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Royal Rifle; The Lee-Enfield SMLE

By: Randall Graham

A mainstay firearm of both World Wars lasting until 1956, the British Short Magazine Lee-Enfield--best known as the "SMLE"--bolt-action rifle has seen action in just about every part of the world. Its origins stem from an older black powder rifle in the 1880's, the Lee-Metford. Emerging as the standard issue infantry rifle for British soldiers in 1907, the SMLE Mk III was in service beond World War II. It was favored by infantry for its ease of chambering rounds from a short magazine clip.

Use of the SMLE was not exclusive to British troops. It was also commonly used by Canada, Austrailia, India, and many nations of the British Commonwealth, and has seen action in countless military campaigns around the globe.

The SMLE was jointly produced by several manufacturers, due to problems meeting the demands of the British military. The primary factories, RSAF-Enfield (Royal Small Arms Factory) in the London Borough of Enfield, UK, London Small Arms and Birmingham Small Arms were pressured to farm out manufacturing to several other companies.

Many of the military issue SMLE rifles were converted to sportsmans' rifles, or "sporterised" during the 1950's and 1960's. This can be anything from mounting a scope on the rifle to reworking the caliber. Often, this was done to meet legal requirements, or simply to satisfy outdoorsmens' individual tastes.

Like most military arms production runs, there were, many variations of the basic SMLE. However, there is one in particular that should be avoided; the infamous Khyber Pass Copies. Produced in the Khyber Pass region near the Pakistani and Afghani border, these rifles are of inferior quality, using substandard materials such as soft metals and poorly-fit parts, most likely produced from inaccurately-copied blueprints. They are considered unsafe to use, and can fail catastrophically during firing. Khyber Pass copies can often be identified by examining the markings. Look for such things as poor quality workmanship and materials, spelling errors, or a backwards "N" in the word "Enfield." Also, watch for the stamped designation V.R (Victoria Rex) models dated after 1901. Queen Victoria died in 1901, so any rifle stamped V.R. should not be dated after 1901, but rather E.R or G.R. (Edwardius Rex; King Edward VII or VIII, and Georgius Rex; King George V or VI).

While the British military officially stopped using the Mark III SMLE around 1956, they made use of the rifle well after that, and it continues to be used in various places around the world.

Article Source: http://www.collectibles-articles.com

Randall Graham is an internet marketer and author and fan of history. He is also a co-author of the blog, "The Non-Smoking Gun".

Reenactors, history buffs and gun fanciers will find authentic non-firing, black powder and blank-firing replicas of historic and classic firearms of the American Revolution, Civil War, Old West, both World Wars and the 20th Century at GunsOfOld.com. Other items of interest include Old West badges, Civil War and World War reenactor gear, holsters and other leather goods.

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