British military rifles

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The origins of the modern British military rifles are within its predecessor the Brown Bess musket. While a musket was largely inaccurate due to a lack of rifling and generous tolerance to allow for muzzle-loading it was cheaper to produce, loaded quickly, and the use in volley fire by massed troops meant accuracy was largely irrelevant. Ironically, a similar tactical preference would be a factor in considerations regarding rifle design in the late 19th century and early 20th century, when rate of fire would be a key design consideration for British bolt action rifles.

Beginning in the late 1830s, the superior characteristics of the rifle caused the British military to phase out the venerable .75 caliber Brown Bess musket in favour of muzzle loading rifles in smaller calibers. Early rifles were non-standard and frequently adaptations from components of the Brown Bess, including, locks, stocks and new rifled barrels.

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[edit] Early Enfield rifles

Throughout the evolution of the British rifle the name Enfield is prevalent; this refers to the Royal Small Arms Factory in the town of Enfield north of London, where the British Government produced Brown Bess muskets from components manufactured elsewhere beginning in 1804. The first rifles produced in whole to a set pattern at Enfield were Baker pattern flintlock rifles. Several percussion rifles, such as the Brunswick rifle, were also produced there. The Pattern 1853 Enfield was a muzzle-loading percussion firearm with a rifled bore. Several variations were made, including infantry, navy and artillery versions, along with shorter carbines for cavalry use.

This rifle was popular with both sides of the US Civil War; both the Confederacy and the Union imported these through agents who contracted with private companies in Britain for production.

[edit] Snider-Enfield Rifles

In 1866 the Snider-Enfield was produced as a conversion of Enfield Pattern 1853 with a hinged breech block and barrel designed for a .577 cartridge. Later Sniders were newly manufactured on the same design.

The action was invented by an American, Jacob Snider, and adopted by Britain as a conversion system for the 1853 Enfield. The conversions proved both more accurate than original muzzle-loading Enfields and much faster firing as well. Converted rifles retained the original iron barrel, furniture, locks and cap-style hammers. The rifles were converted in large numbers, or assembled new with surplus pattern 53 iron barrels and hardware. The Mark III rifles were made from all new parts with steel barrels, flat nosed hammers and are the version equipped with a latch locking breech block. The Snider was the subject of substantial imitation, approved and otherwise, including: Nepalese Sniders, the Dutch Sniders, Danish Naval Sniders, and the "unauthorized" adaptations resulting in the French Tabatiere and Russian Krnka rifles.

The Snider-Enfield Infantry rifle was particularly long at over 54 inches. The breech block housed a diagonally downward sloping firing pin which was struck with a front-action side mounted hammer. The firer cocked the hammer, flipped the block out of the receiver with a breech block lever, and then pulled the block back to extract the spent case. There was no ejector, the case had to be pulled out, or more usually, the rifle rolled onto its back to allow the case to fall out. The Snider saw service throughout the British Empire, until it was gradually phased out of front line service in favor of the Martini-Henry, in the mid-1870s. The design continued in use with colonial troops into the twentieth century.

[edit] Martini-Henry Rifles

The Martini-Henry rifle was adopted in 1871, featuring a falling-block single-shot breech-loading action, actuated by a lever beneath the wrist of the buttstock. The Martini-Henry evolved as the standard service rifle for almost 20 years, with variants including carbines.

Unlike the Snider it replaced, the Martini-Henry was designed from the ground up as a breech-loading metallic cartridge firearm. This robust weapon uses a falling block, with a self-cocking, lever operated, single-shot action designed by a Swiss, Friedrich von Martini, as modified from the Peabody design. The rifling system was designed by Scotsman, Alexander Henry. Later in production other rifling patterns such as the Metford system and an Enfield design were adopted; therefore it is common to hear these later versions also referred to as Martini-Enfields or Martini-Metfords.

The Mark I was adopted for service in 1871. There were four main variations of the Martini-Henry rifle including the Mark II, III and IV with sub variations of these called patterns. In 1877 a carbine version entered service with five main variations including cavalry and artillery versions. Initially, Martinis used the short chamber Boxer-Henry .45 caliber black powder cartridge made of a thin sheet of brass rolled around a mandrel, which was then soldered to an iron base. Later, the rolled brass case was replaced by a solid brass version which remedied a myriad of problems.

[edit] Lee-Metford Rifles

The first British repeating rifle incorporated a bolt-action and a box-magazine ; this was developed through trials beginning in 1879, and adopted as the Magazine Rifle Mark I in 1888. This rifle is commonly referred to as the Lee-Metford or MLM (Magazine Lee-Metford).

The "Lee" comes from James Paris Lee (1831-1904), a Scottish-born American inventor who designed an easy to operate turnbolt and a high capacity box magazine to work with it. The box magazine, either Lee or Mannlicher designed, proved superior in combat to the Kropatschek style tube magazine used by the French in their Lebel rifle, or the Krag-Jørgensen rotary magazine used in the first US bolt action rifle (M1892). The initial Lee magazine was a straight stack, eight-round box, which was superseded by the staggered, ten round box in later versions, in each case more than were accommodated by Mannlicher box magazine designs.

The “Metford” comes from William Ellis Metford (1824-1899), an English engineer who was instrumental in perfecting the .30 caliber jacketed bullet and rifling to accommodate the smaller diameter.

During the development of the Lee-Metford smokeless powder was invented. The French and the Germans were already implementing their second generation bolt action rifles, the 8 mm Lebel in 1886 and 7.92 mm Gewehr 88 in 1888 respectively, using smokeless powder to propel smaller diameter bullets. The British followed the trend of using smaller diameter bullets, but the Lee-Metford design process overlapped the invention of smokeless powder, and was not adapted for its use. However, in 1895 the design was modified to work with smokeless powder resulting in the Lee-Enfield.

A contrast between this design and other successful bolt actions of the time such as the Mausers and US Springfield is the rear locking lug. This puts the lug in close proximity to the bolt handle, where the pressure is applied by the operator, in essence the force is close to the fulcrum point. Without great explanation, this results in an easier and swifter operation versus the Mauser design, resulting in a greater rate of fire. However, the sacrifice is strength as the fulcrum point has moved away from the force of the explosion, thus making the length of the bolt a lever working against the holding power of the rear lug. This would always be a limiting factor in the ballistics capacity of this design, and in some minds a critical short coming as a weapons system.

Another difference between the Lee and the Mauser designs was the use of "cock-on-closing", which also helped to speed cycling by making the initial opening of the breech very easy. The closing stroke, which is generally more forceful than the opening stroke, cocks the rifle, adding to the ease of use. The Lee design also featured a shorter bolt travel and a 60 degree rotation of the bolt; these attributes also led to faster cycle times.

Over the service life of the design, proponents and opponents would stress rate-of-fire versus ballistics respectively, with the former persevering in the end. The basic Lee design with some tinkering was the basis for most British front-line rifles until post World War II.

[edit] Lee-Enfield rifles

Main article: Lee-Enfield
covering all makes and models of Lee-Enfield rifle

In 1895, the Lee-Metford design was reinforced to accommodate the higher chamber pressures of smokeless powder; more critically, the barrel rifling was changed to one developed by the Enfield factory due to the incompatibility of the Metford barrel design with smokeless powder (the barrels becoming unusable after less than 5,000 rounds). The designation was changed to Rifle, Magazine, Lee-Enfield Mark I or MLE (magazine Lee Enfield). The sights also had to be changed to reflect the flatter trajectory and longer ranges of the improved cartridge.

The Martini-Henry, Lee-Metford, and Lee-Enfield rifles have an overall length just under 50 inches. In each case several variants of carbines were offered in the under 40 inch range for uses by cavalry, artillery, constabularies and special troops.

Starting in 1909 MLE and MLM rifles were converted to use charger loading, which was accomplished by modifying the bolt, modifying the front and rear sights, and adding a charger guide bridge to the action body, thereby allowing the use of chargers to more rapidly load the magazines. Upgraded to a more modern standard, these rifles served in combat in the First World War.

[edit] The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE) – also known as Rifle, Number 1

Prior to World War I, the Rifle, Short, Magazine Lee-Enfield, or SMLE, was developed to provide a single rifle to offer a compromise length between rifles and carbines, and to incorporate improvements deemed necessary from experience in the Boer War. With a length of 44.5 inches, the new weapon was referred to as a "short rifle"; the word "short" refers to the length of the rifle, not the length of the magazine. From 1903 to 1909, many Metford and Enfield rifles were converted to the SMLE configuration with shorter barrels and modified furniture. Production of the improved SMLE Mk III began in 1907. Earlier Mk I and Mk II rifles were upgraded to include several of the improvements of the Mk III. The compromise length was consistent with military trends as the US Springfield M1903 was only produced in the compromise length and the Germans adopted the kurz (short) rifle concept between the world wars for the Mauser K98 (model 1898 short).

[edit] Training Rifle – Rifle, Number 2

To conserve resources in training, the British Army converted many .303 rifles to .22 caliber for target practice and training purposes after the First World War. In 1926, the British government changed the nomenclature of its rifles, designating the .303 caliber SMLE as No. 1 Rifles and the .22 caliber training rifles as No. 2 Rifles. For practical purposes "SMLE" and "No. 1 Rifle" are alternate names for the same weapon, but a purist would define a No. 1 as post-1926 production only.

[edit] Pattern 1914 – also known as Rifle, Number 3

Although not related to the Lee-Enfield, the Pattern 1914 rifle (also known as Rifle, No. 3) is considered an Enfield rifle since it was designed by the Enfield engineers, although it was never produced at Enfield or in the UK. It was a slower working action than the SMLE, due to stronger forward mounted lugs, despite being a compromise on cocking; the rifle half-cocks on opening, and fully cocks on close, which made it a bit easier to cycle than the Mauser, and more reliable during prolonged use. It also carried only 5 rounds in the magazine, half the capacity of a SMLE.

In 1910, the British War Office considered replacing the SMLE based on its comparative performance with the Mauser rifles used by the enemy in the Boer War. The major short coming was long range performance and accuracy due to the ballistics of the .303 round, but the bolt system of the SMLE was not believed to have the strength to chamber more potent ammunition. Field experience had also indicated the desirability of a one-piece stock, loading via chargers, and a receiver-mounted aperture rear sight.

The changes allowed for a high-velocity rimless cartridge, similar to the 7 mm Mauser ammunition used by the Boers. This new rifle was designated the .276 caliber Enfield Magazine Rifle, or as it is more commonly known, the Pattern 1913 Enfield rifle. A secondary benefit of a rimless cartridge is better operation in a machine gun while attaining the simplicity of a shared cartridge design for the machine guns and rifles.

With the outbreak of the First World War, the War Office decided to abandon the change of ammunition, and to continue production of the SMLE; however, to supplement SMLE production the new design was to be produced chambered for .303. In 1914, the Pattern 1914 Rifle (Pattern 13 chambered for .303) was approved for production by British companies, but production was superseded by other war priorities and none were produced.

The British War Office contracted with the US firms Winchester and Remington with production beginning in 1916 and ending in mid-1917 when SMLE production met British needs and US armament took priority. To minimize retooling, the US Army contracted with Winchester and Remington to continue producing a simplified Pattern 14 rifle chambered for US .30-06 ammunition. This weapon was known as the US .30 cal. Model of 1917 (M1917 Enfield rifle). Ironically more of these were produced and used by the US Army during the First World War than the official US battle rifle, the Springfield M1903. The M1917 continued in use during World War II as second line and training rifles as the semi-automatic M1 Garands and carbines were phased-in.

The Pattern 14 rifle did not gain widespread acceptance with the British since it was larger and heavier, held fewer rounds and was slower to cycle than the SMLE. The P14 was well-regarded as a sniper rifle (with telescopic and fine adjustment iron sights) but largely disregarded outside of emergency use. The SMLE continued in variants as the main battle arm through the Second World War and beyond.

[edit] Rifle, Number 4

Beginning shortly after the First World War the SMLE went through a series of experimental upgrades that eventually resulted in the Rifle, No. 4 Mk I, which was adopted in 1939 just after the beginning of the Second World War. The changes included receiver-mounted aperture rear sights similar to that of the Pattern 1914 rifle, a "free-floating barrel" to improve accuracy during extended use, and changed screw threads, making nearly all threaded components incompatible with those of the SMLE (No. 1) rifle. In addition, the No. 4 rifle had a heavier barrel, stronger steel in the action body and bolt body, and a short “grip-less” (or "spike") bayonet that mounted directly to the barrel, rather than to a separate nosecap. The latter was the most prominent visual change.

During the Second World War, the British government also contracted with the US and Canadian manufacturers (notably Long Branch and Savage) to produce the No. 4 Mk I* rifle. US-manufactured rifles supplied under the Lend Lease program were marked U.S. PROPERTY on the left side of the receiver.

[edit] Rifle, Number 5 & Further Variants

In 1943, trials began on a shortened and lightened No. 4 rifle, leading to the adoption in 1944 of the No. 5 Mk I Rifle, or “Jungle Carbine,” as it is commonly known. The No. 5 rifle was manufactured from 1944 until 1947.

The end of the Second World War saw the production of the Rifle, No. 6, an experimental Australian version of the No. 5, and later the Rifle, No. 7, Rifle, No. 8, and Rifle, No. 9, all of which were .22 rimfire trainers.

Production of SMLE variants continued until circa 1956 and in small quantities for specialty use until circa 1974. In the mid-1960s, a version was produced for the 7.62 mm NATO cartridge by installing new barrels and new extractors, enlarging the magazine wells slightly, and installing new magazines. This was also done by the Indian rifle factory at Ishapore, which produced a strengthened SMLE in 7.62 mm NATO, as well as .303 SMLEs into the 1980s.

It is interesting to note that while the Mausers and Springfields were being replaced by semi-automatic rifles during the Second World War, the British did not feel the need to replace the faster firing SMLE weapons with the new technology.

Of all British military rifles ever produced, the No. 5 had the shortest actual service life, only being issued for 5 years or so. The weapon gained a reputation for a "wandering zero" and violent recoil.

[edit] British L1A1 SLR

The L1A1 SLR (Self Loading Rifle) is the British version of the FN FAL (Fusil Automatique Leger) - Light Automatic Rifle, one of the most famous and widespread military rifle designs of the late 20th century. Developed by the Belgian Fabrique Nationale Company (FN), it was used by some 70 or more countries, and was manufactured in at least 10 countries. The FAL type rifle is no longer in front line service in the developed world, but is still in use in less advanced parts of the world.

The history of the FAL began circa 1946, when FN began to develop a new assault rifle, chambered for German 7.92x33 mm kurz intermediate cartridge. In the late 1940s the Belgians joined with Britain and selected a British .280 (7x43 mm) intermediate cartridge for further development. In 1950 both the Belgian FAL prototype and the British EM-2 bullpup assault rifles were tested against other rifle designs by the US Army. The EM-2 performed well and the FAL prototype greatly impressed the Americans, but the idea of the intermediate cartridge was at that moment incomprehensible for them, and USA insisted on a full size cartridge, the 7.62 NATO, as a standard in 1953-1954. Despite the British Defence minister announcing the intention to adopt the EM-2 and the intermediate cartridge, Winston Churchill personally opposed the EM-2 and .280 cartridge in the belief that a split in NATO should be avoided, and that the US would adopt the FAL in 7.62 as the T48. The first 7.62 mm FALs were ready in 1953. Britain adopted the FAL in 1957 designating it the L1A1 SLR, and produced their own rifles at the RSAF Enfield and BSA factories.

Canada also used the FN, designated the FNC1 and FNC1A1, and like Britain, retained the semi-automatic-only rifle well after other armies (notably the US, USSR, and their client states) turned to automatic assault rifles such as the M16 and AK47.

[edit] SA80 - L85A1/L85A2

Main article: SA80

Bullpup design creatively decreases total weapon length compared with standard assault rifles. It is comfortable to use not only on the battlefield, but also in a limited space areas such as armoured personnel carriers.

The Bullpup concept appeared as early as the 1900s, and in 1951 the British officially adopted the EM-2 bullpup design as the "Rifle, Automatic, No.9 Mk.1". However, American insistence on the use of 7.62x51 mm cartridges as the NATO standard meant that the rifle, which used 7 mm rounds, was shelved and the Belgian FN FAL rifle adopted. It was expected that the US would also adopt the FAL then under trial as the T48 but they slected the M14. Another Enfield attempt in the 1970s was the L64/65

Britain started a programme to find a family of related weapons to replace the L1A1 battle rifle and the Bren gun titled "Small Arms for the 1980s" or SA80. The L85 is designed for the 5.56 x 45 mm NATO cartridge. The gas operated action has a short stroke gas piston, located above the barrel with its own return spring. The gas system has a three position gas regulator, one position for a normal firing, second for a firing in adverse conditions, and the third for launching rifle grenades (gas port is shut off).

The L85A1 was improved in 1997 after constant complaints from the troops. The main problems were difficult maintenance and low reliability. Improvements were made during 2000 - 2002 when 200,000 of the existing 320,000 L85A1 Automatic Rifles were upgraded. Improvements were made to the working parts (cocking handle, firing pin etc.), gas parts and magazines.

The improved rifle is named L85A2. It is regarded by many as the most reliable and accurate standard rifle in service. During the 2003 International shooting meet at Bisley, the British Army team won after firing over 62,000 rounds with no stoppages. During active service, the A2 can be fitted with a 40 mm grenade launcher, a light attachment and a laser red-dot sighting device.

It is anticipated that the SA80 will remain in front-line service well into the second decade of the 21st Century.

[edit] L96 Sniper Rifle

The L96 is a precision rifle or sniper rifle produced by the British firm Accuracy International, which was designed by Olympic shootist Malcolm Cooper and was adopted in British Service in the early 1980s as a replacement for the ageing Lee-Enfield-derived L42. It has since been adopted by a number of countries and derivatives are is available in different calibres including the .338 Lapua Magnum. It competed against an entry from Parker-Hale, which it narrowly beat. L96 is the army's designation, it was known as, and derived from, the Accuracy International PM rifle. The Swedish PSG-90, L96A1, and very successful Accuracy International Arctic Warfare series were developed from this line.

[edit] Canadian weapons in British service

Units of the Special Air Service serving in Afghanistan briefly adopted the Canadian C7A1 in 2002, citing the SA-80 as unreliable. The Canadian C7 family are license built versions of the M16A2 incorporating over 100 modifications to the US design and manufactured by Diemaco in Canada. Canadian weapons were also used by Home Guard units in the Second World War, notably the notorious Ross rifle, and many weapons were shipped to Britain after Dunkirk in the face of serious shortages of small arms.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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