The Lee-Enfield series of rifles was born in 1895 as a marriage between the magazine and bolt action, designed by the J. P. Lee, and the new pattern of barrel rifling, designed at the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) at Enfield. Originally known as Lee-Metford, this design was adopted by British army in 1888 and used a Metford pattern rifling with shallow groves, intended to be used with ammunition loaded with black powder. Introduction of the smokeless powders in the form of the Cordite showed that the Metford rifling was very short-living, so it was soon replaced with Enfield rifling, with 5 traditional land and grooves and left hand pitch. Early Lee-Enfield rifles, officially known as a “.303 caliber, Rifle, Magazine, Lee-Enfield”, were carried by the British army through the Boer war (South Africa) of 1899-1902, and Boers, armed with their Mausers, taught to the Brits some hard lessons. And, unlike some other Empires, Brits were quick lo learn. In 1903, they introduced a new design, which improved over the older Lee-Metfords and Lee-Enfields in some important respects. The main improvements was the introduction of the “universal” rifle idea. The common thinking of the period was to issue the long rifle for infantry and the carbine for cavalry, artillery and other such troops. The Brits decided to replace this variety of sizes with one, “intermediate” size, that will fit all niches. This “one size fits all” rifle was called “.303 caliber, Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield, Mark 1″, or, in short SMLE Mk.I, where “short” referred to the length of the rifle. This rifle passed some improvements during the following pre-WW1 years, finalizing in the 1907 as a SMLE Mk.III.

Development and introduction into service of this rifle was accompanied with constant complaints of some “theorists”, which stated that this rifle would be no good neither for infantry, nor for cavalry, so RSAF was set do design another rifle, patterned after the German Mauser, which also should be more suitable for mass production, than the SMLE. This rifle finally appeared in 1914 as an “.303 caliber Enfield Pattern 1914 rifle”, or simply a P-14. With the outbreak of the Great war British troops were still armed with the “poor” SMLE Mk.III rifles, which soon turned far from any “poor”, giving some hard time to the Germans. In fact, the SMLE Mk.III was a really good rifle, quite accurate, reliable and suitable for rapid and accurate firing. British soldiers were rigorously trained for both individual and volley fire marksmanship, and were routinely capable of firing 30 aimed shots per minute, which was quite a rate of fire for any non-automatic rifle. There were times when advancing Germans were impressed that they were under the machine gun fire, when Tommie used their salvo-firing techniques. During the war time the basic Mk.III design was slightly simplified to better suit the mass production needs, with omission of “volley” sights and magazine cutoffs, and with some production shortcuts. When the World War One was over, there were no questions of quality of basic SMLE design, but some improvements were suggested and introduced in later patterns, such as peep-hole, receiver mounted sights. These “interwar” patterns were not issued in any significant quantities until the 1941. In 1926, Britains, quite confused with numerous ‘Marks’ and ‘Marks with stars’ of their weaponry, decided to adopt a new numbering system, so the SMLE Mark III became the “Rifle, No. 1 Mark 3″. The “Rifle No.2″ was a training version of the SMLE No.1 but chambered to .22LR ammunition. The “No.3″ was assigned to the P-14 rifle, which was used in limited numbers. And the “Rifle No.4 Mark 1″, widely known as a SMLE No.4 Mk.1, appeared in 1941. This was an improved and strengthened SMLE design, with heavier and stronger receiver, which also was faster and easier to machine, and with heavier barrel. The stock shape was shortened at the front part, giving away with the characteristic Mark III snub-nosed appearance. The barrel-mounted open rear sights were replaced with the receiver-mounted peep-hole sights, which were micrometer-adjustable. The latter feature was substituted by the simplified flip-up rear sights for wartime production, and this version became the No.4 Mk.1* rifle. By the end of the World War 2, when British and Commonwealth troops (also armed with SMLEs) started to fight in jungles of the South-East Asia, it was soon discovered that a “short” SMLE was still not short enough for the jungle combat, so a carbine version was adopted late in the 1944 in the form of the No.5 “jungle carbine”. This gun was somewhat lighter and handier than No.4, but suffered from the “wandering zero” problems, which meant that the point of impact wandered during the time. The muzzle flash and recoil were also too strong, despite the flash-hider and rubber buttpad. The last, and by some opinions the finest “general issue” version of the SMLE was the No.4 Mk.2 rifle, which appeared in 1949. It was made by higher peacetime standards of fit and finish, than a wartime No.1 Mk.3s and No.4 Mk.1s, and served with British army until the mid-1950s, when the self-loading L1 SLR (semi-auto copy of the Belgian FN FAL) rifle in 7.62mm NATO was introduced into general service. But some SMLEs were left in military service, as a training, target and, especially, sniper rifles, known as Enfield L39 and L41, rechambered to the new standard 7.62mm NATO ammunition, and served well until the late 1980s, when there were replaced by the L96 sniper rifles. It should be noted, that SMLE rifles were produced and used not only in the UK. Australian, Canadian and Indian factories turned out more than million of the No.1 rifles with various improvements, which were used during both World wars and thereafter. During the WW2, Britain also acquired quantities of SMLE No.4 (marked No.4 Mk.1*) made under contract at the Savage Arms company in USA. In the 1950s, Indian Isaphore arsenal turned out some SMLEs rechambered to the 7.62mm NATO (.308 win) ammunition. These are distinguishable from .303 caliber rifles by the more squared outline of the magazine. Total numbers of all ‘Marks’ and ‘Numbers’ of the SMLE made during the 60 years in various countries is not less than 5 000 000 (yes, five millions) rifles.

The SMLE is a manually operated, rotating bolt action magazine fed rifle. The Lee-designed SMLE magazine is a first easily distinguishable feature. It holds 10 rounds of ammunition in staggered column form, and while the magazine itself is detachable, it is not intended to be reloaded when detached from rifle. Early Lee-Enfields (Long Lee-Enfields and SMLEs prior to Mark III) were loaded only by single rounds via the top receiver opening. Latter, the clip (charger) loading was introduced, and a rear receiver bridge with charger clip guides was added to the design. Some of the earlier marks were then retrofitted with charger loading ability during the 1907 – 1910. To load the magazine, one must use two standard 5-rounds clips. Loading by loose rounds was still available, but some care must be taken when loading cartridges into clips or in the magazine, due to the rimmed ammunition cases. Prior to the 1916, all SMLEs (and earlier Long Lee-Enfields) were issued with so called “magazine cut-off” – a simple device, located at the right side of the receiver and intended to cut off the cartridge supply from magazine to the action when engaged, so rifle could be used as a single-loader, and ammunition in the magazine could be saved for the hottest moments of combat. This was an outdated idea even when it was first introduced, so it was easily discarded when the need to speed up production arose. The magazine itself should be detached only for cleaning, maintenance and repair, and every rifle was issued with only one magazine. The magazine catch is located inside the triggerguard.

The bolt action, another invention of the James Paris Lee (along with magazine), is the other most famous feature of the SMLE. The rotating bolt has two lugs that lock into the receiver walls at the rear part of the bolt, thus saving some part of the bolt length and bolt pull, when comparing to the forward lugs locking. This shorter bolt pull, along with charging handle, located at the rear part of the bolt and bent down, lent itself to quick reloading. Add a relatively high capacity magazine with fast clip reloading and here you have one of the fastest practical rates of fire along with contemporary designs. The SMLE was a striker fired gun, with cocking on the bolt close action and a dual-stage trigger. The bolt head with the extractor was a separate, non-rotating unit, screwed into the bolt body. The safety was located at the rear left side of the receiver and was easily operated by the firing hands’ thumb finger. One notable feature of the Lee bolt action was that the bolts were not interchangeable between different rifles of the same mark Each bolt must have been fitted to its respective action, thus making the production and in-field bolt replacement more complicated. The insufficient headspace problem on the pre-No.4 SMLEs was solved my manual sandpapering the respective bolt-head, and since the No.4 rifle, there were 4 standard sizes of the bolt heads, from which armourer could select one, most suitable for the particular action.

The sights of the Mark III / No.1 Mk.3 SMLEs were a combination of the barleycorn front (an inverted V-shape) and V-notch adjustable rear sights, mounted on the barrel. The front sights were protected by the two “ears” on the stock nose-cap. Latter the front sight were changed to post type, and the rear – to the U-notch type, and since the introduction of the No.4 rifle the barrel-mounted open rear sight was replaced with peep-hole one, mounted on the receiver, which made the sighting line much longer and improved the long-range accuracy. Sniper No.4 Mk.1(T) rifles, made during the WW2, were equipped with detachable optical scope mounts at the left side of the receiver. The scope was carried in the separate box when not in use. No.4 Mk1* rifles, made during the WW2, were equipped with the simplified, two position aperture (peep-hole) sights, marked for 300 and 600 yards ranges only. Pre-1916 Lee-Enfields were also equipped with interesting device, called the “volley” sights. This device was mounted at the left side of the stock, ahead of the magazine, and was used to provide an indirect fire capability at the ranges from 2 000 and up to outstanding 3 900 yards (1800 – 3550 meters). While the individual marksmanship at such ranges with rifle was a nonsense, the salvo firing by large squads at the distant and large targets (such as tight infantry or cavalry formations) can do some damage to the enemy. This was, obviously, an idea of the pre – machine gun and pre – light artillery period, and it was happily dropped during the WW1.

The famous by its distinguishable shape stock of the SMLE featured a semi-pistol grip, a steel buttplate with a trapdoor and a compartment in the butt for tools and cleaning equipment. The “flat-nosed” forend covered the barrel up to the muzzle, and has a small stud, protruding forward under the muzzle for bayonet mounting. Most SMLEs have a small brass disc inset into the right side of the butt, which was used for regimental markings (unlike the German Mausers, where the similar steel disc was used as a bolt unit disassembly tool). The conventional sling swivels were mounted on the frond handguard band and under the butt. Mk.4 No1.(T) sniper rifles also featured an additional wooden cheek rest on the top of the butt for more comfortable sighting while using the scope.

In general the SMLE were ones of the best bolt action battle rifles, fast-firing, powerful and reliable. While being less suitable for “sporterizing” than Mausers, they are still popular among civilians as a hunting and plinking weapons, and also as a part of the history. The key deficiencies of the SMLE were probably the rimmed ammunition and non-interchangeability of bolts, but the advantages of this design were mush bigger and Lee-Enfields in all its guises served the Britain and the British Commonwealth for more than 60 years in the front line service and much longer as a specialized weapon (training and sniper).

Lee-Enfield Mk.1 rifle – the original “Long” Lee-Enfield, made in 1900. Note the dust cover on the bolt, magazine cut-off and lack of the rear receiver bridge with its charger clip guides

SMLE mk. III*, made in 1916 (cutoff already omitted from design)

Same rifle, other side (volley sights also omitted)

SMLE mk. III* (latter known as SMLE No.1 Mk.3); this one was made in 1919

SMLE No.4 Mk.1

SMLE No.4 Mk.1(T) – sniper version with scope, mount and cheek rest on buttstock (shown with magazine removed)

SMLE No.5 Jungle Carbine

Pre-1916 Lee-Enfield volley sight (at left the “volley” front sight, mounted on the left side of the stock, just ahead of the traditional rear sight. At right – the diopter rear “volley” sight, mounted alongside the safety on the receiver)

Safety switch on the SMLE Mk.III* (note the absence of the “volley” rear sight)

Magazine cut-off on the early SMLE rifle. “Volley” rear sight in folded-down position


303 British cartridge with Mk.VII bullet in charger clip and alone

The M1 carbine is an interesting little weapon. The original request for a compact and lightweight shoulder arm to replace service handguns for second-line (non-fighting) troops was first issued by US Army in 1938. The idea behind this request was that a shoulder arm, such as carbine, firing ammunition of moderate power, will have more effective range and will be much simpler to train the users to fire it accurately, than the standard .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol or revolver. This request was probably the first recognition of the need in the Personal Defense Weapon in the modern sense. Request was shelved for some time and re-issued in 1940. It included the new cartridge of .30 caliber but of power far less than of US general issue .30-06 ammunition. The cartridge, officially named the “cartridge, ball, .30 caliber, M1″, was developed by the Winchester company. It was a straight-case, rimless design with round-nose bullet weighting 110 grains (7.1 gram) and muzzle velocity of 1860 fps (~ 570 m/s). Muzzle energy was about 2 times more than of .45ACP pistol cartridge but still almost 3 times less than of .30-06 rifle cartridge. In the modern sense the .30 carbine cartridge can be called an “intermediate” but the lack of the muzzle energy and round nosed bullet limited the effective range to about 200 meters or so. Anyway, it had still much longer range than any pistol round of its time, along with moderate recoil. Many companies submitted their designs for US Army trials but the winner eventually became the Winchester.
The design of the Winchester carbine is often contributed to the David “Carbine” Williams, who was the developer of the gas system. But, according to some sources, this carbine was born as a spare-time hunting carbine project of some engineers at Winchesters’ workshop, and, when military request appeared, this design was resurrected and adopted for intended use. In any case, Winchester began to deliver its first carbines to the US Government in the July, 1942. Some other manufactures also were selected to produce the M1 carbines, such as Inland Manufacturing Division of the General Motors Corp., Underwood-Elliot-Fisher Co., Saginaw Steering Gear Division of the General Motors Corp., National Postal Meter Co., Quality Hardware & Machine Co., International Business Machines Corp (IBM), Standard Products Co. and Rock-Ola Co. During the period of 1942 – 1945 total of more than 6 millions of carbines were manufactured. Since 1944, the only companies still manufacturing M1 carbines were Winchester and Inland. After the end of the WW2 production continued for some time, and M1 carbine and its variations saw some serious action as a first-line weapon not only during the WW2, but also during Korean and early stages of Vietnam war. M1 carbines also were widely exported by US Government to numerous friendly nations, mostly in South-East Asia. M1 carbines saw limited use in the post-war West Germany and France. It should be also noted that M1 carbines are still manufactured by various small US companies for civilian sales, using both military surpulus and newly made parts. Large numbers of surpulus M1 carbines also were sold at the civilian markets in the post-war period.

In general, M1 Carbine was a really compact and handy weapon. It was lightweight and short enough to be more suitable for jungle combat, than a full-size battle rifles such as M1 Garand. It also offered relatively high practical rate of fire due to large-capacity, detachable magazines and low recoil. The M2 modification, which had a select-fire capability and a magazines of larger capacity (30 rounds, interchangeable with the older 15-round ones), could be described as an “almost an assault rifle” (“almost” is added due to the lack of effective range). Had Americans a little trouble to soup it up slightly in the terms of power and range, they could have a true assault rifle 20 years before they actually did, and probably with much less headache. But they did not, and M2 was manufactured in relatively small numbers and was mostly used during the Korean war. Another modification was the even more compact “paratrooper” version, M1A1, with side-folding metallic buttstock and a pistol grip. This version also was produced in limited numbers. The last modification was the M3, which originally appeared as an experimental prototype T3. It was no more than a M2 select-fire carbine, fitted with special mounts to accept night-vision sighting devices (IR sights). Intended use was as a short-range, night-time sniper rifle. M3 also was used in Korea and, probably, Vietnam.

It must be noted that during the war in Korea M1 carbines received some bad fame due to reliability problems in extremely low temperatures and also due to underpowered cartridge, which was sometimes unable to effectively penetrate the thick winter uniforms of North Korean and Chinese soldiers at extended ranges.

Technically, M1 Carbine is a gas operated, magazine fed, semi-automatic or select-fire (M2) short rifle. It uses the short-piston stroke gas operated action, designed by D. Williams. Gas piston is located under the middle of the barrel and has a travel of about 1/3 inch (8 mm). When gun is fired, the powder gases are bleed from the barrel into the gas chamber and propel the gas piston violently to the rear. The gas piston thus gives a sharp blow to the operating slide, which is located inside the stock and is linked to the rotating bolt, more or less similar to one found in M1 Garand rifle. The bolt has two forward lugs that locks into the receiver walls. The safety on all M1 carbines and variations is located at the front part of the triggerguard. On the earliest carbines the safety was in the form of the cross-bolt push-button but latter it was replaced by the lever-type switch, because in the heat of the combat the safety button was sometimes confused with magazine release button, located next to the safety. The fire mode selector on the M2 and M3 was located at the left side of the receiver. The cocking handle is permanently attached to the operating rod. Sights on the earlier M1 carbines had a flip-up rear diopter (peep-hole) with settings for 150 and 300 feets, and later rear sights were replaced by drift-adjustable diopter. Carbines were issued with sling and sometimes with additional pouch that was mounted on the buttstock and allowed to carry two spare magazines on the gun itself. Early M1 carbines had no provisions to mount a bayonet, however, some older models had bayonet lugs on the barrel.

US M1 carbine, left side

Same M1 carbine, right side


M1A1 carbine, a “paratrooper” version with side-folding buttstock

M2 carbine, a select-fire modification with enlarged, 30-round magazine


30 M1 carbine cartridge (left) shown next to 7.62×39mm Russian (center) and 5.56mm NATO (.223 Rem, right)

Caliber: 30 US Carbine (7.62×33 mm)
Action: Gas operated, rotating bolt
Overall length: 904 mm
Barrel length: 458 mm
Weight: 2.36 kg without magazine
Magazine capacity: 15 or 30 rounds

The Mauser company, established by the two Mauser brothers, established its reputation in firearms making in the last decades of the XIX century, and continued to build a very well thought-out and skillfully built firearms until the end of the World War 2. Some years after the WW2, the Mauser company was restored in the West Germany and continued to build firearms, but mostly a larger-caliber ones, like the aircraft cannons etc. But some of earlier Mauser works became the standards against which all others designs are judged, even after some 100 years after its introduction. One of such designs, is undoubtfully a Mauser model 1898 rifle, also known as Gew. 98 or simply G98 (G = Gewehr, rifle in German). This rifle was designed from the experience, gained on previous Mauser designs, and was first appeared in 1898 as a standard German army infantry rifle. It was carried by Germans through the First World war, along with carbine shortened version, known as K98 (or Kar-98, from Karbiner = carbine). In the 1904 Germans were first to introduce the new, “spitzer” bullet (with pointed tip, instead of the older blunt, round-shaped tip). New bullet had much better long-range ballistic, so all sights were regraduated for new ammunition.

During the interwar period this fine design was slightly altered to became the K98k – Karbiner Kurz, or short carbine – a somewhat shorter, lighter and handier version of the original one. This version appeared in 1935 and was manufactured until the 1945 in large numbers not only by Germans, but also in numerous countries, occupied by Germans. Many versions of this design also were licensed to other countries, which also used to build their own versions of the G98. Most famous of those “foreign Mausers” are Persian Mausers, Turkish Mausers, Czech VZ-24 Mausers, Yugoslavian Mausers and some others. The list of the vast variety of the Mauser-type versions could easily cover a number of pages, but, for the sake of compactness, I will describe only the basic, German model.

The model 98 rifle is a manually operated, magazine fed, bolt action rifle. The magazine and the bolt action are the two most famous features of the model 98. Magazine is a two-row, integral box, with quickly detachable floorplate. Magazine could be topped either with single rounds, by pushing rounds into the receiver top opening, or via the stripper clips. Each clip can hold 5 rounds, enough to fill the magazine, and is inserted into the clip guides, machined into the rear receiver bridge. After the loading, empty clip is ejected automatically when bolt is closed. Magazine could be unloaded by operating the bolt (safety must be in the middle position!) or by removing the magazine floorplate (not recommended).

Mauser bolt is a simple, extremely strong and well thought out design. The bolt has three locking lugs, two at the bolt head and one at the rear part of the bolt. The bolt handle is rigidly attached to the bolt body. On the original Gew 98 rifles it was straight and located horizontally when bolt was in the closed position. On the K98k the bolt handle was bent down, which allowed for more comfortable carrying and bolt operations. Bolt has a gas vent holes that are designed to move the hot gases away from the shooters face and into the magazine opening in the case of the cartridge case or primer rupture. Next famous feature of the model 98 bolt is a “controlled feed” extractor. Massive, non-rotating claw extractor was designed to engage the cartridge rim as soon as cartridge left the magazine, and held the cartridge case firmly until it was ejected by the ejector, fixed inside the receiver. Combined with a slight bolt retraction at the last stage of the bolt turn-open rotation, caused by the cammed surface on the rear receiver bridge, this resulted in very positive primary extraction. Model 98 is a striker-fired weapon. Striker is cocked when bolt is rotated to open, allowing for smoother forward bolt pull. The rear part of the striker is protruded from within the bolt, so state of the action (cocked or not) can be checked visually or even manually. The bolt group can be easily removed from the receiver simply by pulling out the bolt stop, located at the left wall of the receiver, and then by rotating and pulling the bolt out. The safety switch is located at the rear of the bolt and has three positions: in the left position (when looking from behind the rifle) it locks the sear and also locks the bolt in place, so it could not be rotated and opened. in the middle (raised) position it still locks the sear, but bolt is unlocked and could be operated, to load and unload the rifle; and in the right position, the rifle is ready to fire. Safety could be easily operated by the right thumb finger.

Model 98 rifle featured a one-piece wooden stock with semi-pistol grip. Gew 98 and Kar 98K differ not only in the length of the barrel and the front part of the stock – they also have different sling mountings. While Gew 98 has two sling swivels, the K98k has only one, forward swivel. Instead of the rear swivel there’s a through cut in the buttstock, through which the sling is passed. Those rifles also have different rear sights: Gew 98 have a curved, tangent sight, while K98k has more modern, leaf type rear sight. Front sights are of open, barleycorn type, on some carbines with removable semi-circular front sight hoods.

Mauser Gew. 98 – original model 1898 Mauser rifle

Mauser K98k – Mauser model 98 “Karbiner Kurz” (short carbine); this one was made in 1944

Mauser K98k – same 1944-made specimen, right side view

Top view on the K98k action. clearly seen are safety switch, extractor and stripper clip guides
(“7 62″ markings on the receiver ring mean that this particular specimen was rebarreled to the 7.62mm NATO / .308 Win cartridge)

View on the partially open K98k action, ready to feed another round

Famous model 98 bolt. Top – showing the “controlled feed ability”, bottom – the bolt unit alone

Model 98 firing pin unit along with cocking piece and safety switch


Model 98 three positions safety, from LEFT to RIGHT: “safe and bolt locked”; “safe and bolt unlocked”; “fire”

7.92×57mm (also known as 7.9mm or 8mm Mauser) ammo on stripper clip

Exploded view of the Mauser 98 action

Data for Mauser K98k carbine (data for Gew.98 in parenthesizes)
Caliber: 7.92×57 mm Mauser in German service; many other chamberings in export models
Action: manually operated, rotating bolt
Overall length: 1101 mm (1250 mm)
Barrel length: 600 mm (740 mm)
Weight: 3.92 kg (4.09 kg)
Magazine capacity: 5 rounds in integral box magazine

French army was among the first to adopt the smokeless rifle ammunition in the form of 8mm Lebel cartridge in 1886. By the early 1920s this rimmed cartridge became obsolete, so French began to develop a more modern, rimless cartridge, more suitable for proposed lightweight machine guns. By the 1924 French army had the new 7.5mm cartridge, but this proved to be unsuccessful, and by the 1929 the updated version of the 7.5mm ammunition has been adopted as 7.5mm Cartouche Mle.1929C (7.5×54mm). By the same time, French also developed a lightweight machinegun, the MAC 1929. Initially, French tried to convert earlier 8mm Berthier rifles for new ammunition, but it was apparent that the new rifle is desirable for French infantry. In 1936 French military officially adopted the MAS Mle.1936 (MAS-36) bolt-action rifle, developed by the Manufacture D’Armes de Saint-Etienne. Later on, French forces adopted the modified paratrooper’s version, known as MAS-36 CR 39. This version differed from basic rifle by the aluminum buttstock, which can be folded down and under the forend. This rifle served with French armed forces until the semi-automatic MAS-49 and MAS-49/56 replaced it in service during 1950s and 1960s. The MAS-36 rifle was in production up until the mid-1950s. The MAS-36 action also served as a platform for FR F-1 and FR F-2 sniper rifles, which are still in service with French Armed forces. Since 1951, some of MAS-36 rifles were converted or made into MAS-36/51 pattern, by adding the permanently attached grenade launchers and rifle grenade sights. Grenade launcher was attached to the muzzle of the gun, and was used to launch rifle grenades using special blank ammunition. Folding grenade sight was attached to the left side of the front sight base. MAS-36 is a manually operated, magazine fed, rotating bolt action rifle. The rotating bolt has two opposing lugs, located at the rear of the bolt body. The bolt locks into receiver walls, the bolt handle is located at the rear of the bolt, and is bent forward for more comfortable operation. The square-shaped receiver is machined from steel, and contained integral magazine. Magazine is loaded using charging clips or single rounds, with clip guides machined into the receiver bridge. The wooden stock is made from two parts (buttstock and forend), both connected to the uncovered receiver. The spike-shaped bayonet is stored in the tube below the barrel in reversed position, when not in use. Diopter rear sight is located at the rear of the receiver, and marked from 100 to 1 200 meters in 100 meters increments. Probably the most noticeable feature of the MAS-36 is the lack of any manual safety – rifle was supposed to be carried with empty magazine, and loaded only before the actual combat.

MAS 36 rifle

MAS 36/ 51 rifle, with muzzle grenade launcher

MAS 36 exploded parts diagram

Caliber: 7.5×54 mm
Overall length: 1020 mm
Barrel length: 575 mm
Weight: 3.7 kg empty
Magazine capacity: 5 rounds

The Steyr M1895 rifle, also known as Steyr-Mannlicher M95 straight pull rifle, was developed by famous Austrian arms designer Ferdinand Ritter Von Mannlicher. Based on his previous M1890 design, this rifle was manufactured in Austro-Hungarian Empire at state arms factories in Steyr (Austria) and Budapest (Hungary). More than 3 millions of M95 rifles were produced between 1895 and 1918. This rifle was issued to Austro-Hungarian army, and, after the fall of the Empire, to the Austrian and Hungarian armies. Originally produced in 8×50R caliber, in 1924 some of M95 rifles were converted to the German 7.92×57 Mauser (also known as 8×57 Mauser) ammunition. These converted rifles featured shorter 58 cm barrels, were designated as M95/24 and used in Yugoslavia and Bulgaria. This conversion gave away with original Mannlicher en bloc clip, and replaced it with Mauser stripper clips. Since 1930 Austria converted most of the M95 rifles to the more powerful 8×56R M30 ammunition, using the same Mannlicher en bloc clips. These rifles were designated as M95/30, and marked with the letter “S” on the receiver ring. Hungary started to convert their rifles to the same 8×56R ammunition in 1931, with the upgraded rifles being marked with the letter “H” on the receiver ring. Many of the M95 rifles were used during the Word War 2 by the Hungarian, Bulgarian and Italian armies, as well as by some German police forces. Ferdinand Von Mannlicher developed his first straight-pull bolt action rifle by 1884, and by 1885 he developed the famous Mannlicher en block clip, which was inserted into the box magazine from the top, and automatically ejected through the opening at the bottom of the magazine as the last round was chambered. This significantly speed up the loading process, compared to the earlier designs with magazines loaded by single rounds; the problem was that such magazine could not be loaded with loose rounds without the clip. As a result, during the early part of the 20 century Mannlicher en bloc clip was generally replaced by the Mauser-type stripper clip. Earliest Mannlicher straight-pull rifles have had not so strong wedge-locking system, but in 1890 he introduced a straight pull bolt action with rotary bolt head with two lugs, which he latter used in M95 rifles.

Steyr Mannlicher M95 bolt has a separate head with two frontal locking lugs; bolt head was inserted into the bolt body from the front. Bolt body had internal spiral-shaped ribs, with matching spiral-shaped cuts in the tail of the bolt head. These ribs and cuts forced the bolt head to rotate on the pull of the bolt body, locking and unlocking the action. Box magazine contained five rounds in en bloc clips; as the magazine emptied, the clips were ejected from the opening at the bottom of the magazine. Non-empty clips could be removed from the top with the bolt open, by depressing the clip catch inside the triggerguard. One specific feature of this system was that the clip has specific “top” and “bottom” sides, and could not be loaded into the rifle upside down. The safety was located at the rear left side of the bolt. Large ear-shaped cocking handle at the rear of the bolt served as a manual cocking handle, to re-cock the action without operating the bolt. M95 rifles were issued with detachable knife bayonets. Other than basic rifle, M95 also was issued as Stutzen (short rifle or carbine, with bayonet lug), and slightly shorter cavalry carbine (without bayonet lug).

These rifles are generally considered as a reasonably strong and accurate, but somewhat sensitive to mud and dirt, as most others military straight pull bolt action rifles. There were several downsides, inherent to these rifles. The straight pull bolt lacked the powerful initial extraction, provided by most rotating bolt actions. Large opening at the bottom of the magazine easily collected the dirt and dust into the magazine. The en block clip loading system does not allow the partially full magazine to be refilled without removing the non-empty clip first. The use of rimmed ammunition resulted in the non-symmetric clip which could be inserted into the action only with one side down; upper side of the clip has stamped serrations to hold it while loading (this particular problem was cured in Italian Carcano rifles, which used rimless ammunition, and symmetric clips).

8×50R Steyr Mannlicher M95 long rifle

Steyr Mannlicher 8×56R M95/30 short rifle (upgraded and shortened M95), left side

Same 8×56R Steyr Mannlicher M95/30 short rifle, right side, with the loaded en bloc clip shown in front of the gun

Steyr Mannlicher M95/30 rifle, with bolt open and loaded clip partially inserted into action; note how the bolt handle remains horizontal, as opposed to more common rotating bolt actions such as Mauser

Drawing of the Mannlicher 1895 straight-pull bolt system; note the curved ribs and cuts marked with the dotted lines, which rotate the bolt head on bolt open/close action.

Bottom view on the Steyr Mannlicher M95 rifle, showing the large opening, through which the empty clip is ejected

	M95 long rifle	M95/30 rifle
Caliber	8×50R М93	8×56R M30
Overall length	1272 mm	1000 mm
Barrel length	765 mm	480 mm
Weight	3,8 kg empty	3,36 kg empty
Magazine capacity	5 rounds in en bloc clip	5 rounds in en bloc clip

]]> http://fire-arms.info/archives/steyr-mannlicher-m95-m1895-rifle/feed 0 http://fire-arms.info/archives/johnson-m1941-semiautomatic-rifle http://fire-arms.info/archives/johnson-m1941-semiautomatic-rifle#comments Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:43:30 +0000 Megan http://fire-arms.info/?p=39

Melvin C. Johnson, an American arms designer, developed his semiautomatic rifle by the mid-1938, and submitted it to the US Army trials. Trials and development of the rifle continued until the early 1940, when the Army Ordnance Board finally rejected the Johnson rifle as being too long and heavy, and potentially unreliable with the bayonet attached. Same year Johnson submitted his rifle for trials to the US Marine Corps, where it was tested against M1 Garand rifle. First tests results were good for Johnson, but later on the M1 Garand rifle was found superior to it.In 1941 Johnson named his rifle as “Model 1941″, and the same year the Dutch Government ordered 70 000 rifles from Johnson for its West India colonies, fearing invasion from Japan. For this order Johnson created the Johnson Automatics Mfg plant. At about the same time USMC parachutists forces became interested in Johnson rifle, as it was easy to take down for compact carry during parachute drop, and then easy and quick to reassembly. As the Dutch colonies were already occupied by Japan, USMC procured many of M1941 rifles, made to Dutch order. Compared to M1 Garand, M1941 Johnson rifle had some good and some bad features. Good features were good accuracy, lesser recoil, and bigger magazine capacity with capability for reloading partially full magazine with loose cartridges. Bad features were a number of smaller parts which were easily lost during field stripping, and less available spare parts. Overall, about 30 000 of M1941 rifles were produced during the WW2. After the war, USMC returned all remaining rifles to the Netherlands Purchasing Commission.

Johnson M1941 is a short recoil operated, semiautomatic rifle. Barrel is locked by the rotating bolt with eight locking lugs, engaging into the barrel extension. On recoil stroke, bolt head is rotated to disengage from the barrel, and then barrel is stopped and returned into forward position with its own spring; bolt continues its way back to extract and eject the spent cartridge case and then to chamber fresh cartridge on its way forward. Return spring is located in the buttstock. The rifle is fed from fixed rotary magazine, which holds 10 cartridges. Cartridges can be loaded into the magazine via the loading port in the magazine at the right side of the gun, using the standard M1903-type stripper clips (2 clips with 5 rounds each) or loose rounds. Magazine can be refilled at any time either with the bolt open or closed. Magazine loading port is closed by the spring-loaded dust cover. It must be noted that pre-war Johnson rifles were available either with rotary or box magazines, but box magazine versions apparently are very scarce, as very few of these were produced. Rifle is fitted with two-piece wooden stock, steel handguards were integral to the receiver. Military rifles were equipped with proprietary detachable lightweight spike-shaped bayonets, as the standard knife bayonets were too heavy and affected the reliability of a recoil-operated mechanism. These bayonets had no separate “handle” and were hardly useful and provided only to fulfill military requirements.

Johnson M1941 rifle

Close-up view on the receiver and magazine of M1941. Note the horizontal loading gate with stripper clip guides, located between the magazine and the bolt handle / ejection slot.

Schematic drawing of the M1941 rotary magazine, from Johnson’s patent

Caliber: .30-06 (7.62×63mm)
Action: short recoil operated, rotating bolt
Overall length: 1156 mm
Barrel length: 558 mm
Weight: 4.3 kg empty
Magazine capacity: 10 rounds

The origins of the Ross rifle lie in the late-1890s patents of the noble Canadian Sir Charles Ross, who developed his own pattern of the straight pull rifles, broadly based on Austrian Mannlicher M1890 / 1895 system. British and Canadian forces tested Ross rifles circa 1900-1901, but these rifles, while being quite fast in action, completely failed the reliability tests. The only fact that Britain refused to supply Canada with enough Lee-Enfield rifles during the second Boer war resulted in adoption of the .303 caliber Ross Mark I rifle in 1902. First rifles were delivered to Canadian military and Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1905. These rifles were manufactured at the Ross Rifle Co, in Quebec. In 1907, Ross introduced a slightly improved Mark II rifle. Between 1907 and 1912, Ross turned out several star-marked modifications of the basic mark II pattern, which differed in barrel lengths, safety arrangements and other such minor modifications.In the summer of 1911 Canadian army introduced the Mark III Ross rifle, also known as Model 1910. This rifle was the principal arm of the Canadian corps in Europe during the First World war, and it turned out as a complete failure. Despite the modified magazine which could be loaded from stripper clips, the Ross Mark III rifle was too sensitive for dirt and fouling, it lacked proper initial extraction to handle dirty ammunition. The overly complicated bolt system of all Marks of the rifle did not helped the proper maintenance n the field, which also compromised reliability. The worst thing about the Ross system, however, was that its bolt could be eventually assembled in the wrong order, and in this case rifle could be assembled and then fired with the bolt not locked to the receiver – with disastrous results to both shooter and rifle. On the other hand, most Ross rifles were inherently accurate and served well as a sporter and even match rifles. After the end of First World War, most military Ross rifles were replaced in Canadian service with famous SMLE Mark III rifles of British origins, but made in Canada.

All Ross rifles are straight pull, manually operated, magazine fed repeaters. Separate bolt head with dual opposite locking lugs was inserted into the bolt from the front. The helical cuts and ribs forced the bolt head to rotate on opening and closing stroke of the bolt, thus unlocking and locking it to the receiver. The bolt lugs were made either in solid, Mauser-type pattern, or in interrupted-thread type pattern, depending on the rifle Mark. There were two patterns of magazines in Ross Rifles. Mark I and Mark II rifles had so called Harris controlled platform magazine. This magazine was generally similar to Mauser-type double stack magazine, but could not be loaded from stripper clips. Instead, there was an exposed finger piece, connected to the magazine follower. To load the Harris magazine, shooter had to open the bolt, depress the finger piece at the right side of the stock with its finger to compress the magazine spring and lower the follower, and then spill the five loose rounds into the magazine opening. Upon release of the finger piece the magazine follower spring is released, and bolt could be closed, thus completing the loading cycle. The Mark III rifles had a Lee-type single stack magazine, which protruded below from the stock. This magazine could be loaded from standard 5-round stripper clips, and the clip guides were machined into the front of the rear sight block. The type of rear sight was another change from the Mark II to Mark III. While Mark I and II rifles featured tangent rear sights, mounted ahead of the receiver, on the top of the barrel, the Mark III rifles featured a diopter-type rear sight, mounted on the rear bridge of the receiver. There were other variations in marks and modifications, such as in the shape of stock and handguards.

Ross M1907, officially known as Rifle, Ross, Mark II. This rifle has a Harris-type magazine with external latch, which controlled the movement of the magazine follower. This latch is clearly visible just below and to the rear of the rear sight.

Ross M1910, also known as Rifle, Ross, Mark III. Note different pattern of magazine, which was loaded from conventional .303-caliber clips.

Close-up on the receiver and magazine of the Ross Mark III rifle

Diagram of the Ross mark III rifle. Below the rifle is the diagram (top view) of the bolt, with helical locking/unlocking cuts and ribs being clearly visible

Data for Ross Mark II rifle
Caliber: .303 British (7.7×56R mm)
Action: manually operated, straight pull
Overall length: 1320 mm
Barrel length: 711 mm
Weight: 3.90 kg
Magazine capacity: 5 rounds