The Lee-Enfield is a series of bolt-action rifles and carbines designed by Scottish-born gun designer James Paris Lee (1831-1904) and the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock, Great Britain. They replaced the Lee-Metford (a series of bolt-action rifles and carbines designed by James Paris Lee and William Ellis Metford) when the British armed forces adopted smokeless gun powder in the late 19th century.
The Lee-Enfield saw extensive service with the armed forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century. In the United Kingdom, the Lee-Enfield rifles were the standard infantry rifle of the British Army from 1895 to 1957, when they were replaced by the L1A1 SLR; even after being phased out, they were still used as a secondary infantry rifle for reserve forces, and a 7.62mm version of the Lee-Enfield under the designation L42A1 was used as a sniper rifle all the way into the 90s.
Today, nations like India, Pakistan, Nepal and Canada still use the Lee-Enfield rifle as a standard issue rifle for police forces and reserve military units. In Canada, the Canadian Rangers used the Lee-Enfield No. 4 rifle as their standard-issue rifle until 2018, when they were replaced by the purpose built C-19, but the Lee-Enfield will not be fully phased out till 2020. In India and Pakistan, the Lee-Enfield is used by both nations' police forces, with India utilizing a 7.62mm NATO version of the No. 1 Mk III* rifle called the Indian 2A/2A1 rifle. Australia still manufactures/converts Lee-Enfields as hunting/plinking weapons in a range of calibres like the 7.62mm NATO and the Soviet 7.62x39mm M43, with Australian International Arms (AIA) manufacturing modern versions of the Lee-Enfield rifle for the civilian firearms market.
The Lee-Enfield rifle saw use in many military conflicts from the late 19th century onwards (easily outstripping the length of service the Mosin-Nagant Rifle has achieved), being used in the Second Boer War, the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, the Suez Crisis, the Mau Mau Uprising, and the Soviet-Afghan War. The Lee-Enfield has also seen use in the hands of insurgents in nations like Nepal, Afghanistan, Iraq, India and the Solomon Islands. Over 17 million Lee-Enfields have been produced worldwide since 1895.
The Lee-Enfield is notable for its relatively high rate of fire compared to other bolt-action rifles. Unlike Mauser-derived bolt-action rifles (with their 5 round internal magazines and "cock on opening" bolt systems), the Lee-Enfield has a 10-round magazine and a "cock on closing" bolt system, which allowed a well-trained rifleman to fire between 15 to 30 aimed rounds in under 1 minute.
4 окт 2024
