In the Legacy Sports International booth at the 2018 SHOT Show Industry Day at the Range, Australian company Lithgow Arms brought out their precision rifle series dark horse, the LA105 Woomera. Based on the excellent Lithgow LA102 bolt action rifle platform, the LA105 features a custom American chassis from Kinetic Research Group. With a polymer exterior, the rifle combines the rigidity of an aluminum chassis with the good thermal characteristics of a polymer stock (read: your skin doesn’t stick to it in cold weather).

The LA105 is a highly accurate, highly ergonomic rifle that made it trivial to slam clays at a couple hundred meters on Range Day.

The LA105 is based on Lithgow’s existing LA102 rifle, but is mated with a US made Kinetic Research Group chassis (which is itself based on the KRG X-Ray), and uses a heavy precision contour barrel with a large muzzle brake. Most importantly, thanks to the KRG chassis, the LA105 uses AICS magazines, which are a de-facto standard in the precision rifle shooting world. The rifles are slated to be offered in .308 Winchester and 6.5mm Creedmoor to start. When I asked Lithgow whether they were looking at offering a 6mm Creedmoor option, representatives told me “we’re thinking very hard about it.” If the LA105 does well on the US and Australian markets, it stands to reason that more calibers will become available.

The LA105 is one of several off the shelf precision rifle offerings to hit the market recently, and it is also one of the most promising. The LA102, though only recently released, is already established as one of the most attractive precision rifle options on the market. Mating that rifle with the extremely well engineered stock from KRG and a heavier barrel and brake produces one of the most drool inducing products for precision rifle shooters for 2018. But, the proof is in the pudding. Currently only a handful of LA105s exist in the USA – how will the rifles do in competition? We’ll see!

The LA105 on the floor of the 2018 SHOT Show.