LEE ENFIELD RIFLE

 

You may think that Rifles are no good, but they are when used correctly. The Lee Enfield was an excellent and very long-ranged rifle, used by the British and commonwealth armies for a long time. Production ran from 1888 to 1977, in various marks. In particular, a volley of unsuspected rifle fire is devestating, we plan to exploit this when the game starts...

Rifle, Short, Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) Mark 1 -- Introduced in 1906. The British army, but not the KRRC, still had many of these in service.

Rifle, Short, Magazine Lee Enfield Mark 3 -- 1907, different sights. A wartime version for WWI had several mods for ease of manufacture. This was the main weapon of the KRRC in 1940, the wartime mods were not present as they were all introduced into the manufacture after Dunkirk.

Rifle, Short, Number 4 Mark 1, Short, Magazine Lee Enfield - 1941. Top shown mounting Bayonet Number 9, bottom blow-up mounts "Pig-Sticker" bayonet. The KRRC was equiped with these from 1941, although significant numbers of previous versions were used untill the Lee Enfield was phased out, over a decade after the war's end. The "Pig-Sticker" bayonettes were used by the British rifles, with commonwealth versions more commonly using the other types.

- Mark 1 Mark 3 No. 4 Mark 1 - Barley Corn foresight Tangent Leaf Rear Blade foresight Tangent leaf Rear Blade foresight Vertical leaf Rear Operation Bolt Action Caliber .303 in, Rimmed cartridge, 2.15in case length Muzzle velocity 2060 fps 2440 fps 2440 fps Ammunition Mark 6 ball, 215 grain bullet, 33 gr charge Mark 7 ball, 174 grain bullet, 36.5 gr charge Capacity detachable box magazine, holding 10 rounds in two columns Normally loaded from stripper clip Weight 8.12 lbs, unloaded 8.62 lbs, unloaded 8.8 lbs, unloaded Overall length 44.57 in overall, 25.2 in barrel Rate of fire 8-20 aimed rounds per minute depending on skill

British Commonwealth forces used the Lee Enfield as their main rifle. Although bolt action, its locking mechanism made it the fastest bolt action rifle in the world. Its long service also permitted its design to be optimized over time to make it very rugged and reliable. It would have been handy to have in the bitter sub zero temperatures of later wars, where semi-automatic weapons refused to work.

When the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield was first introduced into British service, it met with a storm of criticism -- though little from the troops whom it served well during two World Wars, Korea, and beyond.

As one vet, Vince Gilligan, 3rd Battalion Royal Australian Army said: "... on the Lee Enfield .303 rifle our mob(Australians) used in Korea. The brits used a later version with the pig sticker bayonet. We had the 18" bayonet (blued). One of the rifles I had was made in 1917-1918. It was a very effective weapon. At least if you hit something, it stayed Hit."

And after all, that's the idea.