Lee–Enfield SMLE Mk III rifle

Lee–Enfield
Short Magazine Lee–Enfield Mk I (1903), Swedish Army Museum, Stockholm.
Type	Bolt-action rifle
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	MLE: 1895–1926 SMLE: 1904–present
Used by	See Users
Wars	Second Boer War World War I Easter Rising Various Colonial conflicts Irish War of Independence Irish Civil War World War II Indonesian National Revolution Indo-Pakistani Wars Greek Civil War Malayan Emergency French Indochina War Korean War Arab-Israeli War Suez Crisis Border Campaign (Irish Republican Army) Mau Mau Uprising Vietnam War The Troubles Sino-Indian War Bangladesh Liberation War Soviet invasion of Afghanistan Nepalese Civil War Afghanistan conflict
Production history
Designer	James Paris Lee, RSAF Enfield
Produced	MLE: 1895–1904 SMLE: 1904–present
No. built	17,000,000+
Variants	See Models/marks
Specifications
Weight	4.19 kg (9.24 lb) (Mk I) 3.96 kg (8.73 lb) (Mk III) 4.11 kg (9.06 lb) (No. 4)
Length	MLE: 49.6 in (1,260 mm) SMLE No. 1 Mk III: 44.57 in (1,132 mm) SMLE No. 4 Mk I: 44.45 in (1,129 mm) LEC: 40.6 in (1,030 mm) SMLE No. 5 Mk I: 39.5 in (1,003 mm)
Barrel length	MLE: 30.2 in (767 mm) SMLE No. 1 Mk III: 25.2 in (640 mm) SMLE No. 4 Mk I: 25.2 in (640 mm) LEC: 21.2 in (540 mm) SMLE No. 5 Mk I: 18.8 in (480 mm)
Cartridge	.303 Mk VII SAA Ball
Action	Bolt-action
Rate of fire	20–30 aimed shots per minute
Muzzle velocity	744 m/s (2,441 ft/s)
Effective firing range	550 yd (503 m)
Maximum firing range	3,000 yd (2,743 m)
Feed system	10-round magazine, loaded with 5-round charger clips
Sights	Sliding ramp rear sights, fixed-post front sights, "dial" long-range volley; telescopic sights on sniper models. Fixed and adjustable aperture sights incorporated onto later variants.

The Lee–Enfield bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle was the main firearm used by the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century. It was the British Army's standard rifle from its official adoption in 1895 until 1957.

A redesign of the Lee–Metford (adopted by the British Army in 1888), the Lee–Enfield superseded the earlier Martini–Henry, Martini–Enfield, and Lee–Metford rifles. It featured a ten-round box magazine which was loaded with the .303 British cartridge manually from the top, either one round at a time or by means of five-round chargers. The Lee–Enfield was the standard issue weapon to rifle companies of the British Army and other Commonwealth nations in both the First and Second World Wars (these Commonwealth nations included Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India and South Africa, among others). Although officially replaced in the UK with the L1A1 SLR in 1957, it remained in widespread British service until the early/mid-1960s and the 7.62 mm L42 sniper variant remained in service until the 1990s. As a standard-issue infantry rifle, it is still found in service in the armed forces of some Commonwealth nations, notably with the Bangladesh Police, which makes it the second longest-serving military bolt-action rifle still in official service, after the Mosin–Nagant. The Canadian Forces' Rangers Arctic reserve unit still used Enfield No.4 rifles as of 2012^[update], with plans announced to replace the weapons sometime in 2014 or 2015. Total production of all Lee–Enfields is estimated at over 17 million rifles.