The Lee-Enfield rifle is one of the cornerstones in military history, leaving an indelible mark on armed forces worldwide since its inception in 1895. Initially, the British Army adopted the Lee-Enfield to replace the Lee-Metford; the former was designed to use a recently invented smokeless propellant called cordite that gave it much-improved performance over the latter.
Out of date by 1889, the Lee-Metford had most to contend with its black powder cartridges, which generated a lot of smoke and gave away the firer’s position. The advent of cordite- with its high nitroglycerin content and resultant high temperature required a redesign of the barrel. The response from the Royal Arms Factory at Enfield was the new rifling system with deeper grooves, producing a Magazine Lee-Enfield Mark I, also known as Long Lee-Enfield.
James Paris Lee was one of the more famous small arms designers of the 19th century, and his involvement with the Lee-Enfield was very important. Emigrating to Canada from Scotland, Lee’s improvements notably the vertical box magazine-were crucial in developing modern small arms. The Lee-Enfield, with its detachable box magazine and rifle action designs, stands as a testament to his genius.
By 1896, Canada officially adopted the Lee-Enfield; buying 40,000 rifles and 2,300 carbines against a border dispute between Britain and Venezuela. Large numbers of the rifle went into service with Canadian forces in the South African War, 1899–1902, to be replaced in the First World War by the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE) Mark III. Lighter and shorter than its forerunner, the SMLE became a standard issue in the Canadian armed forces and remained in service well into the Second World War.
Canada produced more than 1.5 million Lee-Enfield rifles during the Second World War at its Small Arms Limited (SAL) plant at Long Branch, west of Toronto. Women workers played an important part in this venture. Some 3,500 of SAL’s 5,500 employees were women by 1943.
With this reliability and durability assured, the Lee-Enfield continued in service long, long after the war. The Canadian Rangers part-time force that operates in the north and other remote areas- continued using the rifle until 2018, making them the last military unit in the West to do so. The rifle’s legacy extended also to civilian use, where it became a trusted hunting firearm.
The .303 Lee-Enfield was a very deadly rifle because it had a 7.7×56 mm rimmed cartridge, sure-shot killing at least at a distance of 500 meters. Though having only a single shot via bolt action and thus needing to be reloaded after every shot, the accuracy and dependability of the rifle made it an instant favorite among soldiers and police everywhere. The story of the rifle is also one of its deployment in some of the most historic battles in human history, such as both World Wars and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919.
The rich history of the Lee-Enfield and comments on its continued presence in military use give evidence that it is indeed a powerful firearm in annals. Serving generations of conscripts in various theaters of operation and decision-making on world wars, the Lee-Enfield continues to be an archetype for research and development vis-?-vis the changing face of warfare.