bolt action centre-fire rifle
Report a Mistake- Object Number 20010236-001
- Event 1899-1902 South African War
- Affiliation --
- Artist / Maker / Manufacturer London Small Arms Company
- Date Made 1896
- Place of Use Continent - North America, Country - CanadaContinent - Africa, Country - South Africa
- Category Tools and equipment for science and technology
- Sub-category Armament, firearm
- Department Arms and Technology
- Museum CWM
- Earliest 1896/01/01
- Latest 1896/12/31
- Brand Name / Model Mk I
- Inscription M&D and 406 impressed into butt, E, 7943 and (crown) over L.S.A.Co Ld over 1896 over L.E. I on receiver.On bottom of buttstock: "W.J.H.Shillington" stamped in with letter stamps
- Pattern Name Lee-Enfield
- Materials Wood, Metal
- Branch Medical Branch
- Service Component Canadian Militia
- Unit D Company
- Measurements Height 13.0 cm, Length 125.3 cm, Width 8.5 cm
- Caption The Lee-Enfield .303 Mk. I Rifle
- Additional Information The Lee-Enfield .303 Mk. I was introduced into the British Army in 1895 and in Canada the year following. It replaced the Lee-Metford, which had been the standard issue firearm since 1889. The latter was a magazine-fed repeating rifle, but it fired cartridges using black powder which emitted smoke when fired that gave away the rifleman's position. In 1891, the British first produced cordite a propellant that burned cleanly without emitting smoke. It also generated more heat, however, which wore out the Lee-Metford's rifling system of seven shallow grooves. A new rifling system was developed at the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, consisting of five deep grooves that could withstand the intense heat generated by the cordite. The result was the .303 Lee-Enfield Mk. I rifle, in all respects identical to the Lee-Metford except for the rifling. The new rifle, which the Canadian troops took with them to South Africa, weighed a rather heavy 4.3 kilograms (nine and a half pounds) and had a range of 1,645 metres. The magazine could hold ten rounds, but it lacked a clip or charger, which meant that when expended, it had to be reloaded a single round at a time. Improved versions of the durable Lee-Enfield went on to serve as the standard rifle of the British Empire/Commonwealth during the First and Second World Wars.
- Caption Lee-Enfield Mk. I rifle
- Additional Information James Paris Lee, a Scottish-born Canadian, designed the Lee-Enfield rifle. The federal government purchased 40,000 of these .303 calibre rifles from Britain in 1896. They were issued to Canadian soldiers serving in South Africa. Later models of this rifle remain in service with elements of the Canadian Forces.