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New South Wales firearms manufacturer Oceania Precision has been shocked and pleasantly surprised after one of its .308 calibre SP25 rifles was donated to be preserved in the prestigious Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
The Oceania Precision SP25 straight-pull bolt action rifle, now featured in Royal Armouries national museum social media, was donated to the museum for preservation by South Australian sports shooter Dylan Kempster after competing in the 2026 National Rifle Association UK Civilian Service Rifle Imperial Meeting at Bisley earlier this year.
The Imperial Meeting is a multi-day competition featuring dynamic, rapid-fire, and positional shooting from 25 to 500 yards held in July each year. It tests accuracy with service-style rifles, culminating in the Methuen Cup and Falling Plates challenges, featuring international competitors from the UK, Europe and Australia.
Kempster, who participates as an International Practical Shooting Confederation for both handguns and rifles, said rifles manufactured in Australia are world class.
“(I’m) donating to the collection because it’s a thoroughly unique Australian-made rifle and I feel like it deserves to be preserved for people to enjoy for as long as possible,” he said.
“Its Australian made, it does have a pattern of an AR-style rifle (ArmaLite Rifle) but it is entirely its own beast. It has a three-piece receiver with a straight pull action.
“This one is set up with iron sights, commonly used in Australia for hunting but also for competition. Sometimes with a pump-action kit, it is just a really awesome rifle.”
The British Royal Armouries itself preserves historic weapons and firearms from the past to the present day; including Japanese samurai armour and swords, famous movie props, the armours of Henry VIII and even armour for an Indian war elephant.
Royal Armouries, Keeper of Firearms & Artillery (Leeds) Jonathan Ferguson said the rifle is evidence of the bond between the UK and Australia.
“We are currently lacking in some of the quirkier modern sporting arms. Where there are different things going on. The elephant in the room is obviously the manual operation of this and why that is necessary. It’s great to have an authentic sporting rifle with the history from you and what you’ve been doing with it,” he said.
“A nice connection between Australia and United Kingdom.”
The first Imperial Meeting was originally contested on Wimbledon Common in south-west London with Queen Victoria firing the first shot and giving a prize of 250 pounds to the best individual marksman in 1860.
“I was genuinely shocked when the owner of the rifle called me and asked whether I thought it was a good idea to donate it to the Royal Armouries,” according to Oceania Precision managing director Jeffrey Bacon.
“The timing was particularly significant, as it was not long after the Bondi (terror attack) tragedy. The decision was ultimately an attempt to preserve the rifle and, importantly, the history behind it, rather than see it potentially destroyed or lost to the (NSW) government.
“This particular firearm is also very significant to our company’s history, it was the second production rifle I ever made. To see it now being preserved by an internationally recognised institution such as the Royal Armouries is an enormous honour.”
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