History is never out of place. The value/interest of any item, event , or person is always enhanced by it's history. Context is extremely important in life.
Dagsé almal! Dis darem 'n dekselse mooi Boer se roer dié.. Ian please do a thing about the weapons used at Die slag van Majuba (The battle of Majuba mountain where the rooinekke where surrounded and started to panic with the Boere aanslag and actually started to jump off the cliffs to escape the Boere bullets..
@@hanoitripper1809 I’m not totally sure about how available they are, but I do know that it’s going to take you about a year and a half to legally acquire one.( because of the horrendously slow system)
"I know I went a little long on the history today" aww darn. Ian, we love the historical context, particularly when you explain it in such a practical way.
I'm British but lived in SA from 1968 to 2011. Congratulations Ian on a very accurate and fair description of the Boer War. Despite the problem of the "Uitlanders" (the British not having voting rights) the real cause of the war was pure and simple greed for gold and diamonds. Though British, my sympathies have always been with the Afrikaaners and even more so today.
@@hanoitripper1809 well not for just gold and diamonds my great great grandfather where captured and beaten and taken POW to england just for fighting botterbek to save our farm and family so where did it stay just for gold and diamonds it was for land for the british power sorry hoped you love south africa enjoy
he ALWAYs! IS! 100% on it! I have known AND worked with Two Afrikaaners! BOTH Good Men! one white, other indian, BOTH! Fun, Honest, Hard Working! I would have gone to war with either?
same. funny thing is, i watch this every morning when i get home. oddly enough, youtube refuses to recommend it to me, but i watch some one off minecraft video or whatever and it spams similar shit on my tl for weeks.
Telephone lines WERE run along barbed wire fences in the US (a good way to save on "infrastructure" ) www.atlasobscura.com/articles/barbed-wire-telephone-lines-homesteaders-prairie-america-history
They are allot like American frontiersmen, and Mormons. Pretty much religious dissidents who wanted to disapear to a fertile far flung corner of the world where they would only have conflicts with the indigenous peoples there. The Boers had more more formidable opposition than the American pioneers (and were less horrible to them than the Americans). I think it is a really interesting aspect of history which is less depressing than American westward expansion.
@@HPWPAO you are halfway there. The Americans where still filled with greed and choose to take what they wanted, the Boers tried to buy land and coexist with the indigenous people, but was mostly unsuccessful because of language and cultural barriers. Edit: take a look at the Battle of bloedrivier. And I'm not saying all Americans where cruel and took what they wanted, it's just how we learned it, so it's a little stereotype.
Sympathise historically? Yes. But in later days they became real arrogant racists ( to a man, woman, child ). The extremely few exceptions, sorry, were thrown in prison, put under house arrest, exiled into little dorps (towns) In some places, even now, it is obvious the way things were, only black folks to be seen are workers not residents.
The 1st Boer War was fought because the Boers reneged on the deal whereby they accepted British suzereignty in return for the British beating the Zulus for them. The 2nd arose because the Boers refused to recognise civil rights for British workers - and because Cecil Rhodes was no fan. The Boers instigated Apartheid . No reason to feel protective.
Muscina is a town, now Musina, which the most northern town is South Africa, just south of beitbridge which is the borderpost to Zimbabwe. Very interesting that the rifle would end up so far from where it was originally captured
Yes, that certainly refers to the still existing town of Musina, in the far Northern bushveld of the old Transvaal. And I just spent a few days hunting there ;-)
“Take a community of Dutchmen of the type of those who defended themselves for fifty years against all the power of Spain at a time when Spain was the greatest power in the world. Intermix with them a strain of those inflexible French Huguenots who gave up home and fortune and left their country for ever at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The product must obviously be one of the most rugged, virile, unconquerable races ever seen upon earth. Take this formidable people and train them for seven generations in constant warfare against savage men and ferocious beasts, in circumstances under which no weakling could survive, place them so that they acquire exceptional skill with weapons and in horsemanship, give them a country which is eminently suited to the tactics of the huntsman, the marksman, and the rider. Then, finally, put a finer temper upon their military qualities by a dour fatalistic Old Testament religion and an ardent and consuming patriotism. Combine all these qualities and all these impulses in one individual, and you have the modern Boer-the most formidable antagonist who ever crossed the path of Imperial Britain. Our military history has largely consisted in our conflicts with France, but Napoleon and all his veterans have never treated us so roughly as these hard-bitten farmers with their ancient theology and their inconveniently modern rifles.” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
"the most formidable antagonist who ever crossed the path of Imperial Britain. " except for the Zulu that is able to beat the British Army with spear, blade and shield
@@otakuryoga they didn't beat the British? Won a battle or two. They got smashed pretty heavily by the Boers in battles for example the Battle of Blood River.
400 boers defeated 16000 zulus. Yes you read correct 400.. Formed in a lager of oxwagens praying to god to give them victory in which they will then build a church and devote themselves to. It was called the day of the vow. Celebrated till the new government took over in 1994 and renamed the public holiday. You can rewrite and change history but the truth will always shine through you can not stamp out history wheter good or bad. It happened and should be remembered and learned from.
Great breakdown Ian and very relevant to me. My great-great grandfather on my fathers side came to South African from London as a direct result of a demand for metal workers on the railways (1874/76) just before the 1st Boer War. A demand that was most likely driven by the discovery of gold. My mother is an Afrikaner if Huguenot descent (maiden name Terblanche). So I had ancestors on both sides of both conflicts. Here in my office with me is a cut-down Mk.1* Magazine Lee Enfield with markings of the Birmingham Small Arms Company and dated 1900. It came to me a few years ago by chance and I kept it for curiosity. The rifle has been marked on one side of the the butt (similar to the video ) with the name "OJ Fourie No 114" and on the opposite side with" D8 C1093" (maybe an armourers inventory number). It has been rendered inoperable by being cut down, having the bolt welded in place and several holes drilled in the barrel. The disabling of the rifle was a mystery to me till last year when I was speaking about it to someone who was in High School during the 1970's. He told me that they used cut down and inoperable Lee Enfields for Cadet rifle drills. So a possible explanation for the state of the rifle. PS: My brothers name is Leander, think my paternal grandfather was a Jameson fan. Jameson served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1904 to 1908
"...a bit long on the history"; Ian, please. Believe me, I think the vast majority of your followers, myself included of course, would happily sit and thoroughly enjoy watching you go on, at length, about the history and/or provenance of a particular weapon or model of weapon. To add to that, any episode on Forgotten History, as well.
I'm doing history at uni and Ian's explanation of this is the most concise and well put one I've ever heard, and don't apologise for giving the context to us, it allows us to appreciate the weapon loads more :)
@@raftash5279 No, it's certainly possible it's a British made enfield. The British were in Afghanistan for quite a while. There are many examples of enfields captured in Afghanistan.
I rather enjoy when you get extremely in depth in guns history and just regular war history. The way you explain things sticks in a person's a mind. You explain it all very well.
1890 - Can non property owning British men vote in Britain? No .. then why are we going to war to force another country to give non property owning British men the vote? They have something we want - ... British Colonial Policy .. in a nutshell
Not so different from the foreign policy of the USA at the end of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. For the British, it was a time of Empire building it's a simple as that. You can't judge the past by the standards of today.
@Ivan Karamazov Just like every other country at that time with bigger guns than the opposition including the Americans, French, Russians, Germans,.........(List goes on and on) Just the British did it better than everyone else!
Pretty much sums it up. They also learnt well during the the 1st Boer War and changed their uniforms to khaki for the 2nd. During the 1st Boer War they still wore red coats with massive white belts down and across the chest. Not the smartest choice in the SA veld against a guerrilla militia made up of expert marksmen who knew the terrain.
@@iatsd true i understand that. i was talking about the regular adjustable iron sights and how they graduate out to 1600 yards as if anyone is gonna hit something that far away with rifles of the time. not saying its impossible but its not probable. take the gewehr 98 in ww1 for example. the sights were zeroed at 400 yards lol. i just find it interesting how back then they thought that battles would be fought at long ranges which is why the iron sights of rifles back then can graduate to such long distances.
At least into the 1950s, military personnel shot at targets out to 1000 meters during training. My understanding of the way it worked is, shoot at close ranges and work outward. As the distance increased only those that got good hits on say the 500 meter targets went on to shoot at the next longer range. This is how people were selected for special training such as sniper or sharpshooter for various units.
Thanks for this excellent clip! My great-grandfather had apparently been a Landros (+/- a Magistrate)in the ZAR, was captured by the Brits and sent, I believe to Bermuda as a POW. His daughter, my Ouma (grandmother) was, however allowed to marry a young British immigrant and I'm grateful to have some of that Boer blood in my veins as a South African today.
I’m very peeved that my family rifle used in the boer war was sold before it got to me, my family owned a plot of land in Canada that was gifted by the crown to an ancestor who served in the second boer war.
I suspect the satisfaction of forcing in a distant land thousands of women and children from their homes to meet their dreadful ends in a concentration camp would have been payment enough. The land and the rifle were just a bonus.
@@toast2610 Hopefully the rifle was used to shoot a few boers. they were a very dirty and primitive people who liked enslaving other people to get them to work for them for free. very lazy and dirty.
From mesolithic cave paintings in Spain depicting fights over prime hunting grounds to the Battle of Hamoukar from before written language was created, every war has been about coveting thy neighbor's goods.
A 7mm Mauser or this Enfield....two rifles steeped in history. I became interested in the Boar War long ago and this video is such a great snap shot....
Like most people I was aware of the Boer War there was a Boer War.. What I knew about the war was based on reading Winston Churchill biography and watching the movie "Breaker Morant." You filled in some big gaps in my understanding of the War. Appreciated.
I have a Lee-Speed rifle that was an early sporter by Wm. Andrew's & Sons of Birmingham. It has the eight round magazine , magazine cut off, three leaf express sights, and. half stock with shrunk on front sling swivel barrel ring. I used it for many years as my bear and moose rifle without fail. Even though bringing from circa 1895, I still can shoot 7/8" five shot groups from the bench with it.
I have a LEE SPEED carbine sporter with a row of lift up sights 5 shot double stack magazine shoots sweet groups at 150 yards if you use right ammo! too many folks MIX up odd differing rounds -----then blame the gun!! this carbine came out of Africa She is a wee gem!
I appreciate you attempting to get the pronunciation right. Also that's a pretty good summed up version of the lead up to the second war. More than I ever learnt in school.
Don't know how I missed this one. My one grandmother was born in 1893 and her English father farmed near Klerksdorp and rode in Boer commando...when he was later captured the British were a bit embarrassed... I now as it happens live in Johannesburg.. Jameson was actually a doctor! Most of his men were from the BSAP and this led to continous acrimony between South Africa and Rhodesia for many years...
You may have noticed what looks like a second sling swivel up near the muzzle of this rifle. This is the stacking swivel which was used to stack the rifles together in that rather nice pyramid you often see in old photographs, they were discontinued around the end of WW1 when it was realised that in mobile warfare there wasn't time to politely wait in a queue to untangle your rifle.
Love it, always good to see a video on the history of home especially when it is well researched and presented. While I'm sure nobody begrudges you the pronunciation but the "veld" in "carvings from the veld" is pronounced with the V being pronounced like an F same as in "fun" and the "d" at the end is pronounced as a hard "T" same as in "Tango" The vagaries of the Afrikaans language are problematic to native English speakers and in many instances visa versa as well. Love the videos, keep em coming
The Lee-Speed is an amazing rifle. Build quality was excellent and it was very accurate. Considering when it was designed and built, it's a masterpiece. A lot of them were captured and added to the Boer inventory, distributed to both Boer fighters who needed a rifle and to marksmen
I like the history as do many others it seems. A cool gun is just a cool gun, but a gun that's been there and done that and hearing it's story is pretty awesome. Thanks again for the good work you are doing.
I am so surprised that some of those weapons survived. Im a 7th generation boer. My granddad told me stories of how desperate they were for weapons at the outset of the second boer war. Apparently muzzel loaders were the norm until they could 'aquire' martini Henrys, mausers, or Enfields. Hell my dad even saw a Portuguese mauser which had served through the war. Shocking few of those weapons survived because they were summarily confiscated and destroyed upon the surrender of the republics.
@Hunt Gmx Yes, there are photographic and other evidence that Winchester lever-action rifles were used by the Boers at the start of the war, but very few and far between.
@@augnkn93043 No he really was not. When the call to arms happened all male men above 16 went to war, and most families easily had more than 5 sons. As mentioned in the video' you had to bring YOUR gun. most families had weapons to spare for hunting but sure as hell not did not have 5 bolt actions lingering around. This issue was componded by the fact that there were not enough guns to go around. Ive seen lots of pictures where a shocking percentage of the weapons where muzzle loaders.
@@paulbester1571 If I recall correctly the Boer governments had purchased 20,000 modern rifles prior to the war to give to boers without a rifle. I have never seen a picture of anyone with a muzzle loader. I doubt that most Boer families had ten children over 16 years old. ( as implied by your claim)
Ian, never worry about 'going a bit long on the history', history is a vital part of developing weapons, forgotten or otherwise. You have one of the best channels, keep up the great work.
4 Young fellows from my home town Stone Hut in South Australia have their names on a Memorial Board in our local hall. They went to the Boer War, all came home safe.
I'm getting US independence struggle vibes from this... So Boer War basically Boer farmers just being farmers and The British Empire being The British Empire....
I enjoyed the history lesson. To think that same wood and metal we look at today was in such a specific place, held in the hands of those men so long ago
Thank you for the history, Ian, it adds to the story of a great rifle. One version of the history has it all being fought over a bit of bad punctuation. The call for assistance reads: "It is under these circumstances that we feel constrained to call upon you to come to our aid should a disturbance arise here the circumstances are so extreme that we cannot but believe that you and the men under you will not fail to come to the rescue of people who are so situated." Place a full stop (period) after 'aid' and it implies come immediately to our aid. Place it after 'arise' and the call for help becomes conditional on there being a disturbance. The original uses the second form, the published version to which Jameson responded used the first. Bad news for those who hate grammar nazis - punctuation matters! See Lynne Truss, "Eats, Shoots and leaves". The British Empire found all sorts of odd reasons to fight wars. In 1731 the ear of a merchant seaman, Capt. Robert Jenkins was cut off by the Spanish in the West Indies. This became the casus belli for a war between Britain and Spain from 1739 - 1748 known as 'The War of Jenkins Ear'. The Black Hole of Calcutta story, which formed the basis for the British rule of India, was based on a pack of lies told by one of the survivors. Any excuse...
and in South Africa it very much referred to the afrikaners. Though afrikaans has its roots in dutch there are plenty of words with noticeable difference in meaning.
The Jameson Raiders embarked upon a ride of nearly 200 miles without proper planning and without adequate provisions. Their stores consisted mainly of Scotch. By the time the Boers encountered them, they were largely overcome by fatigue. My great uncle, a prospector, adventurer and big game hunter, was the only person to ride out from Johannesburg to support them.
That person J.W. Rossouw might be from Musina. It's a town very far north in the Limpopo province. That's if the writing under his name reads Muscina (which isn't correctly spelled anyway and I've been unable to find references for it in the dictionary where it is spelled this way).
A lot of the Boers were illiterate, or semi-illiterate, and that shows through in the spelling of words/names and the formation of letters in the carvings on some of their rifles. Smart money would be on a simple misspelling of the Town name.
@@Vlaid65 It was boer kommando's from Krugersdorp that caught Jameson and his henchmen.So it's interesting to wonder how Mussina came to be engraved on the rifle.
Jameson had 12 Maxim guns and he lost! I understand that the Boers went off singing.. No matter what happens We’ve now got Twelve Maxin guns And the Brits have not
Australian troops also fought in this conflict, using the same flexible commando tactics. Not dissimilar to the men they fought, farmers, bushmen and natural marksman. Too many times we fight our brothers instead drinking a beer with them. Put the politicians in an arena with swords, and lets see how brave they are when they do battle on our behalf.
Greetings from Patagonia Argentina (where many Boers immigrated after the 2nd Boer War). Since my English is limited, I thought "speed" meant that it was a fast-firing rifle by the standards of the time.
Really love the idea of customizing and adding decorations to your weapons, to make them truely yours and not just yet another faceless gun of its type.
Came for the sexy rifle
Stayed for the rather interesting history behind it
Lol was typing something eerily similar. I agree
I like the look of your forestock.. Do you come here often?
"I went a bit long on the history" Errmm, no, Ian. You didn't.
@@slaughterround643 Where is that shooting lady?
dude, thats what we watch this channel for.
I like the history context. Combined with the technical explanation that's what makes this channel so watchable.
@@PeterKrabshuis I second that.
Kevin never forget the history
History is never out of place. The value/interest of any item, event , or person is always enhanced by it's history. Context is extremely important in life.
Yup. It's all about the provenance.
If anything, I'd like to hear 'more' historical context with weapons such as this.
I am from South Africa. His telling of SOUTH African history is accurate. Good job!
Ek ook! Dit is verstommend hoe akkurate sy geskiedenis van Suid-Afrika is!
Ik vind jullie taal grappig om te lezen, omdat bijna alles snap haha
Can u buy many old mausers in south africa?
Dagsé almal! Dis darem 'n dekselse mooi Boer se roer dié..
Ian please do a thing about the weapons used at Die slag van Majuba (The battle of Majuba mountain where the rooinekke where surrounded and started to panic with the Boere aanslag and actually started to jump off the cliffs to escape the Boere bullets..
@@hanoitripper1809 I’m not totally sure about how available they are, but I do know that it’s going to take you about a year and a half to legally acquire one.( because of the horrendously slow system)
"I know I went a little long on the history today" aww darn. Ian, we love the historical context, particularly when you explain it in such a practical way.
@@iatsd How long have you got? Ian used just over 13 minutes, he's piqued a lot of intrest for us to go look futher. Good work!
I'm British but lived in SA from 1968 to 2011. Congratulations Ian on a very accurate and fair description of the Boer War. Despite the problem of the "Uitlanders" (the British not having voting rights) the real cause of the war was pure and simple greed for gold and diamonds. Though British, my sympathies have always been with the Afrikaaners and even more so today.
Adrian Larkins are you enjoying life in Perth
@@hanoitripper1809 well not for just gold and diamonds my great great grandfather where captured and beaten and taken POW to england just for fighting botterbek to save our farm and family so where did it stay just for gold and diamonds it was for land for the british power sorry hoped you love south africa enjoy
he ALWAYs! IS! 100% on it! I have known AND worked with Two Afrikaaners! BOTH Good Men! one white, other indian, BOTH! Fun, Honest, Hard Working! I would have gone to war with either?
This channel has become part of my morning routine and I am 100% ok with that.
Ditto.
same. funny thing is, i watch this every morning when i get home.
oddly enough, youtube refuses to recommend it to me, but i watch some one off minecraft video or whatever and it spams similar shit on my tl for weeks.
Two episodes before bed is my routine , love dreaming about them guns with the soothing voice of Gun Jesus whispering all the gun words xD
Instructions unclear; cut barbed wire fence instead of phone lines.
Lmao!!!!
That's hilarious!
Telephone lines WERE run along barbed wire fences in the US (a good way to save on "infrastructure" ) www.atlasobscura.com/articles/barbed-wire-telephone-lines-homesteaders-prairie-america-history
@Aj Baalman 😂😂😂😂😂
@@iansnetwork Don't worry. The British still won, the war was just a bit more expensive.
The more I learn of the Boers, the more I sympathize with them.
They are allot like American frontiersmen, and Mormons. Pretty much religious dissidents who wanted to disapear to a fertile far flung corner of the world where they would only have conflicts with the indigenous peoples there. The Boers had more more formidable opposition than the American pioneers (and were less horrible to them than the Americans). I think it is a really interesting aspect of history which is less depressing than American westward expansion.
@@HPWPAO you are halfway there. The Americans where still filled with greed and choose to take what they wanted, the Boers tried to buy land and coexist with the indigenous people, but was mostly unsuccessful because of language and cultural barriers.
Edit: take a look at the Battle of bloedrivier. And I'm not saying all Americans where cruel and took what they wanted, it's just how we learned it, so it's a little stereotype.
@@HPWPAO goddamn it the injuns we're terrible too
Sympathise historically? Yes. But in later days they became real arrogant racists ( to a man, woman, child ).
The extremely few exceptions, sorry, were thrown in prison, put under house arrest, exiled into little dorps (towns)
In some places, even now, it is obvious the way things were, only black folks to be seen are workers not residents.
The 1st Boer War was fought because the Boers reneged on the deal whereby they accepted British suzereignty in return for the British beating the Zulus for them. The 2nd arose because the Boers refused to recognise civil rights for British workers - and because Cecil Rhodes was no fan. The Boers instigated Apartheid . No reason to feel protective.
I have to say, early Lee Enfield and Lee Metford rifles are some of the most beautiful firearms out there. Fascinating video as always.
If I ever get my firearms license one of the first things I'd like to buy is a long lee enfield.
I feel the need, the need for speed
*Mad minute intensifies*
Well played. Well played. Lol.
Lee-Speed.
METH
Quote by a Boer farmer, somewhen in the 1800s
Muscina is a town, now Musina, which the most northern town is South Africa, just south of beitbridge which is the borderpost to Zimbabwe. Very interesting that the rifle would end up so far from where it was originally captured
One of the Kruger bullion gaurds?
@@richardwebb9532 everyone k ows the bullion was hidden somewhere in the freestate, far to the south 😉
Yes, that certainly refers to the still existing town of Musina, in the far Northern bushveld of the old Transvaal. And I just spent a few days hunting there ;-)
True, Since it was boer kommando's from Krugersdorp that captured the attempted raiders.
British Empire: We are the mightiest nation on earth, we fear no one.
Boer Farmer: Hou my bier en geweer vas
Boeruh! No farmers no food xD
Hou my bier vas. Ek hou my geweer vas.
Afrikaans and Dutch are so similar
@@RobSpartanR16 that's because it was essentially simplified Dutch to ease communication
lmao
They should just show these videos in schools to teach kids about military history.
@@johnwayne8494 that's somewhat true. Nobody knows what actually happened in the past but we have a general idea.
@@johnwayne8494 if you say so.
Regan. The Generals idea, literally....
No chance nowadays .
Schools are little more than Marxist indoctrination centres where nothing of any value is taught.
Agreed
That level of history is awesome and one reason I like this channel so much.
Exactly. You get to see cool weapons and you get a history lesson. Great channel.
This video is an hour old, how was your comment posted 2 weeks ago?
Logan Wayt New level of history.
“Take a community of Dutchmen of the type of those who defended themselves for fifty years against all the power of Spain at a time when Spain was the greatest power in the world. Intermix with them a strain of those inflexible French Huguenots who gave up home and fortune and left their country for ever at the time of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The product must obviously be one of the most rugged, virile, unconquerable races ever seen upon earth. Take this formidable people and train them for seven generations in constant warfare against savage men and ferocious beasts, in circumstances under which no weakling could survive, place them so that they acquire exceptional skill with weapons and in horsemanship, give them a country which is eminently suited to the tactics of the huntsman, the marksman, and the rider. Then, finally, put a finer temper upon their military qualities by a dour fatalistic Old Testament religion and an ardent and consuming patriotism. Combine all these qualities and all these impulses in one individual, and you have the modern Boer-the most formidable antagonist who ever crossed the path of Imperial Britain. Our military history has largely consisted in our conflicts with France, but Napoleon and all his veterans have never treated us so roughly as these hard-bitten farmers with their ancient theology and their inconveniently modern rifles.” - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Great extract, thanks from England
"the most formidable antagonist who ever crossed the path of Imperial Britain. "
except for the Zulu that is
able to beat the British Army with spear, blade and shield
@@otakuryoga they didn't beat the British? Won a battle or two. They got smashed pretty heavily by the Boers in battles for example the Battle of Blood River.
i would also add the Maori to the list.
400 boers defeated 16000 zulus. Yes you read correct 400.. Formed in a lager of oxwagens praying to god to give them victory in which they will then build a church and devote themselves to. It was called the day of the vow. Celebrated till the new government took over in 1994 and renamed the public holiday. You can rewrite and change history but the truth will always shine through you can not stamp out history wheter good or bad. It happened and should be remembered and learned from.
The guy below me just read my mind. No Ian, you definitely DID NOT "GO A BIT LONG ON THIS SUBJECT. " This is why I love your channel.
Great breakdown Ian and very relevant to me. My great-great grandfather on my fathers side came to South African from London as a direct result of a demand for metal workers on the railways (1874/76) just before the 1st Boer War. A demand that was most likely driven by the discovery of gold. My mother is an Afrikaner if Huguenot descent (maiden name Terblanche). So I had ancestors on both sides of both conflicts.
Here in my office with me is a cut-down Mk.1* Magazine Lee Enfield with markings of the Birmingham Small Arms Company and dated 1900. It came to me a few years ago by chance and I kept it for curiosity. The rifle has been marked on one side of the the butt (similar to the video ) with the name "OJ Fourie No 114" and on the opposite side with" D8 C1093" (maybe an armourers inventory number). It has been rendered inoperable by being cut down, having the bolt welded in place and several holes drilled in the barrel.
The disabling of the rifle was a mystery to me till last year when I was speaking about it to someone who was in High School during the 1970's. He told me that they used cut down and inoperable Lee Enfields for Cadet rifle drills. So a possible explanation for the state of the rifle.
PS: My brothers name is Leander, think my paternal grandfather was a Jameson fan. Jameson served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1904 to 1908
"...a bit long on the history"; Ian, please. Believe me, I think the vast majority of your followers, myself included of course, would happily sit and thoroughly enjoy watching you go on, at length, about the history and/or provenance of a particular weapon or model of weapon. To add to that, any episode on Forgotten History, as well.
Agreed
Thanks Ian for your appreciation of South African history and it's connected rifles.
I'm doing history at uni and Ian's explanation of this is the most concise and well put one I've ever heard, and don't apologise for giving the context to us, it allows us to appreciate the weapon loads more :)
Good timing, just found a MLE Mk I in Afghanistan
Nah man, It's almost certainly a Khyber pass knockoff
That's awesome. How'd you find that?
Put the word out to the owner of a bazaar.
@@raftash5279 No, it's certainly possible it's a British made enfield. The British were in Afghanistan for quite a while. There are many examples of enfields captured in Afghanistan.
I rather enjoy when you get extremely in depth in guns history and just regular war history. The way you explain things sticks in a person's a mind. You explain it all very well.
1890 - Can non property owning British men vote in Britain? No .. then why are we going to war to force another country to give non property owning British men the vote? They have something we want - ... British Colonial Policy .. in a nutshell
So true ...bunch of hypocrites
Not so different from the foreign policy of the USA at the end of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. For the British, it was a time of Empire building it's a simple as that. You can't judge the past by the standards of today.
Does "No Taxation without Representation" ring a bell........
@Ivan Karamazov Just like every other country at that time with bigger guns than the opposition including the Americans, French, Russians, Germans,.........(List goes on and on) Just the British did it better than everyone else!
Pretty much sums it up. They also learnt well during the the 1st Boer War and changed their uniforms to khaki for the 2nd. During the 1st Boer War they still wore red coats with massive white belts down and across the chest. Not the smartest choice in the SA veld against a guerrilla militia made up of expert marksmen who knew the terrain.
A great Australian film set in the second Boer war period is titled 'Breaker Morant.' Based on a true story. Thanks for sharing!
"Shoot straight, ya bastards! Don't make a mess of it."
The key bit is 'based on'.
The film may be great, but the guy was a war criminal.
@@indigonile673 how so?
@Adam Halsey "Lord Kitchener denies such a command"
i absolutely love the thought process on sights and the absurd ranges they had on them during this period. its so interesting to me.
@@iatsd true i understand that. i was talking about the regular adjustable iron sights and how they graduate out to 1600 yards as if anyone is gonna hit something that far away with rifles of the time. not saying its impossible but its not probable. take the gewehr 98 in ww1 for example. the sights were zeroed at 400 yards lol. i just find it interesting how back then they thought that battles would be fought at long ranges which is why the iron sights of rifles back then can graduate to such long distances.
At least into the 1950s,
military personnel shot at targets out to 1000 meters during training.
My understanding of the way it worked is,
shoot at close ranges and work outward.
As the distance increased only those that got good hits on say the 500 meter targets went on to shoot at the next longer range.
This is how people were selected for special training such as sniper or sharpshooter for various units.
Thanks for this excellent clip! My great-grandfather had apparently been a Landros (+/- a Magistrate)in the ZAR, was captured by the Brits and sent, I believe to Bermuda as a POW. His daughter, my Ouma (grandmother) was, however allowed to marry a young British immigrant and I'm grateful to have some of that Boer blood in my veins as a South African today.
I’m very peeved that my family rifle used in the boer war was sold before it got to me, my family owned a plot of land in Canada that was gifted by the crown to an ancestor who served in the second boer war.
Dont let that history (or land) be lost.
I suspect the satisfaction of forcing in a distant land thousands of women and children from their homes to meet their dreadful ends in a concentration camp would have been payment enough. The land and the rifle were just a bonus.
Toast must be fun at parties huh?
@@henryfisher9948 If only Sir Jimmy Savile had he's priorities straight like you.. oh wait. Never mind.
@@toast2610
Hopefully the rifle was used to shoot a few boers. they were a very dirty and primitive people who liked enslaving other people to get them to work for them for free. very lazy and dirty.
So, as with all modern wars.....
Money being the real reason.
How slowly we learn.
Zte Axon 7 oh boy 🙄
As all wars, ancient and modern alike.
Nein, nein, nein, it was done only to protect democratic interests of british miners, rightful native citizens;)
Don't romanticise the ancients. Like modern nations, they were also ruled by greedy bastards.
From mesolithic cave paintings in Spain depicting fights over prime hunting grounds to the Battle of Hamoukar from before written language was created, every war has been about coveting thy neighbor's goods.
We love the history. What we come for is your wealth of knowledge. Keep it coming!
No such thing as too much history. That was really interesting to learn about. Thank you.
A 7mm Mauser or this Enfield....two rifles steeped in history. I became interested in the Boar War long ago and this video is such a great snap shot....
Like most people I was aware of the Boer War there was a Boer War.. What I knew about the war was based on reading Winston Churchill biography and watching the movie "Breaker Morant." You filled in some big gaps in my understanding of the War. Appreciated.
The history was absolutely fascinating, it's always greatly appreciated to hear it!
I have a Lee-Speed rifle that was an early sporter by Wm. Andrew's & Sons of Birmingham. It has the eight round magazine , magazine cut off, three leaf express sights, and. half stock with shrunk on front sling swivel barrel ring. I used it for many years as my bear and moose rifle without fail. Even though bringing from circa 1895, I still can shoot 7/8" five shot groups from the bench with it.
I have a LEE SPEED carbine sporter with a row of lift up sights 5 shot double stack magazine shoots sweet groups at 150 yards if you use right ammo! too many folks MIX up odd differing rounds -----then blame the gun!! this carbine came out of Africa She is a wee gem!
Love the historical context. Lee Metfords and Enfields are the coolest classic military rifles. I get excited anytime you do a video on one of them.
I appreciate you attempting to get the pronunciation right. Also that's a pretty good summed up version of the lead up to the second war. More than I ever learnt in school.
Don't know how I missed this one. My one grandmother was born in 1893 and her English father farmed near Klerksdorp and rode in Boer commando...when he was later captured the British were a bit embarrassed... I now as it happens live in Johannesburg..
Jameson was actually a doctor! Most of his men were from the BSAP and this led to continous acrimony between South Africa and Rhodesia for many years...
You may have noticed what looks like a second sling swivel up near the muzzle of this rifle. This is the stacking swivel which was used to stack the rifles together in that rather nice pyramid you often see in old photographs, they were discontinued around the end of WW1 when it was realised that in mobile warfare there wasn't time to politely wait in a queue to untangle your rifle.
Love it, always good to see a video on the history of home especially when it is well researched and presented. While I'm sure nobody begrudges you the pronunciation but the "veld" in "carvings from the veld" is pronounced with the V being pronounced like an F same as in "fun" and the "d" at the end is pronounced as a hard "T" same as in "Tango"
The vagaries of the Afrikaans language are problematic to native English speakers and in many instances visa versa as well. Love the videos, keep em coming
Vice versa too...
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vice%20versa
Thys van zyl Klink vir my of jy Afrikaans kan praat 😂 v in veld is soos in van zyl sekker ook?
Nou moet ons hom net leer om Russouw reg the se....lol
Richard Webb haha wil nie teveel van die arme mens vra nie ek like die flag in die klickbait👌🏻
The Lee-Speed is an amazing rifle. Build quality was excellent and it was very accurate. Considering when it was designed and built, it's a masterpiece.
A lot of them were captured and added to the Boer inventory, distributed to both Boer fighters who needed a rifle and to marksmen
I like the history as do many others it seems. A cool gun is just a cool gun, but a gun that's been there and done that and hearing it's story is pretty awesome. Thanks again for the good work you are doing.
I really do like the extra history that go's with these weapons thank you for taking the time
Suzerainty... not a word one hears very often.... let alone use. Thanks Ian.
I am so surprised that some of those weapons survived. Im a 7th generation boer. My granddad told me stories of how desperate they were for weapons at the outset of the second boer war. Apparently muzzel loaders were the norm until they could 'aquire' martini Henrys, mausers, or Enfields. Hell my dad even saw a Portuguese mauser which had served through the war. Shocking few of those weapons survived because they were summarily confiscated and destroyed upon the surrender of the republics.
@Hunt Gmx I have personally never witnessed one which served in that timeperiod but it is probable given the circumstances.
@Hunt Gmx Yes, there are photographic and other evidence that Winchester lever-action rifles were used by the Boers at the start of the war, but very few and far between.
I think your grandad was telling lies.
@@augnkn93043 No he really was not. When the call to arms happened all male men above 16 went to war, and most families easily had more than 5 sons. As mentioned in the video' you had to bring YOUR gun. most families had weapons to spare for hunting but sure as hell not did not have 5 bolt actions lingering around. This issue was componded by the fact that there were not enough guns to go around. Ive seen lots of pictures where a shocking percentage of the weapons where muzzle loaders.
@@paulbester1571 If I recall correctly the Boer governments had purchased 20,000 modern rifles prior to the war to give to boers without a rifle. I have never seen a picture of anyone with a muzzle loader. I doubt that most Boer families had ten children over 16 years old. ( as implied by your claim)
Ian, never worry about 'going a bit long on the history', history is a vital part of developing weapons, forgotten or otherwise. You have one of the best channels, keep up the great work.
One of the most interesting videos I’ve seen from here in a while. Not an easy feat considering everything here is quite edifying.
well i could live with ian talking history for 50 hours straight keep up the good work
4 Young fellows from my home town Stone Hut in South Australia have their names on a Memorial Board in our local hall. They went to the Boer War, all came home safe.
Nice timing, I just finished The Boer War by Thomas Pakenham. An excellent book if folks are interested in more about this topic.
I am South African and found this absolutely fascinating. Thanks so much, Ian!
What a beautiful rifle.
Always found the long Lee's to be the most interesting of the series.
As always Ian, another fantastic video, thanks for sharing.
"They cut a fence instead."
A fence instead of a telegraph wire. Jesus Christ.
I'm getting US independence struggle vibes from this...
So Boer War basically Boer farmers just being farmers and The British Empire being The British Empire....
Thank you for taking a intrest in our Boer history, you knowledge of firearms are astounding and I enjoy you posts immensely.
We had one of these exact models in my family. I still have the Bayonet. Mean thing indeed
And what happened to it?
If that rifle could only talk. Thanks for sharing Ian. Fascinating!
Thank you so much for putting the time and effort you did into this. As a South African I find it fascinating. All the best!
Well, I see anything with a Lee magazine, and I click. It's a Pavlovian response. 😂👍
@@johnwayne8494 The VERY MINUTE that I figure out what that has to do with the price of tea at Giant Eagle, I'll let yinz know.
Awesome Ian. You never ramble.... always good precise info
Very interesting history lesson, thanks Ian!
Thank you. As a boer form the Free State this was extremely interesting.
Brilliant.. really enjoyed that for a change.. more please ian. Fantastic work
I enjoyed the history lesson. To think that same wood and metal we look at today was in such a specific place, held in the hands of those men so long ago
i could listen to gun jesus for hours. imagine just having a conversation about guns with this guy. what a privilege that would be
Thank you for the history, Ian, it adds to the story of a great rifle.
One version of the history has it all being fought over a bit of bad punctuation.
The call for assistance reads:
"It is under these circumstances that we feel constrained to call upon you to come to our aid should a disturbance arise here the circumstances are so extreme that we cannot but believe that you and the men under you will not fail to come to the rescue of people who are so situated."
Place a full stop (period) after 'aid' and it implies come immediately to our aid. Place it after 'arise' and the call for help becomes conditional on there being a disturbance. The original uses the second form, the published version to which Jameson responded used the first. Bad news for those who hate grammar nazis - punctuation matters! See Lynne Truss, "Eats, Shoots and leaves".
The British Empire found all sorts of odd reasons to fight wars. In 1731 the ear of a merchant seaman, Capt. Robert Jenkins was cut off by the Spanish in the West Indies. This became the casus belli for a war between Britain and Spain from 1739 - 1748 known as 'The War of Jenkins Ear'. The Black Hole of Calcutta story, which formed the basis for the British rule of India, was based on a pack of lies told by one of the survivors. Any excuse...
An excellent explanation of the Jameson Raid. From South Africa.
Please do more general History :D Loved this episode!
Boer means farmer in Dutch
Family ancestors from Holland, can confirm! 👍
@@jamesslick4790 Holland reeeeeeeeee
and in South Africa it very much referred to the afrikaners. Though afrikaans has its roots in dutch there are plenty of words with noticeable difference in meaning.
En?
@@nark6804 maak het duidelijk voor de engelstaligrn
You are never long on the history. That was one of the best videos.
I really enjoyed the extra bit of history today. Thanks.
That was very well cared for. You can tell the man that had that rifle really liked it.
Come for the guns, stay for the history lesson...😂😂 this is a great channel! Great work always!
The Boers were also mostly farmers. In fact, the word "Boer" is Dutch (Afrikaans) for Farmer.
I learned a lot from the quick history about Boer Wars you provided. Thank you for the great and informative video. 👍👍👍
this video made me love you and this channel 100% more
Dankie Gun Jesus, very cool
The Jameson Raiders embarked upon a ride of nearly 200 miles without proper planning and without adequate provisions. Their stores consisted mainly of Scotch. By the time the Boers encountered them, they were largely overcome by fatigue. My great uncle, a prospector, adventurer and big game hunter, was the only person to ride out from Johannesburg to support them.
That person J.W. Rossouw might be from Musina. It's a town very far north in the Limpopo province. That's if the writing under his name reads Muscina (which isn't correctly spelled anyway and I've been unable to find references for it in the dictionary where it is spelled this way).
A lot of the Boers were illiterate, or semi-illiterate, and that shows through in the spelling of words/names and the formation of letters in the carvings on some of their rifles. Smart money would be on a simple misspelling of the Town name.
@@Vlaid65 It was boer kommando's from Krugersdorp that caught Jameson and his henchmen.So it's interesting to wonder how Mussina came to be engraved on the rifle.
Jameson had 12 Maxim guns and he lost! I understand that the Boers went off singing..
No matter what happens
We’ve now got
Twelve Maxin guns
And the Brits have not
Australian troops also fought in this conflict, using the same flexible commando tactics. Not dissimilar to the men they fought, farmers, bushmen and natural marksman. Too many times we fight our brothers instead drinking a beer with them. Put the politicians in an arena with swords, and lets see how brave they are when they do battle on our behalf.
the Boer war is fascinating
Thank you , Ian
Greetings from Patagonia Argentina (where many Boers immigrated after the 2nd Boer War). Since my English is limited, I thought "speed" meant that it was a fast-firing rifle by the standards of the time.
Fascinating!
History is my favorite part of these videos. I want more of it.
This is the quality content I subscribe for.
Love this channel. Great historical content.
Ian: "I know I went a bit long on the general history..."
Othias: "Hold my beard...I mean, my beer."
This is a very cool story. Thanks, Ian.
the story of the Rifle is as important as the firearm itself.
Historical context appreciation achievement unlocked!
I agree with all the comments saying the liked the history lesson. I find the Boer wars fascinating.
Ian going too long on the history? that's unpossible
Really love the idea of customizing and adding decorations to your weapons, to make them truely yours and not just yet another faceless gun of its type.
@@johnwayne8494 So turning a functional weapon, which requires legal things, into a non functional one to get around the laws?
this is an unlisted video but somehow i just got to it through my recommended feed ??
The history is more interesting to me. Thanks for the video
Thank you for the informative video gun Jesus
thank you