Joint Research Project - No.1 Mk III

[WmRoy]

Well here we go......... let's kick this idea off..... with great fanfare it's the reliable old:

No.1 Mk III

Let the digging thru musty old books and surfing the world wide web begin!

:wav:
:occasion16: :occasion16: :occasion16: :occasion16: :occasion16:

:D

[WmRoy]

The Lee-Enfield was the British army's standard bolt action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle from 1895 until 1956. In various marks it was standard army issue for the first half of the 20th century, a momentous period which saw two world wars and the loss of Britain's empire; it was also used by many of Britain's commonwealth allies, including India, Australia, and Canada. It fired the .303 British cartridge from a ten-round detachable box magazine, loaded from the top of the rifle by five-round chargers (a.k.a. stripper clips), and had a final production total (all types) estimated at over 17 million.

The Lee-Enfield rifle was derived from the earlier Lee-Metford, a mechanically similar (most would say identical) black powder rifle which combined James Paris Lee's rear-locking bolt system with a barrel featuring rifling designed by William Ellis Metford. Lee's action was a major improvement on existing bolt-action designs. The action cocked the striker on the closing stroke of the bolt, making the initial opening much faster and easier compared to the "cock on opening" of the Mauser design. The rear-mounted lugs place the operating handle much closer to the operator, over the trigger, making it much quicker to operate than "traditional" designs like the Mauser, which forced the operator to move his hand forward to operate the bolt; also, the bolt's distance of travel was identical with the length of the cartridge, and its rotation was only 60 degrees (compared to the conventional 90 degree rotation of Mauser-style actions). The disadvantage was that the rear lugs placed a greater load on the rigidity of the bolt up to the receiver. Because of the faster bolt locking mechanism, introduction of semi-automatic rifles was delayed considerably, relative to those nations using rifles derived from the Mauser's mechanism.

The speedy bolt and large magazine capacity (ten rounds, compared to the five of most Mauser derivatives) enabled a trained rifleman to fire between 15 to 30 aimed rounds a minute, making the Lee-Enfield the fastest military bolt action rifle of the day; the current world record for aimed bolt action fire was set in 1914 by a sergeant in the British Army, named Snoxall, who placed 38 rounds into a 12" target at 300 yards in one minute. Some straight-pull bolt-action rifles were thought faster, but lacked the simplicity and reliability of the Lee design. There is evidence that the Lee-Enfield's rate of fire was on par with the American M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle during World War II with well-trained riflemen capable of firing off between 16 to 24 aimed rounds a minute from a Garand.




just in case you missed this one....
the current world record for aimed bolt action fire was set in 1914 by a sergeant in the British Army, named Snoxall, who placed 38 rounds into a 12" target at 300 yards in one minute:eek:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee-Enfield

[Rockman]

He was a crankin' fool indeed then, eh? ;)

[Rustybore]

How many factories made the No.1MK111? And are there many significant differences between the factories?

Kevin in Or.

[WmRoy]

Good Question!

[WmRoy]

Here's a really great site..... too much stuff to cut and paste..... enjoy!!

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/philqgbr/enfields.html

Here's another.........

http://www.nrapublications.org/tar/ShortMagLeeEnfield.asp

And another.......

http://www.chuckhawks.com/lee-enfield_marsh.htm

An Exploded View.......

http://www.nrapublications.org/tar/ShortMagLeeEnfExView.asp

And still more...........

http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/~stratton/Enhistory.htm

Now it's your turn........... :D

[Rustybore]

I know the factory in Ishapore, India made the No.1, but I have "heard" reference to Pakistan making the No.1. Is Ishapore now in Pakistan, when India split, or is the Pakistan factory completely different. If so, how are those rifles marked? Just curious.

Kevin in Or.

[SpikeDD]

Hello there Kevin,

I'm remembering 6 factories that produced the No.1 Mk.III/III*

Enfield, England
B.S.A., England
L.S.A., England
S.S.A/N.R.F ( Satadard Small Arms / National Rifle Factory ), England
Lithgow, Australia
Orange Rifle Factory, Australia ( Produced components and assembled rifles )
Rifle Factory Ishapore, India

Rifle Factory Ishapore never produced the No.4 Mk.1/1* but did in fact FTR loads of them. They are located in Bengal, India and produced / rebuilt the No.1 Mk.III* rifle up to the 80's never having moved to Pakistan.

In the mid to late 50's B.S.A. Shirly sold some of it's equiptment to Pakistan and they began production of the No.4 Mk.2, under the name P.O.F., Pakistani Ordenence Factory. They never produced the No.1 Mk.III/III*. They are marked P.O.F. and the smaller parts marked with a P and a 2 digit number corosponding to a date,ie.. P60 for 1960.

In my expierence the only differences in the Armories production is in fit and finish. Some better than others depending on the dates in relation to war time production.

I hope this has been helpful.

David

[A square 10]

and you need to add sparkbrook to the list of Smle producers , BSA had multiple facilities at smallheath , redditch , and shirley , but im not certain off hand which were producing no1s and which no4s