Canada & The South African War, 1899-1902

Canadian South African War Insigna
Canadian War Museum
1 Vimy Place
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0M8
Tel. (819) 776-8600
toll-free 1-800-555-5621

Weapons

The Lee-Enfield .303 Mark I Rifle
The Lee-Enfield .303 Mark I rifle weighed a rather heavy 4.3 kilograms (nine and a half pounds) and had a range of 1,645 metres. 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.

The Colt .455 New Service Model Revolver
The Colt .455 New Service Model Revolver was a large pistol that fired a heavy bullet intended to stop an enemy quickly. The weapon was carried in a Canadian-made holster, suspended from the Oliver Pattern Equipment waistbelt.

The Maxim .303 Machine Gun
The Maxim .303 Machine Gun was the first machine gun to operate entirely by mechanical means. It could fire 650 rounds a minute from a continuously fed belt of ammunition.

The Colt Model 1895 Machine Gun
Operated entirely by mechanical means and air-cooled. The tapping of a small amount of gas generated by the combustion of the propellant was diverted to a piston, which drove back the breech block and cycled the mechanisms to load, fire, and extract.

The 12-Pounder Field Gun
The 12-Pounder Field Gun was the main Canadian field gun of the war. It had a range of 4,500 metres.