The No 4, Mk I* Lee-Enfield: Introduction

in 1939 when the armies of Great Britain and the Empire found themselves at war for the second time in a generation they were armed with the venerable smle by then officially known as the rifle number one well you're right about that I suppose if the S MOV was good enough for dads it was good enough for us but that first part of the war didn't go too well now did it mm-hmm the phoney war the fall of France Dunkirk Saint Valerie and I bet you're wondering why things went the way they did and more importantly what could have made it better well I'll tell you things would have gone our way this was due to economic reasons over anything else Great Britain had been crippled economically by the Great War and with the realities of policing the Empire a new rifle had not yet entered production in any meaningful way by the time Poland was invaded now there had been some work done in the intervening years but only by design experiments and a very limited series of trials the design was there but it would take until 1943 for the design to be finalized produced issued and used to any great extent during operations this new rifle would single-handedly write the next chapter in the service history of the lee-metford and Lee Enfield rifles this of course was the rifle number for when the FN self-loading rifle was adopted by most Commonwealth armies in the 1950s the rifle it replaced had been in service in various patterns and marks since the early 1890s the number for Lee Enfield had entered service during the crucible of the Second World War and it represented perhaps the most evolutionary step in the progression of the series since the adoption of the smle in the immediate aftermath of the Boer War the number 4 wasn't used to any great extent until 1943 with a very limited amount finding their way to North Africa for the Tunisian campaign and many more being issued for the invasion of Sicily and Italy it would end up serving in all theaters from Normandy to the Rhine from Burma to Alaska and from Italy to Holland post-war it served all over the globe in Korea and all the campaign's of the early 1950s and was still serving in frontline service as a reach aim Bird sniper rifle in 1982 during the Falklands War as this video is being made it is only just being replaced in service with the Canadian Rangers a paramilitary force responsible for augmenting the rest of the Canadian military with local knowledge bushcraft survival skills and guiding expertise predominantly in the Canadian north whereas the smle was the iconic rifle of the great war in British and Empire service the same can be argued for the number four in the Second World War despite the fact that it was only used for the latter half it was truly one of the great military rifles of the 20th century although a separate rifle in its own right it represented the last general service variant of a family of rifles and its background and development bears mentioned the British and Empire armies finished the Great War armed with the ubiquitous smle while economies prevented the wholesale pursuit of a new service rifle there were some changes and experiments made towards bettering the service rifle it is important to realise moving forward that none of these interwar variants were actually issued for anything more than trials if at all the smle remained the service rifle as it had been right up to the mid point of the Second World War provisionally known as the mark-5 smle this version did away with the tangent backside of the mark 3 and replaced it with a sliding aperture ladder at the rear of the body this had actually been recommended before the Great War but wartime economies had made that an unrealistic goal it would seem that this rifle was intended for troop trials but there were some 20,000 produced a fairly large number for such a purpose it is also interesting that it has no list of changes entries and seemingly the separate mark 5 designation is somewhat unofficial the second step towards a new rifle was take 26 and didn't involve the design at all but rather the name in that year army nomenclature changed turning what was the short magazine lee-enfield mark three into the rifle number one mark three the rifle number two being a twenty-two training rifle and the number three rifle the P 14 in 1926 the first of three runs of experimental rifles were produced which marked a departure from the characteristic shape of the smle this was the rifle number one mark six and it was in these rifles that the salient characteristics of what would eventually become the number four became visible the one piece charger bridge and body a new style of nose cap allowing the barrel to protrude about two inches was introduced and interestingly there was checkering on the four stop in 1931 the number one mark six was given other minor changes and a new name the number four mark one the first run being produced for troupe trials only finally in 1939 the design was finalized and the number for mark 1 entered its service life production began somewhat later however in 1941 in fact as mentioned before any meaningful use of the number four would wait until 1943 the design incorporated a large number of key improvements over the smle and was very much a new design of rifle LV at one of the same family and lineage it was certainly not just a modified number one the vast majority of the changes made were done to ease manufacture which would figure prominently in the wartime economy the heart of these changes lay in the receiver or body and the barrel whereas the body of the smle had essentially even that of the preceding magazine lee-enfield with a charger bridge added that of the number four underwent a complete redesign the charger bridge was made integral to the machining and provision was made for the mounting of a new style ladder sight its angular shape portraying the economy in manufacturer previously references the barrel was made heavy obviating the necessity of the complicated bedding with Springs and tension is found in the smle this gave better more stable harmonics and made for better accuracy it was produced with five groove and field rifling although as a matter of wartime economy - groove rifling was adopted with minimal effect on accuracy it was relieved for nearly its complete length with only a short two inch section in contact with the muzzle interestingly with an intended five-pound upward pressure other perhaps more cosmetic changes were as follows the nose cap of the smle was abandoned and a new style was adopted which left the barrel exposed for about two inches giving rise to the number fours most distinctive feature this also facilitated the fixing of a new style painted directly to the barrel more on that later the woodwork underwent substantial revision the but was left wider which gave the wrist a distinctive thick feel as compared to the smle and the butt plate was made of steel the handguard was in two pieces resting atop the four stock retained by bands at the midpoint and the muzzle the working of the bolt safety and magazine were not changed from the smle small details however were and it remains that neither are interchangeable with the previous rifle the bolt release was a spring-loaded catch located just behind the charger bridge after withdrawing the bolt to that position depressing the catch allowed the bolt head to be rotated and the bolt to be removed from the body the bolt was replaced by simply pushing the bolt head down onto the spring catch and then forcing at home from 1941 the number for mark one star was introduced primarily this entailed the making of some alterations to the method of removing the bolt instead of a catch there was a simple slot cut in the guide wing along the bolt head to be rotated before the bolt was removed there were other minor production economies that were also used to make the barrel and furniture interestingly the production of mark one star number fours was confined to North America both in Canada at Long Branch and in the United States in this pattern the primary method of rifling was the to roof with five and six groove patterns in the minority there were other versions made during the war that deserve mentioned famously Holland and Holland stocked up select number fours for use in the sniping role and thus rendered the number fourteen this was used postwar as well there were postwar versions of the number four namely the mark ii and the mark 1/2 and 1/3 generally speaking these rifles returned to a more peacetime style of manufacture with better quality components perhaps the salient feature of these was the relocation of the trigger to the body versus the trigger guard which alleviated some of the issues had with the trigger pressure found in the mark 1 and Merkel and star other more minor members of the family included the number 5 and the number 7 and the number 9 the former being a cut-down version of the number 4 - leighton its weight and the number 7 and 9 were 22 training levels all of these are outside the scope of this video the bane the bayonet issued with the number-four was a departure from patterns used since the 1890s it was decided that a simple spike would be able to perform all the necessary functions without great length or weight during the war there were four versions produced the number four marked one having the cruciform blade the mark two and mark two star had round cross-section blades and were of one piece cast design perhaps the version that represented wartime economy more than anything else was the mark 3 with the blade fixed to a rough cast hilt with what was at times a very unsightly weld it's interesting to note however that none of this had any effect on his performance sights a large number of back sights were issued with the number four now this is not intended to be an exhaustive look at the subject itself a topic for another video but some background bears mentioned originally issued with the mark 1 back site this site provided a small adjustable aperture for use at ranges from 200 to 1300 yards and a fixed battle site for use at closer ranges when the ladder was folded down it was a relatively complicated and precision piece of kit and these proved to be in short supply during wartime economy a stopgap was therefore required the mark to site was a simple two leaf flip type aperture graded from 300 yards with the banette fixed to 600 yards without while being generally serviceable the mark to site was not perhaps ideal work were set about to produce a site that would be nearly as comprehensive as the mark 1 while being simpler and easier to manufacture to patterns were produced at the mark 3 and the mark for the latter improving on the former's spring arrangement and serviceability they were both made from stampings versus the fine machining in the mark there were also different sizes of apertures you used in the manufacture of the sights mainly in regards to the battle site this aspect is perhaps beyond the subject of this video but I'm pretty sure that bloke on the range who kindly provided these photographs is working on something to that end my number four is a mark 1 star and was made at Long Branch in 1944 it exhibits all the usual characteristics of that version and includes a mark tube image perhaps typical of mark 1 star number fours it has two grooves rifling and so far seems to shoot my cast loads with reasonable accuracy it has all the usual dings blemishes and otherwise character building marks that you'd find on a typical service rail note the fluted handguard it has the mark 1 sight adjustable by clicks from 200 to 1300 yards the muzzle end of the barrel has the usual arrangement of foresight protectors and the lugs for the associate minute we can see here the battle sight made usable when the sight is folded down its aperture is considerably larger and the one that is used when the sight is flipped up is smaller for better accuracy these views show with clarity both the integral charger bridge as well as the cut in the rib way to allow for the removal of the bolt all in all my rifle is perhaps suitably canady and represents the service rifle as used by Canada in the vast majority of the actions fought during the Second World War [Music] ammunition service ammunition for the number-4 was the biggest mark 7 with its bi-metal core of lead antimony and aluminum with the cupro-nickel or later copper jacket these were fitted in charges of 5 rounds which for active service were packaged in bandoliers of 50 reps as they had been since before the Great War not perhaps the subject of this video but mention should be made about the equipment and how rifle ammunition was carried the 1937 web equipment was for frontline troops not provided with individual pouches for chargers as had the preceding 1908 set the adoption of the Bren gun combined with other bulky ammunition tapes for the boys anti-tank rifle and the 2 inch mortar saw that the neat and very serviceable cartridge carriers of the 1908 set were necessarily replaced with two large basic pouches which could accommodate the many nature's of ammunition thus mentioned typically a rifleman would then carry the following two Bren gun magazines two grenades and a bandolier of 50 rounds for his rifle this could be augmented by yet another bandolier they were ubiquitous as these pictures have shown thus this lightweight and disposable implement was the primary way in which ammunition was carried for the rifleman simply slung over the left shoulder this arrangement does not seem to be wholly serviceable at the outset but remembering that the bandolier was a disposable item its serviceability was rarely in doubt now did some men carry loose charges and their basic pouches perhaps the ammunition that I use for my number four is the typical 303 loading that I use for both the lee-metford and the smle a 210 grain bullet cast of Linotype atop 24 grains of four two two seven this makes for fun economical shooting with mild recoil the velocity is in the neighborhood of 1,800 feet second loading and firing of the number four was as simple and as basic as with the earlier patterns of charger loading lee-enfield rifles [Music] first the safety caps was pushed forward and the bolt was opened a charger of five rounds was removed from the bandolier and placed in the charger bridge with the thumb of the right hand the rounds were pushed evenly into the magazine the bolt was closed which could also mean if they empty charger out of the way and the safety catch was applied by pulling it to the rear although shown here loading but five rounds in action the magazine would have been charged with ten to fire the sights were set to the appropriate range or indeed the fixed battle site was used aim was taken and the trigger pressed as far as shooting and musketry in general are concerned the strength of the number-four lies in its sights with the battle sight it is very good at up-close work and with the sight raised precision can be attained with the smaller aperture and adjustable settings the number four was an eminently serviceable rifle with a reliable smooth action good sights and a moderate weight it was capable of being used in close quarters and at range and was very much of the same pedigree as its older cousin it maintained its 10 round magazine which set it apart from rifles used by other nations this provided a useful reserve it was easily carried in all types of terrain and was robust enough to suffer through all the climates it was used in truly a weapon for its age [Music] it is perhaps a paradox that the improvements made to render the number-four came at a time when warfare had long ceased to be ultimately determined by the man and his rifle this had last been case in 1914 by the coming of the Second World War the panoply of weapons at the disposal of the infantry in particular would render the rifle to become somewhat secondary it nevertheless formed part of that same panoply and without it the infantry could not have done their job warfare of the 1940s was an evolutionary process mechanization rapid movement and the sheer volume of war materiel brought to the battlefield would seem to have made the rifleman redundant he was not the infantry rifleman was as important as he had ever mean for despite the firepower and capabilities of the contemporary army those last 50 or 100 yards could only be crossed by the infantry and what they could carry the number four formed the foundation of that [Music] now that this the introduction to the number four has been completed other subjects relating to its use can be covered including mid to late war musketry tactical employment and associated equipment at the time of the production of this video some interesting projects have already taken shape and will feature in upcoming installments in the series [Music] I'd like to thank Mike from bloke on the range firstly he kindly provided the pictures of the various patterns of sight used with a number four in addition at the time of the production of this video he's only recently completed a visit to my part of the world this was the fruition of what you might call a little bit of mutual coaxing him Mike coached me into examining the number four rifle its era is somewhat beyond what the channel typically deals with and by his own admission I was able to coax him into participating in shall we say a little bit of historical shooting for to truly gain the experience in using these military weapons one has to also use the equipment associated with them the uniforms well that's just a little bit of atmosphere all-in-all a fantastic time and I hope you enjoy the fruits of our labors as the number four series progresses and last but not least - a friend of the channel Vince who kindly lent me his number for mark 1 for the production of this video thanks be

Channel: britishmuzzleloaders

Views: 661,914

Keywords: SMLE, 303, Enfield, rifle musket, black powder, BF1, battlefield 1, snider, martini henry, zulu, 577/450, smle, shooting, short, magazine, lee, enfield, bayonet, drill, shooting sports, mad minute, snider enfield, reloading, bullet casting, Victorian army, baker rifle, brown bess, p51, p53, p58, p56, p60, p61, long rifle, short rifle, breech block, sharpe, harper, 95th rifles, green, jacket, victorian army, british, army, uniforms, feather bonnet, kilmarnock, kilt, highlander, 78th, seaforth, lee metford

Id: ING7IwC_Rq4

Length: 22min 26sec (1346 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 21 2018