Guns International #: 101782126
Seller's Inventory #: 469417

Category - Enfield Rifles - Military Rifles - Non-US

Category
Enfield Rifles
Military Rifles - Non-US

ENFIELD No. 1 MK III

Description:
Guns Listing ID: 469417

In very good condition. Comes with sling.

The Lee–Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle that served as the main firearm used by the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century. It was the British Army‚‚s standard rifle from its official adoption in 1895 until 1957. The WWI versions are often referred to as the \"SMLE\", which is short for the common \"Short, Magazine, Lee–Enfield\" variant.

A redesign of the Lee–Metford (adopted by the British Army in 1888), the Lee–Enfield superseded the earlier Martini–Henry, Martini–Enfield, and Lee–Metford rifles. It featured a ten-round box magazine which was loaded with the .303 British cartridge manually from the top, either one round at a time or by means of five-round chargers. The Lee–Enfield was the standard issue weapon to rifle companies of the British Army and other Commonwealth nations in both the First and Second World Wars (these Commonwealth nations included Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India and South Africa, among others). Although officially replaced in the UK with the L1A1 SLR in 1957, it remained in widespread British service until the early/mid-1960s and the 7.62 mm L42A1 sniper variant remained in service until the 1990s. As a standard-issue infantry rifle, it is still found in service in the armed forces of some Commonwealth nations, notably with the Bangladesh Police, which makes it the second longest-serving military bolt-action rifle still in official service, after the Mosin–Nagant (Mosin-Nagant receivers are used in the Finnish 7.62 Tkiv 85). The Canadian Rangers unit still use Enfield rifles, with plans to replace the weapons sometime in 2017–2018 with the new Sako-designed Colt Canada C19. Total production of all Lee–Enfields is estimated at over 17 million rifles.

The Lee–Enfield takes its name from the designer of the rifle‚‚s bolt system—James Paris Lee—and the factory in which it was designed—the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield.


Design & History of the Enfield No 1 MK III

The Lee–Enfield rifle was derived from the earlier Lee–Metford, a mechanically similar black-powder rifle, which combined James Paris Lee‚‚s rear-locking bolt system that had a barrel featuring rifling designed by William Ellis Metford. The Lee action cocked the striker on the closing stroke of the bolt, making the initial opening much faster and easier compared to the \"cock on opening\" (i.e., the firing pin cocks upon opening the bolt) of the Mauser Gewehr 98 design. The bolt has a relatively short bolt throw and features rear-mounted lugs and the bolt operating handle places the bolt knob just rearwards of the trigger at a favourable ergonomic position close to the operator‚‚s hand. The action features helical locking surfaces (the technical term is interrupted threading). This means that final head space is not achieved until the bolt handle is turned down all the way. The British probably used helical locking lugs to allow for chambering imperfect or dirty ammunition and that the closing cam action is distributed over the entire mating faces of both bolt and receiver lugs. This is one reason the bolt closure feels smooth. The rifle was also equipped with a detachable sheet-steel, 10-round, double-column magazine, a very modern development in its day. Originally, the concept of a detachable magazine was opposed in some British Army circles, as some feared that the private soldier might be

SOLD

Manufacturer: ENFIELD
Model: No. 1 MK III
Caliber Info: 303 BRITISH
Condition: Used - Non-Certified
Barrels: 25.5 BARREL
Finish: BLUED