St. George Arms has published a video where Charles St. George, the founder of the company and the designer of the Australian Leader Dynamics Model T2 MK 5 rifle, has announced that this rifle will be manufactured in the USA. Here is the announcement text (quoted from the company’s website) followed by the mentioned video.

The Australian Leader Dynamics Model T2 MK 5 rifle will be made in the United States for the first time in its original form — celebrating the 40th anniversary of its design. The new rifle, designated Leader T2, will be manufactured by St George Arms and its parts will be interchangeable with those of the original.

The Leader T2 rifle was designed to take part in the trials to replace the Australian FAL rifles with a 5.56x45mm weapon. Although it was quite a promising design, this rifle lost the trials to the Austrian Steyr AUG rifle. After failing to become Australia’s 5.56 rifle, the Leader T2 was made in limited quantities for the Australian and US civilian markets. The civilian sales lasted up until the mid-’90s.

Some of the distinctive features of the Leader T2 rifle are the three-lug bolt, short stroke piston system and sheet metal stamped receivers. Below you can find other specs of this rifle.

Specifications:

• Manufacturer: St George Arms
• Model: Leader T2
• Cartridge: 5.56×45mm NATO
• Type: Semi-automatic sporting rifle
• Action: Gas-operated, short-stroke piston; triangular rotating bolt
• Overall Length: 35.9 inches
• Barrel Length: 16.125 inches
• Weight (with empty 20-round magazine): 7.75 lb
• Magazine: 20- or 30-round STANAG

(Specifications are based on the original rifle and are subject to change.)

The company plans to initially make 250 rifles with the estimated start of delivery being the Spring of 2019. The MSRP is $1,250. St. George Arms is currently taking 50% deposits. You can preorder the rifle on the company’s Gun Broker page. The Leader T2 rifle will not be available in the state of California.

Images from www.stgeorgearms.com