British military rifles - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The origins of the modern British military rifle are within its predecessor the Brown Bess musket. While a musket was largely inaccurate over 80 yards due to a lack of rifling

Rifling

Rifling is the process of making helical grooves in the barrel of a gun or firearm, which imparts a spin to a projectile around its long axis...

and a generous tolerance to allow for muzzle-loading, it was cheaper to produce and could be loaded quickly. The use in volley or in mass firing by troops meant that rate of fire took precedence over accuracy. A similar tactical preference would be a factor in considerations regarding rifle

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...

design in the late 19th century and early 20th century, when rate of fire would be a key design consideration for British bolt action rifles.

Beginning in the late 1830s, the superior characteristics of the new rifles caused the British military to phase out the venerable .75 calibre Brown Bess musket in favour of muzzle loading rifles in smaller calibres. Early rifles were non-standard and frequently adaptations from components of the Brown Bess, including, locks, stocks and new rifled barrels. It was not until the late 19th century that the rifle fully supplanted the musket as the primary weapon of the infantryman.

Rifles before 1800

Civilian rifles had on rare occasions been used by marksmen during the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

(1642–51). In the 1750s, a few German rifles were used by British light infantry

Light infantry

Traditionally light infantry were soldiers whose job was to provide a skirmishing screen ahead of the main body of infantry, harassing and delaying the enemy advance. Light infantry was distinct from medium, heavy or line infantry. Heavy infantry were dedicated primarily to fighting in tight...

regiments in the French and Indian War

French and Indian War

The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...

Pattern 1776 Infantry Rifle

In January 1776, 1,000 rifles were ordered to be built for the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

. A pattern by gunsmith William Grice, based on German rifles in use by the British Army, was approved for official issue as the Pattern 1776 Infantry Rifle. The barrel is 30.5" with hook breech in .62 calibre. Eight hundred were delivered through four Birmingham producers: William Grice, Mathias Barker, Galton & Sons and Bejamin Willets. Two hundred more were obtained from Hannover.

This weapon was issued to the light company of each regiment in the British Army during the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

; these were probably present at most battles in the conflict.

Ferguson rifle

Also in 1776, Major Patrick Ferguson

Patrick Ferguson

Major Patrick Ferguson was a Scottish officer in the British Army, early advocate of light infantry and designer of the Ferguson rifle. He is best known for his service in the 1780 military campaign of Charles Cornwallis, in which he aggressively recruited Loyalists and harshly treated Patriot...

patented his breech-loading Ferguson rifle

Ferguson rifle

The Ferguson rifle was one of the first breech loading rifles to be widely tested by the British military. Other breech loaders were experimented with in various commands, including earlier versions of the Ordnance rifle by Patrick Ferguson when he was in the "Fever Islands" . It was often...

, based on old French and Dutch designs of the 1720s and 1730s. One hundred of these, of the two hundred or so made, were issued to a special rifle corps in 1777, but the cost, production difficulties and fragility of the guns, coupled with the death of Ferguson at the Battle of Kings Mountain

Battle of Kings Mountain

The Battle of Kings Mountain was a decisive battle between the Patriot and Loyalist militias in the Southern campaign of the American Revolutionary War...

meant the experiment was short lived.

The Baker Rifle

The Baker rifle

Baker rifle

The Baker rifle was a flintlock rifle used by the Rifle regiments of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. It was the first standard-issue, British-made rifle accepted by the British armed forces....

was a muzzle-loading flintlock weapon used by the British Army in the Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

, notably by the 95th Rifles and the 5th Battalion, 60th Regiment of Foot

King's Royal Rifle Corps

The King's Royal Rifle Corps was a British Army infantry regiment, originally raised in colonial North America as the Royal Americans, and recruited from American colonists. Later ranked as the 60th Regiment of Foot, the regiment served for more than 200 years throughout the British Empire...

. This rifle was an accurate weapon for its day with reported kills being taken at 100 to 300 yd (91.4 to 274.3 m) away. The rifle was in service in the British Army until the 1840s.

Brunswick rifle

The Brunswick rifle

Brunswick rifle

The Brunswick rifle was a large caliber muzzle-loading percussion rifle manufactured for the British Army at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield in the early 19th century.-History:...

was a .704 calibre muzzle-loading percussion rifle

Percussion rifle

The percussion rifle is a rifle that uses a percussion cap instead of older flintlock or matchlock variants. Faster reloading and fewer moving parts made this rifle more versatile and rugged compared to other single-shot rifles. The U.S. adopted the percussion system in 1841 and produced an...

manufactured for the British Army at the Royal Small Arms Factory

Royal Small Arms Factory

The Royal Small Arms Factory was a UK government-owned rifle factory in the London Borough of Enfield in an area generally known as the Lea Valley. The factory produced British military rifles, muskets and swords from 1816...

at Enfield

Enfield Town

Enfield Town is the historic town centre of Enfield, formerly in the county of Middlesex and now in the London Borough of Enfield. It is north north-east of Charing Cross...

in the early 19th century. The weapon was introduced to replace the Baker rifle and weighed from over 9 and 10 lb (4.1 and 4.5 kg) without its bayonet

Bayonet

A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...

attached, depending on the pattern. The weapon was difficult to load but remained in production for about 50 years (1836 to 1885) and was used in both the United Kingdom and assorted colonies and outposts throughout the world.

The Brunswick had a two groove barrel designed to accept a "belted" round ball. There are four basic variants of the British Brunswick Rifle (produced in .654 and .704 calibre, both oval bore rifled and smoothbore). They are the Pattern 1836, the Pattern 1841, the Pattern 1848 and the Pattern 1840 Variant

Early Enfield rifles

Throughout the evolution of the British rifle the name Enfield is prevalent; this refers to the Royal Small Arms Factory

Royal Small Arms Factory

in the town of Enfield north of London, where the British Government produced various patterns of muskets from components manufactured elsewhere beginning in 1804. The first rifle produced in whole to a set pattern at Enfield was the Baker rifle. Brunswick rifles were also produced there, but prior to 1851, rifles were considered specialty weapons and served alongside the muskets which were issued to regular troops.

Pattern 1851

In 1851 the Enfield factory embarked upon production of the .702-inch Pattern 1851 Minié rifle using the conical Minie bullet

Minié ball

The Minié ball is a type of muzzle-loading spin-stabilising rifle bullet named after its co-developer, Claude-Étienne Minié, inventor of the Minié rifle...

, which replaced the Pattern 1842 .753 calibre smoothbore musket as the primary weapon issued to regular troops. The Pattern 1851 was referred to as a rifled musket and was longer than previous production rifles, conforming to the length of prior muskets which allowed for consistency in standards for firing in ranks and bayonet combat. Relatively few of these were produced since a new design was adopted within two years. The rifle used the lock and bayonet mount from the Pattern 1842, with a 39 inches (990.6 mm) barrel.

The new Minie ammunition allowed much faster loading so that rifles were no longer slower to load than smoothbore muskets. Previous rifles such as the Baker and the Brunswick were designated for special troops such as skirmishers or snipers, while the majority of shoulder arms remained smoothbore muskets.

Pattern 1853

The Pattern 1853 Enfield

Pattern 1853 Enfield

The Enfield Pattern 1853 Rifle-Musket was a .577 calibre Minié-type muzzle-loading rifle-musket, used by the British Empire from 1853 to 1867, after which many Enfield 1853 Rifle-Muskets were converted to the cartridge-loaded Snider-Enfield rifle.-History &...

used a smaller .577 calibre Minie bullet. Several variations were made, including infantry, navy and artillery versions, along with shorter carbine

Carbine

A carbine , from French carabine, is a longarm similar to but shorter than a rifle or musket. Many carbines are shortened versions of full rifles, firing the same ammunition at a lower velocity due to a shorter barrel length....

s for 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...

use. The Pattern 1851 and Pattern 1853 were both used in the Crimean War

Crimean War

The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia. The war was part of a long-running contest between the major European powers for influence over territories of the declining...

, with some logistical confusion caused by the need for different ammunition. The Pattern 1853 was popular with both sides of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

; both the Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

and the Union

Union (American Civil War)

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...

imported these through agents who contracted with private companies in Britain for production.

Pattern 1858

The Pattern 1858 naval rifle was developed for the British Admiralty

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

in the late 1850s with a heavier 5-grooved barrel. The heavier barrel was designed to withstand the leverage from the naval cutlass bayonet but may have contributed to accuracy.

Pattern 1860

The Enfield “Short Rifle” was a percussion rifle used extensively by the North and South in the US Civil War. It was generally well regarded for its accuracy, even with its short barrel. It was also used by the British Army.

Pattern 1861 Enfield Musketoon

The Pattern 1861 Enfield Musketoon

Pattern 1861 Enfield Musketoon

The Pattern 1861 Enfield Musketoon was an alteration to the Pattern 1853 Enfield Musketoon. The alteration gave the Pattern 1861 a faster twist, which gave it more accuracy than the longer infantry rifle. In the British Army, it was issued to artillery units, who required a weapon for personal...

was an alteration to the Pattern 1853 Enfield Musketoon. The alteration gave the Pattern 1861 a faster twist, which gave it more accuracy than the longer Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle. In England, it was issued to artillery units, who required a weapon for personal defence. It was imported by the Confederacy

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

and issued to artillery and cavalry units.

Snider-Enfield Rifles

In 1866 the Snider-Enfield

Snider-Enfield

The British .577 Snider-Enfield was a type of breech loading rifle. The firearm action was invented by the American Jacob Snider, and the Snider-Enfield was one of the most widely used of the Snider varieties. It was adopted by British Army as a conversion system for its ubiquitous Pattern 1853...

was produced as a conversion of Enfield Pattern 1853

Pattern 1853 Enfield

with a hinged breechblock

Breechblock

A breechblock is the part of the firearm action that closes the breech of a weapon at the moment of firing....

and barrel designed for a .577 cartridge. Later Sniders were newly manufactured on the same design.

The action was invented by an American, Jacob Snider

Jacob Snider

Jacob Snider was an American mechanical engineer and inventor. He invented and patented a method of converting existing muzzle-loading rifles into breech-loading rifles, notably the Snider-Enfield....

, and adopted by Britain as a conversion system for the 1853 Enfield. The conversions proved both more accurate than original muzzle-loading Enfields and much faster firing as well. Converted rifles retained the original iron barrel, furniture, locks and cap-style hammers. The rifles were converted in large numbers, or assembled new with surplus pattern 53 iron barrels and hardware. The Mark III rifles were made from all new parts with steel barrels, flat nosed hammers and are the version equipped with a latch locking breech block. The Snider was the subject of substantial imitation, approved and otherwise, including: Nepalese Sniders, the Dutch Sniders, Danish Naval Sniders, and the "unauthorized" adaptations resulting in the French Tabatiere and Russian Krnka rifles.

The Snider-Enfield Infantry rifle was particularly long at over 54 inches (1,371.6 mm). The breech block housed a diagonally downward sloping firing pin which was struck with a front-action side mounted hammer. The firer cocked the hammer, flipped the block out of the receiver with a breech block lever, and then pulled the block back to extract the spent case. There was no ejector, the case had to be pulled out, or more usually, the rifle rolled onto its back to allow the case to fall out. The Snider saw service throughout the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

, until it was gradually phased out of front line service in favour of the Martini-Henry

Martini-Henry

The Martini-Henry was a breech-loading single-shot lever-actuated rifle adopted by the British, combining an action worked on by Friedrich von Martini , with the rifled barrel designed by Scotsman Alexander Henry...

, in the mid-1870s. The design continued in use with colonial troops into the 20th century.

Martini-Henry Rifles

The Martini-Henry rifle was adopted in 1871, featuring a falling-block single-shot breech-loading action, actuated by a lever beneath the wrist of the buttstock. The Martini-Henry evolved as the standard service rifle for almost 20 years, with variants including carbines.

Unlike the Snider it replaced, the Martini-Henry was designed from the ground up as a breech-loading

Breech-loading weapon

A breech-loading weapon is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel....

metallic cartridge firearm. This robust weapon uses a falling block, with a self-cocking, lever operated, single-shot action designed by a Swiss, Friedrich von Martini, as modified from the Peabody design. The rifling system was designed by Scotsman, Alexander Henry

Alexander Henry (gunsmith)

Alexander Henry was a Scottish gunsmith, based in Edinburgh, and designer of the Henry rifling used in the Martini-Henry rifle.He submitted a rifle to the competition organised by the British government for a replacement to their existing Snider-Enfield service weapon. The government did not...

.

The Mark I was adopted for service in 1871. There were four main variations of the Martini-Henry rifle including the Mark II, III and IV with sub variations of these called patterns. In 1877 a carbine version entered service with five main variations including cavalry and artillery versions. Initially, Martinis used the short chamber Boxer-Henry .45 calibre black powder cartridge made of a thin sheet of 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...

rolled around a mandrel, which was then soldered to an iron base. Later, the rolled brass case was replaced by a solid brass version which remedied a myriad of problems.

Martini-Metford & Martini-Enfield

Martini-Enfield rifles were mostly conversions of the Zulu War era .450/577 Martini-Henry, rechambered to the .303 British calibre, although a number were newly manufactured. Early Martini-Henry conversions, began in 1889, using Metford rifled barrels (Martini-Metford rifles), which were more than suitable for the first black powder .303 cartridges, but they wore out very quickly when fired with the more powerful smokeless ammunition introduced in 1895, so that year the Enfield rifled barrel was introduced, which was suitable for smokeless ammunition. The Martini-Enfield was in service from 1895 to 1918 (Lawrence of Arabia's Arab Irregulars were known to have used them during the Arab Revolt

Arab Revolt

The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...

of 1916–1918), and it remained a reserve arm in places like India and New Zealand well into 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...

Lee-Metford rifles

The first British repeating rifle incorporated a bolt-action and a box-magazine

Magazine (firearm)

A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating firearm. Magazines may be integral to the firearm or removable . The magazine functions by moving the cartridges stored in the magazine into a position where they may be loaded into the chamber by the action...

; this was developed through trials beginning in 1879, and adopted as the Magazine Rifle Mark I in 1888. This rifle is commonly referred to as the Lee-Metford

Lee-Metford

The Lee-Metford rifle was a bolt action British army service rifle, combining James Paris Lee's rear-locking bolt system and ten-round magazine with a seven groove rifled barrel designed by William Ellis Metford...

or MLM (Magazine Lee-Metford).

The "Lee" comes from James Paris Lee

James Paris Lee

James Paris Lee was a Scottish-Canadian and later American inventor and arms designer, best known for inventing the bolt action that led to the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield series of rifles.-Early Life and Career:...

(1831–1904), a Scottish-born Canadian-American inventor who designed an easy-to-operate turnbolt and a high capacity box magazine

Magazine (firearm)

to work with it. The box magazine, either Lee or Mannlicher

Mannlicher

Mannlicher may refer to:* Ferdinand Mannlicher , a Bohemian-German/Austrian weapon designer*: various guns bearing his name:** Mannlicher-Schönauer rifle** Steyr Mannlicher M1894 pistol** Steyr Mannlicher M1901 pistol...

designed, proved superior in combat to the Kropatschek

Kropatschek

A Kropatschek is any variant of a rifle designed by Alfred von Kropatschek. Kropatschek's rifles used an tubular magazine of his design, of the same type used in the German Mauser Gewehr 1871/84 and the Japanese Type 22 Murata.-Variants:Austria-Hungary:...

-style tube magazine used by the French in their Lebel rifle

Lebel Model 1886 rifle

The Lebel Model 1886 rifle is also known as the "Fusil Mle 1886 M93", after a bolt modification was added in 1893. It is an 8mm bolt action infantry rifle which entered service in the French Army in April 1887...

, or the Krag-Jørgensen

Krag-Jørgensen

The Krag-Jørgensen is a repeating bolt action rifle designed by the Norwegians Ole Herman Johannes Krag and Erik Jørgensen in the late 19th century. It was adopted as a standard arm by Denmark, the United States of America and Norway...

rotary magazine used in the first US bolt-action rifle (M1892). The initial Lee magazine was a straight stack, eight-round box, which was superseded by the staggered, ten-round box in later versions, in each case more than were accommodated by Mannlicher box magazine designs. The “Metford” comes from William Ellis Metford

William Ellis Metford

William Ellis Metford was a British engineer best known for designing the Metford rifling used in the .303 calibre Lee-Metford and Martini-Metford service rifles in the late 19th century....

(1824–1899), an English engineer who was instrumental in perfecting the .30 calibre jacketed bullet and rifling to accommodate the smaller diameter.

During the development of the Lee-Metford smokeless 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...

was invented. The French and the Germans were already implementing their second-generation bolt-action rifles, the 8 mm Lebel

Lebel Model 1886 rifle

in 1886 and 7.92 mm Gewehr 88

Model 1888 Commission Rifle

The Gewehr 88 was a late 19th century German bolt-action rifle, adopted in 1888.The invention of smokeless powder in the late 19th century immediately rendered all of the large-bore black powder rifles then in use obsolete...

in 1888 respectively, using smokeless 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...

to propel smaller diameter bullets. The British followed the trend of using smaller diameter bullets, but the Lee-Metford design process overlapped the invention of smokeless powder, and was not adapted for its use. However, in 1895 the design was modified to work with smokeless powder resulting in the 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...

.

A contrast between this design and other successful bolt actions of the time such as the 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...

s and US Springfield is the rear locking lug. This puts the lug close to the bolt handle, where the pressure is applied by the operator; in essence the force is close to the fulcrum point. Without great explanation, this results in an easier and swifter operation versus the Mauser design, resulting in a greater rate of fire. However, the sacrifice is strength as the fulcrum point has moved away from the force of the explosion, thus making the length of the bolt a lever

Lever

In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or pivot point to either multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object or resistance force , or multiply the distance and speed at which the opposite end of the rigid object travels.This leverage...

working against the holding power of the rear lug. This would always be a limiting factor in the ballistics

Ballistics

Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...

capacity of this design, and in some minds a critical shortcoming as a weapons system.

Another difference between the Lee and the Mauser designs was the use of "cock-on-closing", which also helped to speed cycling by making the initial opening of the breech very easy. The closing stroke, which is generally more forceful than the opening stroke, cocks the rifle, adding to the ease of use. The Lee design also featured a shorter bolt travel and a 60-degree rotation of the bolt; these attributes also led to faster cycle times.

Over the service life of the design, proponents and opponents would stress rate-of-fire versus ballistics respectively, with the former persevering in the end. The basic Lee design with some tinkering was the basis for most British front-line rifles until after World War II

World War II

Lee-Enfield rifles

In 1895, the Lee-Metford design was reinforced to accommodate the higher chamber pressures of smokeless powder; more critically, the barrel rifling was changed to one developed by the Enfield factory owing to the incompatibility of the Metford barrel design with smokeless powder (the barrels becoming unusable after less than 5,000 rounds). The designation was changed to Rifle, Magazine, 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...

Mark I or MLE (magazine Lee Enfield). The sights also had to be changed to reflect the flatter trajectory and longer ranges of the improved cartridge.

The Martini-Henry, Lee-Metford, and Lee-Enfield rifles have an overall length just under 50 inches (1,270 mm). In each case several variants of carbines were offered in the under 40 inches (1,016 mm) range for uses by 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...

, artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

, constabularies

Constabulary

Constabulary may have several definitions.*A civil, non-paramilitary force consisting of police officers called constables. This is the usual definition in Britain, in which all county police forces once bore the title...

and special troops.

Starting in 1909 MLE and MLM rifles were converted to use charger loading, which was accomplished by modifying the bolt, modifying the front and rear sights, and adding a charger guide bridge to the action body, thereby allowing the use of chargers

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...

to more rapidly load the magazines. Upgraded to a more modern standard, these rifles served in combat in the First World War.

The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE) – also known as Rifle, Number 1

Prior to 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...

, the Rifle, Short, Magazine 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...

, or SMLE, was developed to provide a single rifle to offer a compromise length between rifle

Rifle

s and carbines, and to incorporate improvements deemed necessary from experience in the Boer War

Boer War

The Boer Wars were two wars fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics, the Oranje Vrijstaat and the Republiek van Transvaal ....

. With a length of 44.5 inches (1,130.3 mm), the new weapon was referred to as a "short rifle"; the word "short" refers to the length of the rifle, not the length of the magazine. From 1903 to 1909, many Metford and Enfield rifles were converted to the SMLE configuration with shorter barrels and modified furniture. Production of the improved SMLE Mk III began in 1907. Earlier Mk I and Mk II rifles were upgraded to include several of the improvements of the Mk III. The compromise length was consistent with military trends as the US Springfield M1903 was only produced in the compromise length and the Germans adopted the kurz (short) rifle concept between the world wars for the Mauser 98k (model 1898 short).

Training Rifle – Rifle, Number 2

To conserve resources in training, the British Army converted many .303 rifles

.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...

to .22 calibre

.22 Long Rifle

The .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge is a long established variety of ammunition, and in terms of units sold is still by far the most common in the world today. The cartridge is often referred to simply as .22 LR and various rifles, pistols, revolvers, and even some smoothbore shotguns have...

for target practice and training purposes after the First World War. In 1926, the British government changed the nomenclature of its rifles, designating the .303 calibre SMLE as No. 1 Rifles and the .22 calibre training rifles as No. 2 Rifles. For practical purposes "SMLE" and "No. 1 Rifle" are alternate names for the same weapon, but a purist would define a No. 1 as post-1926 production only.

Pattern 1913 Enfield

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...

(P13) was an experimental rifle developed by the British Army ordnance department serve as a replacement for the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE). Although a completely different design from the Lee-Enfield, the Pattern 1913 rifle was designed by the Enfield engineers. In 1910, the British War Office

War Office

The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...

considered replacing the SMLE based on its inferior performance compared to the Mauser rifles used by the enemy in the Boer War

Second Boer War

The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...

. The major shortcoming was long range performance and accuracy due to the ballistics of the .303 round, but the bolt system of the SMLE was not believed to have the strength to chamber more potent ammunition. A rimless .276 cartridge, which was comparable to the 7 mm 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...

, was developed.

Pattern 1914 – also known as Rifle, Number 3

With the outbreak of the First World War, the change to the ammunition for the Pattern 1913 was abandoned; however, to supplement SMLE production the new design was to be produced chambered for .303. In 1914, the Pattern 1914 rifle

Pattern 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...

(Pattern 13 chambered for .303) was approved for production by British companies, but production was superseded by other war priorities, and three US firms Winchester

Winchester Repeating Arms Company

The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American maker of repeating firearms, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The Winchester brand is today used under license by two subsidiaries of the Herstal Group, Fabrique Nationale of Belgium and the Browning Arms Company of Morgan, Utah.-...

, Eddystone, and Remington

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....

began production in 1916.

The Pattern 14 rifle did not gain widespread acceptance with the British since it was larger and heavier, held fewer rounds and was slower to cycle than the SMLE. The P14 was well regarded as a sniper rifle (with telescopic and fine adjustment iron sights) but largely disregarded outside of emergency use.

US M1917 "Enfield"

To minimise retooling, the US Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

contracted with Winchester and Remington to continue producing a simplified Pattern 14 rifle chambered for US .30-06 ammunition. This weapon was known as the US .30 cal. Model of 1917 (M1917 Enfield rifle

M1917 Enfield rifle

The M1917 Enfield, the "American Enfield" , formally named "United States Rifle, cal .30, Model of 1917" was an American modification and production of the British .303 caliber P14 rifle developed and manufactured during the period 1917-1918.-History:Before World War I developed, the British had as...

). Ironically more of these were produced and used by the US Army during the First World War than the official US battle rifle, the Springfield M1903. The M1917 continued in use during World War II

World War II

as second line and training rifles as the semi-automatic M1 Garands and carbines were phased-in. Many M1917s were also, ironically, sent to Britain under Lend-Lease, where they equipped Home Guard units; these .30-06 rifles had a prominent red stripe painted on the stock to distinguish them from .303 P-14's.

Ross rifle

The Ross rifle

Ross rifle

The Ross rifle was a straight-pull bolt-action 0.303 inch calibre rifle produced in Canada from 1903 until the middle of the First World War....

was a straight-pull bolt-action .303 calibre rifle produced in Canada from 1903 until the middle of the First World War, when it was withdrawn from service in Europe due to its unreliability under wartime conditions, and its widespread unpopularity among the soldiers. Although the Ross .303 was a superior marksman rifle, its components proved too easily clogged in the adverse environment imposed by trench warfare in the First World War. It was also possible for a careless user to disassemble the bolt for cleaning and then reassemble it with the bolt-head on back to front, resulting in a highly dangerous and sometimes fatal failure of the bolt to lock in the forward position on firing. Snipers, however, who were able to maintain their weapons carefully and use them to maximum effect, retained a considerable fondness for the weapon.

Ross rifles were also used by Home Guard units in the Second World War and many weapons were shipped to Britain after Dunkirk in the face of serious shortages of small arms.

Rifle, Number 4

Beginning shortly after the First World War the SMLE went through a series of experimental upgrades that eventually resulted in the Rifle, No. 4 Mk I, which was adopted in 1939 just after the beginning of the Second World War. The changes included receiver-mounted aperture rear sights similar to that of the Pattern 1914 rifle, a "free-floating barrel" to improve accuracy during extended use, and changed screw threads, making nearly all threaded components incompatible with those of the SMLE (No. 1) rifle. In addition, the No. 4 rifle had a heavier barrel, stronger steel in the action body and bolt body, and a short “grip-less” (or "spike") bayonet that mounted directly to the barrel, rather than to a separate nosecap. The latter was the most prominent visual change.

During the Second World War, the British government also contracted with the Canadian and US manufacturers (notably Long Branch and Savage) to produce the No. 4 Mk I* rifle. US-manufactured rifles supplied under the Lend Lease program were marked U.S. PROPERTY on the left side of the receiver.

This rifle remained in use until the mid 1980s, having been refitted to fire the NATO 7.62 mm round, with the wooden foregrip along the barrel's bottom shortened to reduce the rifle's weight, and a chin rest added to the stock. The last version, designated the L42A1, was used in the Falklands War.

Rifle, Number 5 & Further Variants

In 1943, trials began on a shortened and lightened No. 4 rifle, leading to the adoption in 1944 of the No. 5 Mk I Rifle, or “Jungle Carbine

Jungle Carbine

Jungle Carbine was an informal term used for the Rifle No. 5 Mk I which was a derivative of the British Lee Enfield No. 4 Mk I, designed not for jungle fighting but in response to a requirement for a "Shortened, Lightened" version of the No.4 rifle for airborne forces in the European theatre of...

,” as it is commonly known. The No. 5 rifle was manufactured from 1944 until 1947.

The end of the Second World War saw the production of the Rifle, No. 6, an experimental Australian version of the No. 5, and later the Rifle, No. 7, Rifle, No. 8, and Rifle, No. 9, all of which were .22 rimfire trainers.

Production of SMLE variants continued until circa 1956 and in small quantities for specialty use until circa 1974. In the mid-1960s, a version was produced for the 7.62 mm NATO cartridge by installing new barrels and new extractors, enlarging the magazine wells slightly, and installing new magazines. This was also done by the Indian rifle factory at Ishapore, which produced a strengthened SMLE in 7.62 mm NATO, as well as .303 SMLEs into the 1980s.

It is interesting to note that while the Mausers and Springfields were being replaced by semi-automatic rifles during the Second World War, the British did not feel the need to replace the faster firing SMLE weapons with the new technology.

Of all British military rifles ever produced, the No. 5 had the shortest actual service life, only being issued for 5 years or so. The weapon gained a reputation for a "wandering zero" and violent recoil

Recoil

Recoil is the backward momentum of a gun when it is discharged. In technical terms, the recoil caused by the gun exactly balances the forward momentum of the projectile and exhaust gasses, according to Newton's third law...

Rifle, Number 8

A .22 subcalibred No. 5 used for cadet training and match shooting. It used a Parker Hale

Parker Hale

Parker Hale Ltd. was a United Kingdom firearms, air rifle and firearms accessory manufacturer, located in the Gun Quarter of the city of Birmingham, England. It was originally founded by Alfred Gray Parker and Arthur Hale. Parker-Hale Limited began manufacturing high quality precision shooting...

sight. Still in use with the UK cadet forces.

Rifle, Number 9 (Enfield EM2)

The EM-2 Bullpup Rifle, or "Janson rifle", was an experimental British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

assault rifle

Assault rifle

An assault rifle is a selective fire rifle that uses an intermediate cartridge and a detachable magazine. Assault rifles are the standard infantry weapons in most modern armies...

. It was designed to fire the experimental .280 British

.280 British

The .280 British was an experimental intermediate rifle cartridge. It was later designated 7 mm MK1Z, and has also been known as 7 mm NATO, .280/30, .280 Enfield, .280 NATO, 7 mm FN Short, and 7×43mm. It was designed by the British Army in the late 1940s, with subsequent help from...

round that was being considered to replace the venerable .303 British

.303 British

, re-arming the British and allied forces with their first assault rifles and new machine guns. The EM-2 never entered production due to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

refusing to standardise on the .280 as "lacking power", but the bullpup layout was used later in the SA80

SA80

The SA80 is a British family of 5.56mm small arms. It is a selective fire, gas-operated assault rifle. SA80 prototypes were trialled in 1976 and production was completed in 1994....

.

A somewhat similar Australian concept was the KAL1 General Purpose Infantry Rifle

KAL1 General Purpose Infantry Rifle

The KAL1 General Purpose Infantry Rifle was an Australian bullpup rifle designed in the 1970s for jungle warfare following complaints about the weight and length of the L1A1 SLR rifles then in service with the Australian Army. The design never entered service however, with the bullpup configured,...

L1A1 SLR

The L1A1 SLR (Self Loading Rifle) is the British version of the FN FAL

FN FAL

The Fusil Automatique Léger or FAL is a self-loading, selective fire battle rifle produced by the Belgian armaments manufacturer Fabrique Nationale de Herstal . During the Cold War it was adopted by many North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries, with the notable exception of the United States...

(Fusil Automatique Leger) - Light Automatic Rifle, one of the most famous and widespread military rifle designs of the late 20th century. Developed by the Belgian Fabrique Nationale Company (FN), it was used by some 70 or more countries, and was manufactured in at least 10 countries. The FAL type rifle is no longer in front line service in the developed world, but is still in use in poorer parts of the world.

The history of the FAL began circa 1946, when FN began to develop a new assault rifle, chambered for German 7.92x33 mm kurz intermediate cartridge. In the late 1940s the Belgians joined with Britain and selected a British .280 (7x43 mm)

.280 British

intermediate cartridge for further development. In 1950 both the Belgian FAL prototype and the British EM-2

EM-2

The EM-2, Also known as Rifle No.9 Mk1 or "Janson rifle", was an experimental British assault rifle. It was briefly adopted by British forces in 1951, but the decision was overturned very shortly thereafter by Winston Churchill's incoming government in an effort to secure NATO standardisation of...

bullpup

Bullpup

Bullpups are firearm configurations in which the action is located behind the trigger group and alongside the shooter's face, so there is no wasted space for the buttstock as in conventional designs. This permits a shorter firearm length for the same barrel length for improved maneuverability, and...

assault rifles were tested against other rifle designs by the US Army. The EM-2 performed well and the FAL prototype greatly impressed the Americans, but the idea of the intermediate cartridge was at that moment incomprehensible for them, and USA insisted on a "reduced full-size" cartridge, the 7.62 NATO, as a standard in 1953-1954. Despite the British Defence minister announcing the intention to adopt the EM-2 and the intermediate cartridge, Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...

personally opposed the EM-2 and .280 cartridge in the belief that a split in NATO should be avoided, and that the US would adopt the FAL in 7.62 as the T48. The first 7.62 mm FALs were ready in 1953. Britain adopted the FAL in 1957 designating it the L1A1 SLR, and produced their own rifles at the RSAF Enfield and BSA

Birmingham Small Arms Company

This article is not about Gamo subsidiary BSA Guns Limited of Armoury Road, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PP or BSA Company or its successors....

factories.

Canada also used the FN, designated the FNC1 and FNC1A1, and like Britain, retained the semi-automatic-only battle rifle well after other countries forces turned to full automatic assault rifles such as the M16

M16 rifle

The M16 is the United States military designation for the AR-15 rifle adapted for both semi-automatic and full-automatic fire. Colt purchased the rights to the AR-15 from ArmaLite, and currently uses that designation only for semi-automatic versions of the rifle. The M16 fires the 5.56×45mm NATO...

and AK47. Australia and New Zealand still use the L1A1 for ceremonial use.

L64/65

During the 1970s, Enfield engineers designed an assault rifle to replace the L1A1 in the Bullpup configuration but chambered in the .190 calibre (4.85 mm). This rifle actually had better range and ballistics than the 5.56x45mm NATO although it retained the same cartridge but necked-down for the then new calibre. Like the previous EM-2, It was a bullpup and also cancelled due to NATO standardization. However the L64 was later chambered in 5.56x45mm NATO as the XL70 and is the main rifle that formed the basis of the SA80.

Rifle 5.56mm L85 (SA80)

Bullpup

design creatively decreases total weapon length compared with standard assault rifles. It is comfortable to use not only on the battlefield, but also in areas with limited space, such as armoured personnel carrier

Armoured personnel carrier

An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...

s.

In 1951 the British officially adopted the EM-2

EM-2

bullpup design as the "Rifle, Automatic, No.9 Mk.1". However, American insistence on the use of 7.62x51 NATO cartridges as the NATO standard meant that the rifle, which used 7 mm rounds, was shelved and the Belgian FN FAL

FN FAL

rifle adopted. It was expected that the US would also adopt the FAL then under trial as the T48 but they selected the M14

M14 rifle

The M14 rifle, formally the United States Rifle, 7.62 mm, M14, is an American selective fire automatic rifle firing 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition. It was the standard issue U.S. rifle from 1959 to 1970. The M14 was used for U.S...

. Another Enfield attempt in the 1970s was the L64/65.

Britain started a programme to find a family of related weapons to replace the L1A1 battle rifle and the Bren

Bren

The Bren, usually called the Bren Gun, was a series of light machine guns adopted by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1991...

gun titled "Small Arms for the 1980s" or SA80. The L85 is designed for the 5.56 x 45 mm NATO cartridge. The gas operated action has a short stroke gas piston, located above the barrel with its own return spring. The gas system has a three position gas regulator, one position for a normal firing, second for a firing in adverse conditions, and the third for launching rifle grenades (gas port is shut off).

The L85A1 was improved in 1997 after constant complaints from the troops. The main problems were difficult maintenance and low reliability. Improvements were made during 2000 - 2002 when 200,000 of the existing 320,000 L85A1 Automatic Rifles were upgraded. Improvements were made to the working parts (cocking handle, firing pin etc.), gas parts and magazines. A very small number of L85A2's were designed for left hand users for their tactical advantage in situations such as moving clockwise around a building.

The improved rifle is named L85A2. It is regarded by many as the most reliable and accurate standard rifle in service. During the 2003 International shooting meet at Bisley

Bisley

-Places:* Two villages in the United Kingdom:**Bisley, Surrey**Bisley, Gloucestershire*Bisley Ranges is near the Surrey village and is the headquarters of the National Rifle Association, UK -Others:...

, the British Army team won after firing over 62,000 rounds with no stoppages. During active service, the A2 can be fitted with a 40 mm grenade launcher, a light attachment and a laser sighting device. Sighting systems include the SUSAT; (pictured) with 4x magnification and a Trilux gas filled conical reticule or Iron Sight; consisting of a foresight and rear sight with adjustable rear sight for low light conditions.

It is anticipated that the SA80 will remain in front-line service well into the second decade of the 21st Century.

Rifle, 7.62mm L129A1

Lewis Machine & Tool's

Lewis Machine and Tool Company

Lewis Machine & Tool Company was founded by Karl Lewis in 1980. LMT started its business by providing law enforcement and government agencies with military type weapons and accessories. Today, LMT still provides law enforcement and government agencies with weapons, but they have now also...

LM308MWS, was chosen by the MoD in 2010 to meet a £1.5 million urgent operational requirement for a semi-automatic 7.62mm rifle with excellent accuracy, whose rate of fire and robustness made them usable within infantry squads, not just by specialized sniper teams. It had to demonstrate lethality in the 500-800 meter range, which is not uncommon in Afghanistan. More than 400 of the semi-automatic Sharpshooter rifles have been bought. It is the first new Infantry combat rifle to be issued to troops for more than 20 years.

L96 and L115 Sniper Rifles

The L96 is a sniper rifle produced by Accuracy International

Accuracy International

Accuracy International is a specialist British firearms manufacturer based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England and best known for producing the Accuracy International Arctic Warfare series of precision sniper rifles...

derived from the their PM rifle which was designed by Olympic marksman Malcolm Cooper. This weapon was adopted into British Service in the early 1980s as a replacement for the Lee-Enfield L42, it was in turn replaced by the .338 Lapua Magnum L115A3 rifle.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Rifles before 1800

Pattern 1776 Infantry Rifle

Ferguson rifle

The Baker Rifle

Brunswick rifle

Early Enfield rifles

Pattern 1851

Pattern 1853

Pattern 1858

Pattern 1860

Pattern 1861 Enfield Musketoon

Snider-Enfield Rifles

Martini-Henry Rifles

Martini-Metford & Martini-Enfield

Lee-Metford rifles

Lee-Enfield rifles

The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE) – also known as Rifle, Number 1

Training Rifle – Rifle, Number 2

Pattern 1913 Enfield

Pattern 1914 – also known as Rifle, Number 3

US M1917 "Enfield"

Ross rifle

Rifle, Number 4

Rifle, Number 5 & Further Variants

Rifle, Number 8

Rifle, Number 9 (Enfield EM2)

L1A1 SLR

L64/65

Rifle 5.56mm L85 (SA80)

Rifle, 7.62mm L129A1

L96 and L115 Sniper Rifles

See also

External links