Editing Lee–Enfield (section)

==Short magazine Lee–Enfield Mk III==
[[File:Lee-Enfield Mk III (No 1 Mk 3) - AM.032056.jpg|thumb|Short magazine Lee–Enfield No. 1 Mk. III]]
[[File:Commonwealth Forces in North Africa E53.jpg|thumb|An Indian rifleman with an SMLE Mk III, Egypt, 16 May 1940]]
[[File:Mishmar HaEmek.JPG|thumb|Women training at Mishmar HaEmek kibbutz with SMLE Mk IIIs during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]]]
[[File:SMLEAction.jpg|thumb|Magazine cut-off on an SMLE Mk III rifle. This feature was removed on the Mk III* rifle.]]

The best-known Lee–Enfield rifle, the ''SMLE Mk III'', was introduced on 26 January 1907, along with a [[Pattern 1907 bayonet]] and featured a simplified rear sight arrangement and a fixed, rather than a bolt-head-mounted sliding, charger guide.{{sfn|Wilson|2007a}} The design of the handguards and the magazine were also improved and the chamber was adapted to fire the new Mk VII high velocity [[spitzer (bullet)|spitzer]] .303 ammunition. Many early models, magazine Lee–Enfields (MLEs), magazine Lee–Metfords (MLMs) and SMLEs, were rebuilt to the Mk III standard. These are called "Mk IV Cond.", with various asterisks denoting subtypes.{{sfn|Skennerton|1994c|p=9}} Another feature present on the No. 1 Mk III as well as many other models of the SMLE was a field cleaning kit enclosed behind a trapdoor in the buttstock which included a barrel pull through with various cloths and an oil bottle enclosed deeper within the compartment.

[[File:A member of the Home Guard demonstrates a rifle equipped to fire an anti-tank grenade, Dorking, 3 August 1942. H22061.jpg|thumb|A member of the Home Guard operating an SMLE No. 1 Mk III Rifle equipped with a grenade launcher cup loaded with an Anti-Tank Grenade of the era]]
During the First World War, the SMLE Mk III was found to be too complicated to manufacture (an SMLE Mk III rifle cost the British government [[£sd|£3/15/–]] = £{{£sd|l=3|s=15}}{{when|date=May 2022}}<!--significantly different numbers here: https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1919/jun/24/mr-kellaways-statement-->), and demand outstripped supply; in late 1915 the ''Mk III*'' was introduced incorporating several changes, the most prominent of which were the deletion of the [[Magazine (firearms)#Magazine cut-off|magazine cut-off]] mechanism, which when engaged permits the feeding and extraction of single cartridges only while keeping the cartridges in the magazine in reserve, and the long-range [[volley sight]]s.{{sfn|Skennerton|1994c|p=9}}{{sfn|Skennerton|2007|pp=132, 161}}{{sfn|Skennerton|2001a|p=7}} The windage adjustment of the rear sight was also dispensed with, and the cocking piece was changed from a round knob to a serrated slab.{{sfn|Skennerton|2007|p=161}} Rifles with some or all of these features present are found, as the changes were implemented at different times in different factories and as stocks of parts were depleted.{{sfn|Skennerton|1994c|p=7}} The magazine cut-off was reinstated after the First World War ended, and not entirely dispensed with in manufacturing until 1933; some rifles with cut-offs remained into the 1960s.{{sfn|Skennerton|2007|p=161}} One notable later use of the rifles were rifle grenade launcher conversions which involved the attachment of a removable grenade cup which would use the pressure of a blank round to launch a single modified Mills Bomb which had a launching range of about 10 to 200 yards. 

The inability of the principal manufacturers ([[Royal Small Arms Factory|RSAF Enfield]], [[Birmingham Small Arms|the Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited]] and [[London Small Arms Co. Ltd]], [[Lithgow Arms]] Australia<ref>{{cite web |title=Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum |url=https://lithgowsafmuseum.org.au/history.html |website=lithgowsafmuseum.org.au |access-date=30 October 2024}}</ref>) to meet military production demands led to the development of the "peddled scheme", which contracted out the production of whole rifles and rifle components to several shell companies.{{sfn|Skennerton|2007|p=171–172}} As a result, the production was quadrupled in the first year of the war from slightly over 100 thousands annually before the war.<ref>{{cite book |title=Statistics of the military effort of the British Empire during the Great War : 1914-1920 |date=1922 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |page=473 |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/r7ynvjg7/items?canvas=489 |language=en}}</ref> 
{| class="wikitable"
|+SMLE production during WWI<ref>{{cite book |title=Statistics of the military effort of the British Empire during the Great War : 1914-1920 |date=1922 |publisher=HMSO |location=London |page=479 |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/r7ynvjg7/items?canvas=495 |language=en}}</ref>
!Producer
!1914 (Aug.-Dec.)
!1915
!1916
!1917
!1918
!Total
|-
|Enfield
|51,576
|271,856
|418,283
|640,113
|626,330
|2,008,158
|-
|BSA
|56,416
|275,927
|435,212
|468,447
|345,732
|1,581,854
|-
|LSA
|12,101
|65,678
|99,433
|97,012
|89,990
|364,214
|-
!Total (UK)
!120,093
!613,461
!852,928
!1,205,572
!1,062,052
!3,854,106
|-
|Canada
|0
|2,650
|33,476
|82,360
|0
|118,486
|-
|USA
|0
|0
|282,495
|835,355
|0
|1,117,850
|-
!Grand total
!120,093
!616,111
!1,168,899
!2,123,287
!1,062,052
!5,090,442
|}
The SMLE Mk III* (renamed Rifle No.1 Mk III* in 1926) saw extensive service throughout the Second World War, especially in the North African, Italian, Pacific and Burmese theatres in the hands of British and Commonwealth forces. Australia and India retained and manufactured the SMLE Mk III* as their standard rifle during the conflict, and the rifle remained in Australian military service through the [[Korean War]], until it was replaced by the [[L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle#Australia|L1A1 SLR]] in the late 1950s.{{sfn|Skennerton|2007|p=338}} The [[Lithgow Small Arms Factory]] finally ceased production of the SMLE Mk III* in 1953.{{sfn|Skennerton|1994c|p=9}}

The [[Rifle Factory Ishapore]] at Ishapore in India produced the Mk III* in .303 British, and then the model 2A, with strength increased by heat treatment of the receiver and bolt to fire [[7.62×51mm NATO]] ammunition, retaining the 2,000-yard rear sight as the metric conversion of distance was very close to the flatter trajectory of the new ammunition. The model 2|A1 changed the rear sight to 800&nbsp;m, and was manufactured until at least the 1980s; a sporting rifle based on the Mk III* action remained in production.

The rifle became known simply as the "three-oh-three".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lithgowsafmuseum.org.au/milproduction.html|title=Lithgow Small Arms Factory Museum|website=www.lithgowsafmuseum.org.au}}</ref>

===Pattern 1913 Enfield===
{{Main|Pattern 1913 Enfield}}
Due to the poor performance of the [[.303 British]] cartridge during the [[Second Boer War]] from 1899 to 1902, the British attempted to replace the round and the Lee–Enfield rifle that fired it. The main deficiency of the rounds at the time was that they used heavy, round-nosed bullets that had low muzzle velocities and poor ballistic performance. The [[7×57mm Mauser]] rounds fired from the [[Mauser Model 1895]] rifle had a higher velocity, flatter trajectory and longer range, making them superior for the open plains of South Africa. Work on a long-range replacement cartridge began in 1910 and resulted in the [[.276 Enfield]] in 1912. A new rifle based on the Mauser design was created to fire the round, called the [[Pattern 1913 Enfield]]. Although the .276 Enfield had better ballistics, trials by British Army soldiers in 1913 revealed problems including excessive recoil, muzzle flash, barrel wear and overheating. It was hoped that a propellant with a lower burning temperature would be an improvement, but the onset of the [[First World War]] in 1914 ended development before a suitable propellant could be found. Wartime demand and the improved Mk VII loading of the .303 round caused the Lee–Enfield to be retained for service. Circa 1914 the Pattern 1913 design was modified as the [[Pattern 1914 Enfield]], mainly to use the .303 British cartridge. This weapon was mainly produced in the United States for British forces during the First World War. Upon the US entry into that war in 1917 the weapon was further redesigned for US service as the [[M1917 Enfield]] rifle, using the [[.30-06 Springfield]] cartridge.<ref>[http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/256brit.htm THE .256 INCH BRITISH: A LOST OPPORTUNITY by Anthony G Williams] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606221212/http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk/256brit.htm |date=6 June 2013 }}</ref>