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Canadian Rangers to carry Winchesters after 60 years of bearing Enfield rifles
Call to new arms
After 60 years, Canadian Rangers patrolling Canada's northern frontier are getting a weapons upgrade from the Second World War-era Lee Enfield. David Pugliese reports
By David Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen August 2, 2011
Attachment 25530
Prime Minister Stephen Harper meets Canadian Rangers in Pangnirtung, Nunavut. Their mission is 'to provide lightly equipped, self-sufficient, mobile forces in support of the CF's sovereignty and domestic operation tasks in Canada.'
Photograph by: Andy Clark, Reuters, Ottawa Citizen
After more than 60 years of carrying the venerable Lee Enfield rifle, those who form Canada's first line of defence in the Arctic are getting new guns.
If all goes well, the Canadian Rangers will receive their new rifles before the end of 2014, army officers say.
The Rangers, a sub-component of the Canadian Forces Reserve, patrol remote parts of the North and other isolated areas of Canada.
Since they were formed in 1947, the Rangers have used the bolt-action Lee Enfield rifle.
"While the Lee Enfield is still an ex-cellent weapon and meets the Rangers' requirements, there is difficulty in obtaining spare parts," said army spokesman Maj. Martell Thompson.
For the last two decades, the military has been maintaining the rifles from spare parts cannibalized from other Lee Enfields. Although the Canadian Forces are several years away from a shortage of parts, the number of spare components is becoming limited, Thompson pointed out.
When the .303-calibre Lee Enfield was first issued to the Rangers, it was the standard service rifle of the Canadian army.
The Lee Enfield had earned a reputation for reliability among Canadian soldiers who used it during the Second World War. Earlier models had been in service with the British army since 1895, according to the Juno Beach Centre, which commemorates the effort made by all Canadians during the Second World War. On its website, the centre noted that during the First World War, Canadian troops threw away their governmentissued Ross rifles in favour of Lee Enfields they picked up on the battlefield.
Thompson said after consulting with the Rangers, it was agreed that the new rifle would be in the 7.62 mm/.308 Winchester calibre, as this was best suited to meet the Rangers' requirements. He noted that ". 308 Winchester refers to a specific cartridge that is very similar to the 7.62 x 51 (NATO) cartridge, and is made by several companies."
The military is in the process of expanding the Ranger force to about 5,000.
Maj. Bruce Gilchrist, the army's project director for small arms, said the plan to replace the Lee Enfield would see the purchase of 10,000 rifles. That amount should cover the need to supply or replace rifles over the next 30 years. Some other units might also want to use the new rifle once it is introduced, he added.
The replacement of the Ranger rifle is one of the items covered under the military's small-arms modernization project, which is working its way toward government approval. "If all continues as presently planned, the Rangers should see their first rifles before mid-winter in 2014," Gilchrist noted.
The small-arms project is aiming for government approval in the summer of 2012.
The number of Rangers has increased to about 4,700, up from the 4,100 in 2007. The number of Ranger formations, called patrols, went from 161 to 173.
Many Rangers are aboriginal. They protect Canada's sovereignty by reporting unusual activity or sightings, collecting data of significance to the Canadian Forces, and conducting surveillance or sovereignty patrols as required, according to the military.
Their mission is "to provide lightly equipped, self-sufficient, mobile forces in support of the CF's sovereignty and domestic operation tasks in Canada."
The Canadian army's headquarters authorized the first two Ranger companies in September 1947. According to the government, new patrols have been established at:
??Faro in the Yukon Territory;
Hay River in the Northwest Territories;
Fort Nelson in British Columbia;
Eabametoong, Kasabonica and Kingfisher in Ontario;
Chisasibi and Îles-de-la-Mad-eleine in Quebec and;
Hamilton in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay recently met with the Rangers ahead of a major annual Arctic sovereignty operation. He presented members of the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group with Canadian Forces Decoration medals in recognition of their 12 years of good and loyal service.
Members of the 1st Canadian Ranger Patrol Group will take part in Operation Nanook, the Canadian Forces' annual northern training exercise. That starts on Aug. 8 and runs for two weeks.
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Call to new arms
