Rapid fire with Lee Enfield

[x westie]

I was always wondering what the effects of rapid continuous fire on the Lee Enfield Rifle barrel....for instance the SMLE rifle in the hands of the British army at the Battle of Mons in 1914...when the 70,000 Brits held off 160,000 Germans ...this is where the SMLE got its name as a extremely fast bolt action rifle....also in Korea Canadian and Commonwealth troops in several battles with the No.4 rifle held off huge numbers of communist troops.

Would the barrel have to be replaced after actons like this ..looking forward to all your input.

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[Will Durant]

That is a reasonable question.However,unless an armorer can come aboard I do not know what kind of an accurate answer you will get.I would expect the #4 to have a barrel life between 10,000 and 15,000 rounds of moderate shooting.There are of course a few other variables such as cleaning,weather,quality of ammunition....etc.Will

[x westie]

I understand what you saying about 10,000 to 15,000 rounds,.in average use..i don't know how many rounds a troopie would have used at say the Battle of Mons in 1914...and in how long the battle lasted is another question

[RobSmith]

It's all about barrel heating. So the question is variable, my guess would be no for the most part (assuming the rifle was relatively new) it wouldn't have been necessary to replace the barrel after a single burst of continuous fire.

[Stevo]

Rapid fire in a rifle is still slow compared to an MG, even with a SMLE.

Given that MG barrels have a life in the thousands of rounds with a lot higher rate of fire, it would take comparatively much higher number of rounds to affect a SMLE barrel. For a rifleman to fire a thousand rounds in one day with a bolt action rifle would not be likely, IMO.

At Milsurp rifle matches, I've beaten M305s both in rate of fire and time with my No4. Of course the 5 round mags in the semi hurt it, but it's fun to spank the high-speed shooters with a LE.

[Will Durant]

The point of fact is that the bullet will leave the barrel and go down range after many,many thousands of firings regardless of bore diameter.The important question is:could you you hit a Volkswagen in the side at 200 yards.Machinegun accuracy requirements are not the same as aimed rifle fire or should not be.Will

[Claven2]

Bear in mind that the average troopie at Mons had less than 100 rounds on his person. 100 rounds rapid fire will not wash out a barrel.

[ganderite]

I doubt that a barrel would have remained accurate for 10,000 rounds. the powder used was cordite, and it burned very hot.

Barrel life is very subjective. It will go bang forever, but if it is a targt rifle a shooter will notice a drop off in accuracy and then declare the barrel shot out".

I generally replace blue barrels after about 2,000 to 3,000 rounds. I have so many shot out barrels on my shelf waiting to be used for other projects I recently used a bunch of them as rebar for my new concrete patio.

I got that idea from a Brit gunsmith.

[copilot001]

I can just see people breaking up your patio slab to get at those valuable antique enfield barrels years from now...where did you say you live ?

...Just for future referance....

[Gibbs505]

I can just see people breaking up your patio slab to get at those valuable antique enfield barrels years from now...where did you say you live ?

...Just for future referance....

The horror, the horror!