The Lee
Enfield rifle, introduced in 1895, was the main military service rifle of the
British Empire and her Commonwealth countries for over 60 years, over this
period of time it went through various upgrades and modifications. The most
notable alteration being the adoption of a single size of rifle in 1903 for both
the cavalry and infantry use. This rifle, known as the Short Magazine Lee
Enfield, or SMLE was still Britain's service rifle in 1939 and was not declared
obsolete and officially replaced until 1941 with another Lee Enfield, the No4
rifle.
The rifle originally introduced in 1895 was designed by James Paris Lee
(1831-1904), a Scottish born firearms designer who worked chiefly in the USA and
Canada. His design incorporated a "cock-on-closing" bolt with rear
locking lugs and a detachable 10 round magazine. This action was combined with
Enfield rifling to create the Lee-Enfield. It was the common British practice at
the time to designate their service rifles with the name of the action and
rifling, hence, the Lee-Metford or Martini-Henry etc. It wasn't until 1926 that
the British re-designated their rifles and adopted a number series to identify
their ordinance, at this time the SMLE became officially known as the Rifle, No1
MkIII.
The rear locking lugs allowed a bolt movement of the same length as the
cartridge and the design of the locking surfaces gave a particularly easy
movement to the bolt handle. These features combined, made the Lee Enfield the
fastest and lightest rifle to manipulate. Aimed fire could be undertaken up to
15 rounds a minute without much fatigue to the trained soldier. Other major
benefits to Lee's design was the detachable bolt head which can be threaded off
and changed to compensate for varying head space and the 10 round magazine,
twice the capacity of other military rifles of the time. Overall the Lee Enfield
was an exceptionally good combat rifle, where its robust construction permitted
it to operate in the extreme conditions of the battlefield.
The Lee Enfield really only had two snags, one was its cartridge. The .303 was a
rimmed cartridge and to avoid jamming, the rounds had to be carefully loaded
with the rims lying in just the right place. Both, when loading individual
rounds into the magazine and also onto the 5 round charger clips. This drawback
was placed on the weapon by the British government, who did not want to incur
the cost of replacing it's substantive stockpile of .303 ammunition with a
modern rimless round. The other was its intensive machining requirements
necessary for manufacturing which resulted in slow production, not really a good
thing in a wartime setting.
These shortcomings were recognized and after World War I a series of trial
rifles were produced. Notably the No1 MkV, which maintained the same action,
body and barrel but incorporated a receiver mounted rear aperture sight. This
design led to the No1 MkVI which adopted a number of simplified machining
procedures to speed production and the receiver mounted rear aperture sight. It
also adopted a stronger receiver, heavier free floating barrel and a slightly
shortened fore end (forestock).
Finally, in 1939 the Rifle, No4 MkI was introduced and was officially adopted by
the British government as the new military service rifle, though serious
production didn't begin until 1941. The rifle, like the No1 MkVI, featured a
heavy free floating barrel, receiver mounted rear aperture sights, a stronger
receiver, a set length/numbered bolt head for easier headspace adjustment and a
slightly shortened fore end. What it kept in design from the SMLE was the bolt
action design, magazine and unfortunately the caliber (.303 rimmed).
The accuracy of the heavier free floated barrel proved well, when selected No4's
were fitted with a 4x power sniper scope. This combined with a little stock
bedding and some simple tuning, the No4(T) sniper rifle proved to be the best of
the war. So good in fact, that after the war some of the No4(T)'s were
re-barreled in 7.62mm NATO to continue serving as sniper rifles.
The last significant alteration of the Lee Enfield was the No5 MkI or
"Jungle Carbine". Late in World War II, jungle warfare brought home
the necessity of light equipment and simplicity. Though the No4 rifle was
extremely resistant to rust, mud and rough treatment, it was still heavy and
long. It was decided that a light, short carbine was needed to suit the demands
of jungle fighting, the quick answer was to cut down the No4 and that is exactly
what was done.
The No5 was light and short all right, and was probably the sexiest looking
rifle produced during the war, with it's cut down stock and conical flash hider,
complete with a rubber butt pad. The trouble came when it was fired. Being 2
pounds lighter than the No4 but firing the same round, it has a savage kick,
coupled with a much louder, sharper noise and muzzle flash. Part of the
lightening procedures included shaving metal off of the receiver and from the
Knox Form (end of the barrel next to the receiver ring). It was these cuts that
are generally thought to have caused a wandering zero problem with this
particular rifle, but the debate is still on, both as to whether it has a
wandering zero and to it's cause. What I believe the Jungle Carbine needed was a
lower powered round as I am sure the designer knew as well. But wartime
pressures presumably forced him to ignore ballistic truths and the rest is
history.