F1 SMG

Last Updated on Friday, 10 July 2009 16:53 Written by Administrator Friday, 03 July 2009 00:15

The F1 SMG is an Australian submachine gun designed in 1962. It was manufactured by the Lithgow Small Arms Factory. It was adopted by the Australian Military as a replacement to the Owen submachine gun and continued in service till 1990s when it was replaced with the Steyr AUG carbine. The F1 SMG had a simple and robust design and was deployed during the Vietnam War.

The F1 SMG was chambered for the 9x19mm Parabellum round and fed from a top-loaded 34-round magazine. It was capable of firing 600 to 650 rounds per minute. It was effective up to a range of 150 meters.

The F1’s design was based on the earlier Owen submachine gun which was designed during the Second World War. Design wise, it has many similarities with the British Sterling submachine gun. However, it came with a wooden stock and fed from the top. Despite its strange appearance, the F1 is a well balanced weapon and effective weapon in the field.

Though the F1’s design was very good, there were problems with its feed system. Due to its double stack magazine, the bullets would spin as they entered the chamber causing the chamber to jam and leading to malfunctioning of the weapon. Despite this the F1 was very reliable in the field.