British Military Rifles - Lee-Enfield Rifles

Lee-Enfield Rifles

For more details on covering all makes and models of Lee-Enfield rifle, see Lee-Enfield.

In 1895, the Lee-Metford design was reinforced to accommodate the higher chamber pressures of smokeless powder; more critically, the barrel rifling was changed to one developed by the Enfield factory owing to the incompatibility of the Metford barrel design with smokeless powder (the barrels becoming unusable after less than 5,000 rounds). The designation was changed to Rifle, Magazine, Lee-Enfield Mark I or MLE (magazine Lee Enfield). The sights also had to be changed to reflect the flatter trajectory and longer ranges of the improved cartridge.

The Martini-Henry, Lee-Metford, and Lee-Enfield rifles have an overall length just under 50 inches (1,300 mm). In each case several variants of carbines were offered in the under 40-inch (1,000 mm) range for uses by cavalry, artillery, constabularies and special troops.

Starting in 1909 MLE and MLM rifles were converted to use charger loading, which was accomplished by modifying the bolt, modifying the front and rear sights, and adding a charger guide bridge to the action body, thereby allowing the use of chargers to more rapidly load the magazines. Upgraded to a more modern standard, these rifles served in combat in the First World War.