another early LE carbine

[smle addict]

My fault for not clarifying- it is currently wearing its original 5-groove enfield barrel as it was born with. The spare martini metford barrel that was thrown in with the deal is only being scavenged for its intact front sight.

You are correct in that no carbines were being produced after the enfield was adopted-for military use. Carbines were still being offered commercially for some time after the adoption of the MLE as standard. Metford barrels were still being offered well into the 20's, as target shooters thought them superior for target work.

I remember reading in one of my Boer-War books (either Pakenham or Lee) officers did indeed carry rifles in that conflict. They also dropped the wearing of the riding breeches as the cut of the pants and the carrying of carbines marked them as officers. Sharp-eyed Boers looked for these characteristics when selecting their targets. By the wars end, the officers looked very much like the regular infantryman, distinguished only by rank insignia.

Bubba: he comes in all shapes, sizes, and ages. Last year I was at my local range shooting a No4T. On the bench next to me was this 16-year old kid shooting a Rem 700 6.5 Creedmore. His rifle was extremely accurate. He saw my targets; 1.75 to 2.5 inch groups at 100 yards. He then proceeded to lecture to me about glass-bedding the action and free-floating the barrel. He also suggested cutting the wood down and ditching handguards, as they are "bad for accuracy." Nice enough kid, but uninformed. I politely declined his advice...

[Jc5]

OP is correct to point out that we are talking here about a commercial (trade pattern carbine), not service-pattern carbines made to fulfill government contracts. His carbine is one of the former. Dates of service pattern rifles and carbine (including dates of introduction--LOC) do not apply to commercial arms, which were sold to civilians. As we have noted, plenty of commercial arms saw war service, because officers were expected to purchase their own arms. But remember that the Boers used them too, as seen in the photo above from Pakenham of the trade pattern carbine used by a member of Smuts' staff.

However, even with regard to strictly service pattern carbines manufactured for the British government, there is ample evidence that carbines were produced after the introduction of the Lee-Enfield, which was in 1895. The first cavalry carbine (Lee-Metford carbine) was approved in 1894 and manufactured through 1897. Its successor, the Lee-Enfield carbine was made from 1896 through 1903 (see Skennerton, pages 446-454).

It might be more nearly correct to say that cavalry carbines were not produced after the introduction of the SMLE in 1902, but even here there are exceptions. Although carbine production began to phase out in 1903, the NZ pattern followed and the RIC pattern was produced through 1914 (according to Skennerton)--these latter, of course, were conversions rather than entirely new production. Commercial trade pattern carbines continued to be sold right into the start of the First World War.