I hit the gun show this weekend with Fat guys #1 and #2, The Designinator, Mr. T, and his lovely, yet er, flippant, wife.
I finally redeemed myself for my failure in procuring something for Buy a Gun Day. I bought a Longbranch SMLE No4 Mk1*. The * denotes a variation, not a footnote.
The legendary SMLE has been in service with the Brits for nearly 100 years. The variation I own was adopted in 1939, and served through the mid 50's, when the Brits adopted the SLR, which the rest of the world knows as the FN FAL.
The SMLE is a modification of the original Lee-Enfield, which was in turn a response to the brits getting the crap shot out em by the Boers armed with Mausers. In WWI the issued version was the No1 MKIII. The bolt is so smooth and fast, and the standard for marksmansip in the British army was so high, that the Kaiser's soldiers often though they were being engaged by a machine gun, when in reality it was just a squad of Tommies with SMLE's.
For a more complete history refer to
SMLE history
Development of the .303 Brit cartridge
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I have one bad day and I am labelled for life.
oooh,
I wanna edit the last reply.
You flip the bird faster than someone speed reading an Audubon Field Guided
one day, I will learnhow to proof read before I hit publish
You can always delete your comment, like I just had to.
I only flip you off cause you love it.
oh. I thought you had a palsy or something
Just stumbled onto your post and congratulations on your "new" No. 4. You'll enjoy it. I don't know your Lee-Enfield knowledge level, but a lot of excellent L-E info can be found and is exchanged on the forum at Parallax Bill's http://www.milsurpshooter.net/
One minor point, the No. 4 is technically not a SMLE (smellie), the last SMLE was the No. 1, Mk VI manf'd 1930/31. It featured a heavier barrel, 2 piece handguard and was similar to the later No 4 rifle. It was not adopted for general service.
I've a fair amount of Lee-Enfields. SMLEs and No. 4s, different arsenals and Marks. Nice rifles all and capable of much more accuracy than these old eyes can produce.
The Lee-Enfield No. 4 Rifle, an excellent choice and a rifle you'll enjoy shooting.
Post a Comment