![]() 303 round was developed and several more modifications, especially to the sights and the magazines, had to be made, which of course had to be done to all the previous rifles still in service, including Martini Enfields and Lee Metfords that were still floating around. The Brits were serious about their guns.īy 1910, the final version of the. Travelling inspectors visited all army units on a rotational basis. New tools were developed to gauge barrels, proactively replacing barrels when they deemed accuracy could suffer. It also kept the rifle factories hopping. This led to a bewildering variety of Marks and Stars in the nomenclature. With every improvement to the SMLE, (Short Magazine Lee Enfield) all the previous versions of the rifle had to be brought up to spec also. Several different receiver designs were tried for chargers, and most proved unsatisfactory till the bridge mounted charger guides of the Mk. Grabbing the barrel after shooting to use a bayonet was almost impossible on the old Long Lee. They did like the stock running to the fore-end. The sights had a windage adjustment added for the first time, and much finer adjustment than before. Some yearned for it's old, heavy long barrel, some didn't like the increased recoil. To improve that score the rifling was changed, being deeper towards the muzzle and the last 14 inches of the barrel being bored our by. The barrel was lightened and much shorter, leading to a problem right away with velocity. In 1901 a thousand units of the new short rifle were authorized, and since it was a test, they were split up between two sight designs to quickly bring that problem to an end. The last item to get attention was redesigning the bolt body to get the striker out without tools. The bayonet mounted to the barrel spoiled shooting, and the trigger pull needed work. The weight needed to come down, and they needed better sights. Charger loading, though still resisted by some, was necessary. Mounted troopers weren't happy with their carbines, and a shorter barrel could simplify logistics with one rifle for all. Altering a rifle is a lot cheaper than starting from scratch. It really had served the Empire well, and they set to work bringing it into the 20th century. The committee quickly realized the Lee system as being robust, reliable, and no good end could come of dismissing it's use. This also included the viability of a bolt action and the. During the investigations in the early 1900's on their battle rifles accuracy problems, the Brits momentarily doubted their standard rifle's design and began looking into it's replacement. ![]()
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