The S.M.L.E

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.