AR15.com member ‘Bradders’ posted details about a Scottish company producing stunning replicas of the WWII speciality weapon the DeLisle Carbine. Even though I am not a .45ACP user, I have always been a big fan of the ‘love-it-or-hate-it’ styling of the DeLisle. So I ask him if he wouldn’t mind if I posted his pictures here for TFB readers.

Unfortunately for American customers, importation of NFA items is heavily restricted, so the civilian purchase of one of these specimens is impossible without an act of God. And while there a handful of Yank DeLisle builders, the below examples are some of the nicest I’ve ever seen.

Our United Kingdom shooting sports brethren definitely have their own challenges when it comes to lawful gun ownership, however this is one of those times when I’m envious. These DeLisle’s are gorgeous.

I’ll let Bradders explain the details:

[The DeLisle Carbine] is something that always generates interest over here, possibly not least because we love a good old Commando raid, but also there’s something about clandestine weapons.

Built around the action of a SMLE, they were rebarrelled in .45 ACP, had a shortened throw bolt and uses 1911 mags. I believe there were only around 130 built during WW2, mainly for use knocking sentries over, but there have been countless replicas built since.  Some good, some not so good.

Here are some of the better ones.

A friend of mine wanted one, and we did a bit of searching. There’s a few available for sale, but we also scored an ex Bahraini SMLE last week for £200 with the plan of converting it, however…

There is a company in Scotland called Shandwick Engineering, and they have been building and perfecting them for the last 20 years. Their ones are the ones that all others are judged by.

I contacted them and enquired about converting the SMLE we have, but they said it would probably be cheaper to buy one of the ones they make, and in fact they have one ready to go, so they sent me some pics.

This is their Demo/display model:

DeLisle Carbine on Wikipedia