufacturer: Lithgow Light Weapons Factory.
Year of production: 1963-1987.
Caliber: medium caliber
Launching performance: automatic gun
Diameter: 9mm
Full gun length: 7 15mm.
Total gun weight: 3.3kg.
Magazine capacity: 34 rounds
Combat firing rate: 600 rounds per minute.
Effective range: 200m
Australian F 1 submachine gun
The Australian army was still using Owen 9mm submachine guns until 1962. Although the gun is a submachine gun with good performance in World War II, it is too heavy and too big, and the parts are not interchangeable. After 1950 s, Owen submachine gun has fallen behind the times in overall performance. Therefore, the Australian Ordnance Department put forward a plan to develop a new submachine gun, named X3 submachine gun. The requirement for X3 submachine gun is to keep the advantages of Owen submachine gun, but to reduce the weight, simplify the structure, be safe to use and have good interchangeability of parts.
According to the requirements of Ordnance Department, Lithgow Light Weapons Factory developed a submachine gun with the same magazine, named F 1. The size and weight of the gun are smaller than that of the Owen submachine gun, but the accuracy of the Owen submachine gun is maintained, and the structure is simple and easy to control. The sight is sheet-shaped, and the door is perforated, so it can be folded forward when not in use. This gun can be fitted with the same bayonet as the Australian L 1A 1 rifle. The stock is a fixed wooden stock.
The F 1 submachine gun was officially adopted by the Australian Army in 1962, replacing the Owen submachine gun. F 1 submachine gun began to be used as a self-defense weapon for Australian army train crew in the 1960s, and it was used by Australian SASR in the jungle of Vietnam, with good performance. The output of this kind of gun exceeds 400,000.
The F 1 submachine gun, as a self-defense weapon for sailors, was not replaced by F88 rifle (AUG licensed by Australia) until the 1960s, and the F 1 submachine guns of other troops were also replaced by MP5 in the early 1960s. However, the eliminated F 1 submachine guns were not destroyed, but kept as strategic reserve materials.