Heading north I drove through Lithgow and the people that are unaware Lithgow holds a very special place in our Australian history. It is where we built our small arms supporting our war efforts in the first and Second World War. It is also a place where we now build our current and future small arms for our defence forces.
At the Lithgow smallarms factory they have a museum dedicated to this past and have a room dedicated to pistols and revolvers. For anyone fascinated in our military history and firearms in general this is a must see as the collection here is amazing!!!!!
While the museum itself is relatively small the collection they have is vast and extensive. It takes in our Australian history and history of other countries around the world.
Downstairs is where they have the long arms while upstairs they have a room that has the most extensive pistol and revolver collection I have ever seen. This room has over 1000 pieces all of which belong to one individual that donated these to the museum and boy oh boy there are some real gems in there.
Take for example this little palm pistol. I’ve only ever seen these and books and never actually thought I would see one in real life, so goes without saying that I was blown away.
I think I must have spent a good few hours just looking at the multitude of firearms in this building, while trying to imagine the history behind each and everyone of the pieces.
Here is just some of the collection to wet your whistle.