Lee-Enfield No. 4 MK 2, the Last Rifle of the British Empire
Lee-Enfield Modifications, Replicas, and Fakes. Over the past several months, Enfield Rifle Research has received dozens of questions about the spate of 'new' and 'rare' Lee-Enfields that have been showing up lately at gun shows and in pawn shops. Many of these are quite handsome rifles with pretty decent workmanship and are probably worth the.
By David Tong
This lowly scribe admits to a fond admiration for things British, including blacktea with cream and sugar, ales and stouts, single-malt Scotch, Triumph andNorton motorbikes, E-Type Jaguar cars and old Land Rovers. Call me anAnglophile if you will, I am good with that.
Asa not-so-closeted history buff, the time span between the dawn of theIndustrial Revolution and the close of the Second World War holds a particularinterest for me. One might cogently argue that this period saw the greatestleap in the application of technology and the mass-produced machine age. Yetthe Brits, for a period of over seventy years, clung to one rifle whose basicdesign did not significantly change between the reign of Queen Victoria and theend of the Korean War.
Thisrifle is, of course, the Lee-Enfield. As a typical late nineteenth-centurydesign, it was produced from machined forgings. The .303 caliber cartridge itfired used a rimmed case and was initially loaded with black powder.
JamesParis Lee, ex-pat Canadian turned American, designed the piece in the late1870's. The engineers at Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield Lock, England mademinor changes to it over time, from the earlier Lee-Metford design with itsshallow rifling, to the Enfield, with its deeper rifling to handle the earlyhot-burning “Cordite” smokeless propellant that was soon adopted. Smallerchanges in stock “furniture,” sighting equipment and barrel length reflectedevolving thoughts about small arms tactics during the period up to the FirstWorld War, when the Rifle, No. 1 Mark III* Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (“Smelly”)was standard issue for Britain and her vast colonial empire.
Thisparticular version was made in the largest quantities of any L-E and itprovided sterling service in the trenches, not least because it was among thefastest operating bolt action rifles extant, as well as possessing the largestmagazine capacity. The former was a result of its rear locking bolt, whichshortened the bolt travel compared to front lug designs, as it simply has lessbolt to withdraw before a new round can be stripped and fed, plus its verysmooth internal machining.
Therewere a few drawbacks to the design. It is very labor and time intensive, makingit difficult to build in quantity under wartime emergency conditions. Many ofthe smaller parts, such as stock bands and especially the nose cap/bayonetlug/front sight ears, were milled from forgings, as was the receiver. Thelatter must have started out as a three-pound chunk of steel before becoming afinished 10-ounce part. The two-piece stock design was outdated from itsinception and rear-locking bolts quickly became obsolescent.
Thetrigger was pinned to the trigger guard, rather than being attached to thereceiver itself. This made consistency of the pull weight and its qualityproblematic, especially when tropical temperatures and humidity swelled thewood stock causing the fit of the trigger/sear/cocking piece to vary.
Theround it fired, the redoubtable .303 British Mark VII shooting a 174 grainbullet @ 2,450 fps, was a rimmed, gently tapered case with a minimal shoulder.While this meant easy feeding and extraction, especially in the tropical andsub-Saharan reaches of the Empire where its relatively low operating pressurewas an advantage, the round was not quite the ballistic equal of competingrounds, such as the German 7.92x57JS (8mm Mauser), or the American .30-06. Thedifference, however, proved inconsequential.
Theadvent of WWII found the British in need of millions of rifles once again andthe result was the No, 4 Mark 1, introduced in 1939, but not officially adopteduntil 1941. This was a simplified weapon and used metal pressings (stampings)for stock bands, birch (rather than walnut) stocks (thus ending a nearly 300year history of the use of English walnut for military arms!) and somewhatfewer and straighter machine cuts for the receiver. The barrel is also heavierin contour and free-floating.
Moreimportantly, the earlier production of the No. 4 incorporated areceiver-mounted, folding aperture sight of fine quality. This featured a300-yard “battle” sight for coarse work and a micrometer, click-adjustable (forelevation only) small aperture sight mounted on an upright ladder with engravedrange markings from 200 to 1,300 yards. This sight, with its finer aperture,has fine cross hatching on the blade face to cut glare and only the lack ofwindage adjustment precludes it being called a “target” sight. This rear sight,coupled with the standard fine front sight, means there is relatively littletarget obstruction at long range.
Furthersimplification of the No. 4 during the war included deletion of this fine sightin favor of a two position flip type aperture for 300 and 500 yards (verysimilar in concept and execution to that of the early U.S. M16 rifle), stampedsling loops and the use of an aluminum, rather than cast brass, buttplate.There was also a noticeable reduction in external metal polish and black baked-enamelpaint over Parkerizing on all metal parts.
TheNo. 4 rifle served well in the second world conflict too, although by the endof the war the bolt action seemed nearly quaint compared it to the Germanselective fire Sturmgewehr 44, theU.S. M1 Garand, or the Soviet Tokarev semi-automatics. However, the Lee-Enfieldremained competitive with the German Mauser 98, Italian Carcano, JapaneseArisaka and Russian Moisin-Nagant bolt action infantry rifles.
Thereis a much-bandied about truism about the British, that they tend to cling toolder designs for far longer than sometimes prudent. Modern “firepower” tacticshave created the notion that individual riflemen are not very important on thebattlefield. However, I might point out that the marksmanship training the U.S.Marine Corps provides is effective to this day. I would also venture to saythat most of the other combatants during WWII also did not advance their weapontechnology for the foot soldier.
Suchwas the case when the No. 4 MK 2 was adopted in 1949. With the Second World Warover and the need for the huge standing army gone, British government armoriesreverted to better finish work and reinstated the adjustable rear sight on therifle, as well as the cast brass buttplate. However, the stamped bands andblack paint remained. Worthy of note is that, for the first time in theLee-Enfield rifle’s history, the trigger was pinned into the receiver, toeliminate the variable trigger quality issues of all previous models. Indeed,the smooth-faced trigger on my example has the usual two-stage pull, slack, thena crisp release of some 4.5 pounds. This is adequate, if not outstanding, for acombat rifle. My particular example of this rifle was built in the RoyalOrdnance Factory, Fazakerley, Liverpool, England in November 1954, just a fewyears before .303 Enfield rifle production ended. It was replaced by the .308caliber, semi-automatic Belgian FN-FAL design, manufactured in “inch-pattern”tooling and named the L1A1.
All parts that are serial numbered match, including the receiver, bolt andmagazine. The bore is mint with no throat erosion visible. Many of these MK 2rifles were exported to the U.S. civilian market as surplus in the 1980's and1990's, often still wrapped in brown paper and drenched with Cosmoline. They arethe Enfield to have if one wanted one to shoot,as their condition is far better than the average WWI or WWII relic.
Shootingit reminds me why I like these rifles so much. The comparatively low-pressurecartridge means you can shoot a lot and not get beat up, as most of itscontemporaries will do to you. The fine sights and decent trigger makesaccurate shooting possible and the rifle is extremely reliable.
Throughthe area that was once part of the British Empire, the .303 round is their“ought six” and all manner of big game has fallen to it. In Canada bears, elkand moose and in India hunters shot tigers, bovines and antlered game with it. InAfrica it was, and still is, used on all manner of plains game. It remains apopular cartridge in North America, Australia, Africa and the UK.
Bythe time the MK 2 rifle was issued, the fortunes of the British had changeddramatically. Even though she was one of the victorious Allies, the ruinousdebts amassed during the war and the costs of rebuilding her infrastructure andcities, plus the loss of so many gallant young men, meant that she could nolonger maintain her Empire. The British Mandate in Palestine ended in 1947 andout of this was born the State of Israel in 1948. The Indian sub-continentgained its independence in that same year. Britain relinquished her colonies inAfrica and Asia shortly after. The Crown Colony of Hong Kong remained until thelate 1990s, when it was absorbed into the Chinese Communist colossus.
TheLee-Enfield influenced the ebb and flow of the geo-political landscape as did noother rifle of its time. It helped the Afghans defeat the Soviet Army and itcan still be found serving as a police weapon in India and wielded by Afghan orPakistani troops, a service life far in excess of any of its contemporaries.
Sheis a bit weighty at nine pounds and my aging eyes will not let me hunt withiron sights much longer. However, for now, I can take to the field for theelusive black tailed deer in the local forested mountains, or (with properbullet selection) bust a Roosevelt elk here in my home state of Oregon. Therifle is also fun for target shooting and maybe it will pull a stint at some ofthe service rifle matches held at my local rifle club.
To me, there is nothing more alluring than practical history, the use of somethingthat has proven itself for over a century. The sun has set over the British Empire,but the Lee-Enfield is still very much with us. Such a rifle and the places ithas been will always warm my soul.
The Lee-Enfield No. 4 MK 1/2
By David Tong
After WWII, the Royal Ordnance Factory Fazakerley was the sole facility used by the British to rehabilitate rifles tired by five years of arduous service. The example I am reviewing is a representative of what the armorers there performed. Originally a standard No. 4 rifle, its original designation was No. 4 Mk I and this, plus its serial number, was stamped into the left rear receiver bridge just below the rear sight. This serial number differs from the one it was given during its rebuild.
Items that were replaced included the complete bolt, so the receiver was renumbered with the new number of the bolt. The original model and serial were crudely electric pencil lined out and a new one was placed further forward on the left receiver wall. Another new serial number was stamped onto the bottom of the fore end.
The new designation is the title of this article. It represents a minor technological upgrade of the No. 4. All Lee-Enfield rifles through the end of WW II had their triggers pivoting from the trigger guard / bottom iron. While this might not seem to be a big deal, in humid or rainy climates it was. When wood gets soaked, it can expand and this can change the trigger pull. This was most noticeable during the Burma and SE Asian campaigns.
The '1/2' designation involved the installation of a small steel block onto the otherwise stock No. 4 receiver, which the trigger was then hinged on via a cross-pin. (See the article Lee-Enfield No. 4 MK 2.) This metal block was not completely fitted when installed. It was precisely drilled after installation to ensure the perfect alignment of the trigger and sear engagement, thereby providing the best possible trigger pull. This isolated the effect of moisture by changing the direct engagement and disengagement of the trigger on the cocking piece and sear of the bolt.
Other repairs included new wooden blocks at the butt stock heel, around the lateral rear cross-screw and escutcheon near the butt stock socket, on the right side of the trigger guard and near the left receiver ring. These may be simply cemented into place, or attached with oak dowel pins plus cement in larger pieces, such as that of the butt heel.
Curiously, there appears to be a nearly mint five-groove barrel in my sample rifle. It shows no obvious throat erosion or pitting from corrosive priming or lack of care.
No. 4 rifles wore three main types of rear sights. The first was similar to what the later MK 2s wore, a finely machined ladder type aperture with a click adjustable knurled knob for fine elevation adjustment. The second type was used on the MK 1*, a very simple, L-shaped, two position aperture (similar to that of the early M16 rifles) with one aperture set for 200 yards and a higher one with a smaller aperture set for 500 yards.
This example of the MK 1/2 again wears an adjustable Mk II ladder, but with simple stamped construction and engraved range markings from 200-1,300 yards. Elevation is performed by a small spring-loaded detent tab that is much faster to use than the fine-thread Vernier click-adjustable screw of the original sighting system used on the first No. 4s, as well as the final No. 4 MK 2. A downside is that it is quite easy to inadvertently nudge the range setting.
No No.4 rifles had rear sight incorporated windage adjustment. This was performed by moving the front sight (available in five heights) laterally in its dovetail after zeroing with the issue Mk VII cartridges. This is not an unusual arrangement. Mauser 98s, Russian Mosin-Nagants and Japanese Arisakas used a similar method to adjust windage.
The trigger pull is decent, probably about 4.5 pounds with the usual two stage pull common to military service rifles of the period. The first stage also draws the striker back roughly 1/16 inch to full cock.
The exterior of the action is military rough with a 'blackened oil' surface covered with a baked-on black enamel topcoat. The interior machining is quite smooth and maintains the slick bolt-throw for which these rifles are known. The only bolt actions I am personally familiar with that are smoother are the US Krag-Jorgensen (also a rear-locking design), the Italian Mannlicher-Carcano and the Austrian Mannlicher-Schoenauer.
The idea behind this forward-through-repair process was one of postwar economy. Britain was utterly drained after the war and there was no money available for new small arms until the late 1950s. After the end of the war, roughly from 1948-1954, the Royal Ordnance Factory Fazakerley carried out extensive depot-level repairs on small arms and even they suffered from labor disputes and strikes. It is said that the goal was to provide a rifle with approximately 80% of its service life restored.
The armory generally ensured that small parts, such as the hand-guard bands, sling swivels, rear sight and other parts were of Fazakerley manufacture. This was indicated by small upper-case 'F' stampings. This particular rifle was originally made at Fazakerley.
It was missing its complete rear swivel assembly, its front swivel and its sling. Who knows what a prior owner was thinking, removing the only decent way to carry a piece that weighs nearly nine pounds. It certainly did not leave Fazakerley that way! These I replaced at slight expense from overseas vendors.
A few shots to confirm point of impact were taken at 100 yards with factory Remington Express 180 grain Core-Lokt round-nosed, soft-point ammunition. Then it was off to the hunting field for the all but invisible Oregon black tail deer the first week of October. Conditions were cloudy with periods of rain and temperatures in the mid-50s.
I noticed some reluctance to feed the round-nosed ammunition smoothly. I have heard that the magazine's feed lip tabs can be gently bent to correct this, but I haven't done so. I simply switched to the more common spitzer bullet design, which worked without issue.
Alas, several trips to the Coast Range proved fruitless, as these deer are known to bed down shortly after dawn, after feeding and watering. The terrain in the Coast Range is mixed, with thick woods, clear-cut stands of removed timber, rolling hills and quite steep mountains that would make recovering a deer a tough job.
As this rifle came to me in 'military distressed' cosmetic condition, I didn't worry about the rainy weather encountered on our hunting trips. I figured a rifle that had survived World War II would no doubt handle a couple of days in the rain and this proved to be correct.