As the war progressed, the Number 4 Mark 1 was modified to serve as a jungle carbine, and a sniper rifle. In an environment where ambush and dealing with tree-posted snipers required a quick response and a high rate of return fire, the standard bolt-action Lee-Enfield rifle—the Number 4 Mark 1—could not do the job. To remedy the situation, the British armed forces introduced a modified SMLE- the Rifle 5 Mark 1, with a barrel five inches shorter than the normal Number 4. Unfortunately, its shorter barrel caused serious accuracy problems.
It was also plagued by a tooth jarring recoil and was slow to shoot. These characteristics made the weapon very unpopular with the troops, even though its shorter barrel and lighter weight made it suitable for close quarter combat in the jungles of the Far East where the gun was exclusively employed. On the positive side, the Number 5 Carbine proved very efficient as a grenade launcher. Another variant of the Number 4 Mark 1 was the sniper version, which went in to full production in late Fitted with a Pattern Number 32 telescope, this rifle—designated the Number 4 T Sniping Rifle—proved to be an excellent sniping tool, and was used in every battle zone of World War II with more than 24, produced.
When the Number 4 Mark 1 finally reached the line regiments during World War II, the men found using it very frustrating, mainly due to its complex sights. The only persistent complaint regarding the Number 4 Mark 1, which ran the entire course of the war in Europe, was the difficulty in keeping it functioning in the field due to the abundance of rainfall. The incessant moisture caused frequent rusting of the bolt and barrel requiring daily cleaning and oiling of those rifle parts.
After performing yeomen service in the Second World War, the venerable bolt-action 4 Mark 1 soldiered on in the British Army until being retired from service in , replaced by the Belgium made semi-automatic FAL Light Automatic Rifle.
By WWII archive. They were designed so as not to draw attention from the enemy, so the fuel tank was designed to be easy to conceal inside of a knapsack. Its fuel pipe was designed to resemble a rifle. Photographed in Mikkeli Infantry museum. By MKFI. As part of the Lend-Lease program, Russian troops were supplied with bazookas, which was a man-portable weapon used for taking down tanks. Introduced in November as well as via the Russian front during Operation Torch, they were quickly sent to U.
However, the night before, Dwight D. Eisenhower discovered that none of his troops had received any instruction on how to use the bazooka. By Department of Defense. During World War II alone, there were 1,, units produced. This many pistols meant that, after the war, cancelled all postwar contract for new production. A Remington-made MA1 sidearm in August By M Alfred T.
Weapons of War. Factories Fortifications. Register Don't have an account? Lee Enfield Rifle. View source. History Talk 5. The British wanted a breech-loading firearm, so in the Snider Enfield was adopted as an interim measure.
Early Sniders are conversions of Pattern Enfields with a hinged breech block and barrel designed to accept the a. Later Sniders were newly manufactured. In , the British adopted the Martini-Henry rifle, a falling-block single-shot breech-loader actuated by a lever under the wrist of the buttstock.
The Martini-Henry rifles went through several model variations, and carbines were introduced as well. The Martini-Henry was the standard British service rifle for nearly two decades.
For further information on the early rifles from Enfield, see the appropriate entries on the "Enfield-Related Web Sites" page. The Bolt-Action "Long Lees" The "Lee" in Lee-Enfield is James Paris Lee , a Scottish-born American arms inventor who designed, among other things, the box magazine that allowed for the development of bolt-action repeating rifles.
Another important name is that of William Ellis Metford , an English civil engineer who was instrumental in perfecting the. The first British bolt-action magazine rifle was developed through trials beginning in , with adoption of the Magazine Rifle Mark I in December It has an overall length of In November , changes in the rifling and the sights were made to accommodate smokeless powder cartridges, and the new rifle was designated the Lee-Enfield Magazine Rifle Mark I , or in common parlance, the "Magazine Lee-Enfield" MLE.
In , a carbine version of the Lee-Metford was approved, having an overall length of With an overall length of In , the No. The Mk VI eventually became the No. In , the British government changed the nomenclature of its rifles, redesignating the. While it is true that the British government adopted the No. In addition, the Ishapore factory in India manufactured more than , No.
All of the No. Production of No. In the mids, Ishapore developed a version of the No. The Pattern No. Field experience with Mauser and Springfield rifles had indicated the desireability of a one-piece stock, a receiver-mounted aperture rear sight, and forward-mounted bolt locking lugs. Also under consideration was a rimless cartridge with a smaller caliber, higher velocity bullet.
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