| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| SgtMunro |
Posted - November 27 2003 : 03:54:17 AM
The Victorian Era was an exciting time for small arms development. In less than 40 years, the British Army had progressed from the tried and true smooth bore firelock to the bolt-action magazine rifle using smokeless propellant. It was quite possible for a man gazetted as an ensign in 1848, where the standard infantry arm was a variation of the same one that served the British Army since the reign of King William, to still be on active service when the 1888 Lee Metford Magazine Rifle (.303 caliber) was adopted.
When Queen Victoria was crowned, the British Army line infantry weapon was the last refinement of the Short Land Pattern Musket Bore Firelock, also known as the ‘Third Model’ or ‘India Pattern’. Starting in 1840, the British Army began to convert the existing firelocks to the new percussion lock. The percussion lock used a small, disposable copper or brass cap filled with a compound treated with fulmate of mercury, which would explode under compression. This allowed for more reliable ignition, under more severe climatic conditions. The weapon, although more reliable, was still just as inaccurate at ranges past 50 meters.
With the invention of Capt. Minie’s revolutionary bullet, where a patch was not needed as the bullet would expand to fit the rifling with the detonation of the powder charge, the stage was set for the creation of a general issue rifled shoulder arm. After experimenting with several limited issue rifled arms, a decision was made to accept for issue the Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle in .577 caliber. This was arguably the finest muzzle-loading rifle ever issued to a soldier, but it was still that, a muzzle-loaded weapon. The limited use of breech-loading small arms in the American Civil War, as well as the standard issue shoulder arms of both France and Prussia being breech-loaders, the Board of Ordinance decided that the British Army should also modernize.
As a stopgap measure, the Board of Ordinance decided on adopting Jacob Snider’s conversion of the Pattern 1853 Enfield to a breech-loader. Combined with Col. Boxer’s .577 cartridge, the Snider-Enfield was an effective weapon, allowing the average soldier to fire 12 rounds a minute as opposed to 3-4 from a muzzle-loader. With existing serviceable Pattern 1853 Rifles converted, an improved Pattern 1866 Snider (also called the Mark III) was issued to first line regular regiments.
The Pattern 1871 Martini-Henry Rifle, probably one of the most recognized British Military Arms ever adopted, followed the Pattern 1866 Snider Rifle. The Pattern 1871 was chambered for the new .577/450 cartridge, which was the old .577 cartridge that was bottle necked to accept a .45 caliber bullet. Lessons learned from the Sudanese Campaign of 1882, caused improvements to be made, like a longer operating lever and reinforced extractor, in the Mark IV variant. The Pattern 1871/84, as the Mark IV was known, was probably the finest single-shot military rifle ever made.
With the French adopting a bolt-action magazine rifle in 1886, the British Board of Ordinance decided to look for the Martini’s replacement. A design from James Paris Lee was adopted; this was to be known as the Pattern 1888 Lee-Metford Rifle. The Pattern 1888 Lee-Metford Rifle was chambered for the .303 caliber smokeless cartridge. The Pattern 1888 Lee-Metford used an eight round box magazine, with a cut-off mechanism to allow single shot firing. The rational behind this was that it would prevent the soldier from firing wildly, if he had to load each round. The rounds loaded in the magazine would be held in reserve, for emergency use. The Pattern 1888 was to be replaced by the improved Pattern 1895 Lee-Enfield. The Pattern 1895 Lee-Enfield differed from its predecessor by the use of the superior Enfield Rifling System, and the increase in magazine capacity to ten rounds.
The Pattern 1895 Lee-Enfield was to serve the British Soldier through the end of t |
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