M1895 Lee Navy

Lee Rifle, Model of 1895, Caliber 6mm
Winchester Model 1895 Lee Navy
Type	Bolt-action rifle
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1895–1907
Used by	United States Navy
Wars	Spanish–American War Philippine–American War Boxer Rebellion Moro Rebellion
Production history
Designer	James Paris Lee
Manufacturer	Winchester Repeating Arms Company
Produced	1895
No. built	Approx. 15,000
Specifications
Weight	8.32 pounds (3.77 kg)
Length	47.75 in (121.3 cm)
Barrel length	28 in (71 cm)
Cartridge	6 mm Lee Navy
Action	Straight-pull bolt action
Muzzle velocity	779 m/s (2,560 ft/s)
Effective firing range	549 m (600 yd) individual target, 915 m (1,000 yd) massed target
Maximum firing range	1829 m (2,000 yd)
Feed system	5-round en bloc clip, internal box magazine
Sights	Blade front, U-notch rear, adjustable for windage/elevation

The Lee Model 1895 was a straight-pull, cam-action magazine rifle adopted in limited numbers by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps in 1895 as a first-line infantry rifle. The Navy's official designation for the Lee Straight-Pull rifle was the "Lee Rifle, Model of 1895, caliber 6-mm" but the weapon is also largely known by other names, such as:

It fired a 6mm (0.236-in. caliber) cartridge, which used an early smokeless powder, was semi-rimless, and fired a 135-grain (later 112-grain) jacketed bullet. The 6mm U.S.N. or Lee Navy Cartridge was also used in the navy version of the Colt–Browning Model 1895 machinegun.

By 1894, the U.S. Navy desired to adopt a modern small-bore, smokeless powder rifle in keeping with other first-line naval powers. Naval authorities decided that the new cartridge should be adaptable to both rifles and machine guns. As the military forces began adopting smaller and smaller caliber rifles with higher velocity cartridges, U.S. naval authorities decided to leapfrog developments by adopting a semi-rimless cartridge in 6-mm caliber, with a case capable of holding a heavy charge of smokeless powder. On August 1, 1894 a naval test board was convened at the Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island to test submitted magazine rifles in the new 6mm Navy government chambering. Per the terms of the Notice to Inventors, the new government-designed 6mm U.S.N a.k.a. Ball Cartridge, 6mm was the only cartridge permitted for rifles tested before the Naval Small Arms Board. Both the ammunition and rifle barrels were supplied by the government; the barrels, made of 4.5 per cent nickel steel, used Metford-pattern rifling with a rifling twist of one turn in 6.5 inches, and were supplied unchambered with the receiver thread uncut. The rifle action was required to withstand the firing of five overpressure (proof) cartridges with a chamber pressure of 60,000 psi.

In the first set of service trials, the naval small arms board tested several submissions, including the Van Patten, Daudeteau, Briggs-Kneeland, Miles, the Russell-Livermore Magazine Rifle, five Remington turnbolt designs (all with side-mounted magazines), and the Lee straight-pull. In a second set of trials the Model 1893/94 Luger 6-mm Rifle and the Durst rifle were also considered, along with a Lee turning-bolt design. The Durst prototype fractured the receiver in firing and was withdrawn from the test, while the Luger Rifle performed excellently. Luger's submission had only one major disadvantage: it failed to meet government specifications, having been chambered in a non-standard rimless 6mm cartridge. The Lee turning bolt design was considered to be a good one, but marred by its magazine system, which the Small Arms Board found to be problematic. The Board thought so highly of the Luger Rifle that it recommended purchase of either a prototype or an option to purchase the rights to manufacture. Apparently this never came to pass, as Luger not only declined to submit its design in the Navy's government 6mm chambering, but withdrew from the third round of the service trials. The Lee straight-pull rifle with its charger-loaded magazine was chosen as the winner in repeated small arms trials, and was selected for adoption by the U.S. Navy in 1895 as the Lee Rifle, Model of 1895, caliber 6-mm, a.k.a. the M1895 Lee Navy.