Infantry Weapons
British cartridge, a change from the various rimless Mauser-design cartridges used to date, such as the 7.92 mm Mauser round. These modifications were categorised in various numbered designations, ZB vs.27, ZB vz . 30, ZB vz . 32, and finally the ZB vz .33 which became the Bren.
Other weapons that were submitted for trials were the Madsen, Vickers-Berthier, Browning Automatic Rifle
( BAR ) and the Neuhausen KE7.
A gas operated weapon, the Bren used the same .303 ammuntion as the standard British rifle, the Lee Enfield, firing at a rate of between 480 and 540 rounds per minute, depending on model. each gun came with a spare barrel that could be quicly changed when the barrel became hot during sustained fire. The Bren was magazine fed, which slowed its rate of fire and required more frequent reloading, than belt-fed machine guns such as the larger Vickers .303 machine gun. However the slower rate of fire prevented more rapid overheating of the Bren's air-cooled barrel, and the Bren was several pounds lighter. Because it was more easily portable, it could be fired on the move and from standing positions. In general the Bren was a reliable and effective light machine gun.
The Rifle No4 MKI Lee Enfield
The Lee- Enfield bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle was the main firearm used by the military forces of the Britain and its Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th Century. It was the British Army's standard rifle from its official adoption in 1895 until 1957. The Lee-Enfield used the .303 British cartridge and in Australia and New Zealand the rifle became known simply as the ' 303 '. It was also used by the military forces of Canada, India, and South Africa, among others.
A redesign of the Lee-Metford, which had been adopted by the British Army in 1888, the Lee-Enfield remained in widespread British service until the 1990s. As a standard-issue infantry rifle, it is still found in service in the armed forces of some Commonwealth nations.
The Lee-Enfield featured a ten-box magazine which was loaded manually from the top, either one round at a time of by means of five-round clips.
Variants
MARK I
From September 1937. The Original Bren based on the Czech Gun:
* Drum pattern rear aperture sight
* Buttstrap for use over the shoulder when firing
* Rear grip under butt
* Telescopic bipod
* Folding cocking handle
MARK 2
Introduced 1941. A simpler version of the MK I
* Folding leaf rear sight
* Buttstrap deleted
* Rear grip deleted
* Fixed height bipod
* Fixed cocking handle
MARK 3
A shorter lighter Bren made by Enfield from 1944 for the war in the East and for Airborne forces. This was a conversion of the Mk I whose main distinguishing features was a shorter barrel.
MARK 4
As with the Mk 3 but this was a conversion of the Mk 2
L4
A conversion of the Bren to 7.62 mm Nato from 1958.
GENERAL FACTS:
In Service: 1937 - 1958
Designed : 1935
Manufacturer : Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield, John Inglis and Company, Long Branch Factory. Ishapore and Lithgow Small Arms Factory.
Produced : 1935 - 1971
Weight : 22.83 Ib
Length : 42.9 in
Barrel Length : 25 in
Crew : 2, firer and magazine/barrel changer
Cartridge : .303
Action : Gas operated
Rate of Fire : 500-520 rounds/ min
Muzzle Velocity : 2440 ft/s
Effective Range : 600 yrds
Maximum Range : 1850 yrds
Feed System : 30 round magazine.
The Lee-Enfield superseded the earlier Martini-Henry, Martini-Enfield, and Lee-Metford rifles, and although officially replaced in the UK with the L1A1 SLR in 1957, it continues to see official service in a number of British Commonwealth nations to the present day, which makes it the longest serving military bolt action rifle still in official service. The total production of all Lee-Enfields is estimated at 17 million rifles.
By the late 1930s the need for new rifles grew, and the Rifle, No 4 Mk I was first issued in 1939 but not officially adopted until 1941. The No4 action was similar to the Mk VI, but lighter, stronger and most importantly, easier to mass produce. Unlike the SMLE, the No4 Lee-Enfield barrel protruded from the end of the forestock. The No4 was considerably heavier than the No I, Mk III, largely due to its heavier barrel, and a new bayonet was designed to go with the rifle, a spike bayonet, which was essentially a steel rod with a sharp point, and was nicknamed ' pigsticker ' by soldiers. Towards the end of the Second World War, a bladed bayonet was developed, originally intended for use with the Sten Gun - but sharing the same mount as the No4's spike bayonet - and subsequently the No 7 and No 9 blade bayonets were used with the No 4 rifle as well.
The No4 Mk II The No4 Mk I
Six Lee-Enfield bayonets from my own collection. The first No4 bayonet, made by Singer, was the fine-quality No4 Mk I. It was a one-piece forging (below right bottom ) it had a polished cruciform-section blade and deeply blued socket. The small socket-type hilt proved inadequate as a grip, making the No4 Bayonet wholly impractical to use as a hand held weapon. It was a stabbing bayonet and nothing more. Already far cheaper than the 1907 bayonet, it was to be further modified to reduce cost and labor. Singer Manufacturing Co made the Mk I. The No4 Mk II, introduced in 1940 ( left ) had a simplified circular section blade with ' screwdriver ' point. The No4 Mk II* was made from seperate socket and blade components with distinct joint at the socket where the blade meets. A number of different factories assembled the separate components. Increasing demands for No4 bayonets led to the introduction of the No4 Mk III in February 1943. The Mk III had a crude socket to which the blade was welded. Over 196,000 examples of the Mk III were produced before it was declared obsolete in May 1946. Production of the spike bayonet ceased at the end of WW2. Bayonets such as the No9 ( top right ) vame into effect from roughly 1947 onwards.
The Webley MKIV Service Revolver
The Webley Revolver, also known as the Webley Break-Top Revolver or Webley Self Extracting Revolver was in various marks, the standard issue service pistol for the armed forces of the United Kingdom, and the Comonwealth from 1887 until 1963.
The Webley is a top-break revolver with automatic extraction: breaking the revolver open for reloading also operates the extractor, removing the spent cartridges from the cylinder.
Webley service revolvers are among the most powerful top-breaking revolvers ever produced, firing the .455 Webley cartridge. Although the .455 calibre Webley is no longer in military service, the .38/200 Webley MkIV variant is still in use as a police sidearm in a number of countries.
At the end of the First World War, the British military decided that the .455 calibre gun and cartridge was too large for modern military use, and decided ( after numerous tests and extensive trials ) that a pistol .38 calibre, firing a 200 grain ( 13g ) bullet would be just a effective as the .455 for stopping the enemy. Webley and Scott immediately tendered the .38/200 calibre Webley MKIV revolver ( above ) which as well as nearly identical in appearance to the .455 calibre MKVI revolver ( albeit scaled down for the smaller cartridge ) was based on their .38 calibre MKIII pistol designed for the Police and civilian markets.
The official service pistol for the British Military during the Second World War was the Enfield No 2 MKI .38/200 calibre revolver, but owing to a critical shortage of handguns, a number of other weapons were also adopted ( first practically, then officially ) to alleviate the shortage. As a result, both the Webley MKIV in .38/200 and the .455 calibre Webley MKVI were issued to personnel during the war.
During the course of the Second World War, the No 4 rifle was further simplified for mass production with the creation of the No4 Mk I* in 1942, which saw the bolt release catch removed in favour of a more simplified notch on the bolt track of the rifle's receiver. It was produced in North America, with Long Branch Arsenal in Canada and Savage-Stevens Firearms in the USA producing the No4 Mk I* rifle from their perspective factories. On the other hand, the No 4 Mk I rifles was primarily produced in the UK.
Type: Bolt Action Rifle
Designer James Paris Lee, RSAF Enfield
Calibre: .303
Weight: 4kg
Length: 1.130 m
Range: 1 800 m
Effective Range: 270 m
Initial Velocity: 745 m/s ( 2,441 ft/s )
Magazine: 10 rounds
Sights: Simplified folding backsight with two eyeholes:
Variants: Short magazine Lee Enfield Mk I, Mk I*, Mk III, Mk III* Rifle No 4 Mk I
Mk I* ( produced by Savage and Long Branch ) Mk I ( T ) Sniper Rifle, Mk 2,
Rifle No 5 Mk I, Jungle Carbine.
The Bren Light Machine Gun
The Bren ( from Brno, the Czechoslovak city of design, and Enfield, the site of the British Royal Small Arms Factory ) usually called the Bren Gun, was a series of light machine guns adopted by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1991. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry light machine gun ( LMG ) in World War Two, it was also used in the Korean War and later.
The Bren was a modified version of a Czechoslovak-designed light machine gun, the ZB vz 26, which British Army officials had tested during a firearms service competition in the 1930s. The later Bren featured a distinctive curved box magazine, conical flash hider and quick change barrel. In the 1950s the Bren was rebarrelled to accept the 7.62x51 mm NATO cartridge. Although fitted with a bipod, it could also be mounted on a tripod either in a ground role position, anti-aircraft role, or vehicle mounted.
Above, a 1942 dated Mk I Bren
Type : Service Revolver
Place of Origin : United Kingdom
In Service : 1932 - 1963
Used By : United Kingdom and Commonwealth
Wars : Second World War, Korean War.
Designer : Webley and Scott
Designed : 1932
Manufacturer : Webley and Scott
Produced : 1932 - 1978
Number Built : Aprrox 500,000
Weight : 2.4Ib unloaded
Length : 10.25 inches
Cartridge : .380" Revolver MKIIz
Calibre : .38/200
Action : Double Action Revolver
Rate of Fire : 20-30 rounds/minute
Muzzle Velocity : 620 ft/s
Effective Range : 50 yds
Maximum Range : 300 yds
Feed System : 6 - round cylinder
Sights : Fixed front post and rear notch
Development
The British Army adopted it in 1935 following extensive trials of the Czech ZB vz . 26 light machine gun manufactured in Brno, although the ZB vs . 26 was not actually submitted for the trials; a slightly modified model was submitted, the ZB vz .27. A licence to manufacture was sought and the Czech design was modified to British requirements. The major changes were in the magazine and barrel. The magazine was curved to feed the rimmed .303
the 2nd battalion royal ulster rifles
World War 2 Living History Group
