Owning a Lithgow LA101

Rimfire bolt action rifles, lever action, pump action and self loading rifles. Air rifles.

Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by Mattraff » 05 Mar 2020, 6:46 pm

I bought my LA101 in October 2015 purely because I wanted an Australian rifle in the collection not because I needed it. I chose a titanium/walnut as I like the more traditional look and fitted a quality Japanese Bushnell Elite LRS scope to it. I also fitted a matching bolt knob and shroud and replaced the trigger springs. I have a few .22 rifles and like the old world characteristics of the Cars so the LA101 sat for a while before I used it but when I did use it I was disappointed with the magazine and the fact it would stove pipe constantly, I tried to adjust it but could never get it right so the 101 was put in the corner of the safe where it has sat for the last few years untill last week when I thought I would take it to the range and give it another go but the factory mag still wouldn't work with more adjusting but was fine with my CZ mags. Today I decided to email Lithgow and explain my issues to them and within an hour I had a response telling me the magazine was changed slightly in 2016 and one was being sent to my local dealer to rectify my problem. With service like that I know my next rifle purchase will be a Lithgow.
Mattraff
Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal
 
Posts: 118
Victoria

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by StraightWhiteMale » 05 Mar 2020, 7:06 pm

Wow 4 and a half years later thats hell good service. I like the look of the LA105.
StraightWhiteMale
Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal
 
Posts: 167
Queensland

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by Member-Deleted » 06 Mar 2020, 7:38 am

Mine is a 2019 model. It’s never had a loading problem even with the factory mag.

I love it !
Member-Deleted
 

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by in2anity » 06 Mar 2020, 8:37 am

As stipulated by a Lithgow representative in 2016: "the key issue with the stovepiping is the feed angle- solve that and you have 90% of the (feeding) issues disappear"
At what point does lack of maintenance become patina?
User avatar
in2anity
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel
 
Posts: 3048
New South Wales

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by JimTom » 06 Mar 2020, 10:33 am

The newer magazine e with the metal follower solved the feed issue as I understand it. My LA101 fed quite well. There follow up service was quite good also. Can’t complain about that. I did however trade in my LA101.
User avatar
JimTom
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
 
Posts: 2130
Queensland

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by allan » 06 Mar 2020, 6:28 pm

I have 5 LA101 mags built during the years leading up to 2016. All feed fine after carefully adjusting the followers though I did finish up replacing a couple of the black followers with CZ followers.
There was a subtle design change in 2015/16 - I have 2015 & 2016 build LA101's. Most of the complaints about stove piping etc seem to have pretty much disappeared since that time.

Image
Image
allan
Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal
 
Posts: 202
Other

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by Tiger650 » 06 Mar 2020, 8:16 pm

Mags should feed but sometimes they do not.
Many yrs ago a friend and i purchased CZ rimfire rifles and one day his began misfeeding, bullet above chamber, we swapped mags and all good with both rifles
.
Son has a Remington 700 VSSF .308 / HS Precision stock which I unwisely modified with Lumley bottom metal to accept AICS magazines, I watched a Toolmaker mate mill the stock out on CNC machinery to within .001" of Lumley spec and it is s#it, shoves bullets forward into the feed ramp, the rifle fed fine in std Remington BDL configuration.

Not only did I buy junk for $200 [plus installiation] but I buggered a good HS Precision stock.
Tiger650
Corporal
Corporal
 
Posts: 451
Victoria

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by Mattraff » 07 Mar 2020, 11:36 pm

I'm lead to believe the new magazine has a silver follower and the old one like mine is black. When I use the 5 and 10 shot mags out of my CZ's I don't have any issues unless I use Winchester subsonic. I will get straight to the range when the new magazine turns up to test it out.
Mattraff
Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal
 
Posts: 118
Victoria

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by safeshot » 22 Mar 2020, 3:35 pm

Mine is an early one. and oh dear the mag probs i had with stovepiping.
The Lithgow mob offered to take my rifle back and fix it prepared to give me a shipping voucher to do so. Im in Albany WA and i wasnt going to do that. I have much experience in the metal trades so put it to work. My investigations were with the 5 shot mags Ibut I ended up using CZ 10 shot.
Sorry cant do photos so hold a magazine vertical side view. See the lug that anchors the mag into the rifle. I used a special 2 pack made for plastics ( a Devcon product) and built up the underside of the magazine holding lug. The layer was less than a mm thick.
I left it for a full 24 hours in shed where the ambient temp was warm and then proceeded to file the lug addition back until when the mag was inserted into the rifle it locked into place with a tiny 'click'. I also used the info Lithgow sent me to adjust the follower.
Since then no more stove piping.
My rifle does not like Win HVHP and will catch the edge of the proj against the very edge of the barrel hole. Federal are fine never a prob. CCI minimags ditto. These mags are 10 shot genuine CZ mags.
I have also painted my mags 'day-glo' orange in case I ever drop them. another exceptional idea is to stick reflective tape on your mags so if you drop them pan with the spotlight.
Cheers.
The 101...love it I use it thus far for benchrest.
"Behave well. Think for the best. Speak kindly."
safeshot
Private
Private
 
Posts: 91
Western Australia

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by byadbo boy » 29 Apr 2020, 5:06 pm

I have a 2017 - the later rifles and factory mags seem to work perfectly with the majority of 22LR ammunition ( we have more than one LA 101 in the family )
The newer style genuine mags work flawlessly ( 5 round clear with silver stainless followers- not black ones ).
I have had great success with the Australian made Ten round " Ideal small arms " magazines manufactured in Victoria - Google them.
They are $45 ea. plus delivery - and are a generic aftermarket plastic CZ style mag.
They lock with a nice click - and come with a diagram specific for Lithgow that shows you how to adjust the follower for flawless feeding - But I will say this ,
spring replacement is crucial - the top "tail" of the spring must be placed under the Butt ( rear of rifle ) end of the follower to help stop the top round submarining as the bolt engages when picking up a round. I personally think a lot of reported stove-piping issues could be as simple as the spring being the wrong way around under the follower - But I am certainly not a gunsmith , just a tinkerer.
It can make a huge difference though.
There seems to be a lot less LA101 haters on this forum so I guess the majority of problems may have been fixed.
I love my one and wouldn't part with it.
As an aside, mine shoots cheap CCI standard really well - which makes for fun on a budget !
byadbo boy
Recruit
Recruit
 
Posts: 20
New South Wales

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by Bugman » 29 Apr 2020, 9:10 pm

Luckily I have had no problem with mine. Terrific little .22. Mines a keeper. Glad you got yours sorted out. Well done to the manufacturer.
User avatar
Bugman
Warrant Officer C2
Warrant Officer C2
 
Posts: 1071
New South Wales

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by Insert random name » 07 Aug 2020, 3:50 pm

I picked my new LA101 up the other day with a 10 round CZ mag. Was shooting 5 for 5 with a friend on the farm just to run the rifle in, after 60 rounds I decided to put 10 in the CZ and do 10 rounds before packing up. First round stove piped wouldnt come up to the chamber. Same with the next round then a no problem feed, tried some different ammo I had on hand same thing happening. Rifle shoots straight and tight groups as can be expected with my lack of shooting for years. No problems with the LA mag just the first couple of feed rounds in the CZ 10.
Insert random name
Recruit
Recruit
 
Posts: 34
Queensland

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by Insert random name » 01 Jan 2021, 7:48 am

My CZ mag has settled down and works ok these days, I think it was just the newness of it. I took it apart to inspect and after that pushed the leader down constantly to give it a workout, it felt pretty gritty. After all that at the range it fed well. The rifle itself is as accurate as I can hope for, likes most rounds used but the CC stuff spreads out a bit, I like it enough that I went and brought a LA102 308 yesterday.
Insert random name
Recruit
Recruit
 
Posts: 34
Queensland

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by JimTom » 01 Jan 2021, 8:06 am

Very nice mate, let us know how the .308 goes. Doubt you will be disappointed.
User avatar
JimTom
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
 
Posts: 2130
Queensland

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by Insert random name » 28 Jan 2021, 2:49 pm

JimTom wrote:Very nice mate, let us know how the .308 goes. Doubt you will be disappointed.


Had my first go at the range today with it, blowing pretty hard with a lot of stop-starts and cleaning but I managed to get a couple of reasonable groups with some factory ammo, my first go of hand loads were a bit all over the place. I think it will be a good shooter once I adjust a bit and am happy with it.
Insert random name
Recruit
Recruit
 
Posts: 34
Queensland

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by JimTom » 28 Jan 2021, 3:19 pm

Glad to hear mate. :thumbsup:
User avatar
JimTom
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
 
Posts: 2130
Queensland

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by safeshot » 20 Mar 2021, 7:12 pm

recently i took the bolt apart to give it a clean and the firing pin came out in two pieces...Yoiks! I was wondering why my groups had gone tohell and thought it was my natural highly developed incompetence.
Long story/ short story. Lithgow sent me at no charge a replacement firing pin assembly.
My groups are on average less than half what they were and they are consistent!
Thank you Lithgow!
"Behave well. Think for the best. Speak kindly."
safeshot
Private
Private
 
Posts: 91
Western Australia

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by JimTom » 20 Mar 2021, 9:24 pm

Can’t fault their after sales service.
User avatar
JimTom
Second Lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
 
Posts: 2130
Queensland

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by MtnMan » 07 Nov 2021, 6:01 pm

Anyone had trouble with the polymer magazine cracking the lugs that retain the cartridge?
On one of mine the part that over hangs into the slot that holds the cartridges has cracked off. This means the round doesn't sit at the right angle and feeding is unreliable. the other magazine is still intact but in the right light you can see internal cracks in the plastic. It will just be a matter of time until it suffers the same fate. I have contacted Lithgow to see what they say. Bought the rifle and mags in July.

The broken one is on the left.
IMG_8268.JPG
IMG_8268.JPG (16.11 KiB) Viewed 9314 times
MtnMan
Corporal
Corporal
 
Posts: 330
Queensland

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by allan » 07 Nov 2021, 6:37 pm

Yes, I had that happen to one of mine - I kept the follower, spring and base plate for spares & tossed the housing.
I'm sure that Lithgow will make it good if you contact them. I seem to find myself using the CZ 5 round metal mags in mine about 95% of the time - Once set up properly, they have been 100% in my two LA101's.
allan
Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal
 
Posts: 202
Other

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by Adzy » 09 Nov 2021, 5:22 pm

Acme firearms manufacture 10 Rd and 15 Rd magazines for the LA101 . No problems with mine , I don’t use the standard magazine that often.
Adzy
Recruit
Recruit
 
Posts: 38
New South Wales

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by MtnMan » 15 Nov 2021, 4:02 pm

:thumbsup: Lithgow sent me 2 replacement magazines.
MtnMan
Corporal
Corporal
 
Posts: 330
Queensland

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by bladeracer » 15 Nov 2021, 4:36 pm

Adzy wrote:Acme firearms manufacture 10 Rd and 15 Rd magazines for the LA101 . No problems with mine , I don’t use the standard magazine that often.


Aren't they even more expensive than the Lucky13's were?
Practice Strict Gun Control - Precision Counts!
User avatar
bladeracer
Field Marshal
Field Marshal
 
Posts: 12655
Victoria

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by allan » 16 Nov 2021, 11:56 am

MtnMan wrote::thumbsup: Lithgow sent me 2 replacement magazines.


I thought they would - Can't complain about a two for one deal!

Aren't they even more expensive than the Lucky13's were?

I think these are the same mags - I bought a couple of these & have been very happy with them.

https://precisiondefenceindustries.com/ ... -magazine/
allan
Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal
 
Posts: 202
Other

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by bladeracer » 16 Nov 2021, 4:30 pm

allan wrote:
MtnMan wrote::thumbsup: Lithgow sent me 2 replacement magazines.


I thought they would - Can't complain about a two for one deal!

Aren't they even more expensive than the Lucky13's were?

I think these are the same mags - I bought a couple of these & have been very happy with them.

https://precisiondefenceindustries.com/ ... -magazine/


If that's Aussie dollars that's excellent value, and worth ordering some myself. Very difficult to find anything on the site saying they're even in Australia, let alone which state they're in.
Practice Strict Gun Control - Precision Counts!
User avatar
bladeracer
Field Marshal
Field Marshal
 
Posts: 12655
Victoria

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by MtnMan » 17 Nov 2021, 9:15 pm

I received a 10 round Ideal arms mag from ACME firearms today. I must say it took considerable tweaking to get it to work. I had to sand and file various external faces to get it into the mag well and engage properly. Then the follower needed much more adjustment than simply bending to match the original follower. I tried copying the original profile and swapping the follower out for one from a Lithgow mag. In the end I had to bend both corners a little by trial and error to get it to feed properly. It seems to be okay now but not without considerable modification.
MtnMan
Corporal
Corporal
 
Posts: 330
Queensland

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by bladeracer » 17 Nov 2021, 9:48 pm

MtnMan wrote:I received a 10 round Ideal arms mag from ACME firearms today. I must say it took considerable tweaking to get it to work. I had to sand and file various external faces to get it into the mag well and engage properly. Then the follower needed much more adjustment than simply bending to match the original follower. I tried copying the original profile and swapping the follower out for one from a Lithgow mag. In the end I had to bend both corners a little by trial and error to get it to feed properly. It seems to be okay now but not without considerable modification.


Good to know. I'm actually chasing some 5rd mags as the 10rd sticks out too far for my liking, too easy to lose or break it.
Practice Strict Gun Control - Precision Counts!
User avatar
bladeracer
Field Marshal
Field Marshal
 
Posts: 12655
Victoria

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by allan » 18 Nov 2021, 8:49 am

MtnMan wrote:I received a 10 round Ideal arms mag from ACME firearms today. I must say it took considerable tweaking to get it to work. I had to sand and file various external faces to get it into the mag well and engage properly. Then the follower needed much more adjustment than simply bending to match the original follower. I tried copying the original profile and swapping the follower out for one from a Lithgow mag. In the end I had to bend both corners a little by trial and error to get it to feed properly. It seems to be okay now but not without considerable modification.


THIS!!! I've made this comment re the LA101 since day one. If this rifle has an issue, it is associated with bullet feed. EVERY type of magazine I've used in mine has been tweaked considerably to run correctly. I have two LA101's (one with a match chamber) and keep separate magazines tuned for each rifle. I keep a bunch of CZ followers in my spares box. Several of my factory LA101 mags are fitted with CZ followers as are the ISA mags and my Anschutz 10 round mags too!
allan
Lance Corporal
Lance Corporal
 
Posts: 202
Other

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by Gauntlet » 25 Oct 2022, 8:46 pm

Bought an LA101 in the 16th of September and had nothing but problems.
Have shot about 100 rounds and about a dozen were light strikes and didn't fire. Has not been terribly accurate but I put that down to it being a few years since I shot a rifle but now I'm not so sure.
Today the magazine lugs that hold the cartridges in cracked on both sides and no longer functions.
So I've emailed Lithgow Arms and see what they say but so far, very unimpressed with the quality.
Maybe I'm just unlucky :thumbsdown:
Gauntlet
Recruit
Recruit
 
Posts: 1
-

Re: Owning a Lithgow LA101

Post by bladeracer » 13 Nov 2022, 12:07 am

Gauntlet wrote:Bought an LA101 in the 16th of September and had nothing but problems.
Have shot about 100 rounds and about a dozen were light strikes and didn't fire. Has not been terribly accurate but I put that down to it being a few years since I shot a rifle but now I'm not so sure.
Today the magazine lugs that hold the cartridges in cracked on both sides and no longer functions.
So I've emailed Lithgow Arms and see what they say but so far, very unimpressed with the quality.
Maybe I'm just unlucky :thumbsdown:


Shame to see you having problems.
How many types of ammo have you tried? Light strikes can sometimes be an ammo issue rather than a firearm issue - my brother's Anschutz hated Eley ammo giving tons of light strikes, putting the duds in other rifles they worked fine.
.22LR is also notorious for having to find the ammo the firearm likes.
Can you get somebody that you know can shoot well to try it to confirm it's not a you problem?
Practice Strict Gun Control - Precision Counts!
User avatar
bladeracer
Field Marshal
Field Marshal
 
Posts: 12655
Victoria

Next

Back to top
 
Return to Rimfire rifles, and air rifles