Well they won’t answer the phone but I fired off an email changing the order.
Bring on the Turknelli.
1 Like
All done. One Sulun on pre-order.
Will be sure to let you guys know what they are like.
4 Likes
None of this is helping!
So no joy on your permit before the lock down mate?
Nope.
Just think of the list you can make of new guns you need over the next 6 weeks. Then bombard LRD with ptas
Lockdown actually did me a favour. Sort of.
I ended up blowing my budget completely and ended up with 3 guns instead of 1.
Had I put in for the permit a few days earlier I would have picked up the Adler.
So I saved myself the dilemma.
Two ,hopefully, sweet guns due after lockdown.
I think we might actually start seeing some interesting new stuff if guns like the CZ and Sulun take off.
Always more willing parties to put their finger in the pie and bring out new stuff that sells.
1 Like
You know it will happen.
Sulun is one of those “just because” guns.
Haven’t been this excited about a shotgun for a while.
I had a Remington 1100 semi auto and an 870 express.
The M4 Benelli was always my favourite though, but back in the 90’s is was expensive unobtainium for me.
The Sulun will satisfy the urge.
1 Like
They went out of business, from what I gather. They were being deliberately vague about where the guns were actually made (Vietnam, IIRC) and being made in one of those countries put them on the “Cannot be imported into the US” list.
They were also absolute shit at marketing - one of the writers from the major shooting magazines in Australia at the time tried to get in touch to organise a review and they just couldn’t have been less interested.
They also kept making all the “weird” guns (copies of those experimental No 6 carbines etc) instead of doing what everyone wanted, which was an SMLE in .308. Then, just to make matters worse, a shipment of Ishapore 2A1 .308 rifles landed and were going for about $800, which filled the “SMLE in .308” niche.
The guns were also really expensive - their No 4 copy was about $2000+, when you could get a really nice actual No. 4 for about $350-$400.
1 Like
Sounds like a bunch of enthusiasts who had no business or marketing skills.
1 Like
Sounds like at least 2 more locals I can think of 
Modern reproduction milsurps is something I’ve been pondering since I got into firearms.
The tricky part is trying to judge the market. Can you sell a cool but outdated design in the current market? You’re competing against modern firearms to some extent but really you’re competing against genuine milsurps.
I think that if you were smart about it, picked your designs carefully, priced accordingly and sold in the right market (the US), you could make it work.
I don’t think you could get a reproduction SMLE to a low enough price to make it tempting. But if you could put a reproduction jungle carbine onto the market for $1000, that is something that might work. Whether that price is realistic, I have no idea.
This idea is likely to become more feasible as milsurps become harder to find and thus, more expensive and the cost of certain manufacturing technologies drops.
I think that if they started up SMLE production at Lithgow in .308 they would be able to sell a few if the price was right.
I think there would be a big market for more guns like the Norinco mini Mauser, a cool mini No1 Mk3 in 22Lr would be sick.
I’m sure there’s lots of other milsurps that would be popular too.
Also done in pistol cals would be cool🤤
1 Like
They are all so overpriced. Like the Mosin 22 singleshot is $800… That’s more than an actual Mosin WTF
It wouldn’t work.
It’s been costed out by many people.
To build an authentic new machined Lithgow .303 with full wood would need to retail at over $3k.
To make it cost effective you would need to use an existing barrelled action.
Or cheaper wood.
Then you start detracting from its authenticity.
Then the purists will step in and start shitcanning it.
So your repro is never “real” and gets less kudos.
Look how expensive a quality repro sharps rifle sells for. And they are relatively simple compared to many Milsurps.
So you lose sales because it’s too expensive.
Or it’s not authentic enough
And you are always competing against original ones.
Your market share ends up so tiny , the numbers just don’t work.
Not to mention they look shit and nothing like the full sized Mosin.
Part of the challenge also is that everything in Australia just costs a lot of money, because of reasons. Look at the Australian-made straight pull rifles; they’re all around $3k which is a fuckton of money to be able to say “I can’t believe that’s not an Armalite!”
I do think the price on those Keystone Arms Mini Mosins is insane, though. It’s not hard to make a single-shot .22 rifle and frankly if you were going to make a .22 Mosin repro, why not make it magazine fed?
I know several people have asked Lithgow to make one of their rifles in .303 - not reproduce the SMLE, just chamber the LA102 or 105 in .303 and been told “Lol no”, for some reason.
.303B is obselete.
It’s a rimmed cartridge , making reliable mags challenging.
It’s not particularly accurate or effecient.
Why would you spend all that time on R&D and tooling , just to sell 500 rifles…maybe.
When it comes to actually dropping dimes on a gun, a lot of people are all talk.
And who wants a modern bolt action in .303? Would be a shit gun compared to the other calibre offerings. Does nothing a .308 wouldn’t do.
Don’t let fond memories or sentimentally cloud your judgement 
1 Like
And as for the Norinco. I have one it’s ace.
The action is a cz clone though (takes cz mags too).
The stock is mystery semi hardwood.
It’s cost effective.
Same for the mini Mosin.
Both are tributes only. The actual action is nothing like a real one.
Cheap and cheerful, they sell.
.22 tribute versions of Milsurps would definitely work though.
2 Likes