Pattern 1913 Enfield Trials Rifle
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- Опубликовано: 27 апр 2016
- / forgottenweapons
One of the lessons learned by the British military in the aftermath of the Boer War was that modern Mauser rifles were superior to their Lee-action rifles and carbines. In response, British ordnance began experimenting with a Mauser-pattern rifle, ultimately finalized as the Pattern 1913. This rifle would also leave behind the obsolescent .303 rimmed cartridge, in favor of a new rimless .276 Enfield round.
The Pattern 13 rifle itself was excellent - it balanced and handled well, it had very good sights, and a smooth and fast bolt throw. However, the .276 Enfield cartridge was really more potent than it needed to be, and caused problems. The cartridge threw a 165 grain bullet at just under 2800fps, pretty close to the ballistics of today's 7mm Remington Magnum. Loaded with Cordite propellent, this led to excessive barrel wear and unpleasant recoil, along with some parts breakage. However, as final testing was being done in the first half of 1914, the Great War broke out.
At this point, plans for using a new cartridge were abandoned. The rifle itself was redesigned in the .303 cartridge, to be manufactured in large numbers by American firms under contract. It would also be refitted for the .30-06 cartridge and used in large numbers by the American armed forces as the M1917 Enfield rifle. According to General Julian Hatcher (who ought to know), it was the best rifle of the First World War.
A 1917 with a ten round magazine would make a lot of people happy
Just bought a P14 yesterday my first ever rifle in excellent shape and I am absolutely in love with it
What a beautiful example of a 1913 Enfield. One of the lesser know small arms adopted by the US military. Most people believe that the 1903 Springfield was the quintessential WW1 infantry rifle, but this design was more prevalent.. in the .30-06 round of course.
Designs new rifle for the military
And in the meantime the MkVII .303 cartridge was designed and found to be a really effective round, the SMLE had also been improved in 1907. The British army also decided to improve its marksmanship training post Boer War (the first Battle of Mons showed how well they could shoot).
My very first rifle was a P14... bought it in 1959.... Good rifle (sporterised of course).... Had another in the 1990s...about the same but barrel not as good..... Recently got a BSA-sporterised action in a trade for a gun smithing job....had the stock with it.... It now wears a 25" .308W barrel (had to modify the magazine....)... Just finished putting it all together. As the action lacked the aperture sight (location marked with the BSA logo), I machined up pair of scope bases (these had to be "split level" as there is a 5mm difference in height above bore between receiver front end and the rear bridge)..... It's scoped now, so waiting for thr end of Lock-down so that I can get to the range and see how it shoots. It helped to pass the time.... although I don't hunt any more as I turn 78 this year and NZ hunting areas are steep mountain country... not that fit now... :-)
I filled last year's Deer Tag with my P14. The .303 is still a great game cartridge with lots of history.
I absolutely adore my M1917, and love teaching people about it when they ask at the range. Thanks for this extra information on the Pattern 13.
.276 Enfield was a belted cartridge supposedly designed with advice from Holland and Holland who popularised belted cartridges for sporting rifles. 'Volley' sights are calibrated out to over 2000 yards - the front assembly is rotated
That P1913 is in beautiful condition, the bluing has that luminescence to it that you get on a well cared for rifle.
now finally after watching so many hours of your videos, i have to say thank you ian for this great channel, its a unique channel! keep it up =) grreetings from austria
I had an Eddystone 1917, it had been a drill rifle for the VFW since before WW2. Sadly Tweekers stole it along with my whole safe in December. I loved that rifle.
Thanks for making this video Ian! Been waiting a long time for this one!
Yet another wonderful firearms history lesson. Thank you Ian.
Hi Ian, great video. In respect to the to the bend in the bolt handle. It is of significance to the design as it positions the handle in the correct position to the trigger for smooth and rapid operation. I do like your videos. Keep up the great job.
Inherited my grandpa's 1917 sporterized one. When I got it it hadn't been shot since maybe the late 60's. Pulled up a video tutorial on cleaning it, hauled the bolt apart (it was almost pristine), cleaned it, put it back together and after that cycling it was smooth as silk. If I pointed the barrel up and gave the bolt a little slap it cycked up and open. Also I'm commenting before watching the whole video so apologies if I'm repeating info but the Danish Sirius Dogsled Patrol still use these as service rifles 114 years later as they cycle reliably in the cold.
Fantastic piece of history. Great video, thank you sir!
Thanks Ian, we've captured two Remington P14s (still with volley sights) here in Astan and one Khyber Pass M1917 sporterized. They still shoot, been rode very hard and still serviceable. That's a testament of their design.
The most important lesson the British Army took from the Boer War was the fact that marksmanship had been totally neglected: the Lee-Metford was an excellent rifle, but needed someone trained to fire it accurately to bring its best qualities out. Prior to the Boer War, the Army had effectivly rested on its laurels since the Napoleonic wars, with not much significant change in tactics ( partly due to the Duke of Wellington, who was resolute in stopping any progress until the day he died), with the Army in effect relying on volley fire to defeat its enemies, hence the overwhelming obsession with drill ( it had "worked" in the Crimean War, after all).
Excellent video i love this channel thank you for your work. The rimmed .303 cartridge is the Lee Enfield biggest downfall. Think WW2 if the British had a rimless cartridge take a Bren gun put a feed cover on it then you have a gas operated general purpose machine gun with a quick change barrel.