It should be noted how much wiser one acts who takes all the best from others, instead of clinging to the worst, but his own. Worse than this, perhaps, only the one who still does this, but does not speak out loud about it, or even just modestly keeps silent about where he got these acquisitions. Although there was nothing shameful in using other people's achievements, and there is not. The Romans, for example, did not come up with anything of their own, perhaps only concrete, but … using Celtic chain mail and shields, Iberian swords and Samnite helmets, they conquered the entire Mediterranean and laid the foundations for all subsequent European civilization.
Indian riflemen before the Lee Enfield parade in Singapore.
So the British, drawing attention to the James Lee rifle, did not look at who he was and where he came from, and why he ended up in the United States, but simply took, tested his rifle along with other samples from Europe in 1887. They especially liked the model of the Lee rifle with a rifle in the barrel according to the method of William Metford in caliber 10, 2 mm. But progress in the field of armaments was already going very quickly, therefore, when they decided to adopt this model into service, the caliber in it was reduced to 7, 7-mm (0, 303). This is how the famous Lee-Metford Mk I rifle of the 1888 model appeared. A characteristic feature of this weapon was a barrel with seven shallow grooves (polygonal cutting), an eight-shot (in spite of the French with their eight-shot "Lebel") extractable magazine attached to the rifle on a chain, and a rotary bolt with a rear-mounted reloading handle.
Rifle "Lee-Metford".
Rifle "Lee-Metford" Mk I, bolt and magazine.
Rifle "Lee-Metford" Mk II, sight for salvo firing (for firing it was folded vertically).
Rifle "Lee-Metford" Mk II. A sight for salvo firing in working order.
The main drawback of the rifle was the cartridge equipped with pressed black powder. Far from immediately, the British managed to establish the production of cartridges with nitro powder, with it the rifle barrel began to wear out very quickly. However, this was not always and not everywhere. We know from Louis Boussinard's novel Captain Rip Head, that Lee Metford was inferior to the German Mauser, which the Boers were armed with in the Boer War, and that it was a "bad rifle." So, in fact, the British themselves believed, but, firstly, not all Boers were armed with Mauser. Secondly, the rate of fire of the "Lee-Metford" at close range, that is, closer than 350 m, was higher than that of the "Mauser", and there was no difference in accuracy, finally, thirdly, the comments that were made for this rifle in Africa, for some reason they were not made in India and Afghanistan.
Rifle "Lee-Metford" (diagram).
Rifle "Lee-Metford" (detail).
However, why this is so is also understandable. If the vision of the Boers, unburdened by reading and artificial lighting, was the ready vision of snipers and they only lacked long-range rifles, which they just received in Germany and Holland, then exactly this vision of the Afghans could do nothing to help them, since they shot at the British from the old flintlock rifles, or, at best, Snyder rifles, so here the superiority of the British in armament was complete.
English clip.
The magazine cutoff on rifles of the 1908 model was still installed.
In addition, a lot depended on the training of the soldiers. For example, the British army adopted a standard that received the unofficial nickname "minute of madness", according to which a British soldier must fire 15 aimed shots within a minute at a target with a diameter of 30 cm at a distance of 270 meters. In 1914, a record rate of fire of 38 rounds per minute was recorded, set by instructor Sergeant Major Snoxhall. Moreover, he was not the only one who distinguished himself. Many soldiers often showed a rate of fire of 30 rounds per minute, which is why, for example, during the battles of the First World War at Mons and on the Marne, the Germans were often sure that the British had hundreds of machine guns in positions, such a rain of bullets fell on their positions. But it is clear that the British military also did not escape attempts to save on ammunition. A cut-off was introduced into the design of the rifle, so that it was necessary to shoot from it at long distances as from a single-shot, and only when approaching the enemy, they opened frequent fire using their 10-round magazines.
"Lee-Enfield" MK I (1903). A characteristic feature of the new rifle was the barrel lining, which completely covered the barrel. However, due to the location of the sight behind the bolt, the aiming line was short. Subsequently, this flaw was corrected by transferring the sight to the rear of the receiver to the very eye of the shooter.
The rifle was improved at the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, where it was equipped with a new, deeper cut. The first rifle appeared in 1895. Her caliber remained the same.303, but she could shoot new cartridges with a charge of smokeless powder. It was created on the basis of the Lee-Metford Mk III * rifle, abandoning such obviously unnecessary and outdated technical solutions as a magazine cut-off and a multiple launch rocket sight.
Lee-Enfield during the First World War (above) and the rifle used during the Second World War (below). Pay attention to the bayonets: in the first case, it is a long sword bayonet, which was attached to the barrel pad, in the second, it was attached directly to the barrel.
The first prototype, which went straight to the war in Africa, was called the Lee-Enfield Mk I and it was a long-range rifle that could shoot at a distance of over 1,700 meters, and for the cavalry, a shortened carbine was produced on its basis. However, very soon the British found out that the cavalry is increasingly fighting as an infantry, which means that it does not need carbines, but rifles are too long for the infantry.
Charging the Enfield.
In 1902, the transitional model "Short Rifle, Shop Lee-Enfield" was developed, intended for both infantry and cavalry. Well, in 1907 its modification SMLE Mk III saw the light. With this rifle, the British began the First World War, and here both its strengths and shortcomings came to light. Structurally, the rifle was beyond praise. Due to the rear position of the reloading handle, it was not necessary to tear the butt off the shoulder, twitching the bolt. 15 aimed rounds per minute were the norm, so the rate of fire was higher than that of the Mauser. Convenient was the design of the butt, which did not have the usual toe in its upper part, but was equipped with a protrusion on the straight "English" neck of the butt. That is, on the one hand, the straight neck was convenient in bayonet combat. On the other hand, it was practically the same pistol grip, more comfortable when shooting. The rifle was dirt-resistant, which was important in a trench war. The disadvantage was the complexity and, as a result, the rise in production costs.
"Lee-Enfield" # 4 MK I 1944 release.
In 1931, model number 4 Mk I appeared. It had a heavier barrel, a shortened butt and a simplified sight, which was transferred from the receiver plate to the rear of the bolt carrier. This brought him closer to the shooter's eyes and lengthened the aiming line. It turned out that the fire usually had to be fired at a distance of 300 meters, and then mostly snipers were shooting, for whom their own model of rifle No. 4 Mk I (T) was created.
Rifle No. 4 Mk I (T) - sniper rifle (from the English word "taget" - target).
This rifle performed well on the fronts of World War II, but turned out to be too … long for the jungle! The so-called "Jungle Carbine" No. 5 was created - a shortened model of the "Lee-Enfield", but it turned out that its recoil was too strong, and the torch of flame from the shot was too great. I had to put a funnel-shaped flash suppressor on the barrel, but this did not help either.
Jungle Carabiner.
After the Second World War, the Lee-Enfield rifle remained in the British army for some time, and then a number of them received new barrels chambered for 7.62 mm NATO cartridges. They were used as snipers under the designation L-42-A-1 until the end of the 80s (the British used them in the Falklands), that is, for almost 100 years.
The Malaysian infantry is practicing bayonet techniques at a base in Singapore.
It is interesting that this rifle was produced not only in England, but during the war, about two million "Enfields" were produced in the USA and Canada, in addition, it was manufactured by Ishapur Arsenal in India. Africa, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia - these are the countries and territories where this rifle was most widespread, and the guerrillas in these territories use this rifle in the 21st century!
Mujahid with Enfield # 4 in Afghanistan, Kunar province, August 1985.
