![]() There were quite a few other models in the line once again on conversions from previous models… the British never wasted anything! In 1926 the decision was made to standardise the service rifle under a simplified naming convention and the MkIII and MkIII* rifles became “Rifle No1 MkIII and Rifle No1 MkIII*”. MkIII* largely due to removing some features for ease of production due to WW1. ![]() The next step was the Sht LE MkIII which further improved the loading with the addition of a solid charger bridge over the receiver. Chargers uses the British manufacturer’s terminology rather than generalisations commonly applied from other country’s firearm manufactories. The biggest feature that the shorter rifle added was the ability to load from above with five round chargers (not stripper clips). There were a few models of the Mk1 design that were conversions of the Long Lee rifles, but again, wont dig that deep here… the model names again being the important thing to get right. The first model was of course the Mk1, or Sht L.E. This name refers to the length of the new rifle (short) and the old designation of the magazine feed, receiver designer and barrel designer. The result was the Short, Magazine Lee Enfield. ![]() At the start of the 1900’s the W⩚D (War Department) decided to standardise their service rifle and the compromise was made to manufacture one rifle for all with a 25″ barrel, half way between the two in use. During the time of the MLM and MLE rifles (commonly called the “Long Lees”) there were also carbine lengths models made with 20″ barrels for special use like Cavalry and Artillery, but not diving that deep here. The model’s improvements saw the MLM Mk1* in 1889. This rifle retained most of the overall design feature of the earlier model, including the 30″ barrel length. ![]() The new model became the Magazine, Lee Enfield Mk1 or MLE Mk1 in 1895. To combat the shortened barrel life, the engineers at Royal Small Arms Factory Enfield (RSAF) designed a new barrel rifling (Enfield rifling) for the British & Commonwealth firearms. With the end of black powder and the introduction of hotter propellants, the shallow Metford design rifling would wear out and render barrels unusable after approximately 6,000 rounds. Understanding the naming conventions is very important as one misplaced mark could change entirely what people think they are looking at or misunderstand what you are talking about.Ī couple of advancements went through the MLM Mk1*, then MLM MkII and finally MLM MkII*. You will see that when smaller improvements were made, the model name was advanced though the use of asterisk and extra Roman numerals after the “Mk”. ![]()
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