Canadian Rangers to carry Winchesters after 60 years of bearing Enfield rifles

[Badger]

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.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
Call to new arms

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[Alan de Enfield]

Did I not read that this was tried some years ago but the replacement rifles couldn't cope with the cold ?

When implemented presumably the No4's will be all gas-axed to stop terrorists getting hold of them.

[Peter Laidler]

As a matter of interest, being part of the Reserve Forces, didn't they ever arm them with L1A1's? Any reason?

[browningautorifle]

They didn't arm them with FNs Peter, because the caribou herds would be reduced to nothing in one year. That's what their supervisor staff told me.

Just for the people that don't buy that, if you saw the sad state many of the 303s end up in, I'm sure we all agree an FN needs more maint than a 303. Some of their rifles were issued new and two months later were scrapped.

[Claven2]

This is, that I know of, at least the THIRD time the retirement of the Lee Enfield has been announced by the CF. At least once in the past, they gas axed most of their stocks of No.4's and planned to issue commercial rifles. In the end nothing but the Enfield passed the trials north of 60 in the winter and the CF had to go to surplus dealers and buy a large quantity of No.4's to replace the perfectly good ones they had cut up.

Let's just say I'll believe it when I see it.

[Stevo]

As a matter of interest, being part of the Reserve Forces, didn't they ever arm them with L1A1's? Any reason?

Because C1's were too scary to be in the hands of citizen volunteers.

[breakeyp]

I know I am functionally illiterate. I have read this article three times and I still can't find out what make and model of rifle is replacing the Lee. The writer must have gone to a US school for special needs journalists. What ever happened to, "Who, What, Where and When?"

[Badger]

I know I am functionally illiterate. I have read this article three times and I still can't find out what make and model of rifle is replacing the Lee. The writer must have gone to a US school for special needs journalists. What ever happened to, "Who, What, Where and When?"

I was thinking the same thing, but didn't want to say it ...

Regards,
Doug

[Claven2]

That's because they are announcing the demise of the Enfield without yet identifying the replacement. There will be an RFP and the submissions will need to be trialled in arctic, preferably in the winter. Only then will they be able to select a suitable 7.62 NATO replacement, if it exists. A semi-auto is unlikely as most .308 Semis require some lube and don't perform well in the extrmee cold - this is one of the reasons the Enfield has been so successful - it is remarkably immune to those conditions - more so perhaps than any other rifle. The full wood also helps immensely with preventing one's fingers from freezing to the barrel.

Another issue is that the inuit Rangers are notoriously hard on their gear. Rifles spend a lot of time in the bottom of a boat out on the salt water, they go long periods without maintenance or lube since the Rangers get to keep their rifles for personal use between ops, etc. Most rifles aren't built sloppy enough or tough enough to absorb that hard use and still work reliably. Imagine a semi-auto gas system full of corrosion from exposure to salt water - how well would that work?

Hence my skepticism.

[Jc5]

Why does the headline say "to carry Winchesters"? I thought I was going to read that they were transitioning to Model 94 lever actions or something. Only a ****-poor journalist would construe the proposed adoption of the .308 Winchester cartridge (which might not even be of Winchester manufacture) as "carrying Winchesters". Then again, it could be that the page editor (rather than the story writer) is the one who actually writes the headline for the article.

Also, any hope that the retired Lee Enfields will make their way into the surplus collectors market?

Also, gee whiz, what No.4 parts could be so terribly hard to find that they have to replace the entire lot at public expense? They never heard of Numrich? Still, governments HAVE to spend money, I suppose.