[servicepub (RIP)]

Frank was closest with the name. No. 4 Enfield Rifles were made at Small Arms Ltd, of Long Branch, Ontario. On 1 Jan 1946 SAL, along with Research Enterprises Limited, Sorel Industries and other WWII Crown-owned manufacturers were lumped together as Canadian Arsenals Ltd. with HQ at Long Branch but with branch offices at various locations. Also included in the transfer was the tooling and parts for the Bren and HP pistol which had been manufactured during WWII by the John Inglis Co. Ltd., of Toronto - but this was only right as the tooling had been paid for by the government.
By 1976 most of the units had been closed or sold off. The core CAL unit was the manufacturer of the venerable FN rifle. In July 1976 the doors closed and Canada found itself without a government arsenal.
It was to be several years before Diemaco (now a subsidiary of Heroux-Devtek Aerospace of Montreal) was chosen as the manufacturer of the C7 family of small arms. It must be recognised that the rifle is a licenced copy of the US M-16 rifle and that the licence holder is the Government of Canada - Diemaco is merely the instrument which manufactures the rifles. As such, some of the tooling from CAL (previously owned by SAL and before that by the Ross Rifle Co., of Quebec) was made available.
Canada's war-time manufacturing history is a fascinating but often overlooked aspect of our military history.