.276 Enfield
Encyclopedia
The .276 Enfield was an experimental military rifle
cartridge developed in conjunction with the Pattern 1913 Enfield
(P'13) rifle. Development was discontinued by the onset of World War I
.
, to one squadron in each of three cavalry
regiment
s, and to one company in each of eight infantry
battalion
s. One of the cavalry squadrons was stationed in South Africa
and one of the infantry companies was stationed in Egypt
. The remainder of the units were in the United Kingdom. Cartridges were packaged in 5-round stripper clip
s similar to those used by Mauser
and M1903 Springfield rifles. Ball ammunition was loaded with 49.3 grains of cordite
behind 165-grain cupronickel
-jacketed spitzer
bullet
s. Drill rounds containing no primer
or powder
have been reported in two versions. One has a tin
-plated case with the standard bullet, and the other has a round-nose wood
bullet with an unplated brass
case.
The troop trials reported the cartridge produced heavy recoil with undesirable muzzle flash and overheated rifle barrels. Overheating caused excessive barrel wear and some potentially dangerous pressure indications from cartridges pre-heated in hot barrels before firing. Rather than confront continued development of a new cartridge simultaneously with inevitable wartime production problems, the United Kingdom continued manufacturing .303 British
caliber Lee-Enfield
rifles as the standard military arm through the first world war. Canada
, on the other hand, had some experience with the similar .280 Ross
cartridge and appears to have taken interest in potential use of the P'13 rifles to arm newly mobilized troops. Canada contracted with Winchester Repeating Arms to manufacture ammunition until more suitable rifles became available for standard issue.
Ammunition is known to have been manufactured by:
(P'14) chambered for the .303 British
cartridge. Production was initially assigned to Vickers
; but tooling was shortly passed to United States
manufacturers so Vickers could focus on machine gun
production. Remington Arms
and Winchester manufactured 1,233,075 P'14 rifles for the United Kingdom in 1915 and 1916. Remington subcontracted the largest share of production to the Baldwin Locomotive Works
plant in Eddystone, Pennsylvania
. The design was modified again as the M1917 Enfield rifle chambered for the .30-06 Springfield
cartridge. Remington, Winchester and Baldwin manufactured 2,193,429 M1917 rifles for the United States
. Approximately 75% of the American Expeditionary Forces carried M1917 rifles into combat. Nearly half of these M1917 rifles were sent to the United Kingdom as Lend-Lease
in the early days of World War II
. Remington modified the design again as the basis of their model 30
, 30S, and 720 rifles for civilian production.
The .276 Enfield case was necked up to .303 caliber for various armor-piercing bullet tests conducted in the United Kingdom between 1922 and 1935.
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
cartridge developed in conjunction with the Pattern 1913 Enfield
Pattern 1913 Enfield
The Pattern 1913 Enfield was an experimental rifle developed as a result of combat experience in the Second Boer War by the Royal Small Arms Factory for the British Army from 1912 to 1914 to serve as a replacement for the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield...
(P'13) rifle. Development was discontinued by the onset of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
History
Several developmental versions of ammunition were prepared beginning in 1910 before approximately 1,000 P'13 rifles with 600,000 rounds of RL18000C trials cartridges were distributed to troops in 1913. The troops' trials rifles and ammunition were distributed to the musketry school at HytheSmall Arms School Corps
The Small Arms School Corps is a small corps of the British Army responsible for maintaining the proficiency of the army in the use of small arms, support weapons and range management.-History:...
, to one squadron in each of three cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
regiment
Regiment
A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...
s, and to one company in each of eight infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s. One of the cavalry squadrons was stationed in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and one of the infantry companies was stationed in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. The remainder of the units were in the United Kingdom. Cartridges were packaged in 5-round stripper clip
Stripper clip
A stripper clip or charger is a speedloader that holds several cartridges together in a single unit for easier loading of a firearm's magazine. A stripper clip is used only for loading the magazine and is not necessary for the firearm to function...
s similar to those used by Mauser
Mauser
Mauser was a German arms manufacturer of a line of bolt-action rifles and pistols from the 1870s to 1995. Mauser designs were built for the German armed forces...
and M1903 Springfield rifles. Ball ammunition was loaded with 49.3 grains of cordite
Cordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...
behind 165-grain cupronickel
Cupronickel
Cupronickel or copper-nickel or "cupernickel" is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. Cupronickel is highly resistant to corrosion in seawater, because its electrode potential is adjusted to be neutral with regard to seawater...
-jacketed spitzer
Spitzer (bullet)
A spitzer, also commonly referred to as a spire point bullet, is an aerodynamic bullet design used in most intermediate and high-powered rifle cartridges...
bullet
Bullet
A bullet is a projectile propelled by a firearm, sling, or air gun. Bullets do not normally contain explosives, but damage the intended target by impact and penetration...
s. Drill rounds containing no primer
Centerfire ammunition
A centerfire cartridge is a cartridge with a primer located in the center of the cartridge case head. Unlike rimfire cartridges, the primer is a separate and replaceable component....
or powder
Smokeless powder
Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...
have been reported in two versions. One has a tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...
-plated case with the standard bullet, and the other has a round-nose wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
bullet with an unplated brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
case.
The troop trials reported the cartridge produced heavy recoil with undesirable muzzle flash and overheated rifle barrels. Overheating caused excessive barrel wear and some potentially dangerous pressure indications from cartridges pre-heated in hot barrels before firing. Rather than confront continued development of a new cartridge simultaneously with inevitable wartime production problems, the United Kingdom continued manufacturing .303 British
.303 British
.303 British, or 7.7x56mmR, is a .311 inch calibre rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain as a blackpowder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee-Metford rifle, later adapted to use smokeless powders...
caliber Lee-Enfield
Lee-Enfield
The Lee-Enfield bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle was the main firearm used by the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century...
rifles as the standard military arm through the first world war. Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, on the other hand, had some experience with the similar .280 Ross
.280 Ross
The .280 Ross, also known as the .280 Nitro, .280 Rimless Nitro Express Ross and .280 Rimless cartridge, is an approximately 7mm bullet diameter rifle round developed in Canada by F.W...
cartridge and appears to have taken interest in potential use of the P'13 rifles to arm newly mobilized troops. Canada contracted with Winchester Repeating Arms to manufacture ammunition until more suitable rifles became available for standard issue.
Ammunition is known to have been manufactured by:
- Royal Laboratory (headstampHeadstampA headstamp is the markings on the bottom of a cartridge case designed for a firearm. It usually tells who manufactured the case. If it is a civilian case it often also tells the caliber, if it is military, the year of manufacture is often added....
ed R^L) - Kings NortonKings NortonKings Norton is an area of Birmingham, England. It is also a Birmingham City Council ward within the formal district of Northfield.-History:...
Metal Company (headstamped KN, some with date 13) - Greenwood & BatleyGreenwood & BatleyGreenwood & Batley were a large engineering manufacturer with a wide range of products, including armaments, electrical engineering, and printing and milling machinery. They also produced a range of battery-electric railway locomotives under the brand name Greenbat...
(headstamped GB or G&B) - KynochKynochKynoch was a manufacturer of ammunition, later incorporated into ICI but remaining as a brand name for sporting cartridges.-History:Kynoch was established in Witton in Birmingham in 1862 by Scottish entrepreneur George Kynoch when he opened a percussion cap factory in Witton. In 1895 he built an...
(headstamped K) - Winchester (headstamped WRA Co 8-16)
Subsequent developments
The P'13 rifle design was modified as the Pattern 14 RiflePattern 14 Rifle
The Rifle, .303 Pattern 1914 was a British service rifle of the First World War period. A bolt action weapon with an integral 5-round magazine, it was principally contract manufactured by companies in the United States. It served as a sniper rifle and as second line and reserve issue until being...
(P'14) chambered for the .303 British
.303 British
.303 British, or 7.7x56mmR, is a .311 inch calibre rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain as a blackpowder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee-Metford rifle, later adapted to use smokeless powders...
cartridge. Production was initially assigned to Vickers
Vickers
Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...
; but tooling was shortly passed to United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
manufacturers so Vickers could focus on machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
production. Remington Arms
Remington Arms
Remington Arms Company, Inc. was founded in 1816 by Eliphalet Remington in Ilion, New York, as E. Remington and Sons. It is the oldest company in the United States which still makes its original product, and is the oldest continuously operating manufacturer in North America. It is the only U.S....
and Winchester manufactured 1,233,075 P'14 rifles for the United Kingdom in 1915 and 1916. Remington subcontracted the largest share of production to the Baldwin Locomotive Works
Baldwin Locomotive Works
The Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Although the company was very successful as a producer of steam locomotives, its transition to the production of...
plant in Eddystone, Pennsylvania
Eddystone, Pennsylvania
Eddystone is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,442 at the 2000 census.-Early history:The area at the mouth of Ridley Creek was first called "Tequirassy" by Native Americans. The land was owned by Olof Persson Stille, one of the early settlers from New...
. The design was modified again as the M1917 Enfield rifle chambered for the .30-06 Springfield
.30-06 Springfield
The .30-06 Springfield cartridge or 7.62×63mm in metric notation, was introduced to the United States Army in 1906 and standardized, and was in use until the 1960s and early 1970s. It replaced the .30-03, 6 mm Lee Navy, and .30 US Army...
cartridge. Remington, Winchester and Baldwin manufactured 2,193,429 M1917 rifles for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Approximately 75% of the American Expeditionary Forces carried M1917 rifles into combat. Nearly half of these M1917 rifles were sent to the United Kingdom as Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...
in the early days of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Remington modified the design again as the basis of their model 30
Remington Model 30
The Remington Model 30 is a US sporting rifle of the inter-war period based on the military P14/M1917 Enfield rifle action, which was manufactured for the British and US governments during World War I...
, 30S, and 720 rifles for civilian production.
The .276 Enfield case was necked up to .303 caliber for various armor-piercing bullet tests conducted in the United Kingdom between 1922 and 1935.