My friend was an armourer in Vietnam and he told me that he did exactly what you just spoke of. About 15 - 20 years ago, after he had retired, he went to the SAS barracks in Perth and enquired about his modified SLR as there was one mounted on the wall. He was pleased to hear that the very rifle he modified was still being used for training purposes. Steve Chapman was the gentleman's name, he was a proud soldier and a very good friend. RIP Steve. Lest we forget.
Anecdotally, the easy modification to enable fully automatic fire on the SLR was to use a matchstick to disable the interruptor. This did make them full-auto only, but was able to be done by less special forces in the field and could be surreptitiously uninstalled before handing your firearm back to the unit armourer.
From old diggers who served in Vietnam, they would also cut the barrel right back to the gas block, and this would be carried by a rifleman close to the officer/rear on patrol. This was not used to hit targets, but in full auto, would be shot in short bursts and would sound like a heavy squad weapon (50 cal) giving the enemy the impression they had bumped into a much larger Australian force, and disengaging. One of many tricks used by Aussie diggers to push an advantage
I bought a ex NZ army SLR when they changed to the AUG and were selling them off. I had the barrel shortened by around 120 mm ( 5 inch’s) and the magazine modified to hold 10rnds from 20. All to make it easier to handle in the NZ bush.
Because they were training on AUG plastic coated 5.56.@@civillad. I trained on it and loved it, cause when you swapped out from carrying the M60 on a route march, it was sooo light 😉
Usually the Americans and their communication companies don't like mentioning Australia because they call us every time and that would mean America's probably not as capable as they make out. So very good to hear you're compliment appreciate that
I'm Australian and wasn't even aware of this gun. So don't assume just cus we're Aussie we know everything about our guns. We don't. It's like assuming an American knows all about all of their guns. They probably don't either. Unless they are a huge gun enthusiast . I think guns are cool but I don't really know that much about them.
The L1A1 SLR was designed using Imperial measurements and has some differences from the standard FN FAL. A significant change from the original FN FAL was that the L1A1 SLR operates in semi-automatic mode only.
My uncle was from that era and told me the exact same thing He did say you had to be careful not to melt anything when you did that though… He was actually an extra in the movie the odd angry shot, the extras had a bus crash when heading to the film set so they grabbed some guys from the local army barracks to fill in one day The spider fighting scene has genuine Aussie solders playing the extras
@@johnnytower6169I am not sure about the match stick but the reason it is so easy to convert the FAL family to full auto is because military FALs almost always have the safety sear (prevents hammer follow). In the US, with the exception of a few FALs which were grandfathered-in specifically by serial number, all FALs which have safety sears (or even the cutout for them in the receiver) are considered machine guns by the ATF even if the selector switch is blocked from moving to the A position.
Best comment I ever heard on full auto FALs: “first shot’s on target; second is 6” above, and anything after that is anti aircraft fire” I’d love to see if the vertical front grip made any difference to that.
When fired from the hip, yes. It's easier to keep it forced down like that. Heck, it's easier to keep rifles with no front grip down if you fire from the hip too.
correct on full auto it was firing into the tree tops almost uncontrolabel had to step backwards when i did the full auto simpel remove the fire selector and it will shoot full auto but useless only spending ammo we carried 6 mags 19 per mag
No that is not true, when i was a national service man in the SADF i worked in the base pharmacy and got my hands on some ammo by virtue of the gunsmith being next door, one weekend pass i smuggled the rifle out of base (if they caught me i would have been in deep poo poo) took it to the farm with a full mag tracer every 3rd/4th round for special effect, sat one knee down in the hollow of a grassland valley held it to my waist and solidly gripped the barrel guard with my left hand and dumped the twenty round mag (or the larger part of it) up the grassy valley meadow! I am talking 1981 now. I was amazed at the relatively good controlability, i could feel the muzzle rise but not nearly as bad as i anticipated, in fact it was an absolute joy to shoot on full auto, but you had to be mindfull of controlability,if you had it against your shoulder 4-5 shot automatic bursts would be more advisable,the full power 308 round makes it more of a rapid fire battle rifle.
I joined the RAAF in 1979, as am 18 year-old. On the very day I was inducted into the forces, my fellow recruits and I went to a movie theater and watched that film before boarding a train to 1RTU, our recruit training unit. We used this weapon in training and annual shoots for about a decade afterward before it was replaced by the F88 Steyr (I think). Geez, watching this video took me back to my annual weapons handling proficiency days. I could close my eyes and feel the rifle, this video was so damn good. And respectful. My current partner was married to a Vietnam vet (I met him once - lovey guy) who used one of these. I showed her, and it brought a wistful smile to her face.
Cool! "Australian Peel" elsewhere means everyone fires, one guy yells "Peeling!" and falls back, then keeps shooting from a more distant position, then the second guy does the the same, then the third, then fourth, etc. etc. The idea is to give the impression to the enemy that rather than retreating, more reinforcements are being brought up. We are a bunch of devious bastards.
Small point of order, the L1A1 was generally referred to in Australian service as the SLR ('Self Loading Rifle'). Yes, it's an FN-FAL restricted to semi-auto fire (well, bar modifications like the one above), but that's what our troops referred to it as.
@@corditesniffer8020 FAL really is a misnomer for L1A1 SLRs because they were not automatic rifles. SLR was a generic term that was applied to other nation's rifles if they were similar - any semi auto type battle rifle.
In the mid 80' my serge, a Vietnam vet, told me that the VC in his area loved to acquire a SLR. He showed me how 'easy' it was to make the L1A1 full-auto. He was like some figure from myth, that man. Very important to me and how I have lived my life since then. Cheers to you Tony..
I (we) would have followed Sargent Farrugia, a Vietnam vet to the gates of hell and back and into the shadow of the valley of death as often as he required us to. I hear ya Digger. he also told us how the VC would melt away into the bush whenever they saw Diggers fixing bayonets. He would recall how quiet the bush was after the call to fix bayonets. But we had to feed him a lot of booze before he would open up with the war stories. He and our CSM were always most welcome in the OR's club. True legends. Fk now I have a tear in me eye. Acoy 1RVR Late 1980's
A guy my dad worked with was a Vietnam vet. He co-wrote a book about his experiences. It is called Crossfire: An Australian Reconnaissance Unit in Vietnam. In it he describes beginning his deployment with an Owen, but, after joining the recon platoon, making his own weapon by putting a heavy barrel on his SLR and modifying the sear to give him full-auto fire. He called it the "slaughtermatic." The other co-author wrote the absolutely not-to-be-missed book Trackers: The Untold Story of the Australian Dogs of War (which I once wrote a screenplay for on the off-chance that I might somehow convince some lunatic to put up a few million to produce). I cannot over-recommend Trackers. It is brilliant and so is the main real-life protagonist, Caesar.
I know both men. Peter is a volunteer at our Museum and gives talk about his experiences to school excursions. Robert was my old Training WO and is active in the RSL here. Both are legends.
Once upon a time, nearly 50 years ago, when I was an Army Cadet here in Western Australia, I was one of the few who got a tour of some of the SAS workshops at Campbell Barracks, adjacent to the Swanbourne rifle range where we were training with worn out .303 SMLE and Bren. The gun carriers being built at the Barracks were based an Land Rover chassis but beyond that, almost unrecognizable with crazy engines and gun mounts for various machine guns. IIRC everything built was written off once deployed. Nobody in the SAS risked their attributes trying to rescue equipment. And there was I, a cadet with a rifle older than my father.
As part of the NZ Cadet Force (ATC) I got to fire an SLR at the age of 18 all 5'2" 59kg of me - lovely gun (oh I grew another 2.5 inches in the next 3 years LOL)
We were still using worn out Enfields and Bren when I was in cadets in the 80s in the UK. They introduced a single shot SA-80 just as I was leaving it. Had this big clumpy handle thing on it.
Yep - my time in the ACF in the 80's we had old SMLE's and a Bren which we never got a chance to fire but trained on assembly/disassembly. The we got the single shot cadet SA80 which fell apart the moment it fell over. Bloody pile of shite.
I remember shooting .303s at Swanbourne range for the inter unit (school) shooting competition. At the time my school had 100 "blank firing" 303s (i.e. barrel shot to pieces), 26 live firing 303s (mine was letter T) and two Bren guns stored in a shed. As the competition was on weekend I was issued with .303 to take home (I was 16 at the time) so caught the bus home with the rifle slung over my shoulder. No-one looked twice. How things have changed. We used to have SAS troopers as instructors on our NCO courses, which was interesting. At these we got to fire SLRs (L1A1), ARs (L2A1 LMG) and F1 SMGs. On our annual camp we usually just shot 303s and Bren guns. We also did range days at Bushmead rifle range, which is now suburb.
@@ForestRacer1958 You lucky bastard. I was in the cadets in the 2000s, and all we ever got to shoot were the old .22-converted Lee-Enfields. I would have loved to fire some more interesting weapons...
When you are in Australia, you should check out the Australian War Memorial, the Lithgow Small Arms Factory and the Infantry Museum in Singleton. They would most likely have this rifle in their collections.
I was once the manager of the Infantry Museum at Singleton (not to be confused with the Curator ... he had the real hands on job of running the museum: it is a priceless collection of artifacts and a must-see for anyone visiting or living in the Hunter Valley Region).
While you are at it, the Huey on display says it was used by 3 RAR in the Solomon Islands in 2003. 2 RAR not 3 RAR deployed in 2003. 3RAR did not deploy until 2005.@@MegaPeedee
@@TheWamjet Thinking back, that may have been what my brother had as a RAAF cadet at ADFA 25-ish years ago. I remember it being basically the same as what Ian's got here, except much shorter and without the extra pistol grip. The bolt was absent when he let me handle it - I'm not sure if it the rifle would still work at all with its bolt, but he did say that the frequent cleaning drills basically trashed the weapons' functionality. So hey, fair chance I've handled a weapon that Ian wishes he could get his hands on. Never expected that.
Royal Australian Navy in the late 80s and as everyone else has said, we called it an SLR. We had the L1A1 Semi Autos and used to shoot them at the range up to 300m. Being Navy and not army, we left all the jungle silly buggers stuff to the Pongos. We did do a lot of parade and guard drill with the SLR's though. The wood up front was known as the "furniture", and you always loosened that screw a little bit to get a cool slap sound when you presented arms.
My Father served in Vietnam as an infantry radio operator with 9 RAR '68 - '69. Most RO's, scouts and officers carried the M16 due to it's lightness / automatic firepower. My Old Man preferred the 7.62 round over 5.56 as the heavier bullet would not be deflected by jungle foliage and could penetrate smaller tree trunks and ant hills with enough energy left over to penetrate the person hiding behind it. One day, while being transported by APC he saw the crews L2A2 and had an idea. When he dismounted he had within his L1A1 SLR the moving parts from the L2A2. He figured he would see much more combat than the APC crew and his extra firepower would be more detrimental to the enemy while increasing his chance of survival. When back at Nui Dat he scrounged a couple of 40 round mags and cannibalised a speargun, attaching its pistol grip to his front furniture with the rubber firing sling from the speargun and finally attaching a bipod. His frankengun, Boom Boom B*tch served him well.
from my memory , the mag on the L2A1 were 30 round , and the only thing u needed to change on the L1A1 was the safety catch , it had a different profile allowing the gun to shoot semi auto or auto , I actually owned a L1A1 with a L2A1 safety setup , And yes a small bit of match stick under the sear would give u full auto , BUT full auto on a L1A1was a sure way to burn out a barrel very quickly , hence the L2A1 had a much heaver barrel , to help handle the heat I can say a L1A1 on full auto gets very hot very fast , and gets decidedly unmanageable just as fast .I am not sure regular army soldiers would have modified their L1A1's ,and gotten away with it , BUT armours for special forces ( SAS ) may have tricked up 1 or 2 specials , I have seen L1A1's with short barrels and the flash suppressor still on them
I knew an old timer Aussie who owned a bar locally and got himself a semi-auto FAL when he came to America because he served in the Australian Army in the Vietnam era. We got to talking one night and that’s how I found this out. Since I was a big gun guy and the business was real slow that evening, he brought it out to show me. So here I am looking over this FAL at a barstool and some hipster dudes walk in and about have a heart attack. Good times.
In WW2, in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, the Aussies learned to love a short-barrelled, full auto with front pistol grip that can dump a shed ton of lead at whatever you’re going after.
The jungle doctrine of peeling back after making contact while on patrol also dates back to WW2. My grandfather was a bren gunner through most of the tropical, south pacific conflicts in WW2 and they just didn't stick around on patrols, they'd come across the Japanese. Hose them up as best they could and move back to a rendezvous point, reload, check everyone was there, in one piece and either set an ambush if pursued or just document the contact point and move elsewhere on the route. It tended to fray the nerves of the enemy and if the enemy took casualties it effectively removed them from the area because by that stage, they didn't know if it was 10 guys or a whole platoon. Likewise in a jungle, its real easy to get a lot of people in a very small area and not know how many there are, like maybe it was a Japanese patrol or it was the leading tip of a whole company 50metres ahead of them.
As someone who has done jungle warfare training in that God-awful helhole called "Tully", I can confirm this as absolutely accurate. Unlike shooting in the jungle.
@@davidkershaw5379 To quote more than one knowledgeable source: "arguably the best sub-machine gun of ww2, of which there were no complaints from the soldiers to whom it was issued." The Owen Gun. Ian has a couple of videos. A *really* old one shooting it and a more recent one discussing and dismantling it.
Years ago, when I was serving in Germany, I was good friends with the regimental armourer. Although the SLR was not my personal weapon, my armourer friend adapted one for me so that it fired full auto and used LMG 30 round mags. He had adapted one for his own use and another for a mutual friend who was a combat engineer. As an aside, when working in an urban environment, I happened to be in the infantry defence company armoury, when I espied an M16. I asked who used it and was told no one wanted it: all the infantrymen preferred to take out an SLR when on patrol. The armourer told me I could have it, if I wanted it. At the time I carried a Sterling in a canvas bag with the stock folded and the mag off, plus a Browning 9mm HP in a shoulder holster. Unfortunately, the M16 was too big for my canvas bag. Pity it wasn't a CAR 15, one of those might just about have fitted in.
I had the pleasure of using a converted and shortened SKS for some time that fired full auto and accepted AK mags. Ingenuity was more appreciated back in the old days before everyone got a stick implanted instead of a spine.
I take it that you were on Op Banner in the second part of the story? Where you saw an M16 and carried a SMG in a canvas bag and a Browning in a shoulder holster? Also not exactly in a standard rifle company or inf bn by the looks of it. Also having an armourer adapt an SLR for you is err a bit unorthodox and wouldn't be allowed in any BAOR unit I know of. Interesting and I understand if you can't give any more details.
These weapons were a replacement for the 303 and were called a SLR self loading rifle as the #303 were a bolt action rifle. They started in service in 1959 with two models the L1 A1 a repeater and a L1 A2 an automatic rifle with a larger magazine and a bi pod at the front. As a marksman with both these weapons they were very accurate but very long for service in Vietnams jungles. As a sergeant in Vietnam I carried a m16 amend a Canadian 9mm pistol.
One of the clearest commentators I have listened to as his volume is excellent, he modulates his voice, great clarity, clear to understand. Fair Dinkum.
I was one of those ‘SASR’ armourers and I test fired both the Bitch and the Beast as part of the annual non-technical inspection. The muzzle flash coming of that thing could have started a bush fire, and just a tad loud.
A WO at holsworthy in the 80s told me it was 'for making a great big fuck off kind of noise' due to the cut down barrel to scare down a contact and break away.
Yea spoke to a SASR Vietnam guy once at a RSL when Grandfather was alive who was a WW2 Vet. Get some good stories from those Vets. Their tactics were either go in silently and undetected as best can or go in loudly and with that SLR mod it made it seem was more men in the unit then actually was and confuse the enemy it was a larger force attacking then actually was.
I used to be in the Australian army in1987-1990, and this was what we used. We called it the "SLR" or self loadig rifle rather than the FAL. We used the M60 for the section machine gun as both used the same 7.62mm rounds. We also used the 5.56mm M16's, but found them to be overcomplicated mechanically, and they were more unreliable on the whole. The ADF replaced the L1A1 SLR with the Steyr in 1992(I never used one of those)
Had to watch out for those M16's if the CO had one and was navigating with compass. I was lead scout and he was directing me all over the place. After a somewhat heated discussion about my skills I noticed how he held this M16, a bit of testing determined that the closer it was to his compass the more he was off. We took it apart and everyone was amazed at how magnetized the recoil spring was, it would seriously affect compasses over 3 ft away. We swapped his M16 for my SLR and navigation was better, that became standard practice for the Company. 1979-88.
Have you ever seen the film Danger Close ? Its about the battle of Long Tan and in it , both sides are using assorted rifles . The Aussie SAS-R were equipped with L1A1,s, , Owen submachine guns and many were also seen carrying M16's. Major Harry Smith carries an M1911A1 as his sidearm during the action at Long Tan. The VC in the film were equipped with AK-47s, a mix of SKS and Norinco Type 56 rifles with under folding bayonets, several Vietcong troops are seen with StG-44 rifles and in one scene where a VC sniper ambushes one of the patrols , he uses a Mosin Nagant M91/30 Sniper Rifle. Its a great film to watch , one of the best Vietnam war films i have seen
I had a friend whose father was in the Australian Army and he said that his dad always hated it whenever he was stationed at the base where the SASR are stationed because at the end of every shift he'd have to take a bunch of post-it notes off of the back of his uniform. The SASR guys would keep sneaking up behind people, putting post it notes on their back, and then sneaking away without them noticing as a joke.
I read of one blue-on-blue encounter in Vietnam where an Australian SAS patrol bumped a Vietnamese militia patrol (commanded by a yank SF SGT) at night. The SAS first scout followed SOP's and 'dumped the mag' from his modified AR/L2A1 (no flash suppressor), and then 'exit stage rear' as per SOP's. Both sides called in arty which is when it was realised it was a blue-on-blue encounter. There was an after action debrief where the SA and the SF SGT meet. During the debrief the SF SGT said there was so much noise and flash from the AR he thought they were been fired on by a 50 cal.
I had a series of Combat & Survival books when I was young, they were produced in 1987, and I can still remember an article on the Aussie SAS and their custom rifles - sure enough that picture at 5:43 and the cut down FALs were in there, thanks for bringing back the childhood nostalgia. 👍
Combat and Survival, RAIDS magazine and Commando war stories in pictures, as a country kid from Queensland in the eighties who loved the army they were the best. There was another comic like Commando, but I don’t remember its name.
I have those 2 books , it doesn't have them unfortunately, I just checked. But it does mention that UK soldiers fighting in Falklands war used captured Argentine FALs that had full auto select as a S.A.W on patrol instead of an SLR
My father served in Vietnam at Nui Dat with the 1st Australian Task Force. Unfortunately he never really spoke about it so it’s always interesting for me to hear about the weapons and tactics used by Australian soldiers in Vietnam.
Small point of interest. In the Australian Vietnam War era infantry what Americans call the point man was called the Scout or lead scout in Australian vernacular. The ten man infantry Section consisted of the 2 man Scout Group in the lead, the 4 man Rifle Group, the 2 man Gun Group (M60), the Gun Group was commanded by a Lance Corporal and the Section was commanded by a Corporal. 3 Sections to a Platoon. 3 Platoons to a Company plus Company HQ and attachments. A Vietnam War era Australian SAS LRRP patrol was often a 5 man patrol with a patrol Scout, Medic, Gunner, Rifleman and Patrol Commander, often a Sergeant. SAS LRRPs were usually between 2 weeks to a month long. I think the record for one patrol was close to 90 continuous days in the field.
I'm a retired Australian army soldier I trained on this rifle,it's called the SLR 7.62 I think they weight around 4.7 kg loaded 20 round mag gas operated folding bolt handle no front grip we just held onto the wooden surround on the receiver of the barrell just under the front sight is the gas plug numbered 1 to 10 to have the weapon reload we had them they were a great rifle for combat super hitting power I love this weapon and yes we trained on the SLR in Australia then we went to the styer 5.56 . Cheers mate
I’m glad you mentioned the barrels usually being cut down to the gas block. It’s such a badass look, but I also respect this guy not wanting to butcher an authentic barrel like that. Also worth mentioning that the SAS would often leave their “Bitches” in Vietnam to be handed over to the next guys deployed so as to not have too many questions back home.
I read a book on the NZ and Australian SAS in Vietnam that said they took the flash hiders off and it is mentioned they could inflict and cauterize a wound at 20ft.
Mate as a former soldier in the Australian Regular Army just a few things with the video. It is a rifle not a gun and we never called it an FAL it was always referred to as an SLR (self loading rifle). Besides putting a matchstick under the safety seat the all you needed to do to make the SLR automatic was to fit a safety catch from an AR (L2A1). The SLR safety catch only had one bevel which prevented it from being moved to ‘A’ (plus is had a tail on it which got stuck). The AR safety catch had two bevels and no tail (just like the one fitted to the rifle in your video) which allowed it to be moved to the ‘A’ position. Also to hold the cocking handle and working parts to the rear was a holding opening device located near the magazine release catch. Also it’s a flash suppressor not flash hider.
I have a Singapore Police Lithgow L1A1 and it is awesome. It is an outstanding rifle and despite being over 50 years old and beat to crap, it runs flawlessly. It has never failed to work. The L1A1 is an amazing rifle.
If you come down to Aus you should contact the Australian War Memorial, they have a huge museum. Not even all the unique stuff is necessarily australian, they could be trophies brought back. Ive heard their warehouse is extensive and barely any of the collection is on display despite the museum being big enough to spend 2 full days looking at everything.
Worked there for fifteen years. It's true, and as with most large state or national collections, the place displays just a fraction of its collection. Much of the largest and rarest stuff has little to do with the Australian narrative (eg a V2 rocket on its original transport trailer, various other novel or experimental pieces of German technology), so it is not displayed, and likely never will be, at least at the main Memorial site.
@@TheWamjet if understood correctly the V2 is an amalgam of parts from the war and with postwar improvements from British and Australian technicians that were tasked with understanding how it worked. Bloody shame that V2 isn’t on display it’s one of the few left with a good amount of of support gear.
Something like 5% of the collection is on display due to size constraints and even with the new renovations and building new wings it's still not going to be much more.
There are a few authentic examples of this weapon still around. As far as I know they are held by the Australian Special Air Service Regiment's museum in Australia.
Had a quick look and there is an article about Campbell Barracks (home of TAG West / SASR) having a display of a bunch of firearms- google 'inside SAS inner sanctum' and you can find an article from the Worst Australian about it
The SASR Museum inside Swanbourne now only has plastic-toy replicas for 'security', but there's an original Bitch hanging behind the Bar in the Sgts Mess.
I loved this gun, I got my marksman certification with it, and then not long after it was replaced by the Steyr, the little plastic 556 peashooter. Sad to see the old girl go, still has a place in my heart.
The faux aging on that thing is beautiful. Some of the best I've ever seen. When you see custom-built clones of old guns like this, usually the builder's idea of "aging" is to grab a piece of sandpaper and just sand down every flat surface on the gun that they can find. It looks freaking terrible. As fake as can be. I know we are seeing this rifle through a video camera and computer screen, but from what I can see, the faux aging on that receiver is DAMN well done. I never would've guessed that was a clone if you hadn't showed the DSA markings inside the magwell. Kudos to the builder. That thing is sweet.
We never called them FAL's when I was in service, they were called SLR's. We all did the conversions to full auto ourselves but the example shown is the first I've seen with a front grip. We did use the Bren gun mags but they were the straight mags of the L4. Most of the time we carried a mixture of SLR or Bren gun mags whenever we were out in the scrub. I don't care what anyone says, the L1A1 SLR is the best rifle we ever had in service.
"I hope you find it enjoyable", you've never put up a video we didn't find enjoyable. You are GUN GOD!! ;-) Thanks for everything you do and keep doing for us mere plebs!
My Dad was with 7RAR 1966 tour. He told me about these. Dad carried the big mag and made his fully auto. He was in a big ass battle called The Battle of Suoi Chau Pha. The Yankee arty helped us not lose the day. We bumped into VC headquarters and the battle lasted from 10:00am to 4:00pm when the rain started.
Really liked the video, my dad served in Vietnam - SAS 3rd Squadron. I remember he told me that yes, they used to fully automate the SLR. He used an M-16 with the XM-148, he never told me they put them on the SLRs though. To possibly answer your question about why there weren't many ''b*****s" left after the war, I remember dad told me that when the SLRs were modified and used as fully automatic rifles, the barrels would eventually warp making them inaccurate and therefore useless. Perhaps that's the reason, either they were discarded by the Australian army, or refitted with new barrels and reset back to semi automatic to be used again? My dad also never told me the modified SLR was called a "b***h"! You taught me that, thanks!
Yes !!! ... I've been waiting for this. I saw a photo of this at the Lithgow Small Arms Factory museum. ... thank you Gun Jesus for bringing this forgotten weapon out in open ! 🙏
I served in the 90's with somebody who'd done this (unofficially) to his SLR in Vietnam. Took a hacksaw to the barrel, got the larger mag and set off on patrol in his usual position as lead scout. Naturally he was court martialled on return to base and issued a new rifle to which he did the whole thing all over again. 20+ years later he was STILL a private. :D
@@Quadrant14 it's been 30 years... I can barely remember half the proper names in my own section, let alone another platoon. Not at all dodgy. Just because YOU haven't heard of it doesn't mean it's not true.
Excellent video. From what I've read, Australian troops preferred to use the L2 magazine over the Bren's "banana" magazine. This was because the L2's magazine spring is stronger, since the Bren feeds downwards and has gravity in its favor. Greetings from Argentine Patagonia. Edited to add a comment: Additionally, the L2 magazine does not need an adapter for retention. Post data: That is not an assault rifle....THIS is an assault rifle.
Banana mags where never used on Australian made L4A4 7.62x51mm Bren guns they only used the straight 20 rd mag for the SLR L1A1 or 30 rd mag for the L2A1. 303 Bren gun mags impossible to fit to a L2A1. They where still in use in some Army Reserve units when I joined the Army in 1989
Bren Guns in 7.62 NATO (L4 LMG) ran straight mags because 7.62NATO is not a rimmed round. Compare Bren mags with ZB mags. They're the same gun, why the difference?
The story about L4 Bren magazines having weaker springs is a myth, probably to stop soldiers from pilfering them from the Bren gunner to squirrel away in their own kit. Mike from Bloke on the Range discusses it in his latest Finnish Brutality videos.
@@aynjeleyeswrong. The 7.62 bren magazines were used on the Brens in Australian service. I have pictures of RAAF ADGies using the curved 7.62 Bren magazines in their SLRs
my dad was talking about weapons that he used in the Australian SAS and he mentioned this gun, he is 60 now and it's cool to see how accurately RUclips and google like to stalk my conversations, great vid though!
Thanks mate, I remember hearing about the war on the radio when I was about 5, but had no idea we crafted hybrid weapons, good old Aussie ingenuity.🇦🇺✌️👍
Great video, again Thankyou Ian. To add information, if only for improved understanding/recognition. The Commonwealth Countries variant build of the FN FAL officially became known as the 'Rifle L1A1 SLR'. The most popular common unofficial favoured name that it came to be known as amongst Commonwealth military is SLR, pronounced as...'SLUR'. I used a SLUR during my time in the R.A.N. and privately owned one in the '90s before the Gun Buyback.
The Royal New Zealand Army used the L1A1 for a long time before they were replaced by the Steyr AUG in 1988 which in turn was replaced in 2016 by the 0.223" MARS-L assault-rifle.
When we were still allowed semi auto rifles in the UK I had a unissued Australian FN. Best gun I ever owned. It had a Nimrod scope on it, won one of the last national semi auto rifle competitions held in the UK with it.
Close; I reckon it was more like "Yeah nah, this c*nt can do better. Oi! Jay-mo! Still got that metal file? You bloody legend, we's gonna have her fixed up right in no time."
There were at least 2 which were returned to Australia. One was nicknamed the Bitch, the other was the Beast. Unlike the reproduced version you presented they both had shortened gas systems. In the early nineties one of them was still useable and I fired it during some testing. At that stage the other was worn out and had been turned into a display weapon. Also from memory the front pistol grip was not mounted vertical but was mounted on an angle inwards towards a RH shooter.
I got to fire the New Zealand standard version without the forward hand grip and semi-auto whilst a cadet, amazing accuracy with iron sights, recoil was manageable for a 18 year old shorty!
As a member of the Royal navy, I used to competition shoot with an L1A1 at up to 600 yards against army and air Force Eventually I joined the fleet and to ny surprise, the rifle was there for me to use as needed Later I moved to Australia and bought my own. Loved that machine
Knowing how the Australian Army works I'm pretty sure they would have been returned to original condition by the regimental armourers after the war, or stripped for spare parts. The idea that sixty years in the future they may be of historical interest wouldn't have been a consideration.
When I went through Australian infantry school in 2014, my section commander who was a commando taught this same break contact drill. Full auto from the hip - also known as dumping a panic mag. Presumably, he was taught this same thing when he was a young dig by Vietnam vets. Doesn't quite have the same impact with an F88 though haha
If you look at the 1978 Film The Wild Geese, you will see an SAS Soldier Carrying an SLR that has the Barrel cut down short with No Muzzle Brake or front sight. I seem to recall reading that The Regiment had a small number of these Modified rifles in their armoury. The Soldier in The Film is a Guy called Ian Yule who incidentally had served in The SAS.
@@MrOlgrumpy Nobody suggested that they were SAS. My post was about a guy in The Film who is wearing an old style SAS Cap and that's because he Was ex SAS ( Ian Yule) and he is the guy with the Rifle I mentioned. OK.
As an Australian Forces veteran from the late 80s into the mid 2000s, the rifle I use for most of my career was the L1A1 with the occasional use of the L2A1. I LOVED that rifle. But...I had no idea that this mod ever existed! What a great video, thanks so much for sharing!!
I joined the army reserve here in Australia in 1968, the alternative was to go into the balot for national service (Nashos) We used to do two three week camps a year, I was issued with the L1A1 always referered to as an SLR. it didn't have the front grip, actually I never saw this in the 4 years I served. They were an extremely good weapon, very acurate. They were 7.62mm and the word was the US armalite with a smaller calibre was less effective, less fatal.
I used to be involved in Cowboy Action Shooting, and there were a fair number of Australians in the online community. They were much more casual about the word "b!tch" than the U.S. members. In particular, I remember that there was an Australian woman who was considering "Buckshot B!tch" as her shooting name, and this provoked absolute horror from a lot of U.S. members.
She did take that alias... And yes, its not seen as a rude word here at all really... like Bugger...which some Brits still find objectionable... and yet we have it on TV ads... For a while I was thinking of changing my CAS alias to "Ken Oath"... that would have got through the SASS screening process no worries... LOL
@@trooperdgb9722 well, like most words bugger has meanings based on era and interpretation. As does, well, special, joy, or gay. I don't think the Flintstones were encouraging same sex acts. Ken Oath is a good one to bypass things still. :)
Ahh, this was an unexpected delight, much like unexpectedly bumping into an old mate you haven't seen for decades but instantly recognise and all the good old times instantly come rushing back. Thanks so much for this one Ian!
In a book a read, they talked about this modification. Turning the weapon full auto apparently involved a match stick. I don't know where or how, as the book didn't really go into detail. Just that it was a common modification
Yes the match stick held the safety sear down allowing it to fire fully auto. You had to be careful though because it could fire on its own just by cocking it.
As an Australian soldier in the 80’s I was very familiar with this weapon, which was superseded by the bullpup Styer that had smaller calibre which was all about the USA / NATO alliance thing. Nice to see one again, thank you.
Australian here. We had these in the armoury at High School. From memory, there were 15-20, of them available for the Army Cadet unit. They were unmodified originals, with the exception of the firing pin which had been removed. We would do parade drills a couple of times per week, and we always got these out for that. I did the ANZAC day dawn service at the Shrine in Melbourne one year, and we had to keep these with us….. which would NEVER happen these days. This was the mid 90s; when we still had adults in charge. We got to fire these as well as part of the Cadet Annual, at one of the ranges on the Puckapunyal Army Base. A lot of fun, and a lot of kick for a 15 year old! So if you’re in Melbourne, perhaps get in contact with the Melbourne High School Army Cadet unit in Victoria, or perhaps the Army Museum at Puckapunyal which reopens late in 2024.
@@ROONLOON I believe so. I haven’t been to the memorial myself, but I took a quick look at the collections catalogue, and it’s indicating they have one on display. Here’s the link if you want to check it out: www.awm.gov.au/collection/C248865
A chap who spent time in Vietnam walking around the hills with an slr. He said that he always loaded 3 tracer rounds in the mag before topping it up with ball rounds. That way he knew that a mag change was imminent when firing it. Also the cut down barrel, with the flash hider just in front of the gas block, was known as a "pointer" in kiwi service. Much better in jungle conditiins.
I've always liked the look and slight length reduction of those PNG flash suppressors you mentioned. IIRC, Australian testing demonstrated they were basically as effective at suppressing flash as the standard Commonwealth L1A1/SLR/C1 unit, had some moderate muzzle brake function, but may (again. IiRC) have had a slightly negative effect on accuracy.
I first heard about this weapon about 20 years ago from a range manager out at Bundanoon in Western Australia - he was talking about all the customised weapons the SASR blokes would bring, He saw someone using a customised sawn-off L2A1 and asked 'What do you call that?' The operator replied ' The Bitch.' Great video, thanks for bringing us the full story.
Mark Graham of ARS built my FAL on a DSA receiver w/ Imbel parts kit. It was dead on accurate out of the box. Great job, and one of my favorite rifles.
It is one of the myths of working in the bush that you need a short barreled rifle. The SLR (please Ian, not FAL) was perfectly fine during my entire tour 68-69 we never felt the need to "shorten barrels." It was all about weight not length and the M16 was available but few chose to use it.
In Denmark the G3 with Danish mods was called the M75. In Australia the FAL with Australian mods was called the SLR. Doesn't change the fact that they're G3s and FALs respectively. It's not until a licensed production is altered to the point of losing parts compatibility with the original that it "becomes it's own thing".
@@vk2ig LBPR - Little Black Plastic Rifle Modern glossary on the term LBPG - I’m guessing either by a civvy or an ex-serviceman wanting to ‘stick it to the man’.
Interesting, I was in the British army in the 70’s and did some jungle training in Belize with our SAS. They had armalites and pump action shotguns, they told us that the armalites had been Aussie weapons in Vietnam, the shotguns were for the exact same reason, as much fire power as possible in a ambush situation.
I served in the infantry as a rifleman/forward scout in the early 90’s. I served in Charlie Company, 31 RAR NQ. I was used to treading around in the rainforest. That’s where we conducted most of our training. We not only survived but thrived in that climate. That’s all we really knew. I was proud to serve because Australian soldiers are respected all over the world. They always give their best, no matter what. I have some older friends that were in Nam. I don’t know how they did it. They were constantly beat down but got up and kept going. That’s the Aussie spirit. Interestingly, my recruit class was the last to be trained with SLR’s. I loved that rifle. I actually topped out my class in marksmanship with it. Lo and behold 6 months later we had to qualify with the steyrs which I hated. I hated the fixed optic. Useless in CQB. And I was a big guy so I preferred a heavier weapon. Unfortunately this also made me the prime candidate for carrying the M60. And that thing was more of a bitch than the SLR was. Also got to play around with a Bren as well which was fun.
I grew up lugging SLRs about the countryside. The Regiment weren't the only ones to mod their SLRs and it didn't take a whole lot of talent. No one ever called it a FAL, unless brass was asking about it, even then most of them still called it an SLR, mainly because that was its true designation because it had a number of differences from the "true" FN FAL. They were phased out by 1992 and replaced with the Steyr and some M-16 family toys and then the F88 AUSteyr, made by Small Arms Factory in Lithgow, who made the SLR.
My father (Australian) had a SLR with a 90* extra slat surface on the change leave that turned into an AR. Then used the AR 30 shot mags with it. This made a 7.62 AR with a much lighter barrel and unlike the Armalite rifles it didn't have hard extractions and jam up.
My father was in Vietnam as part of the RAEME (technical) group and he had to visit units to look at the techinical problems that came up. He heard of the SAS having problems with SLR barrels splitting open, which is really weird so he went for a visit. On arrival he found that the clowns just took a hacksaw to the barrel with no cleaning up or fixing the end. He organised for the armourer to do the job properly and fix the end of the barrel so it wouldn't split anymore and actually do what they wanted to.
I worked as a military contractor (sort off/long story) and was friends with a soldier that was one of the guys responsible for disposing of the FAL when they were deemed no longer useful, basically they were loaded from the stores into trucks then driven to the blast furnaces in Newcastle (NSW), the truck then reversed up to the furnace and tipped them complete (as in wood and all), every single one was accounted for (there is another story but i ain't going there) suffice to say there are no survivors, except for museum pieces etc.
@@aaronleverton4221 Weapons are useful tools. If your tools are still useful, you sell them to someone else who has use for them, you don't throw them away in a fit of pique.
@@charlesboots6508 "If your tools are still useful..." Weapons have a shelf-life, barrels wear out, springs break, surfaces corrode. Unreliable weapons are not useful tools, they are a danger and selling unreliable tools does not earn you repeat custom. And Australia is generally not in the habit of passing useless crap down to its less-affluent regional allies. Steel is a valuable commodity, if you have it, re-use it. Government policy is broad, so are the numbers of government-purchased rifles, more broad than the available time of the Army's armourers to inspect the tens of thousands of rifles in stock at the end-of-rifle-service in order to categorise them into "projectile weapon" and "medieval mace". Also "...fit of pique..." is an incredibly obvious and stupid strawman. Be better.
@@aaronleverton4221Telling someone to “be better” makes you look like a tool. I was agreeing with you up until that point. The guy is just passionate about firearms and preserving history. he might sound reactionary but it is very common for nations to just dispose of historic firearms.
Hell tes! I've been waiting for a video on these to be on the channel since I started watching the channel 11 years ago (probably every Aussie viewer has been), my understanding is many were quietly converted back to the standard pattern toward the end of Australian involvement in the Vietnam war.
Ours all had bolt locks to keep them open and the barrels finished about 2 inches from the gas block. They all cameback and were used into the late 80s
1945 my Dad came home from Borneo... caught the train to Parramatta to visit his sister who was working in a florists. Went in to a Barber shop nearby and asked the 50-ish year old barber (who not surprisingly was a 1st AIF veteran) to mind his kitbag....and rifle. Different times alright. As CSM of our High School Cadet unit I used to supervise training in the bushland behind the school... we had Lee Enfields of course...and for a while..2 Brens... noone even blinked at a bunch of kids with rifles.....One retired (British) Army Infantry guy who had emigrated out here saw us once while walking his dog.... then came back a number of times to pass on HIS experience! Good times.
@@user-hi5dd5qh9nPort Arthur was the real change. Unsurprisingly the media reported it and people were horrified ... again, unsurprisingly. Likewise with the events at the Lindt cafe and more recently out near Tara. Nowadays it's not so much the media, but also social media - there are plenty of videos coming out of the USA depicting gun violence.
I live in Townsville, and the line in that song that says 'Townsville lined the footpath as we marched down to the quay' always gives me goosebumps. What a beautifully haunting song.
I had the pleasure of seeing John Schumann with Redgum play "I was only 19" live at Torrens Parade Ground (Adelaide) one ANZAC Day. It really choked me up!
Hey Ian, quick point on using 30 round Bren mags on the SLR/FN MAG. We tried it on our winter deployment in Arctic Norway in the 80`s. The Bren mag is top mounted and we found the spring not strong enough to push rounds upwards into the SLR with frequent stoppages, even with the gas turned right up. Plus the longer mag was continually getting snagged when skiing. With semi auto weapons, the perceived advantage of thirty round mags wasn`t worth the hassle .
If there is an example of this version of the SLR in existance, you are most likely to find it at the Australian Army Infantry Museum at Singleton in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales (NSW). When I enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) late 70s all of the recruit instructors were Vietnam Veteran Airfield Defence Guards. They used to love demonstrate the hitting power of the SLR's 7.62mm round in comparision to the standard US 5.5mm round by 'blowing up' kerosene tins full of water on the 25 yard ranges. All I remember was that it kicked like a mule and was bloody heavy. But it was really accurate for an open sight weapon. Of interest is that we still have some for use in ceremonial occassions such as ANZAC Day---mainly by the Federation Guards. Great video as always! Wishing you all the very best for the festive season from Oz.
As an Australian response, we were taught not to respond to an ambush with all guns blazing - that would be like Americans. Drop, cover, return fire on targets, retreat as a unit., consider size and quality of ambushers.
There are several authentic variants that reside in the armoury of RAEME Training Centre at Bandiana. We were able to experience it’s bitchiness on Fitter Armourer course and I’m sure Lithgow small arms factory would have a few squirrelled away as well.
I did my Fitter Arm't course in the mid-80s and remember RTC very well - and yes, there were some great museum pieces there. Did they still have the volleyball set up in Arm't Wing when you were there? I also remember going up the hill to do optics and the great view from the optically perfect panels! I wonder how much of that infrastructure is left now? Not a lot I'm guessing. Haven't been to the SAFL museum in years.
@@contributor7219 same here brother I'd have to check my records to be accurate but i think 1/87 course. Yes the armoury there has many treasures and that hill is the stuff of nightmares. Can't remember the significance of the volleyball court but our course did take part in the Mad Hatter Regatta on the Murray river with a dodgy raft. Also of note was the end of course range shoot and pub crawl on a stagecoach through Albury. I was at Tech Support SQN 2 CAV and did some great stuff there. We liased with NSW Police ballistics unit to acquire a cache of historical military small arms for display in the SGT's mess which was a highlight. Fun times.
@@BRETTYZCAR And who can forget the Blazing Stump, just past the 'roaches school' across the road! I was 37th class and at The Centre TST and 1AR Tech Sqn at Pucka, about a year ahead of you at RTC I would guess, and spent quite a bit of time at Adelaide Wksp Co and P&E as well. I visited the Tank Museum at Pucka a handful of years back and, after passing the 'bullshit test', had a good chat with the guide about our days there. He also said they were down to a single RAEME adviser and some Reccy Mechs at The Centre TST - down from around 40 in my days. While I was there the air start of their Mack Wrecker fired up, a bit of a haunting sound having just learned how few RAEME staff were left there. You and I certainly enjoyed the halcyon days of RAEME. Stay safe and well!
I have one I built but using SLR parts. I did cut barrel to 17 3/8 inches. It actually shoots better with the short barrel. I never put a flash hider back on it as I understand the desire was for flash the dash. I did manage to pick up a dozen bren mags. Great video.
My friend was an armourer in Vietnam and he told me that he did exactly what you just spoke of. About 15 - 20 years ago, after he had retired, he went to the SAS barracks in Perth and enquired about his modified SLR as there was one mounted on the wall. He was pleased to hear that the very rifle he modified was still being used for training purposes. Steve Chapman was the gentleman's name, he was a proud soldier and a very good friend. RIP Steve. Lest we forget.
That base is about a kilometre west of where I’m sitting right now.
My word !!!!
Boocoo ass kicker….!
Seer……!
Aussie Diggers had OLD generasl and so our sLr were LONG BARRELLED. I made mine auto. My boss ok's.
“A very short, full-auto, .308 calibre, flash & blast, concussion inducing Bitch”
One of the greatest quotes of the century.
... i should call her
Knowing Australian tendencies, I feel like the actual Aussie name is probably a different impolite word, starting with a C.
@@atomic_wait And ending with an unt.
@@danielschroedinger2090 DANIEL NO!!!
@@atomic_wait As an aussi I can confirm calling this thing the bitch is frankly most polite thing I can think of
Anecdotally, the easy modification to enable fully automatic fire on the SLR was to use a matchstick to disable the interruptor. This did make them full-auto only, but was able to be done by less special forces in the field and could be surreptitiously uninstalled before handing your firearm back to the unit armourer.
Better hide your dog…
That sounds like inviting hammer follow.
YES I was told that 2001
@@GunFunZSFrom what I've gathered even the semi auto L1s had an auto/safety sear.
So no worries about follow on.
I honestly think that matchstick story is a myth. You can easily make a SLR/FAL full auto by removing the fire selector
From old diggers who served in Vietnam, they would also cut the barrel right back to the gas block, and this would be carried by a rifleman close to the officer/rear on patrol. This was not used to hit targets, but in full auto, would be shot in short bursts and would sound like a heavy squad weapon (50 cal) giving the enemy the impression they had bumped into a much larger Australian force, and disengaging. One of many tricks used by Aussie diggers to push an advantage
I bought a ex NZ army SLR when they changed to the AUG and were selling them off. I had the barrel shortened by around 120 mm ( 5 inch’s) and the magazine modified to hold 10rnds from 20. All to make it easier to handle in the NZ bush.
@@uhtred7860what were you hunting, dinosaurs?!
Aussie's always thinking up surprises and confusion to take the initiative.
No one would confuse a 7.62 slr for a 50 cal....50 cal's are platoon size weapons too, no one is carrying one on a patrol, especially not in Vietnam.
@@russellcoight9376 probably meant the 30 cal ....
I just want to say thanks to all of the Aussies in the comments who've shared their stories! Very great to read, cheers to you guys!
Can't see it anywhere in the comments, but the boys that came after the SLR was retired called it the Elephant Gun.
Because they were training on AUG plastic coated 5.56.@@civillad. I trained on it and loved it, cause when you swapped out from carrying the M60 on a route march, it was sooo light 😉
Usually the Americans and their communication companies don't like mentioning Australia because they call us every time and that would mean America's probably not as capable as they make out. So very good to hear you're compliment appreciate that
I'm Australian and wasn't even aware of this gun. So don't assume just cus we're Aussie we know everything about our guns. We don't. It's like assuming an American knows all about all of their guns. They probably don't either. Unless they are a huge gun enthusiast .
I think guns are cool but I don't really know that much about them.
Thanks mate
I was in the Australian Cadet Force from 1969-72. The FAL as you call it was always referred to as the SLR (Self Loading Rifle).
The L1A1 SLR was designed using Imperial measurements and has some differences from the standard FN FAL. A significant change from the original FN FAL was that the L1A1 SLR operates in semi-automatic mode only.
Was called the SLR here in NZ too
I reckon all across the Commonwealth, the regular soldier was calling it the SLR. I know we Brits did.
Aww...It's like a family reunion! Except for the rebellious colonies of course.
@@AdamOwenBrowningIn Canada, lots of the vets I spoke to called it the FN.
All Australian Soldiers of the L1A1 era knew how to turn a semi into an Auto with nothing more than a matchstick from a ration pack.
My uncle was from that era and told me the exact same thing
He did say you had to be careful not to melt anything when you did that though…
He was actually an extra in the movie the odd angry shot, the extras had a bus crash when heading to the film set so they grabbed some guys from the local army barracks to fill in one day
The spider fighting scene has genuine Aussie solders playing the extras
@@johnnytower6169 love that story. Was just thinking the other day I need to break out that movie again. One of the best war movies ever
As did the British squaddies
@@johnnytower6169I am not sure about the match stick but the reason it is so easy to convert the FAL family to full auto is because military FALs almost always have the safety sear (prevents hammer follow). In the US, with the exception of a few FALs which were grandfathered-in specifically by serial number, all FALs which have safety sears (or even the cutout for them in the receiver) are considered machine guns by the ATF even if the selector switch is blocked from moving to the A position.
It definately has the best ending. It stuck with me for over 40 years.@@ramcat5137
Precision fire solves a lot of problems, Volume of Fire solves a lot of problems at point blank range
Your enemy can't fight back if there is nothing left.
There isn't a range where volume of fire isn't effective though.
@@ekscalyburvolume of fire not working? More volume! :)
Volume of Fire at point blank range tends to very quickly make problems reassess their desire to be problems.
"Precision fire can solve a problem, automatic fire can solve a lot of problems."
Best comment I ever heard on full auto FALs: “first shot’s on target; second is 6” above, and anything after that is anti aircraft fire”
I’d love to see if the vertical front grip made any difference to that.
When fired from the hip, yes. It's easier to keep it forced down like that. Heck, it's easier to keep rifles with no front grip down if you fire from the hip too.
Watch the movie Platoon for an idea of what jungle combat was like in Vietnam. 20 or 30 feet away muzzle climb doesn't matter too much.
correct on full auto it was firing into the tree tops almost uncontrolabel had to step backwards when i did the full auto simpel remove the fire selector and it will shoot full auto but useless only spending ammo we carried 6 mags 19 per mag
No that is not true, when i was a national service man in the SADF i worked in the base pharmacy and got my hands on some ammo by virtue of the gunsmith being next door, one weekend pass i smuggled the rifle out of base (if they caught me i would have been in deep poo poo) took it to the farm with a full mag tracer every 3rd/4th round for special effect, sat one knee down in the hollow of a grassland valley held it to my waist and solidly gripped the barrel guard with my left hand and dumped the twenty round mag (or the larger part of it) up the grassy valley meadow! I am talking 1981 now. I was amazed at the relatively good controlability, i could feel the muzzle rise but not nearly as bad as i anticipated, in fact it was an absolute joy to shoot on full auto, but you had to be mindfull of controlability,if you had it against your shoulder 4-5 shot automatic bursts would be more advisable,the full power 308 round makes it more of a rapid fire battle rifle.
There is few in Australia that troops sneak back
Now I want to watch The Odd Angry Shot again.
I joined the RAAF in 1979, as am 18 year-old. On the very day I was inducted into the forces, my fellow recruits and I went to a movie theater and watched that film before boarding a train to 1RTU, our recruit training unit.
We used this weapon in training and annual shoots for about a decade afterward before it was replaced by the F88 Steyr (I think). Geez, watching this video took me back to my annual weapons handling proficiency days. I could close my eyes and feel the rifle, this video was so damn good. And respectful.
My current partner was married to a Vietnam vet (I met him once - lovey guy) who used one of these. I showed her, and it brought a wistful smile to her face.
Great movie, inaccurate as far as SASR casualties, RIP Graeme Kennedy :)
We (Canadian Army) call that "dump a mag and fall back" manoeuvre the Aussie Peelback. Now I know the gun that originated from, so thanks for that.
Just a C-2 with the bi-pod replaced with a pistol grip
@@pdxyyz4327 C1 no C2
Cool!
"Australian Peel" elsewhere means everyone fires, one guy yells "Peeling!" and falls back, then keeps shooting from a more distant position, then the second guy does the the same, then the third, then fourth, etc. etc. The idea is to give the impression to the enemy that rather than retreating, more reinforcements are being brought up.
We are a bunch of devious bastards.
@@azimisyauqieabdulwahab9401 It's fully automatic, so it's a C-2. Canada went semi-automatic on the C-1.
it was known as the Tunnel of Love when I was in the Aus Army, same as US/Can/UK lads calling forward abseiling Australian Rappelling.
Small point of order, the L1A1 was generally referred to in Australian service as the SLR ('Self Loading Rifle'). Yes, it's an FN-FAL restricted to semi-auto fire (well, bar modifications like the one above), but that's what our troops referred to it as.
Fuckin’ luv me SLR cheers
It was called the same (SLR) in UK service. Not officially but in regular usage.
Same in Indian Army service
So all we’ve established is that all British and British dominion countries called their rifles SLR 😂 brilliant
@@corditesniffer8020 FAL really is a misnomer for L1A1 SLRs because they were not automatic rifles. SLR was a generic term that was applied to other nation's rifles if they were similar - any semi auto type battle rifle.
In the mid 80' my serge, a Vietnam vet, told me that the VC in his area loved to acquire a SLR. He showed me how 'easy' it was to make the L1A1 full-auto. He was like some figure from myth, that man. Very important to me and how I have lived my life since then. Cheers to you Tony..
I (we) would have followed Sargent Farrugia, a Vietnam vet to the gates of hell and back and into the shadow of the valley of death as often as he required us to. I hear ya Digger. he also told us how the VC would melt away into the bush whenever they saw Diggers fixing bayonets. He would recall how quiet the bush was after the call to fix bayonets. But we had to feed him a lot of booze before he would open up with the war stories. He and our CSM were always most welcome in the OR's club. True legends. Fk now I have a tear in me eye. Acoy 1RVR Late 1980's
A guy my dad worked with was a Vietnam vet. He co-wrote a book about his experiences. It is called Crossfire: An Australian Reconnaissance Unit in Vietnam. In it he describes beginning his deployment with an Owen, but, after joining the recon platoon, making his own weapon by putting a heavy barrel on his SLR and modifying the sear to give him full-auto fire. He called it the "slaughtermatic."
The other co-author wrote the absolutely not-to-be-missed book Trackers: The Untold Story of the Australian Dogs of War (which I once wrote a screenplay for on the off-chance that I might somehow convince some lunatic to put up a few million to produce). I cannot over-recommend Trackers. It is brilliant and so is the main real-life protagonist, Caesar.
I read this book years ago. I think I still have it. Curse you for making me want to dig many boxes of old books.
Always on the lookout for good reads, thanks for the recommendation.
It is a great Book and story .
Trackers is a great read, I absolutely recommend it also.
I know both men. Peter is a volunteer at our Museum and gives talk about his experiences to school excursions. Robert was my old Training WO and is active in the RSL here. Both are legends.
Once upon a time, nearly 50 years ago, when I was an Army Cadet here in Western Australia, I was one of the few who got a tour of some of the SAS workshops at Campbell Barracks, adjacent to the Swanbourne rifle range where we were training with worn out .303 SMLE and Bren.
The gun carriers being built at the Barracks were based an Land Rover chassis but beyond that, almost unrecognizable with crazy engines and gun mounts for various machine guns.
IIRC everything built was written off once deployed. Nobody in the SAS risked their attributes trying to rescue equipment.
And there was I, a cadet with a rifle older than my father.
As part of the NZ Cadet Force (ATC) I got to fire an SLR at the age of 18 all 5'2" 59kg of me - lovely gun (oh I grew another 2.5 inches in the next 3 years LOL)
We were still using worn out Enfields and Bren when I was in cadets in the 80s in the UK. They introduced a single shot SA-80 just as I was leaving it. Had this big clumpy handle thing on it.
Yep - my time in the ACF in the 80's we had old SMLE's and a Bren which we never got a chance to fire but trained on assembly/disassembly. The we got the single shot cadet SA80 which fell apart the moment it fell over. Bloody pile of shite.
I remember shooting .303s at Swanbourne range for the inter unit (school) shooting competition. At the time my school had 100 "blank firing" 303s (i.e. barrel shot to pieces), 26 live firing 303s (mine was letter T) and two Bren guns stored in a shed. As the competition was on weekend I was issued with .303 to take home (I was 16 at the time) so caught the bus home with the rifle slung over my shoulder. No-one looked twice. How things have changed.
We used to have SAS troopers as instructors on our NCO courses, which was interesting. At these we got to fire SLRs (L1A1), ARs (L2A1 LMG) and F1 SMGs. On our annual camp we usually just shot 303s and Bren guns. We also did range days at Bushmead rifle range, which is now suburb.
@@ForestRacer1958 You lucky bastard. I was in the cadets in the 2000s, and all we ever got to shoot were the old .22-converted Lee-Enfields. I would have loved to fire some more interesting weapons...
When you are in Australia, you should check out the Australian War Memorial, the Lithgow Small Arms Factory and the Infantry Museum in Singleton. They would most likely have this rifle in their collections.
I know Singo has a bullpup SLR and M16 prototype I'm sure Ian would be rather keen to get his grubby mitts on. :D
Many Air Cadet squadrons still retain deactivated L1A1s to use for drill. Though this version would be altogether rarer.
I was once the manager of the Infantry Museum at Singleton (not to be confused with the Curator ... he had the real hands on job of running the museum: it is a priceless collection of artifacts and a must-see for anyone visiting or living in the Hunter Valley Region).
While you are at it, the Huey on display says it was used by 3 RAR in the Solomon Islands in 2003. 2 RAR not 3 RAR deployed in 2003. 3RAR did not deploy until 2005.@@MegaPeedee
@@TheWamjet Thinking back, that may have been what my brother had as a RAAF cadet at ADFA 25-ish years ago. I remember it being basically the same as what Ian's got here, except much shorter and without the extra pistol grip. The bolt was absent when he let me handle it - I'm not sure if it the rifle would still work at all with its bolt, but he did say that the frequent cleaning drills basically trashed the weapons' functionality.
So hey, fair chance I've handled a weapon that Ian wishes he could get his hands on. Never expected that.
Royal Australian Navy in the late 80s and as everyone else has said, we called it an SLR. We had the L1A1 Semi Autos and used to shoot them at the range up to 300m. Being Navy and not army, we left all the jungle silly buggers stuff to the Pongos. We did do a lot of parade and guard drill with the SLR's though. The wood up front was known as the "furniture", and you always loosened that screw a little bit to get a cool slap sound when you presented arms.
My Father served in Vietnam as an infantry radio operator with 9 RAR '68 - '69. Most RO's, scouts and officers carried the M16 due to it's lightness / automatic firepower. My Old Man preferred the 7.62 round over 5.56 as the heavier bullet would not be deflected by jungle foliage and could penetrate smaller tree trunks and ant hills with enough energy left over to penetrate the person hiding behind it.
One day, while being transported by APC he saw the crews L2A2 and had an idea. When he dismounted he had within his L1A1 SLR the moving parts from the L2A2. He figured he would see much more combat than the APC crew and his extra firepower would be more detrimental to the enemy while increasing his chance of survival.
When back at Nui Dat he scrounged a couple of 40 round mags and cannibalised a speargun, attaching its pistol grip to his front furniture with the rubber firing sling from the speargun and finally attaching a bipod.
His frankengun, Boom Boom B*tch served him well.
40 round mag ??
from my memory , the mag on the L2A1 were 30 round , and the only thing u needed to change on the L1A1 was the safety catch , it had a different profile allowing the gun to shoot semi auto or auto , I actually owned a L1A1 with a L2A1 safety setup , And yes a small bit of match stick under the sear would give u full auto , BUT full auto on a L1A1was a sure way to burn out a barrel very quickly , hence the L2A1 had a much heaver barrel , to help handle the heat I can say a L1A1 on full auto gets very hot very fast , and gets decidedly unmanageable just as fast .I am not sure regular army soldiers would have modified their L1A1's ,and gotten away with it , BUT armours for special forces ( SAS ) may have tricked up 1 or 2 specials , I have seen L1A1's with short barrels and the flash suppressor still on them
@@NEVILLEBUTLER-b3c 100% correct about the barrel melting.
I knew an old timer Aussie who owned a bar locally and got himself a semi-auto FAL when he came to America because he served in the Australian Army in the Vietnam era. We got to talking one night and that’s how I found this out. Since I was a big gun guy and the business was real slow that evening, he brought it out to show me. So here I am looking over this FAL at a barstool and some hipster dudes walk in and about have a heart attack. Good times.
@cris-rj5zf I don’t care if you think it’s bs. Was in Omaha a few years back.
Knowing the Aussies, it's a miracle this thing wasn't called the C-word
Trust me we still did call them that
Sorry mate, she's a little old for that name. We didn't really start using the word c#nt until around the mid 90's.😂😂😂
Cockato?
The C-word wasn't used anywhere near as much back then as it is today
"Cobber"? 🤔😜
In WW2, in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, the Aussies learned to love a short-barrelled, full auto with front pistol grip that can dump a shed ton of lead at whatever you’re going after.
The jungle doctrine of peeling back after making contact while on patrol also dates back to WW2. My grandfather was a bren gunner through most of the tropical, south pacific conflicts in WW2 and they just didn't stick around on patrols, they'd come across the Japanese. Hose them up as best they could and move back to a rendezvous point, reload, check everyone was there, in one piece and either set an ambush if pursued or just document the contact point and move elsewhere on the route.
It tended to fray the nerves of the enemy and if the enemy took casualties it effectively removed them from the area because by that stage, they didn't know if it was 10 guys or a whole platoon. Likewise in a jungle, its real easy to get a lot of people in a very small area and not know how many there are, like maybe it was a Japanese patrol or it was the leading tip of a whole company 50metres ahead of them.
As someone who has done jungle warfare training in that God-awful helhole called "Tully", I can confirm this as absolutely accurate.
Unlike shooting in the jungle.
A Thompson? Or a Frankenstein version of a standard issue.
@@krissteel4074dude that’s literally how almost all combat happens. It’s how you hunt. It’s how humans kill things.
@@davidkershaw5379 To quote more than one knowledgeable source: "arguably the best sub-machine gun of ww2, of which there were no complaints from the soldiers to whom it was issued." The Owen Gun.
Ian has a couple of videos. A *really* old one shooting it and a more recent one discussing and dismantling it.
Years ago, when I was serving in Germany, I was good friends with the regimental armourer. Although the SLR was not my personal weapon, my armourer friend adapted one for me so that it fired full auto and used LMG 30 round mags. He had adapted one for his own use and another for a mutual friend who was a combat engineer. As an aside, when working in an urban environment, I happened to be in the infantry defence company armoury, when I espied an M16. I asked who used it and was told no one wanted it: all the infantrymen preferred to take out an SLR when on patrol. The armourer told me I could have it, if I wanted it. At the time I carried a Sterling in a canvas bag with the stock folded and the mag off, plus a Browning 9mm HP in a shoulder holster. Unfortunately, the M16 was too big for my canvas bag. Pity it wasn't a CAR 15, one of those might just about have fitted in.
I had the pleasure of using a converted and shortened SKS for some time that fired full auto and accepted AK mags. Ingenuity was more appreciated back in the old days before everyone got a stick implanted instead of a spine.
I take it that you were on Op Banner in the second part of the story? Where you saw an M16 and carried a SMG in a canvas bag and a Browning in a shoulder holster? Also not exactly in a standard rifle company or inf bn by the looks of it. Also having an armourer adapt an SLR for you is err a bit unorthodox and wouldn't be allowed in any BAOR unit I know of. Interesting and I understand if you can't give any more details.
@@Willy_Tepes I blame foreigners... and the gays
My Father was an officer in the Bundeswehr and the stuff you are telling would be completely forbidden.
@@blasterofmuppets4754 Sounds a lot like he wasn't regular lol
These weapons were a replacement for the 303 and were called a SLR self loading rifle as the #303 were a bolt action rifle. They started in service in 1959 with two models the L1 A1 a repeater and a L1 A2 an automatic rifle with a larger magazine and a bi pod at the front. As a marksman with both these weapons they were very accurate but very long for service in Vietnams jungles. As a sergeant in Vietnam I carried a m16 amend a Canadian 9mm pistol.
One of the clearest commentators I have listened to as his volume is excellent, he modulates his voice, great clarity, clear to understand. Fair Dinkum.
I was one of those ‘SASR’ armourers and I test fired both the Bitch and the Beast as part of the annual non-technical inspection. The muzzle flash coming of that thing could have started a bush fire, and just a tad loud.
A WO at holsworthy in the 80s told me it was 'for making a great big fuck off kind of noise' due to the cut down barrel to scare down a contact and break away.
@@petercarter6261 SASR used it like that to give the impression there was more of them then actually was.
Exactly, it wasn't the standard issue SLR used in a battallion but a field mod by SASR armourers for just that purpose@@micksmith-vt5yi
Yea spoke to a SASR Vietnam guy once at a RSL when Grandfather was alive who was a WW2 Vet.
Get some good stories from those Vets.
Their tactics were either go in silently and undetected as best can or go in loudly and with that SLR mod it made it seem was more men in the unit then actually was and confuse the enemy it was a larger force attacking then actually was.
@@micksmith-vt5yi yep, a great big f*&k off kind of noise so we can scarper back into the jungle
I used to be in the Australian army in1987-1990, and this was what we used.
We called it the "SLR" or self loadig rifle rather than the FAL.
We used the M60 for the section machine gun as both used the same 7.62mm rounds.
We also used the 5.56mm M16's, but found them to be overcomplicated mechanically, and they were more unreliable on the whole.
The ADF replaced the L1A1 SLR with the Steyr in 1992(I never used one of those)
Had to watch out for those M16's if the CO had one and was navigating with compass. I was lead scout and he was directing me all over the place. After a somewhat heated discussion about my skills I noticed how he held this M16, a bit of testing determined that the closer it was to his compass the more he was off. We took it apart and everyone was amazed at how magnetized the recoil spring was, it would seriously affect compasses over 3 ft away. We swapped his M16 for my SLR and navigation was better, that became standard practice for the Company. 1979-88.
You never EVER give an officer a compass.
Ever....@FlintStone-c3s
Have you ever seen the film Danger Close ? Its about the battle of Long Tan and in it , both sides are using assorted rifles . The Aussie SAS-R were equipped with L1A1,s, , Owen submachine guns and many were also seen carrying M16's. Major Harry Smith carries an M1911A1 as his sidearm during the action at Long Tan. The VC in the film were equipped with AK-47s, a mix of SKS and Norinco Type 56 rifles with under folding bayonets, several Vietcong troops are seen with StG-44 rifles and in one scene where a VC sniper ambushes one of the patrols , he uses a Mosin Nagant M91/30 Sniper Rifle. Its a great film to watch , one of the best Vietnam war films i have seen
I had a friend whose father was in the Australian Army and he said that his dad always hated it whenever he was stationed at the base where the SASR are stationed because at the end of every shift he'd have to take a bunch of post-it notes off of the back of his uniform. The SASR guys would keep sneaking up behind people, putting post it notes on their back, and then sneaking away without them noticing as a joke.
BS
@@graemesydney38 possibly - I'm only repeating what was told to me.
does sound like a sascat sort of lark
@@theltlexay not to mention sharpening their sneak skill.
The stories I heard were more outlandish and wild. Stealing a helicopter from the flight line and taking it for a joy ride with a few of the lads.
I read of one blue-on-blue encounter in Vietnam where an Australian SAS patrol bumped a Vietnamese militia patrol (commanded by a yank SF SGT) at night. The SAS first scout followed SOP's and 'dumped the mag' from his modified AR/L2A1 (no flash suppressor), and then 'exit stage rear' as per SOP's. Both sides called in arty which is when it was realised it was a blue-on-blue encounter.
There was an after action debrief where the SA and the SF SGT meet. During the debrief the SF SGT said there was so much noise and flash from the AR he thought they were been fired on by a 50 cal.
I had a series of Combat & Survival books when I was young, they were produced in 1987, and I can still remember an article on the Aussie SAS and their custom rifles - sure enough that picture at 5:43 and the cut down FALs were in there, thanks for bringing back the childhood nostalgia. 👍
I remember those things.
Combat and Survival, RAIDS magazine and Commando war stories in pictures, as a country kid from Queensland in the eighties who loved the army they were the best. There was another comic like Commando, but I don’t remember its name.
War Picture Library and Battle Picture Library. Commando Comics is still going!
I have those 2 books , it doesn't have them unfortunately, I just checked. But it does mention that UK soldiers fighting in Falklands war used captured Argentine FALs that had full auto select as a S.A.W on patrol instead of an SLR
My father served in Vietnam at Nui Dat with the 1st Australian Task Force. Unfortunately he never really spoke about it so it’s always interesting for me to hear about the weapons and tactics used by Australian soldiers in Vietnam.
Small point of interest. In the Australian Vietnam War era infantry what Americans call the point man was called the Scout or lead scout in Australian vernacular. The ten man infantry Section consisted of the 2 man Scout Group in the lead, the 4 man Rifle Group, the 2 man Gun Group (M60), the Gun Group was commanded by a Lance Corporal and the Section was commanded by a Corporal. 3 Sections to a Platoon. 3 Platoons to a Company plus Company HQ and attachments.
A Vietnam War era Australian SAS LRRP patrol was often a 5 man patrol with a patrol Scout, Medic, Gunner, Rifleman and Patrol Commander, often a Sergeant. SAS LRRPs were usually between 2 weeks to a month long. I think the record for one patrol was close to 90 continuous days in the field.
I'm a retired Australian army soldier I trained on this rifle,it's called the SLR 7.62 I think they weight around 4.7 kg loaded 20 round mag gas operated folding bolt handle no front grip we just held onto the wooden surround on the receiver of the barrell just under the front sight is the gas plug numbered 1 to 10 to have the weapon reload we had them they were a great rifle for combat super hitting power I love this weapon and yes we trained on the SLR in Australia then we went to the styer 5.56 . Cheers mate
I’m glad you mentioned the barrels usually being cut down to the gas block. It’s such a badass look, but I also respect this guy not wanting to butcher an authentic barrel like that. Also worth mentioning that the SAS would often leave their “Bitches” in Vietnam to be handed over to the next guys deployed so as to not have too many questions back home.
I read a book on the NZ and Australian SAS in Vietnam that said they took the flash hiders off and it is mentioned they could inflict and cauterize a wound at 20ft.
I spent many times carrying the SLR L1A1 in the mid '70s to early '80s I liked it, very accurate weapon.
Mate as a former soldier in the Australian Regular Army just a few things with the video. It is a rifle not a gun and we never called it an FAL it was always referred to as an SLR (self loading rifle). Besides putting a matchstick under the safety seat the all you needed to do to make the SLR automatic was to fit a safety catch from an AR (L2A1). The SLR safety catch only had one bevel which prevented it from being moved to ‘A’ (plus is had a tail on it which got stuck). The AR safety catch had two bevels and no tail (just like the one fitted to the rifle in your video) which allowed it to be moved to the ‘A’ position. Also to hold the cocking handle and working parts to the rear was a holding opening device located near the magazine release catch. Also it’s a flash suppressor not flash hider.
Weapon fires, weapon stops! Carry out the IA: cock, lock and look.
😊
I have a Singapore Police Lithgow L1A1 and it is awesome. It is an outstanding rifle and despite being over 50 years old and beat to crap, it runs flawlessly. It has never failed to work. The L1A1 is an amazing rifle.
My dad was still in the army while these were still in use, and saw them gradually be replaced the AUG. Awesome trip down memory lane.
If you come down to Aus you should contact the Australian War Memorial, they have a huge museum. Not even all the unique stuff is necessarily australian, they could be trophies brought back.
Ive heard their warehouse is extensive and barely any of the collection is on display despite the museum being big enough to spend 2 full days looking at everything.
Worked there for fifteen years. It's true, and as with most large state or national collections, the place displays just a fraction of its collection. Much of the largest and rarest stuff has little to do with the Australian narrative (eg a V2 rocket on its original transport trailer, various other novel or experimental pieces of German technology), so it is not displayed, and likely never will be, at least at the main Memorial site.
@@TheWamjet if understood correctly the V2 is an amalgam of parts from the war and with postwar improvements from British and Australian technicians that were tasked with understanding how it worked. Bloody shame that V2 isn’t on display it’s one of the few left with a good amount of of support gear.
Something like 5% of the collection is on display due to size constraints and even with the new renovations and building new wings it's still not going to be much more.
@@stevenkerr1455
I'm sure I remember seeing a V2 on display at AWM in Canberra as a kid in 1960 or 1961. I did go there for a second visit in 1964.
Never clicked on a Forgotten Weapons video so fast😅
There are a few authentic examples of this weapon still around. As far as I know they are held by the Australian Special Air Service Regiment's museum in Australia.
Also in the armoury at RAEME Training Centre and Lithgow small arms factory.
Had a quick look and there is an article about Campbell Barracks (home of TAG West / SASR) having a display of a bunch of firearms- google 'inside SAS inner sanctum' and you can find an article from the Worst Australian about it
There’s one in the HMAS Cerberus museum, there’s a few treasures in there actually
I’ll bet Ian would have a field day over there
The SASR Museum inside Swanbourne now only has plastic-toy replicas for 'security', but there's an original Bitch hanging behind the Bar in the Sgts Mess.
I loved this gun, I got my marksman certification with it, and then not long after it was replaced by the Steyr, the little plastic 556 peashooter. Sad to see the old girl go, still has a place in my heart.
The faux aging on that thing is beautiful. Some of the best I've ever seen. When you see custom-built clones of old guns like this, usually the builder's idea of "aging" is to grab a piece of sandpaper and just sand down every flat surface on the gun that they can find. It looks freaking terrible. As fake as can be. I know we are seeing this rifle through a video camera and computer screen, but from what I can see, the faux aging on that receiver is DAMN well done. I never would've guessed that was a clone if you hadn't showed the DSA markings inside the magwell. Kudos to the builder. That thing is sweet.
We never called them FAL's when I was in service, they were called SLR's. We all did the conversions to full auto ourselves but the example shown is the first I've seen with a front grip. We did use the Bren gun mags but they were the straight mags of the L4. Most of the time we carried a mixture of SLR or Bren gun mags whenever we were out in the scrub.
I don't care what anyone says, the L1A1 SLR is the best rifle we ever had in service.
The break contact drill you are referring to is called an “ Aussie peel back “. We practiced this drill in the Canadian Army as well
also called the tunnell of love
"I hope you find it enjoyable", you've never put up a video we didn't find enjoyable. You are GUN GOD!! ;-) Thanks for everything you do and keep doing for us mere plebs!
My Dad was with 7RAR 1966 tour. He told me about these. Dad carried the big mag and made his fully auto. He was in a big ass battle called The Battle of Suoi Chau Pha. The Yankee arty helped us not lose the day. We bumped into VC headquarters and the battle lasted from 10:00am to 4:00pm when the rain started.
Really liked the video, my dad served in Vietnam - SAS 3rd Squadron. I remember he told me that yes, they used to fully automate the SLR. He used an M-16 with the XM-148, he never told me they put them on the SLRs though. To possibly answer your question about why there weren't many ''b*****s" left after the war, I remember dad told me that when the SLRs were modified and used as fully automatic rifles, the barrels would eventually warp making them inaccurate and therefore useless. Perhaps that's the reason, either they were discarded by the Australian army, or refitted with new barrels and reset back to semi automatic to be used again? My dad also never told me the modified SLR was called a "b***h"! You taught me that, thanks!
Yes !!! ... I've been waiting for this.
I saw a photo of this at the Lithgow Small Arms Factory museum. ... thank you Gun Jesus for bringing this forgotten weapon out in open ! 🙏
I served in the 90's with somebody who'd done this (unofficially) to his SLR in Vietnam. Took a hacksaw to the barrel, got the larger mag and set off on patrol in his usual position as lead scout.
Naturally he was court martialled on return to base and issued a new rifle to which he did the whole thing all over again.
20+ years later he was STILL a private. :D
@@Quadrant14 it's been 30 years... I can barely remember half the proper names in my own section, let alone another platoon.
Not at all dodgy. Just because YOU haven't heard of it doesn't mean it's not true.
Excellent video. From what I've read, Australian troops preferred to use the L2 magazine over the Bren's "banana" magazine. This was because the L2's magazine spring is stronger, since the Bren feeds downwards and has gravity in its favor. Greetings from Argentine Patagonia. Edited to add a comment: Additionally, the L2 magazine does not need an adapter for retention. Post data: That is not an assault rifle....THIS is an assault rifle.
Banana mags where never used on Australian made L4A4 7.62x51mm Bren guns they only used the straight 20 rd mag for the SLR L1A1 or 30 rd mag for the L2A1. 303 Bren gun mags impossible to fit to a L2A1. They where still in use in some Army Reserve units when I joined the Army in 1989
lol hahahah
Bren Guns in 7.62 NATO (L4 LMG) ran straight mags because 7.62NATO is not a rimmed round. Compare Bren mags with ZB mags. They're the same gun, why the difference?
The story about L4 Bren magazines having weaker springs is a myth, probably to stop soldiers from pilfering them from the Bren gunner to squirrel away in their own kit. Mike from Bloke on the Range discusses it in his latest Finnish Brutality videos.
@@aynjeleyeswrong. The 7.62 bren magazines were used on the Brens in Australian service. I have pictures of RAAF ADGies using the curved 7.62 Bren magazines in their SLRs
my dad was talking about weapons that he used in the Australian SAS and he mentioned this gun, he is 60 now and it's cool to see how accurately RUclips and google like to stalk my conversations, great vid though!
Thanks mate, I remember hearing about the war on the radio when I was about 5, but had no idea we crafted hybrid weapons, good old Aussie ingenuity.🇦🇺✌️👍
Ah. The venerable SLR. A thing of true bewdy, mate. Cheers from Tassie.
Maaaate.
Great video, again Thankyou Ian. To add information, if only for improved understanding/recognition. The Commonwealth Countries variant build of the FN FAL officially became known as the 'Rifle L1A1 SLR'. The most popular common unofficial favoured name that it came to be known as amongst Commonwealth military is SLR, pronounced as...'SLUR'. I used a SLUR during my time in the R.A.N. and privately owned one in the '90s before the Gun Buyback.
The Royal New Zealand Army used the L1A1 for a long time before they were replaced by the Steyr AUG in 1988 which in turn was replaced in 2016 by the 0.223" MARS-L assault-rifle.
When we were still allowed semi auto rifles in the UK I had a unissued Australian FN. Best gun I ever owned. It had a Nimrod scope on it, won one of the last national semi auto rifle competitions held in the UK with it.
It’s like the Aussies saw the yank’s M14 fire in full auto and we’re like: “nah, she needs more muzzle tilt” and made this. Aptly named btw
Watch your mouth Ian
Close; I reckon it was more like "Yeah nah, this c*nt can do better. Oi! Jay-mo! Still got that metal file? You bloody legend, we's gonna have her fixed up right in no time."
What does the M14 & American women have in common? The lack of rod worth mentioning 😂
@@biggredd2092 I can see why, apparently we were out rodding everyone *elses* women 😂
Ah the best fire selector design. And the Aussie peal back tecjnique.
Thanks
There were at least 2 which were returned to Australia. One was nicknamed the Bitch, the other was the Beast. Unlike the reproduced version you presented they both had shortened gas systems. In the early nineties one of them was still useable and I fired it during some testing. At that stage the other was worn out and had been turned into a display weapon. Also from memory the front pistol grip was not mounted vertical but was mounted on an angle inwards towards a RH shooter.
I got to fire the New Zealand standard version without the forward hand grip and semi-auto whilst a cadet, amazing accuracy with iron sights, recoil was manageable for a 18 year old shorty!
Great video and i appreciate your bravery for taking such risks Ian, well done.
Absolutely Love This Episode I’m A Kiwi & Have Friends Who We’re In Armed Forces… Big Love From New Zealand!!!!
As a member of the Royal navy, I used to competition shoot with an L1A1 at up to 600 yards against army and air Force
Eventually I joined the fleet and to ny surprise, the rifle was there for me to use as needed
Later I moved to Australia and bought my own. Loved that machine
Knowing how the Australian Army works I'm pretty sure they would have been returned to original condition by the regimental armourers after the war, or stripped for spare parts. The idea that sixty years in the future they may be of historical interest wouldn't have been a consideration.
You mean the army works? :o
Who knew?
the only thing we kept around was that tank
@@ShadowHybrid92 That's because it was a war trophy, not issued equipment 🤣
I can't imagine full auto mag dumps being very conducive to a long service life, either.
They were more about living the next ten seconds.
When I went through Australian infantry school in 2014, my section commander who was a commando taught this same break contact drill. Full auto from the hip - also known as dumping a panic mag. Presumably, he was taught this same thing when he was a young dig by Vietnam vets. Doesn't quite have the same impact with an F88 though haha
Yep taught the same thing at Tully jungle warfare centre
If you look at the 1978 Film The Wild Geese, you will see an SAS Soldier Carrying an SLR that has the Barrel cut down short with No Muzzle Brake or front sight. I seem to recall reading that The Regiment had a small number of these Modified rifles in their armoury. The Soldier in The Film is a Guy called Ian Yule who incidentally had served in The SAS.
The WILD GEESE were mercenaries,not SASR
@@MrOlgrumpy Nobody suggested that they were SAS. My post was about a guy in The Film who is wearing an old style SAS Cap and that's because he Was ex SAS ( Ian Yule) and he is the guy with the Rifle I mentioned. OK.
As an Australian Forces veteran from the late 80s into the mid 2000s, the rifle I use for most of my career was the L1A1 with the occasional use of the L2A1. I LOVED that rifle.
But...I had no idea that this mod ever existed! What a great video, thanks so much for sharing!!
I joined the army reserve here in Australia in 1968, the alternative was to go into the balot for national service (Nashos) We used to do two three week camps a year, I was issued with the L1A1 always referered to as an SLR. it didn't have the front grip, actually I never saw this in the 4 years I served.
They were an extremely good weapon, very acurate. They were 7.62mm and the word was the US armalite with a smaller calibre was less effective, less fatal.
I used to be involved in Cowboy Action Shooting, and there were a fair number of Australians in the online community. They were much more casual about the word "b!tch" than the U.S. members. In particular, I remember that there was an Australian woman who was considering "Buckshot B!tch" as her shooting name, and this provoked absolute horror from a lot of U.S. members.
Imagine the reaction to Carronade C#@!
She did take that alias... And yes, its not seen as a rude word here at all really... like Bugger...which some Brits still find objectionable... and yet we have it on TV ads... For a while I was thinking of changing my CAS alias to "Ken Oath"... that would have got through the SASS screening process no worries... LOL
@@trooperdgb9722 well, like most words bugger has meanings based on era and interpretation. As does, well, special, joy, or gay. I don't think the Flintstones were encouraging same sex acts.
Ken Oath is a good one to bypass things still. :)
The rest of the world deems “cuss” or “swearing” the 👹 but in Australia its just a word, we have more important things to deal with🤣
KEN OATH!!!!! @@djagrarms7916
Ahh, this was an unexpected delight, much like unexpectedly bumping into an old mate you haven't seen for decades but instantly recognise and all the good old times instantly come rushing back. Thanks so much for this one Ian!
In a book a read, they talked about this modification. Turning the weapon full auto apparently involved a match stick. I don't know where or how, as the book didn't really go into detail. Just that it was a common modification
It wasn't exactly selective fire with mod in place.
Yes the match stick held the safety sear down allowing it to fire fully auto. You had to be careful though because it could fire on its own just by cocking it.
As an Australian soldier in the 80’s I was very familiar with this weapon, which was superseded by the bullpup Styer that had smaller calibre which was all about the USA / NATO alliance thing. Nice to see one again, thank you.
Australian here. We had these in the armoury at High School. From memory, there were 15-20, of them available for the Army Cadet unit. They were unmodified originals, with the exception of the firing pin which had been removed. We would do parade drills a couple of times per week, and we always got these out for that. I did the ANZAC day dawn service at the Shrine in Melbourne one year, and we had to keep these with us….. which would NEVER happen these days. This was the mid 90s; when we still had adults in charge. We got to fire these as well as part of the Cadet Annual, at one of the ranges on the Puckapunyal Army Base. A lot of fun, and a lot of kick for a 15 year old!
So if you’re in Melbourne, perhaps get in contact with the Melbourne High School Army Cadet unit in Victoria, or perhaps the Army Museum at Puckapunyal which reopens late in 2024.
Do you know if they have one at the war memorial in Canberra?
@@ROONLOON I believe so. I haven’t been to the memorial myself, but I took a quick look at the collections catalogue, and it’s indicating they have one on display. Here’s the link if you want to check it out: www.awm.gov.au/collection/C248865
FAL is the definition of a battle rifle. Awesome.
A chap who spent time in Vietnam walking around the hills with an slr. He said that he always loaded 3 tracer rounds in the mag before topping it up with ball rounds. That way he knew that a mag change was imminent when firing it.
Also the cut down barrel, with the flash hider just in front of the gas block, was known as a "pointer" in kiwi service. Much better in jungle conditiins.
Tracer doesn't light up until about 200 meters, so kinda pointless in the jungle
that was sops with the tracer to signify mag change
@@johnwitte551 like I said, they wouldn't see the tracer,so a pointless excercise
I've always liked the look and slight length reduction of those PNG flash suppressors you mentioned. IIRC, Australian testing demonstrated they were basically as effective at suppressing flash as the standard Commonwealth L1A1/SLR/C1 unit, had some moderate muzzle brake function, but may (again. IiRC) have had a slightly negative effect on accuracy.
I first heard about this weapon about 20 years ago from a range manager out at Bundanoon in Western Australia - he was talking about all the customised weapons the SASR blokes would bring, He saw someone using a customised sawn-off L2A1 and asked 'What do you call that?' The operator replied ' The Bitch.' Great video, thanks for bringing us the full story.
Mark Graham of ARS built my FAL on a DSA receiver w/ Imbel parts kit. It was dead on accurate out of the box. Great job, and one of my favorite rifles.
It is one of the myths of working in the bush that you need a short barreled rifle. The SLR (please Ian, not FAL) was perfectly fine during my entire tour 68-69 we never felt the need to "shorten barrels." It was all about weight not length and the M16 was available but few chose to use it.
In Denmark the G3 with Danish mods was called the M75. In Australia the FAL with Australian mods was called the SLR. Doesn't change the fact that they're G3s and FALs respectively. It's not until a licensed production is altered to the point of losing parts compatibility with the original that it "becomes it's own thing".
@@andersjjensen From an engineers point of view....yes. From a soldiers point of view.....no.
m16 in my experience was only good cause you could carry more ammo but with the slr if you were hit you stayed hit
@@johnwitte551I heard that from Australians who were in Vietnam too. They referred to the M16 as the "placcy gun" (plastic gun).
@@vk2ig LBPR - Little Black Plastic Rifle
Modern glossary on the term LBPG - I’m guessing either by a civvy or an ex-serviceman wanting to ‘stick it to the man’.
Interesting, I was in the British army in the 70’s and did some jungle training in Belize with our SAS. They had armalites and pump action shotguns, they told us that the armalites had been Aussie weapons in Vietnam, the shotguns were for the exact same reason, as much fire power as possible in a ambush situation.
exactly
I served in the infantry as a rifleman/forward scout in the early 90’s. I served in Charlie Company, 31 RAR NQ. I was used to treading around in the rainforest. That’s where we conducted most of our training. We not only survived but thrived in that climate. That’s all we really knew. I was proud to serve because Australian soldiers are respected all over the world. They always give their best, no matter what. I have some older friends that were in Nam. I don’t know how they did it. They were constantly beat down but got up and kept going. That’s the Aussie spirit. Interestingly, my recruit class was the last to be trained with SLR’s. I loved that rifle. I actually topped out my class in marksmanship with it. Lo and behold 6 months later we had to qualify with the steyrs which I hated. I hated the fixed optic. Useless in CQB. And I was a big guy so I preferred a heavier weapon. Unfortunately this also made me the prime candidate for carrying the M60. And that thing was more of a bitch than the SLR was. Also got to play around with a Bren as well which was fun.
"Australian soldiers are respected all over the world".... is that what you keep telling yourselves? unreal
I grew up lugging SLRs about the countryside. The Regiment weren't the only ones to mod their SLRs and it didn't take a whole lot of talent.
No one ever called it a FAL, unless brass was asking about it, even then most of them still called it an SLR, mainly because that was its true designation because it had a number of differences from the "true" FN FAL.
They were phased out by 1992 and replaced with the Steyr and some M-16 family toys and then the F88 AUSteyr, made by Small Arms Factory in Lithgow, who made the SLR.
My father (Australian) had a SLR with a 90* extra slat surface on the change leave that turned into an AR. Then used the AR 30 shot mags with it. This made a 7.62 AR with a much lighter barrel and unlike the Armalite rifles it didn't have hard extractions and jam up.
Ian, I highly recommend Gary McKay's "Sleeping With You Ears Open" about the the SASR in Vietnam. Lots of interviews, and some good stuff on weapons.
My father was in Vietnam as part of the RAEME (technical) group and he had to visit units to look at the techinical problems that came up. He heard of the SAS having problems with SLR barrels splitting open, which is really weird so he went for a visit. On arrival he found that the clowns just took a hacksaw to the barrel with no cleaning up or fixing the end. He organised for the armourer to do the job properly and fix the end of the barrel so it wouldn't split anymore and actually do what they wanted to.
You definitely have to crown the barrel. It’s not a shotgun!
Sounds like crap to me mate. Sounds like your old man is jumping on the band wagon. I would bet my life that did not happen. Ya just full of shit
@@5roundsrapid263 that's pretty much what the problem was, they didn't do it properly resulting in dead barrels.
I worked as a military contractor (sort off/long story) and was friends with a soldier that was one of the guys responsible for disposing of the FAL when they were deemed no longer useful, basically they were loaded from the stores into trucks then driven to the blast furnaces in Newcastle (NSW), the truck then reversed up to the furnace and tipped them complete (as in wood and all), every single one was accounted for (there is another story but i ain't going there) suffice to say there are no survivors, except for museum pieces etc.
Should be a crime to treat a weapon that way...
@@charlesboots6508 Why? Steel is a valuable commodity, why pay for brand new steel when you already own your own?
@@aaronleverton4221 Weapons are useful tools. If your tools are still useful, you sell them to someone else who has use for them, you don't throw them away in a fit of pique.
@@charlesboots6508 "If your tools are still useful..."
Weapons have a shelf-life, barrels wear out, springs break, surfaces corrode. Unreliable weapons are not useful tools, they are a danger and selling unreliable tools does not earn you repeat custom. And Australia is generally not in the habit of passing useless crap down to its less-affluent regional allies.
Steel is a valuable commodity, if you have it, re-use it.
Government policy is broad, so are the numbers of government-purchased rifles, more broad than the available time of the Army's armourers to inspect the tens of thousands of rifles in stock at the end-of-rifle-service in order to categorise them into "projectile weapon" and "medieval mace".
Also "...fit of pique..." is an incredibly obvious and stupid strawman. Be better.
@@aaronleverton4221Telling someone to “be better” makes you look like a tool. I was agreeing with you up until that point. The guy is just passionate about firearms and preserving history. he might sound reactionary but it is very common for nations to just dispose of historic firearms.
Hell tes! I've been waiting for a video on these to be on the channel since I started watching the channel 11 years ago (probably every Aussie viewer has been), my understanding is many were quietly converted back to the standard pattern toward the end of Australian involvement in the Vietnam war.
Ours all had bolt locks to keep them open and the barrels finished about 2 inches from the gas block. They all cameback and were used into the late 80s
1969 my Australian Navy uncle came home on leave, carrying openly his issue SLR on the train. Different times.
1945 my Dad came home from Borneo... caught the train to Parramatta to visit his sister who was working in a florists. Went in to a Barber shop nearby and asked the 50-ish year old barber (who not surprisingly was a 1st AIF veteran) to mind his kitbag....and rifle. Different times alright. As CSM of our High School Cadet unit I used to supervise training in the bushland behind the school... we had Lee Enfields of course...and for a while..2 Brens... noone even blinked at a bunch of kids with rifles.....One retired (British) Army Infantry guy who had emigrated out here saw us once while walking his dog.... then came back a number of times to pass on HIS experience! Good times.
The media here in Oz have alot to do with the change in attitudes towards firearms.
@@user-hi5dd5qh9nPort Arthur was the real change. Unsurprisingly the media reported it and people were horrified ... again, unsurprisingly. Likewise with the events at the Lindt cafe and more recently out near Tara.
Nowadays it's not so much the media, but also social media - there are plenty of videos coming out of the USA depicting gun violence.
"And there's me in me slouch hat,
with me SLR, and greens.
God help me.
I was only 19."
*Redgum - I was only 19*
I live in Townsville, and the line in that song that says 'Townsville lined the footpath as we marched down to the quay' always gives me goosebumps. What a beautifully haunting song.
@@wasthaturbrainmate There's only a couple of songs that will make me tear up just by thinking about it. This is the main one.
I no need up at 19 and was issued the SLR.
I had the pleasure of seeing John Schumann with Redgum play "I was only 19" live at Torrens Parade Ground (Adelaide) one ANZAC Day. It really choked me up!
I had always wondered where Paul Hardcastle got his "inspiration" for his song _"19"_ ,now I know.
Hey Ian, quick point on using 30 round Bren mags on the SLR/FN MAG. We tried it on our winter deployment in Arctic Norway in the 80`s. The Bren mag is top mounted and we found the spring not strong enough to push rounds upwards into the SLR with frequent stoppages, even with the gas turned right up. Plus the longer mag was continually getting snagged when skiing. With semi auto weapons, the perceived advantage of thirty round mags wasn`t worth the hassle .
You probably meant FN FAL instead of FN MAG as FN MAG is a belt fed machine gun.
BREN mag can sometimes sorted by stretching the mag spring.
If there is an example of this version of the SLR in existance, you are most likely to find it at the Australian Army Infantry Museum at Singleton in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales (NSW).
When I enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) late 70s all of the recruit instructors were Vietnam Veteran Airfield Defence Guards. They used to love demonstrate the hitting power of the SLR's 7.62mm round in comparision to the standard US 5.5mm round by 'blowing up' kerosene tins full of water on the 25 yard ranges. All I remember was that it kicked like a mule and was bloody heavy. But it was really accurate for an open sight weapon. Of interest is that we still have some for use in ceremonial occassions such as ANZAC Day---mainly by the Federation Guards. Great video as always! Wishing you all the very best for the festive season from Oz.
As an Australian response, we were taught not to respond to an ambush with all guns blazing - that would be like Americans. Drop, cover, return fire on targets, retreat as a unit., consider size and quality of ambushers.
There are several authentic variants that reside in the armoury of RAEME Training Centre at Bandiana. We were able to experience it’s bitchiness on Fitter Armourer course and I’m sure Lithgow small arms factory would have a few squirrelled away as well.
@@Graeme-r2fyes both.
I did my Fitter Arm't course in the mid-80s and remember RTC very well - and yes, there were some great museum pieces there. Did they still have the volleyball set up in Arm't Wing when you were there? I also remember going up the hill to do optics and the great view from the optically perfect panels! I wonder how much of that infrastructure is left now? Not a lot I'm guessing. Haven't been to the SAFL museum in years.
@@contributor7219 same here brother I'd have to check my records to be accurate but i think 1/87 course. Yes the armoury there has many treasures and that hill is the stuff of nightmares. Can't remember the significance of the volleyball court but our course did take part in the Mad Hatter Regatta on the Murray river with a dodgy raft. Also of note was the end of course range shoot and pub crawl on a stagecoach through Albury. I was at Tech Support SQN 2 CAV and did some great stuff there. We liased with NSW Police ballistics unit to acquire a cache of historical military small arms for display in the SGT's mess which was a highlight. Fun times.
@@BRETTYZCAR And who can forget the Blazing Stump, just past the 'roaches school' across the road! I was 37th class and at The Centre TST and 1AR Tech Sqn at Pucka, about a year ahead of you at RTC I would guess, and spent quite a bit of time at Adelaide Wksp Co and P&E as well. I visited the Tank Museum at Pucka a handful of years back and, after passing the 'bullshit test', had a good chat with the guide about our days there. He also said they were down to a single RAEME adviser and some Reccy Mechs at The Centre TST - down from around 40 in my days. While I was there the air start of their Mack Wrecker fired up, a bit of a haunting sound having just learned how few RAEME staff were left there. You and I certainly enjoyed the halcyon days of RAEME. Stay safe and well!
Infantry Museum at Singleton perhaps?
Another excellent video as always... The FAL and L1A1 have been my favorite battle rifles for many years and I have owned several of each..
The middle finger of the right arm of the free world
😂😂😂
Always awesome to see these modifications from the field.
I have one I built but using SLR parts. I did cut barrel to 17 3/8 inches. It actually shoots better with the short barrel. I never put a flash hider back on it as I understand the desire was for flash the dash. I did manage to pick up a dozen bren mags. Great video.