Springbok civilians’ LM4 semiauto
CIVILIANS in South Africa – particularly border farmers and cattlemen – have unusual home-defense requirements. Constantly threatened by bands of heavily armed insurgents and an escalating terrorist movement.most of the people with something to protect relied on second-hand FN FALs, Ruger Mini-14s, AR l5’s and an odd lot of weapons imported prior to the mandatory United Nations arms embargo on South Africa in 1977.
Until recently, they couldn’t ‘t afford to do much better. Civilian firearms are expensive, difficult to obtain and practically impossible to maintain given the scarcity of spare parts. That situation has been remedied with the introduction of a homegrown, semiauto assault rifle made by ARMSCOR, South Africa’government owned military-equipment manufacturer.
Lyttleton Engineering Works (ARMSCOR’s small-arms factory located in Pretoria) has begun production of the LM4, a civilian version of the R4 assault rifle which is quickly replacing FN FAL and HK G3 rifles as the South African Defense Forces’ standard infantry weapon. The R4 is a slightly modified version of the Galil made under license from IMI (Israeli Military Industries – see SOF, July ’83). The civilian version of this popular rifle is practically identical to the military weapon with the exception of a plastic foregrip which replaces the wooden grip on R4. The LM4 does everything an R4 will do, except fire full-auto.
SADF troops clearing a trench In Angola
It’s a relatively easy weapon to evaluate but I was forced to do it without official corroboration or cooperation. In formation of ARMSCOR activities is hard to get and release of technical data is strictly controlled by the South African Defense Forces. They denied my repeated requests to visit the manufacturing plant and remained silent regarding details, so I was forced to simply get my hands on an R4 and an LM4 and head for the bush to give them a workout. These are some of my observations.
Lyttleton Engineering Works has modified the basic Galil for the SADF by lengthening the folding stock slightly to accommodate the larger dimensions of the average South African troopie. The R4 and LM4 both operate with the same basic action that the Israelis borrowed from the Soviets. As anyone who has fired any of the 5.56 NATO Kalashnikov spin-offs knows. The bolt group slams rearward with considerable force at each shot. And the empty cartridge case is ejec1ed a good distance from the rifle. This violent cycling strains the receiver after long use and the Sough Africans have remedied the problem by inserting a plastic buffer at 1he rear of the receiver well.
ARMSCOR has solved the Galil front sight-base weakness by strengthening the metal walls of the mounting on both the R4 and the LM4. This is a definite improvement in design. Many Israeli soldiers armed with standard Galil discovered in Lebanon that a hard rap will fracture the sight. Replacement of the Galil metal stock and wood foregrip (on the LM4) with plastic versions is also a boon to shooters. The metal and wood add to the Galil’s hefty weight but synthetic materials have made the R4 and the LM4 significantly lighter. Nylon is used in place of steel in the stock tubes. I was worried about strength and durability when 1 bought my LM4, but the salesman propped the rifle on its bipod – stock extended – and jumped up and down on the rifle without damaging it at all. I was sold.
Shooting from the hip with the LM4. The 5O-round magazine is heavy and cannot be used with the bipod.
From the U.S. Army to the SAS, many expert combat riflemen complain about carrying handles on assault rifles. If the handle’s there, some fool is going to carry the rifle by it into a fire fight and die because he isn’t ready to instantly return fire. ARMSCOR apparently believes in that scenario. The familiar Galil carrying handle has been eliminated on the R4 and LM4.The troopies who carry the R4 – myself included – have found the carrying handles to be a dangerous nuisance. Operational troops in Southwest Africa used to cut the handles off R1 rifles (FALs) before the R4s were issued.
LM4s come equipped with the same old inconvenient, noisy Kalashnikov selector but there has been an improvement. On both the R4 and LM4 a supplementary selector has been positioned at the top of the pistol grip on the left side. It helps the situation but the action on my LM4 is stiff enough to break your thumb and left-handed shooters practically have to be double-jointed to operate it. Oddly, the back-up selector operates backward from what experienced shooters would expect. The lever must be moved back ward using the tip of the thumb in order to select “S” (semiauto) or “R” (repetition). Moving the lever forward onto safety is not much problem for anyone with average strength and dexterity.
Despite that design freak, it’s not hard to understand why ARMSCOR decided to put the extra selector on its version of the Galil. The Kalashnikov design of the original weapon features a long sheet-metal selector lever on the right side of the receiver. It’s slow to reach because the firer must remove his hand from the pistol grip and the lever action is usually stiff. There is a dangerously loud click when the lever is moved from one position to another. In South Africa many troopies remedy the situation by prying the lever away from the receiver with a screwdriver. I don’t recommend it. In my experience that loose lever is a guarantee that the safety will be flipped off in the bush.
The ARMSCOR LM4 comes equipped with a standard 3S-round magazine which is identical to the Galil magazine and subsequently interchangeable. Additional 35 and 5O-round magazines are available as optional extras. The 5O-round magazine provides an impressive amount of potential firepower but the length of this long box precludes use with the bipod in the prone position. It also negates the weight-saving of the synthetic furniture.
Articles such as tritium night sights, sling and cleaning kit are not provided as standard equipment on the LM4. That’s an unfortunate oversight, especially for South Africans who might use the LM4 as a home defense weapon. Night sights can be purchased as optional extras. They are easily fitted and invaluable in the dark. The luminous bar on the front sight and the two dots at the rear provide a clear reference for aiming. These sights are visible only to the user and extremely unlikely to give his position away with a visible glow. When not in use the optional night-sight equipment folds down and out of the way. The cleaning kit which can be purchased for the LM4 is comprehensive and well designed. It comes in a strong canvas roll and contains everything needed for field maintenance of the rifle. It has a phosphor bronze brush, tapered to fit the chamber, a device for cleaning the gas port, a small oil bottle, a sight-adjustment tool, a case-neck extractor, a cleaning rod, pull-through and all the usual brushes. The inclusion of a case-neck extractor is a particularly good idea. A case neck jammed in the chamber would normally mean an unserviceable rifle until an armorer could extract it. With this tool the rifle need not be out of action for more than a few minutes. That’s an important edge for a rancher who doesn’t have a battalion-level armorer within 100 miles.
The R4 is quickly replacing the FN FAL and HK G3 rifles as the SADF’s standard infantry weapon. Photo: David Mills.
The firing position required to accurately shoot the LM4 from the shoulder takes a bit of practice for anyone unaccustomed to a folding stock. Like most classically trained shooters, I am used to resting my cheekbone on the comb of the stock to get the correct sight picture. That head position with the LM4 simply gives the shooter a close-up view of the rear of the receiver cover. Once I got the feel of the new position I had no further difficulty acquiring the sights.
Standard ARMSCOR factory tests for both weapons included simulated arctic conditions at minus-1O Celsius (14 Fahrenheit), operation in muddy conditions and resistance to sand and dust. The LM4 passed the first two tests with flying colors, and in the third test it fired twice as many rounds as a test-model AK-47 before a stoppage. That’s fine reliability for the rugged conditions of the African bush. In fact, the LM4 is the most reliable semiautomatic weapon that I have ever used. I have yet to experience a stoppage on my rifle. The only real problem I see with either the R4 or the LM4 is the lack of a hold-open function in the mechanism to mark an empty magazine. In a fight, it’s easy to forget how many shots have been fired . It would be more than embarrassing to find the bolt closed on an empty chamber at a crucial moment.
The cocking handle on the R4 and the LM4 is an integral part of the bolt carrier and easily one of the weapons’ best features. Anybody who has had a round fail to chamber fully will appreciate this. I have spent precious seconds struggling with an R1 (FN FAL) because a small amount of dirt prevented the round from chambering. A sharp blow on a fixed cocking handle would have solved the problem in half the time. The accuracy of the LM4 is fine for its intended use. Although the trigger is a bit creepy, first-round hits on small targets at 100 yards are common when the bipod is used. In the standing or off-hand position, the lack of felt recoil makes it possible to get in fast second shots while holding firmly on target.
Apparently ARMSCOR has confidence in the civilian LM4 and its acceptance in the commercial market. They have recently introduced the LM5, a semiauto version of the short-barreled tankers’ R5. It is touted as the South African equivalent of the Galil SAR. It should prove popular since it is lighter and shorter than the LM4. Farmers can appreciate quick handling characteristics from a weapon they’ll carry in a truck or on a tractor.
Unfortunately, the LM4 isn’t likely to become available in U.S. gun shops anytime soon. It’s a fine weapon. The LM4 is sturdy. well-made, reliable and accurate. ARMSCOR seems oblivious to telling the public about those attributes. Security seems more important than sales in South Africa which leads some shooters to wonder why ARMSCOR even bothered to produce a civilian version of their vaunted R4 assault rifle.
Brady Ridgeway – SOF Magazine June 1985
