Straightening rifle barrels, Small Arms Factory, Orange NSW

Before assembly, rifle barrels are checked and straightened by human eye being the final arbiter, Commonwealth Small Arms Annexe, Orange, New South Wales. Depicts a quality control inspector at the Commonwealth Small Arms Annexe, examining rifle barrels for rifling and straightness. The rifle barrel is resting on a calibration jig. Ralph Malcolm Warner (1902-1966) was appointed Official War Artist in 1943, covering the activities of the RAAF in Canada, United States and the Bahamas. His first mission was in Papua New Guinea recording Australian operation against the Japanese. In 1945 Warner continued to work as a war artist recording civil and industrial war efforts and food production in areas of New South Wales and Victoria. After the war he returned to commercial art, designing posters, murals and postage stamps and illustrating books.