The history of Small Arms Limited

Small Arms Limited (SAL) broke ground near Long Branch (now part of Mississauga) in late August 1940. Within 10 months, it built and equipped a 212,000-square foot plant.

It passed Lee-Enfield’s rigorous trials and began introducing the Long Branch No.4 Mk I .303. Over the next four years, SAL produced almost a million rifles, other firearms, accessories, and ammunition, with a predominantly female workforce. Now coveted, these Long Branch rifles celebrate these wartime home-front accomplishments.

Ironically, the SAL plant was not in the village of Long Branch. It was several kilometres west.

The Long Branch moniker probably stems from the Long Branch Rifle Ranges and the Long Branch Aerodrome located nearby.

Small Arms Limited

Once the Second World War started, the Canadian government decided to build an arms manufacturing plant east of the aerodrome. It appointed Colonel Malcolm P. Jolley, a former engineer in the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corp, as project lead.

Small Arms Limited was created as a non-profit Crown corporation on Aug. 7, 1940. Equipped by American suppliers and the Ross Rifle factory in Quebec, SAL produced five No. 4, Mk I rifles for Lee-Enfield’s approval in June 1941. SAL sent their first 200 rifles to Europe that September.

Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk I

My .303 Lee-Enfield (see the April 2020 issue) traces the gun’s evolution. The No. 4 Mk I has a cutout on the bolt track near the receiver bridge. It replaced the bolt-release button on the British No. 4 Mk I. This made the Long Branch and American-made Savage/Stevens Mk I easier and cheaper to mass produce. The Long Branch version became the standard infantry rifle for Canadian troops in the WWII, the Korean War, and for Canadian Rangers on Arctic patrols from 1947 to 2018.

“I carried mine for about 30 years in the service of Canada, with little training, and it still amazes me what it’s capable of,” gun afficionado Steve Pederson reflected.

Women dominate line

Ron Craig, who has written extensively on Long Branch’s history, says more credit should be given to the women who worked there. During SAL’s peak employment of 5,500 workers, nearly two-thirds were women, “who took great pride in helping the war effort,” he wrote.

In 1939, most women worked as homemakers or in low-paying service and administrative jobs for $12-$13 per week. Wartime industries like SAL recruited women across Canada to replace men who enlisted. They targeted single women aged 18-35 and married women without children but with enlisted husbands. The government provided free train fare to Toronto. Then, SAL buses took them to the YWCA’s Rooms Registry Service.

Here, they found suitable lodging in local homes, in one of the 200 new prefabricated units, or in Wartime Housing Ltd.’s huge dormitory across the street.

By 1943, SAL had three shifts of skilled workers. They worked eight hours a day, six days a week, for $20-$30 and produced more than 30,000 units per month. With suggestion incentives, production bonuses, Blue Cross Hospital Plan, and after-hours recreational programs, SAL became known as “The plant where you get a square deal.”

“I grew up in Long Branch. So many people from the community worked there. For me, it is a reminder of how our community contributed to the biggest change of the war and allowing the Allied Forces to take charge,” history buff Sean Ratcliffe said. “Until our rifle was introduced, we were not winning the war. Our rifle and the sniper versions gave the soldiers an advantage.”

Other firearms made

SAL also made other firearms. Staff cherry-picked more than 1,000 rifles found with superior accuracy during testing. They modified the receivers and rear sights; and added beechwood cheek pieces, third sling swivels, and scopes to convert them to No. 4 Mk I (T) Sniper rifles. SAL also made CNo. 7 .22 calibre Lee-Enfield Training Rifles. They also produced more than 100,000 Sten Mk II submachine guns.

SAL winds down

After the 1944 D-Day invasion, SAL received order cancellations. Despite the resulting layoffs, many women stayed in the area. Col. Jolley encouraged the government to convert the plant to post-war use. He recommended that 20% of the space be retained for small arms maintenance and that 80% be leased to private industry. When SAL ceased operations on Dec. 31, 1945, its remaining 200 staff cleaned up and organized equipment for disposal.

New corporation created

The government transferred SAL’s assets to a new Crown Corporation, Canadian Arsenals Limited, Small Arms Division (CAL). CAL manufactured and repaired firearms and provided military technical training. To stay afloat, CAL also made parts for Harrington & Richardson M48 Topper shotguns and for Browning .50- and .30-calibre machine guns. Their subsidiary, Essential Agencies Limited, made Airforce survival rifles from surplus parts.

And finally, from 1955 until its dissolution in 1974, CAL produced 80,000- 90,000 FN C1 7.62mm self-loading rifles for the Canadian military. “Canadian LB’s are the best made of all other countries. Post war models even better,” fan Stephen Rogers wrote.

Tragedy averted

The facility served as a Canada Post distribution centre for the next two decades. After it left, the government demolished the manufacturing plant and all but one of the support buildings in 1996.

Building No. 12, the former SAL Inspection Building and adjoining Administration Wing, remained leased as training facilities for Ontario Power Corporation and for the RCMP’s Cadet Organization Police School until 2008. Once the lease expired, the new owners, the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority, applied for a demolition permit.

The surrounding community quickly rallied under the Lakeview Legacy Community Foundation and the Small Arms Society. The City of Mississauga subsequently designated the Small Arms Inspection building and the Water Tower under the Ontario Heritage Act.

Legacy remains

By all accounts, the Long Branch No. 4 Mk I was well built, rugged, reliable, and accurate. You can find them today, but at premium prices: intact No. 4 Mk 1s, go for $2,000; a Sporter, $500; Long Branch C NO. 7 .22 Training rifles, for $3,500; and the rare Long Branch Sniper No. 4 Mk I (T), for more than $10,000.

If you’re thinking of selling, please consider donating your Long Branch firearm to your local regimental or a community museum for a tax receipt. They’re much more than a military rifle, after all. “They’re a symbol of Canada coming of age during the Second World War,” historian Matthew Wilkinson said.

“My Long Branch is the capstone of my Enfield collection, because … it completes my love of fine rifles,” wrote Frank Mullen.

In 2017, the City of Mississauga acquired the property and now operates it as a historic multi-purpose community hub.