One of a Kind?

There may be a few people who read this who know what this is, but I kind of doubt many will. Is it a prototype light machine gun? No, it's the production version. Is it workshop built by some resistance group? No, it was built on contract for the New Zealand government.

Now some of you may know what it is. It's a Charlton automatic rifle (or light machine gun). But, if any of you know the story of the Charlton, you would know they were all destroyed when the warehouse they were stored was burnt to the ground after WWII. So, what is this?

It isn't a Charlton. Well, not really. It's a reproduction Charlton. A one-of-a-kind. The man who made it died a few years ago. It is currently for sale in New Zealand for $10,000. Considering it's one of only a few left in the world, that isn't a bad price at all.

If you would like to learn more about the Charlton, and why it looks so much like a Lee-Enfield, you might want to click on the link below to Forgotten Weapons.com and read their very in-depth article on it. It's a very interesting story.

Charlton page on Forgotten Weapons.com