The F1 was an Australian submachine gun produced by the Lithgow Small Arms Factory.It was formerly the standard submachine gun of the Australian Army. The F1 was manufactured from 1962 until 1973, with a total of about 25,000 made. The F1 is a simple blowback design firing from an open bolt with a fixed firing pin. Issued to Australian army troops in July of 1963, it replaced the Owen machine carbine. First issued to Australian troops in July 1963, it replaced the Owen machine carbine.. Like the Owen, the F1 had a distinctive top mounted magazine. The submachine gun was developed during World War I (1914–1918). The X3 F1 was designed by the Australian Ordnance Department and combines the features of the Owen with those of the British Sterling sub-machine guns. The bayonet, pistol grip and butt plate come from the L1A1 rifle to simplify production. It served in Vietnam and through the 1990s, when replaced by a variant of the F88 Austeyr. By the 1960s, the Owen series, highly valued by Australian military personnel, was beginning to show its dated origins that were set back in the 1930s. Unlike both the Sterling and its predecessor, the Owen, the F1 has a removable wooden butt The bolt/cocking handle was on the left side of the receiver, its slot protected by a dust cover.

The Australian military adopted the F1 submachine gun in 1962, with the first guns reaching troops in April 1963, it replaced the venerable Owen gun.Like the earlier Owen the F1 had a top-mounted magazine – a position that lent itself to prone firing and more comfortable carrying when slung. The 9×19mm Parabellum F1 was a standard Australian submachine gun manufactured by the Lithgow Small Arms Factory. It was designated the X3 while under development. The F1 was retired in 1991 and replaced by the F88C Austeyr, an Australian-built version of the Steyr AUG Carbine with slight modifications. It shares many design features with the British Sterling submachine gun. History Edit. It emerged favorably from the trials and was officially adopted in late 1962. The 9 mm F1 was a standard Australian submachine gun manufactured by the Lithgow Small Arms Factory . The 9 mm F1 was a standard Australian submachine gun manufactured by the Lithgow Small Arms Factory. A submachine gun, abbreviated SMG, is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to shoot handgun cartridges.The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun.. The F1 submachine gun replaced the World War 2-era Owen submachine gun series then in service with the Australian Army. All reports are that it was a perfectly adequate submachine gun, but it … The F1 originated as the prototype X3 submachine gun in 1959, and was trialed by the Australian Army against two other prototypes, the X1 and X2.

The F1 was a select-fire, blowback submachine gun with a non-reciprocating bolt handle. The F1 was a select-fire, blowback submachine gun with a non-reciprocating bolt handle. The bolt/cocking handle was on the left side of the receiver, its slot protected by a dust cover.