I actually enjoyed the description and history of the blade. I've recently purchased a no. 4 mk. 1 and it's nice to hear some of the history about this series of weapons. Thanks for the videos!
The Australian cavalry charge you refer to was actually mounted infantry of the 4th Australian Light horse, not cavalry, which did the last cavalry charge of ww1 In Palestine at the Beersheb 31 Oct 1917, attacking the Gaza- Beersheba fortifications..( Though it's debated that the last great cavalry charge was on 2 October 1918 when the 3rd Australian Light Horse brigade charged down a column of about 1400 Turks and Germans, capturing the lot, machine guns, artillery, cavalry and infantry.) Anyway the usual tactic of the light horse was to dismount and go into the attack on foot and the Turks at Beersheba were expecting that but instead they charged and went in under the Turkish field guns. The Turks couldn't lower their guns fast enough to take out the bulk of the charge. They made it to, jumped in on foot and jumped over on horseback the Turkish trenches. The importants of it, apart from capturing the much needed wells at Beersheba in tact, is that they achieved what 800 years of crusades and Nepoleon failed to do. They rode into the holy city of Jerusalem on the 11th December 1917 . liberating it from Islamic rule. The first time the holy city was in the hands of Judeo-Christians since the crusaders had been kicked out by the muslims hundreds of years before. The Christians and Jews in the city were beside themselves with joy when the light horse arrived, ,No I'm not religious. I just respect the history of it.
Bayonet boss and bayonet standard are the names of the bayonet fittings on the rifle. Spent many a night Blancoeing and polishing the fasteners on those ammunition pouches. There are three loops on the pull through, the end one is for the armorer to use to extract a broken pull through, the middle one is for cleaning and oiling using 4 x 2 flannelette for the cleaning and 4 x 1 for oiling. The last loop was used to remove heavy fouling by the use of a steel gauze patch which was installed in an S shape in the loop. The point of balance of the rifle, just forward of the magazine, was so good than no 'steadying' was needed from the sling and the rifle just rested in the left hand, control was given from the right hand at the 'Small of the Butt'. Remember, when pulling through, put the heel of the butt on the ground and pull with one fluid straight motion. Enjoy your rifle, I'm a tad envious.
Great video, really interesting. My grandfather fought with the Berkshire regiment and was evacuated at Dunkirk. He was then invalided out and worked at the Royal small arms ordinance factory in Enfield and helped to turn these out in their thousands. As you pointed out this one was obviously made under licence by Lithgow's I think..... Anyway, keep up the good work!!
Don't listen to a word he says. Great job on the history, the way it was presented and most of all on the passion you have for this great weapon. As an Australian that has servered I am moved to see an Amercian appreciate our military history in the way you have. As a result of your video, I have decided to purchase a complete set of the infantry fighting rig. And I am deeply jealous of yours :-)
To clean the bore of my Enfields and Mausers using corrosive ammo.I use Sweet's 7.62 Solvent made in Australia,the smell is over powering of amonia.This stuff will take on the corrosive stuff.I recommend that you clean your bore until the patches are clear then coat the bore with CLP or Shooter's Choice FP-10 over night and punch the bore again the next day for good measure and put the coat of oil in the bore again for storage.
The charge by the Australians was at Beersheba in 1917. It was the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments. They were not cavalry, but mounted infantry. They charged across open ground with their rifles slung over their backs and bayonets held in the hand which was their preferred method of close in fighting. They didn't have much option as they had marched for days and their horses were just about spent, so they rushed the guns and then fought on foot. They had no trouble getting the horses to charge as they could smell the water. I was in a Light Horse Regiiment in the late 60s (it was a reserve unit by that time), but we had Centurion Main Battle Tanks, not horses, haha. The Tank we had at the barracks was named Beersheba (when we marched into a camp we were issued with a full compliment of tanks). That rifle would have been used by the British as they used to cut the tabs off along the rear sights when one broke off, which occurred occasionally as the wood was a bit vulnerable, but us Aussies were a bit fussier apparently and always replaced the timber piece. The correct positioning of the sling was with the rear keeper level with the edge of the handgrip. We only ever loosened off the front keeper as it saved having to line up the rear keeper (many push ups and runs with rifle above your head if not aligned properly). The SMLE slings were khaki, not green and the SLR (Aussie made FN/FAL) slings were the same whilst I was in the Army in the mid 60s, but some years later the green ones appeared. I carried a SMLE in the Australian Army Cadets. The rifle is a Short (as in shorter than a full length rifle), Magazine (as in magazine fitted), Lee Enfield. Great video series, thanks.
Good one mate and thanks for putting in some pics of Aussie soldiers. It's easy to tell the Aussies from the Pommies...the Aussies are the untidy looking ones! Apparently the British commanders constantly complained about the Australians "slovenly" appearance during WW1. I think there were fewer complaints about their fighting ability. In WW2 in North Africa, even Rommel was a fan of the Aussies! lol
There was a leather washer at the bottom of the hole in the butt-stock. This was there to keep the brass oil bottle from rattling against the stock bolt. The oil bottle is put in first followed by the pull through which was coiled around the hand and then wrapped with the string nearest the brass weight with the brass left loose. the pull through would be inserted after the bottle and the brass weight would go into a small hole to the side of the larger hole. This would make it easier to remove the pull through and the oil bottle would slide out. If you have old ammo do not use it for you will get miss fires.
Thank you so much for the kind comments! I'm glad you hold my videos in such high regard! I never really made a video on the Swiss 1896/1911 rifle though, I'd love to do one in the future though.
thanks 4 these videos mate learnin more about the history i wanna learn as a brit myself gotta love the rifle, 2 things i'm pretty sure of and this should have been put in part 1 is that most of our boys pretty much just used the magazine as you would with any rifle 2 day and the 2nd is that .303 rounds are fairly common in most parts of the UK. keep the sweets mate
Great vid and well made, Your oil bottle is , in fact a container for graphite grease (hence the spoon inside) and the one you have is the one made for the 7.62 SLR the brass ones are starting to turn up on ebay quite frequently and reasonably if you are looking to get one. Your pull through goes through from the breach end to the muzzle so you can rest the butt on the ground to pull the cord through the barrel. The end loop was for the armourer to use to remove the cord if it snapped inside it
Enjoy your vidios very much. The charge by the Australian Light Horse ( mounted infantry, not cavalry) was at Beersheba in 1917 and the troopers did indeed use the bayonets as swords. Some enjoyed it so much they were reissued sabres. My wife's grandfather was a member of the field ambulance at the charge. I an fortunate to have my fathers old lee enfield . It was made in Lithgow N.S.W. In 1944 and is in desperate need of a new barrel. Dad shot at a mysterious light near our house on the station ( Australian version of ranch) we lived on on 1969. He used cordite ammo and neglected to clean the rifle until 1989,which was the next time it was fired. Never was the same again. Still have the bayonet though.
Very nice videos. My only comments: WW1 SMLEs were fitted with leather slings which are very hard to find (they rot); the deep grooves on the bayonet blade were to allow blood to flow out and air to go in to facilitating withdrawal; "Wilkinson Sword" made the majority; under 'rapid fire', the trigger was pulled with the index finger and the bolt gripped permanently by the thumb and forefinger; a note on the sights and regimental discs might be interesting. Many thanks
I remember about 2 years ago some boxes of Kynoch were made available by Southern Ohio Gun...but you're right, since then, it's impossible to get that stuff. But thankfully, .303 is very well suited for reloading. Aside from some early screw-ups, I use a very inexpensive Lee hand loader kit. H414 Hodgnons powder, I've been told, is the most accurate powder in terms of duplicating the original powders that the Limeys used. Enjoy!
just discovered your channel tonight. i personally only own 'modern' firearms (S&W 629 is the oldest one i own), but you have just inspired me to get into the mil-surp game. only decision now, is which one should i get 1st? the no1 is a very attractive gun. you stated in your 1st vid that they make em in .308. are they hard to come by? are they also considered mil-surp? i dont wanna have to stock up on a new caliber. last question, what is a reasonable price to pay for one of these? great vids!
Just a quick note about the Greek ammo,great out to 500 yrds but accuracy falls off after that.Also the cases will only take two or three reloads before they start to split around the neck and the cases need to be carefully resized..The light horse were mounted infantry,A troop was four men and in action they would dismount and fight while one man would hold the horses.They charged the guns and machine guns at beersheeba,out of 1500 they only lost about 30 men,
My dad has a Lee Enfield No.1, im not sure what Mark it is, but it has been converted into a .410 shotgun. Even though i can only fire one round at a time and there only measly .410 rounds, i just love the nostalgia feel of this rifle!
where did you obtain the Austrailian stamped Bayonet from , I am in Australia and I have never seen one, I do love that model , I own a BSA model from 1917 , it has been fully restored and is now buetifull , all my others will be re treated with B.L.O. over the next few weeks.
an interesting face about the bayonets, Australian soldiers were trained to stab or 'thrust' the enemy in the chest and twist when the bayonet was inside their vitals. That was intended to make lots more damage and even drag out their insides. Gruesome i know but effective.
There is also the fact that the issued bayonet was issued for use against horses. And also to give you distance from the enemy. You are trained to attack an enemy in 3 ways with a bayonet. 1 full length. with the rifle thrust out and aim to put the blade in the enemys head 2 at your side. with the stock behind you, You run up to the enemy and force the bayonet through his gut 3 rifle butt down and you force the blade up and in to his chin and through his brain Hope this helps :)
a deactivated rifle is a rifle that has its bolt glued perminatly in place and the barrel cut in 2-3 places and the front most part of the barrel is plugged perminatly with metal
A couple more things to add to my previous post;1 the Australian horse soldiers weren't cavalry ,they were mounted infantry and as such didn't have the normal things that cavalry had such as a sword that is why they used the bayonet as a a short sword.2 that pull through with the two pockets that you showed is I suspect for the Bren gun. 3 The HXP ammo is great to reload but you will only get a few reloads out of it as the case is this and will crack eventually.
I tried long and hard to find pictures of British soldiers in WWII equipped with No.1 rifles and I couldn't find many. I know they had them in the early campaigns, but most photographs of British soldiers are of the D-Day/post-D-Day campaigns and operations where they have the No.4 rifle. Every single photo of Aussies or Kiwis has them with the No.1 rifles, so they were appropriate, plus they were part of the war effort too, especially in the Pacific.
When you mentioned the unwieldy nature of the long bayonet and the potential use of a trenching tool as a better weapon I must admit my first thought was again returning to the use of the bayonet as a short sword. Of course "effective" use of a short sword is probably slightly more complicated than using a shovel and hacking away or the later gun with a shorter bayonet which would have been trained with.
The cavalry charge you refer to at 2:51 sounds like the story of the Light Horsemen, during the Battle of Beersheeba, one of the most successful cavalry charges in the past 100 years. They did indeed use the Bayonets as a short sword and proved to be incredibly effective: They practically won the entire battle. They made a movie about it, The Light Horsemen, I recommend it dearly. :)
All I want to say is that many soldiers didnt use the bayonets in the Trenchs they either had trench knives. (Normally made from a bayonet cut down to about 6 inchs long.) Or a Trench Batton. made from a stick. (Often a barrle rod from a rifle grenade. But could be any old stick.) And a nice heavy bit of metal and would use those in the trenchs.
The battle of which you mention is the light horses charge at beersheeba to capture the wells there against the Turks, there is a movie called the light horsemen good film
Surplus for the enfield is bloody hard to find here in australia, i almost always use the modern stuff, which i pay around 1 50 a round for, when it does turn up from time to time then u have to quick otherwise it goes in flash
00:28, my great great uncle was in the Worcestershire regiment during the Great War. Nice informative videos by the way, hoping to get some order of a Lee-Enfield once I get my FAC.
btw. There is a way to store the pull through, oil bottle and fourbie in the butt quickly and easily. a clue... The little hole at the top is for the brass part of the pull through. btw btw, fourbie is sectioned pieces if cotton 4" by 2". Great to see a good video on the SMELLY (SMLE) The AK of it's day.
The charge was at The Battle of Beersheba also known as the Third Battle of Gaza was fought on 31 October 1917 when the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) attacked and captured the Yildirim Army Group garrison at Beersheba
The prices you told, are quite fair. Here in germany at a big distributor they want about $45,- for 20 rounds made by federal, $32.- for hornady and Sellier & Bellot made.
I have a 1908 sporterized No1Mk3 grandfathered to me. It served as my fathers deer rifle for his whole life after it was handed to him. I have to confess that Ive spent more than a box or two of ammo practicing the Mad minute with it growing up. Got pretty damn fast at it too. lol It will be my sons rifle for sure reguardess of what laws are imposed.
The Pakistani ammo has a bad hang fire is because the propellant isnt gunpowder but rather cordite, which actually burns at a much slower rate than gunpowder.
it was the 4 th Australian Light Horse (mounted infantry) made a charge against the Turks at Beersheba 800 of them across 6000 yards, under field gun and machine gun and took thier objective
Very nice rifle and video! Man the entrenching tool used as weapons is som nasty stuff. Terrible that men at that age had to do stuff like that to eachother
good vidio,,i yoused a 303 in the army res' in england years ago, we had peep sights,,they were swiching over to the nato slr's at the time,,the 303's were verry accurat but heavy to carry around all day,,i put oil in the clip to make them load smoother,,you could hit the target at 350 yards no problam,,not so whith the slr's,,
Good info on the bayonet, but the 4's efficient 'pigsticker' wasn't too popular with the troops. A bayonet is more used as a handy utility knife, toasting fork and general tool than a fighting weapon. In action the secondary weapon was usually the butt, and the British WWII entrenching tool is clearly a close-quarter weapon the Roman Legions would respect (shovel front, mattock blade rear and capability to attach the pigsticker to the bottom of the handle).
The poms didn't think the SMLE was a good Bayonet rifle,they thought the fore end wasn't strong enough but the Diggers put the wind up the Italians in North Africa and were arguably the best bayonet fighters in the world. Course Montgomery used them as cannon fodder to draw the Germans out so he could round em up with his tank forces. When the Australian light horse charged at Beersheba all they had was the the long pattern Bayonet . 1500 men on horses over a thousand yards against machine guns and artillery. They only lost 35 men due to the speed of their advance.
The book 'Generals die in bed' a british soldier stabbed a german and the bayonet got stuck, he pulled vigorously but the german held on like it was his...war is hell
Bought a sporterized smelly at a gun show, looks really good, want it for my deer rifle. Problem is, I'm deaf. Your first vid was captioned so I could know what you were saying. This vid is not captioned. In other words, turn off the speakers and watch it without your talk through and it is all missed. But your video appears to be among the most thorough and useful breakdown on my rifle, so for my safety and pleasure, need to know what you're saying. Can you please get it captioned? Thank you so very much!
That bayonet of yours is going for over $200. My Lee Enfield does not like to cycle lead tipped very cleanly (soft points). Full metal jacket is not a problem and cycles very easily.
Quick question: where should I look for blank 303 cartridges? I have a '42 dated Lithgow that I want to use for some living history displays, and I'm was wondering what the best type of blank cartridge to buy, and what would I need to do to fire said rounds? Thanks!
the Aussies never converted to the number 4 rifle during ww2 and used the number 1 mk 111 throughout, remember that these rifles were being produced around the globe in various models
When we were young teenagers in the mid sixties we could buy these at the surplus store for $1.50 with the scabbard. No1 Mk111 went for $14.95 No4 Mk1 went for $24.95 K98 were $39.95 M1 carbines were $49.95 same as No5s. The old Brodie helmet cost us $2.00. Lewis guns were $150.00 in 303, that was in the good old days before Canada changed the gun laws...Hal
very good video. You forgot some accessories though. There is a single shot slider for the action which fits into the little slot in the action, there I also a parker hale micrometre peep sight which bolts on and was used for sharp shooting, queens medal and full bore competition which was at 1000 yards. also you need a bit of practice with your use on the action in your first video. Speed is not key but smooth operation! whon you cycle the action of this rile you need to use your fingers, not your hand. open the bolt wit your fingers and flik it back without taking you eyes from the sight and target, then return it home by putting your thumb behind the bolt and your fingers on the stripper clip guides. this action can be used like a semi automatic and subsequent rounds fired while keeping your sight picture. Back in the day, an infrantryman had to qualify by scoring 20 rounds at 400 yards in 2 minutes which is fast even by todays standards.
Regarding ammo - my comments on Prvi Partizan are in your Part 1 vid (sorry I didn't watch this one first!!). As for reloading, 7.7 Japanese does use the same projectiles but looking at my Hornady manuals (3rd and 7th editions) is a different cartridge and does NOT use the same load data. Use .303 British-specific loads, especially in the SMLE.
"Colonel Bogey" march composed in 1914 by British Army bandmaster Kenneth J. Alford ( published using his assumed commercial identity of Lt. Frederick J. Ricketts).
I was speaking to a guy that used ww2 surplus (made before 1945), he said the worst hang-fire he had was between 30 sec to a minute. (not sure if he was exaggerating but i believed him)
the reason for the long bayonet was because soldiers using shorter bayonets found in training that they couldnt pull a horseman of his horse, so they had long bayonets put as standard issue, and didnt that work out well for the british in WW1? :)
@jubbles2343 I've actually seen pictures of those before. WWI is a very strange war, I've read of accounts where on prisoner grabbing night raids, they would grenade a dug-out and one guy might be left alive, but his clothes were blown off, so they gagged him and brought him back naked. I've also read plenty of instances where soldiers abandoned rifles and rushed across no man's land with a bag full of grenades.
The milsurp game is all about what tickles your fancy. Nobody is seriously telling you that a Lee Enfield with a 17 inch bayonet is going to be your carry gun, or your home defense long arm. You can of course hunt with it with the right ammo. The 7.62 NATO chambered Lee Enfields are by and large, of Indian manufacture from Ishapore. They are the 2A and the 2A1 models and you see them floating around on the market. I'm not an expert in those rifles, and without my books, I can't tell you more.
Good history. Makes me like my no1 mk3 even more. That bayonet could easily double as a cavalry sabre. Shame about the ammunition though. My Mosin Nagant shoots way more cheaply.
I have a few questions .First , is this a 30 30 or .303 rifle and if its a .303 would I be able to use Winchester Super-X .303 British 180-Grain Power-Point Rifle Ammunition
The bayonet *was* a poor weapon to use in Trench combat, Ramiques veteran was right there, pretty much every infantrymans memoirs of the Great War I have read, from both sides, mention that most experienced troops carried sharpened entrenching tools for the purpose. A Rifle with a bayonet is great if you are fighting hand to hand in an area where you can utilise that extra reach, but trenches are *not* that kind of area :). Interestingly enough the British could not do the entrenching tool thing as the British entrenching tool was a two piece affair, a haft with a detachable head that had a pick on one side, and a small shovel head on the other. Looked like this: www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30013895. Some troopers began to fit various home made heads to the handles, turning them into trench clubs, a practice that was then taken up by various companies in Britain. The Head would simply slide onto the entrenching tool haft in place of the standard tool to make a nasty little weapon. www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30001725
Liberty tree collectors has some I think. You can get them anywhere on the internet really, unless you're not in the US, in which case I really can't help you.
Hey man. I got a 1948 Indian No.1 Mk.3 sporter for $175. What tools will I need to disassemble the rifle? The ammo I bought at a gun show is FN 1950 .303
@something01992 Ya Ive heard it all... Really people just LOVE to over complicate things. I use it to clean the external surfaces of my muskets after shooting. If it didn't work really really good. I would have quite using it years ago.
My dad was trained in Australia in the use of the No1Mk3 and the sling can be used very effectively to steady a standing shot
I actually enjoyed the description and history of the blade. I've recently purchased a no. 4 mk. 1 and it's nice to hear some of the history about this series of weapons. Thanks for the videos!
The Australian cavalry charge you refer to was actually mounted infantry of the 4th Australian Light horse, not cavalry, which did the last cavalry charge of ww1 In Palestine at the Beersheb 31 Oct 1917, attacking the Gaza- Beersheba fortifications..( Though it's debated that the last great cavalry charge was on 2 October 1918 when the 3rd Australian Light Horse brigade charged down a column of about 1400 Turks and Germans, capturing the lot, machine guns, artillery, cavalry and infantry.) Anyway the usual tactic of the light horse was to dismount and go into the attack on foot and the Turks at Beersheba were expecting that but instead they charged and went in under the Turkish field guns. The Turks couldn't lower their guns fast enough to take out the bulk of the charge. They made it to, jumped in on foot and jumped over on horseback the Turkish trenches. The importants of it, apart from capturing the much needed wells at Beersheba in tact, is that they achieved what 800 years of crusades and Nepoleon failed to do. They rode into the holy city of Jerusalem on the 11th December 1917 . liberating it from Islamic rule. The first time the holy city was in the hands of Judeo-Christians since the crusaders had been kicked out by the muslims hundreds of years before. The Christians and Jews in the city were beside themselves with joy when the light horse arrived, ,No I'm not religious. I just respect the history of it.
Bayonet boss and bayonet standard are the names of the bayonet fittings on the rifle. Spent many a night Blancoeing and polishing the fasteners on those ammunition pouches. There are three loops on the pull through, the end one is for the armorer to use to extract a broken pull through, the middle one is for cleaning and oiling using 4 x 2 flannelette for the cleaning and 4 x 1 for oiling. The last loop was used to remove heavy fouling by the use of a steel gauze patch which was installed in an S shape in the loop. The point of balance of the rifle, just forward of the magazine, was so good than no 'steadying' was needed from the sling and the rifle just rested in the left hand, control was given from the right hand at the 'Small of the Butt'. Remember, when pulling through, put the heel of the butt on the ground and pull with one fluid straight motion. Enjoy your rifle, I'm a tad envious.
Great video, really interesting. My grandfather fought with the Berkshire regiment and was evacuated at Dunkirk. He was then invalided out and worked at the Royal small arms ordinance factory in Enfield and helped to turn these out in their thousands. As you pointed out this one was obviously made under licence by Lithgow's I think..... Anyway, keep up the good work!!
Don't listen to a word he says. Great job on the history, the way it was presented and most of all on the passion you have for this great weapon. As an Australian that has servered I am moved to see an Amercian appreciate our military history in the way you have. As a result of your video, I have decided to purchase a complete set of the infantry fighting rig. And I am deeply jealous of yours :-)
To clean the bore of my Enfields and Mausers using corrosive ammo.I use Sweet's 7.62 Solvent made in Australia,the smell is over powering of amonia.This stuff will take on the corrosive stuff.I recommend that you clean your bore until the patches are clear then coat the bore with CLP or Shooter's Choice FP-10 over night and punch the bore again the next day for good measure and put the coat of oil in the bore again for storage.
The charge by the Australians was at Beersheba in 1917. It was the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments. They were not cavalry, but mounted infantry. They charged across open ground with their rifles slung over their backs and bayonets held in the hand which was their preferred method of close in fighting. They didn't have much option as they had marched for days and their horses were just about spent, so they rushed the guns and then fought on foot. They had no trouble getting the horses to charge as they could smell the water. I was in a Light Horse Regiiment in the late 60s (it was a reserve unit by that time), but we had Centurion Main Battle Tanks, not horses, haha. The Tank we had at the barracks was named Beersheba (when we marched into a camp we were issued with a full compliment of tanks).
That rifle would have been used by the British as they used to cut the tabs off along the rear sights when one broke off, which occurred occasionally as the wood was a bit vulnerable, but us Aussies were a bit fussier apparently and always replaced the timber piece.
The correct positioning of the sling was with the rear keeper level with the edge of the handgrip. We only ever loosened off the front keeper as it saved having to line up the rear keeper (many push ups and runs with rifle above your head if not aligned properly). The SMLE slings were khaki, not green and the SLR (Aussie made FN/FAL) slings were the same whilst I was in the Army in the mid 60s, but some years later the green ones appeared. I carried a SMLE in the Australian Army Cadets. The rifle is a Short (as in shorter than a full length rifle), Magazine (as in magazine fitted), Lee Enfield.
Great video series, thanks.
Good one mate and thanks for putting in some pics of Aussie soldiers. It's easy to tell the Aussies from the Pommies...the Aussies are the untidy looking ones! Apparently the British commanders constantly complained about the Australians "slovenly" appearance during WW1. I think there were fewer complaints about their fighting ability. In WW2 in North Africa, even Rommel was a fan of the Aussies! lol
There was a leather washer at the bottom of the hole in the butt-stock. This was there to keep the brass oil bottle from rattling against the stock bolt. The oil bottle is put in first followed by the pull through which was coiled around the hand and then wrapped with the string nearest the brass weight with the brass left loose. the pull through would be inserted after the bottle and the brass weight would go into a small hole to the side of the larger hole. This would make it easier to remove the pull through and the oil bottle would slide out. If you have old ammo do not use it for you will get miss fires.
Thank you so much for the kind comments! I'm glad you hold my videos in such high regard! I never really made a video on the Swiss 1896/1911 rifle though, I'd love to do one in the future though.
thanks 4 these videos mate learnin more about the history i wanna learn as a brit myself gotta love the rifle, 2 things i'm pretty sure of and this should have been put in part 1 is that most of our boys pretty much just used the magazine as you would with any rifle 2 day and the 2nd is that .303 rounds are fairly common in most parts of the UK. keep the sweets mate
Great videos, I'm watching them a few times over to help me when it comes to potentially buying an Enfield at a gun fair this weekend.
Great vid and well made, Your oil bottle is , in fact a container for graphite grease (hence the spoon inside) and the one you have is the one made for the 7.62 SLR the brass ones are starting to turn up on ebay quite frequently and reasonably if you are looking to get one. Your pull through goes through from the breach end to the muzzle so you can rest the butt on the ground to pull the cord through the barrel. The end loop was for the armourer to use to remove the cord if it snapped inside it
Enjoy your vidios very much. The charge by the Australian Light Horse ( mounted infantry, not cavalry) was at Beersheba in 1917 and the troopers did indeed use the bayonets as swords. Some enjoyed it so much they were reissued sabres. My wife's grandfather was a member of the field ambulance at the charge. I an fortunate to have my fathers old lee enfield . It was made in Lithgow N.S.W. In 1944 and is in desperate need of a new barrel. Dad shot at a mysterious light near our house on the station ( Australian version of ranch) we lived on on 1969. He used cordite ammo and neglected to clean the rifle until 1989,which was the next time it was fired. Never was the same again. Still have the bayonet though.
soldiers also used the bayonets as a way to check for minefields !
fake news
Someone's watched Kelly's hero's too much 😂😂
Very nice videos. My only comments: WW1 SMLEs were fitted with leather slings which are very hard to find (they rot); the deep grooves on the bayonet blade were to allow blood to flow out and air to go in to facilitating withdrawal; "Wilkinson Sword" made the majority; under 'rapid fire', the trigger was pulled with the index finger and the bolt gripped permanently by the thumb and forefinger; a note on the sights and regimental discs might be interesting. Many thanks
I remember about 2 years ago some boxes of Kynoch were made available by Southern Ohio Gun...but you're right, since then, it's impossible to get that stuff. But thankfully, .303 is very well suited for reloading. Aside from some early screw-ups, I use a very inexpensive Lee hand loader kit. H414 Hodgnons powder, I've been told, is the most accurate powder in terms of duplicating the original powders that the Limeys used. Enjoy!
Thank you. I recently acquired a Mk III and the information here is great. Especially the part about field stripping and cleanins.
just discovered your channel tonight. i personally only own 'modern' firearms (S&W 629 is the oldest one i own), but you have just inspired me to get into the mil-surp game. only decision now, is which one should i get 1st? the no1 is a very attractive gun. you stated in your 1st vid that they make em in .308. are they hard to come by? are they also considered mil-surp? i dont wanna have to stock up on a new caliber. last question, what is a reasonable price to pay for one of these? great vids!
yes they are very popular here in Australia most use them for fun guns or scrub-hunting rifles
Just a quick note about the Greek ammo,great out to 500 yrds but accuracy falls off after that.Also the cases will only take two or three reloads before they start to split around the neck and the cases need to be carefully resized..The light horse were mounted infantry,A troop was four men and in action they would dismount and fight while one man would hold the horses.They charged the guns and machine guns at beersheeba,out of 1500 they only lost about 30 men,
there was also a short version of the No1Mk3 bayonet, it wasnt just reduced for the No4Mk1.
My dad has a Lee Enfield No.1, im not sure what Mark it is, but it has been converted into a .410 shotgun. Even though i can only fire one round at a time and there only measly .410 rounds, i just love the nostalgia feel of this rifle!
The smle is by far my favorite bolt action rifle. They look great in reenactments and movies
where did you obtain the Austrailian stamped Bayonet from , I am in Australia and I have never seen one, I do love that model , I own a BSA model from 1917 , it has been fully restored and is now buetifull , all my others will be re treated with B.L.O. over the next few weeks.
"All Quiet on the Western Front" ("Im Westen Nichts Neues") is by Erich Maria Remarque
an interesting face about the bayonets, Australian soldiers were trained to stab or 'thrust' the enemy in the chest and twist when the bayonet was inside their vitals. That was intended to make lots more damage and even drag out their insides. Gruesome i know but effective.
bought 1948 canadian surplus yesterday at a gun show. Guy had like 10 boxes of 48 rounds. Its non corrosive too
The charge of Beersheba was performed by the Australian Light horse, they didn't see themselves as cavalry but as mounted infantry.
There is also the fact that the issued bayonet was issued for use against horses. And also to give you distance from the enemy. You are trained to attack an enemy in 3 ways with a bayonet.
1 full length. with the rifle thrust out and aim to put the blade in the enemys head
2 at your side. with the stock behind you, You run up to the enemy and force the bayonet through his gut
3 rifle butt down and you force the blade up and in to his chin and through his brain
Hope this helps :)
a deactivated rifle is a rifle that has its bolt glued perminatly in place and the barrel cut in 2-3 places and the front most part of the barrel is plugged perminatly with metal
A couple more things to add to my previous post;1 the Australian horse soldiers weren't cavalry ,they were mounted infantry and as such didn't have the normal things that cavalry had such as a sword that is why they used the bayonet as a a short sword.2 that pull through with the two pockets that you showed is I suspect for the Bren gun. 3 The HXP ammo is great to reload but you will only get a few reloads out of it as the case is this and will crack eventually.
I tried long and hard to find pictures of British soldiers in WWII equipped with No.1 rifles and I couldn't find many. I know they had them in the early campaigns, but most photographs of British soldiers are of the D-Day/post-D-Day campaigns and operations where they have the No.4 rifle. Every single photo of Aussies or Kiwis has them with the No.1 rifles, so they were appropriate, plus they were part of the war effort too, especially in the Pacific.
We still used the same slings on the SLR (FN FAL) right up into the 90's
+TheBulwellBrick As many say in the south of the USA, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Nice patina on that bayonet. You struck the right balance between preservation and conservation I think. And it looks nicer than a high polish IMHO.
When you mentioned the unwieldy nature of the long bayonet and the potential use of a trenching tool as a better weapon I must admit my first thought was again returning to the use of the bayonet as a short sword.
Of course "effective" use of a short sword is probably slightly more complicated than using a shovel and hacking away or the later gun with a shorter bayonet which would have been trained with.
The cavalry charge you refer to at 2:51 sounds like the story of the Light Horsemen, during the Battle of Beersheeba, one of the most successful cavalry charges in the past 100 years. They did indeed use the Bayonets as a short sword and proved to be incredibly effective: They practically won the entire battle. They made a movie about it, The Light Horsemen, I recommend it dearly. :)
All I want to say is that many soldiers didnt use the bayonets in the Trenchs they either had trench knives. (Normally made from a bayonet cut down to about 6 inchs long.) Or a Trench Batton. made from a stick. (Often a barrle rod from a rifle grenade. But could be any old stick.) And a nice heavy bit of metal and would use those in the trenchs.
You can buy a box of 100 rounds of British .303 here in Canada for like 30 - 40 bucks. There's no shortage of brand new British .303 up here.
I love the intros on these videos! Just awesome.
The battle of which you mention is the light horses charge at beersheeba to capture the wells there against the Turks, there is a movie called the light horsemen good film
Surplus for the enfield is bloody hard to find here in australia, i almost always use the modern stuff, which i pay around 1 50 a round for, when it does turn up from time to time then u have to quick otherwise it goes in flash
00:28, my great great uncle was in the Worcestershire regiment during the Great War. Nice informative videos by the way, hoping to get some order of a Lee-Enfield once I get my FAC.
Good ole hoppes 9 removes corrosive residue like a champ
yes ya can have almost any bolt action fire in Australia as long as ya hold a firearms licence
btw. There is a way to store the pull through, oil bottle and fourbie in the butt quickly and easily. a clue... The little hole at the top is for the brass part of the pull through.
btw btw, fourbie is sectioned pieces if cotton 4" by 2".
Great to see a good video on the SMELLY (SMLE) The AK of it's day.
This rifle is not deactivated, and you can have Lee Enfield rifles in Australia. I believe they're quite popular there.
The charge was at The Battle of Beersheba also known as the Third Battle of Gaza was fought on 31 October 1917 when the Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) attacked and captured the Yildirim Army Group garrison at Beersheba
The prices you told, are quite fair. Here in germany at a big distributor they want about $45,- for 20 rounds made by federal, $32.- for hornady and Sellier & Bellot made.
I have a 1908 sporterized No1Mk3 grandfathered to me. It served as my fathers deer rifle for his whole life after it was handed to him. I have to confess that Ive spent more than a box or two of ammo practicing the Mad minute with it growing up. Got pretty damn fast at it too. lol
It will be my sons rifle for sure reguardess of what laws are imposed.
The Pakistani ammo has a bad hang fire is because the propellant isnt gunpowder but rather cordite, which actually burns at a much slower rate than gunpowder.
it was the 4 th Australian Light Horse (mounted infantry) made a charge against the Turks at Beersheba 800 of them across 6000 yards, under field gun and machine gun and took thier objective
Very nice rifle and video! Man the entrenching tool used as weapons is som nasty stuff. Terrible that men at that age had to do stuff like that to eachother
good vidio,,i yoused a 303 in the army res' in england years ago, we had peep sights,,they were swiching over to the nato slr's at the time,,the 303's were verry accurat but heavy to carry around all day,,i put oil in the clip to make them load smoother,,you could hit the target at 350 yards no problam,,not so whith the slr's,,
Great video, great information and pleasant intro with music and clips.
Good info on the bayonet, but the 4's efficient 'pigsticker' wasn't too popular with the troops. A bayonet is more used as a handy utility knife, toasting fork and general tool than a fighting weapon. In action the secondary weapon was usually the butt, and the British WWII entrenching tool is clearly a close-quarter weapon the Roman Legions would respect (shovel front, mattock blade rear and capability to attach the pigsticker to the bottom of the handle).
Your coverage of the bayonet was good, not too long at all. It was an important part of the system.
The poms didn't think the SMLE was a good Bayonet rifle,they thought the fore end wasn't strong enough but the Diggers put the wind up the Italians in North Africa and were arguably the best bayonet fighters in the world. Course Montgomery used them as cannon fodder to draw the Germans out so he could round em up with his tank forces. When the Australian light horse charged at Beersheba all they had was the the long pattern Bayonet . 1500 men on horses over a thousand yards against machine guns and artillery. They only lost 35 men due to the speed of their advance.
The book 'Generals die in bed' a british soldier stabbed a german and the bayonet got stuck, he pulled vigorously but the german held on like it was his...war is hell
Bought a sporterized smelly at a gun show, looks really good, want it for my deer rifle. Problem is, I'm deaf. Your first vid was captioned so I could know what you were saying. This vid is not captioned. In other words, turn off the speakers and watch it without your talk through and it is all missed. But your video appears to be among the most thorough and useful breakdown on my rifle, so for my safety and pleasure, need to know what you're saying. Can you please get it captioned? Thank you so very much!
That bayonet of yours is going for over $200. My Lee Enfield does not like to cycle lead tipped very cleanly (soft points). Full metal jacket is not a problem and cycles very easily.
Quick question: where should I look for blank 303 cartridges? I have a '42 dated Lithgow that I want to use for some living history displays, and I'm was wondering what the best type of blank cartridge to buy, and what would I need to do to fire said rounds? Thanks!
the Aussies never converted to the number 4 rifle during ww2 and used the number 1 mk 111 throughout, remember that these rifles were being produced around the globe in various models
When we were young teenagers in the mid sixties we could buy these at the surplus store for $1.50 with the scabbard. No1 Mk111 went for $14.95 No4 Mk1 went for $24.95 K98 were $39.95 M1 carbines were $49.95 same as No5s. The old Brodie helmet cost us $2.00. Lewis guns were $150.00 in 303, that was in the good old days before Canada changed the gun laws...Hal
lucky the gun prices are high as fuck nowwa days but who cares i own a $12,000 sniper rifle so i don't give a fuck
the aussies didn't charge with cavalry it was light horsemen mounted infantry
very good video. You forgot some accessories though. There is a single shot slider for the action which fits into the little slot in the action, there I also a parker hale micrometre peep sight which bolts on and was used for sharp shooting, queens medal and full bore competition which was at 1000 yards.
also you need a bit of practice with your use on the action in your first video. Speed is not key but smooth operation! whon you cycle the action of this rile you need to use your fingers, not your hand. open the bolt wit your fingers and flik it back without taking you eyes from the sight and target, then return it home by putting your thumb behind the bolt and your fingers on the stripper clip guides. this action can be used like a semi automatic and subsequent rounds fired while keeping your sight picture. Back in the day, an infrantryman had to qualify by scoring 20 rounds at 400 yards in 2 minutes which is fast even by todays standards.
+brucekerr3 what is the stripper clip?
they are just pick my first one up today and i live in Victoria Australia, but I found it funny the one I picked up was made by Enfield not Lithgow
You can also switch out mags to reload
Hey, wanna make a video on how to clean bores after shooting corrosive since you shoot so much of them
Regarding ammo - my comments on Prvi Partizan are in your Part 1 vid (sorry I didn't watch this one first!!). As for reloading, 7.7 Japanese does use the same projectiles but looking at my Hornady manuals (3rd and 7th editions) is a different cartridge and does NOT use the same load data. Use .303 British-specific loads, especially in the SMLE.
Great review, ive got the No1 mk3* with bayonet, just need to pick up a sling/cleaning kit now.
(Y)
"Colonel Bogey" march composed in 1914 by British Army bandmaster Kenneth
J. Alford ( published using his assumed commercial identity of Lt. Frederick J.
Ricketts).
Thank you so much for actually mentioning Australians.... everyone seems to forgot Australia was in the war.............
I always wondered what the enfield between this and the first victorian one looked like.. a mkii?
I was speaking to a guy that used ww2 surplus (made before 1945), he said the worst hang-fire he had was between 30 sec to a minute. (not sure if he was exaggerating but i believed him)
the reason for the long bayonet was because soldiers using shorter bayonets found in training that they couldnt pull a horseman of his horse, so they had long bayonets put as standard issue, and didnt that work out well for the british in WW1? :)
@jubbles2343 I've actually seen pictures of those before. WWI is a very strange war, I've read of accounts where on prisoner grabbing night raids, they would grenade a dug-out and one guy might be left alive, but his clothes were blown off, so they gagged him and brought him back naked. I've also read plenty of instances where soldiers abandoned rifles and rushed across no man's land with a bag full of grenades.
The milsurp game is all about what tickles your fancy. Nobody is seriously telling you that a Lee Enfield with a 17 inch bayonet is going to be your carry gun, or your home defense long arm. You can of course hunt with it with the right ammo. The 7.62 NATO chambered Lee Enfields are by and large, of Indian manufacture from Ishapore. They are the 2A and the 2A1 models and you see them floating around on the market. I'm not an expert in those rifles, and without my books, I can't tell you more.
Should of mentioned the parker hale SLING SWIVELFOR MATCHES
Good history. Makes me like my no1 mk3 even more. That bayonet could easily double as a cavalry sabre.
Shame about the ammunition though. My Mosin Nagant shoots way more cheaply.
I have a few questions .First , is this a 30 30 or .303 rifle and if its a .303 would I be able to use Winchester Super-X .303 British 180-Grain Power-Point Rifle Ammunition
The bayonet *was* a poor weapon to use in Trench combat, Ramiques veteran was right there, pretty much every infantrymans memoirs of the Great War I have read, from both sides, mention that most experienced troops carried sharpened entrenching tools for the purpose. A Rifle with a bayonet is great if you are fighting hand to hand in an area where you can utilise that extra reach, but trenches are *not* that kind of area :).
Interestingly enough the British could not do the entrenching tool thing as the British entrenching tool was a two piece affair, a haft with a detachable head that had a pick on one side, and a small shovel head on the other. Looked like this: www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30013895.
Some troopers began to fit various home made heads to the handles, turning them into trench clubs, a practice that was then taken up by various companies in Britain. The Head would simply slide onto the entrenching tool haft in place of the standard tool to make a nasty little weapon. www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30001725
Liberty tree collectors has some I think. You can get them anywhere on the internet really, unless you're not in the US, in which case I really can't help you.
Hey man. I got a 1948 Indian No.1 Mk.3 sporter for $175. What tools will I need to disassemble the rifle? The ammo I bought at a gun show is FN 1950 .303
Yes but troops didn't carry more than one, it was designed to be fed from stripper clips.
Thanks man, Lee Enfield's are not my forte. I try and learn as much as I can before making these reviews to share what I learn.
@something01992 Ya Ive heard it all... Really people just LOVE to over complicate things. I use it to clean the external surfaces of my muskets after shooting. If it didn't work really really good. I would have quite using it years ago.
the last charge was Beersheba
yes they are allowed and popular.
i have a no4. mk1 and wont let it go now ;-)
I have a patern 1907 from the orange arsenal and it dosent say Australia anywhere on it
Great job!
I dont know but I have one and am keeping it even if it isnt legal.
Yup!- Great film!
Outstanding quality vids as usual :-)
you should do some american weapons, like the M1903 and M1 garand
lol mate if you think the uniform is counfusing its up to 95 patern now
@murpheysmuskets I hear you, the thing I hate about the internet is that there are 8000 opinions on everything. Thanks again for the heads up murphey.
Was that a deactivated rifle and if so, would it be allowed on australia
i want to ask can you shoot 308 bullets in it i have alot of people saying that i can but i dont want to blow my gun up