Article on The Lee Enfield Rifle

I must admit to having something of a soft spot for the Lee Enfield series of rifles. The information in the articles are extracts from my books available on this sites store. I will also  soon be adding a further book covering the No.4 (T) Sniper Rifle.  

The Lee Enfield rifle in its many configurations was the backbone of the Armies of Britain and the Commonwealth for more than 70 years. During that period, it saw service in the far-flung corners of the World and in all that world`s extremes of weather. Desert, jungle, mud or snow, the Enfield went through it all and still came out shooting.   

It was unquestionably the world’s greatest combat, bolt-action service rifle. With its fast, smooth action, the average soldier was capable of over 15 aimed rounds a minute, with many being able to double that. Sergeant Alfred Snoxall holds the record of the so called ‘mad minute’ with 38 rounds.

It is easy to clean, as it has no forward locking recess in the body, a 10-round magazine -compared to its contemporaries 5 rounds- a 20% shorter bolt stroke and rotation -when compared to a Mauser- and the ability to work the bolt without having to take the rifle off target. I know it is said that with their forward locking lugs and one-piece stocks, the Mauser type rifles were capable of greater accuracy. Target rifle accuracy is not, however, the only requirement in a combat service rifle.

During World War One, it more than proved its worth to its doubters. In 1914 at Mons in the hands of the troops of the BEF (British Expeditionary Force), it helped to slow the German advance with the rifle`s rapid and accurate fire. This fire leading, it is claimed, to the Germans believing they were coming under heavy concentrated machine gun fire. 

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The S.M.L.E

 S standing for short as the rifle is 5 inches shorter than the Mk 1 Lee Enfield Rifle.

M standing for Magazine as the rifle is feed from a magazine

L standing for the arms designer James Paris Lee

E standing for the Enfield Royal Small Arms Factory

Also, affectionately referred to as ‘The Old Smelly’.

January 1907; The Mk III was officially adopted into service on the refinement from a long list of previous .303 rifles (starting back in 1888 with the Magazine Rifle, Mk 1)

August 1891; renamed the Lee-Metford Magazine Rifle Mark 1 (then with a few small changes leading to the Mk 1* the Mk II and Mk II*)

November 1895; saw the introduction of the Lee-Enfield Magazine Rifle Mk1. This rifle came about with the change of rifling from the shallow Metford rifling to the deeper grooved and wider lands developed by the Royal Small Arms factories (Enfield 5 grove rifling). This change of rifling coped much better with the new .303 cordite cartridge and nickel-jacked bullet.

May 1899; the Lee-Enfield Magazine Rifle Mk 1* the last of the long rifles

December 1902; introduction of the first of the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield`s with the Mk1 then the Mk1* followed by the Mk II which-was a conversion of the earlier Lee-Enfield’s and Lee-Metfords- to Mark Mk1 pattern.

There would be many different variants, with only small modifications, before the introduction of the Mk III.   

The Mk III is a refinement on the earlier SMLE Mk 1 rifle, which was first adopted in 1902. The Mk III is dimensionally and visually similar to the Mk 1 but weighing about 8oz extra.

The No. 4

 The No. 4 rifle introduced officially on the 15^th of November 1939 and similar in appearance to the No. 1 Mk III SMLE series of rifles but easier to manufacture, requiring less time and less machining.

(note. No. 4`s are not SMLE`s as some refer to all Enfield’s as being)

 They are visually different in having approximately 3 inches of exposed barrel (in order to accept the new 8-inch bladed spike bayonet) while an aperture sight to the rear of the action, gave a longer sight radius.

 A heavier barrel and a strengthened action were designed to simplify production and produce better and more consistent accuracy.

To aid simplified production the old Enfield screw thread was abandoned and replaced with a standardised screw thread, which would greatly improve ease of supply for mass production.

 This new No. 4 rifle can be found with a whole host of variations, introduced to speed up and simplify production. For example, the variation in barrel production with over 7 different types, some having varying numbers of groves e.g. 2, 4, 5 and 6 etc.  

The No. 5

By 1943 it had become apparent that the equipment then being fielded for Jungle Warfare, was not totally satisfactory for the job in hand. And with War against Japan estimated to last at least several more years, some new equipment would be necessary. 

One of these new pieces of equipment would be a No.4 lightened rifle, which would become the No.5 rifle, or as it is more commonly referred to; the Jungle Carbine.

 Manufactured only from 1944 until 1947 (still in .303 calibre) it was a trimmed down No.4 with a shortened barrel with attached flash hider, and reduced fore-stock. The reduced barrel length led to the range on the rear sight only being graduated up to 800 yards, as opposed to the No. 4`s 1300, the butt was fitted with a rubber pad, metal was removed from certain areas, with other parts being produced in a modified and lightened form. It could also be fitted with the No. 5 bladed bayonet, attached to a lug under the flash hider. 

It was officially introduced in September 1944 but many thousands had been produced before this date. It was declared obsolete in July 1947, but would carry on seeing service mainly in the far east in Malaya and Kenya in Africa into the late 50s to the early 60s.

 At one point, it was being considered as a replacement to the No. 4.  However, its downfall was its inability to stay sighted in, known as ‘wandering zero’, and many attempts were made in an effort to rectify this. It was finally decided it was an inherent design fault.    

"How do I wrap a pull-through" a question quite often asked and this is the method I use. Place looped end on opened hand with half an inch or more at the top. Wrap the cord around hand 2 ½ times, slip off hand and wrap the cord tightly around it, leaving loops at one end to feed the weight and about 4 inches of the cord through. Pull on weight to tighten the wrapped cord.    

Then place weight into small hole in end of butt-stock (under butt-plate trap) and cord into larger hole, leaving spare cord to help with the removal of the pull-through later as required. 

Bottom picture -showing centre- a Mk IV brass oil bottle introduced in 1906 and used throughout the service life of the SMLE rifle and can also be used with the No. 4. Bottom is a Mk V plastic/bakerlite variant oil bottle, introduced as an economy measure during WW2. Many makers and variations of both the brass and plastic oil bottles can be encountered.

  Pull throughs can also be encountered with a metal instead of brass weighted end, this was another WW2 economy.