Australian Made ARs.

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I know that there's a few lovers of militaria that love the Aussie L1A1, and SMLE (all built at the range that I attend), but there's a new Aussie made rifle on the block.

http://www.sportingshootermag.com.au/news/aussie-made-auto-bolt-action-to-follow

Quote:
WFM has not used forged parts, which can be bought cheaply before being finished off by the gun maker.

“Ours are solid billet then machined, everything, the whole lot, which is a far superior product,” Scott says. He adds that the WFM4’s tolerances are all tighter than off-the-shelf US-made parts.

He had no plans to set up as a manufacturer until WFM tried to import US-made weapons to rent out as part of its business supplying militaria and weapons to the film and TV industry in Australia.

Scott found the importation laws demanded such weapons be brought in only for a specific film before being returned or destroyed, and the budgets of many local productions, including TV series like Rush and Underbelly, weren’t big enough to do this.


Not cheap...
http://www.acmefirearms.com.au/rifles/wfm4-rifles.html
but check out their rifles in stock section for run of the mill .22s and the like.

Naturally, the media react to this in a responsible and non sensationalistic manner.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013...in-us-massacres
 
Nice and classy. Nice way to just report the facts.

Sidenote: do other countries often just list American states instead of stating "Connecticut, USA" in newsreports? I don't think I'd recognize all the providences of Canada, or the states of Mexico, etc; so I find it odd to just state "CT" and have it assumed by the reader to be in the USA. [Although I would have to have lived under a rock to not recognize that Sandy Hook is in CT.]

[I guess though if the article mentions gun violence then it's a safe bet that it's a state in the USA and not someplace else.]
 
Yeah, most everybody I know would identify state names with Country of origin...maybe half would point close to the state on a map before reading it.

My kids (7 and 10) could probably only get 3,4,5 maybe states as "America".
 
$8750!?!?! You blokes really gotta love your hobby.

Still, to have one would really set you apart from the rest of the herd.
 
Quote:
WFM has not used forged parts, which can be bought cheaply before being finished off by the gun maker.

“Ours are solid billet then machined, everything, the whole lot, which is a far superior product,” Scott says. He adds that the WFM4’s tolerances are all tighter than off-the-shelf US-made parts.


I understand the "tighter tolerance" but I don't know what makes a "solid billet" all machined lower superior to a machined forged lower.
 
tomslick, I agree, I'd take a properly heat treated machined forging over billet in general.
 
Originally Posted By: xxch4osxx
Did you see the price of the Norinco SKS's? Wow, why so expensive? I could buy them new in box for $99.99 lol

http://www.acmefirearms.com.au/rifles/norinco-rifles.html


SKS/SKK were only a couple of hundred bucks before 1996 buyback and destruction.

In those days, even 'though the AR15 and L1A1 were completely illegal to own, they rewarded those handing them in with around $8k (1996 dollars, for a rifle which had a pub value of $1,500).

Since then, those that weren't destroyed have enjoyed the legacy premium in price.
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: xxch4osxx
Did you see the price of the Norinco SKS's? Wow, why so expensive? I could buy them new in box for $99.99 lol

http://www.acmefirearms.com.au/rifles/norinco-rifles.html


SKS/SKK were only a couple of hundred bucks before 1996 buyback and destruction.

In those days, even 'though the AR15 and L1A1 were completely illegal to own, they rewarded those handing them in with around $8k (1996 dollars, for a rifle which had a pub value of $1,500).

Since then, those that weren't destroyed have enjoyed the legacy premium in price.
Weren't all semi-auto centerfire rifles and shotguns banned?
 
Originally Posted By: tom slick
Quote:
WFM has not used forged parts, which can be bought cheaply before being finished off by the gun maker.

“Ours are solid billet then machined, everything, the whole lot, which is a far superior product,” Scott says. He adds that the WFM4’s tolerances are all tighter than off-the-shelf US-made parts.


I understand the "tighter tolerance" but I don't know what makes a "solid billet" all machined lower superior to a machined forged lower.


I don't see where it makes that much difference if it is forged into a block or the shape of a receiver. The only difference I see is the outside appearance, everything else has to be machined either way.
 
The forged part is potentially stronger and is the US Mil spec. It's a non-stressed part so it doesn't really matter. For low production numbers it would be less expensive to make parts from a billet unless they can easily import raw forged parts.
 
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