No. 4 Rifle; Zeroing Instructions Data Inconsistency?

[Alan de Enfield]

On page 198 it is stated: "It must be remembered that the recruit who has had his rifle zeroed at his basic training centre has only a roughly corrected weapon". It is also stated that some training centres would have only 30 or 100 yard ranges available, so the implication is clear that the 30 and 100 yard zeroes were preliminary to later zeroing at longer ranges. Was a final zeroing at 300 yards arranged before embarkation for theatres of operations? It would seem likely given the emphasis on rifle skills and accuracy which comes across in the 240 pages of "Shoot to Live".

On page 194, it is stated in upper case: "ALL ZEROING MUST BE DONE WITH BAYONET FIXED AND WITH THE BATTLE SIGHT OF WHATEVER MODEL OF BACK SIGHT IS ... AFFIXED TO THE RIFLE."

At least in all factories under British control / management every rifle was tested and zero'd (without a bayonet fitted) as follows :


SMLE TESTING
For the SMLE All rifles were tested for accuracy by the Small Arms Inspection Department at 100ft, and 10% were also tested at 600 yds. All rifles were fired from a special mechanical rest, known as an Enfield Rest, and a special Telescope layer was used for laying an aim. The Enfield Rest was designed to simulate the conditions under which a rifle would be held when fired from the shoulder, and was provided with hand wheel adjustments for laying an aim. Trial shots were first fired and, if necessary the foresight was adjusted laterally, or replaced by one of a different height, until the shots on the target were within the required limits. Five rounds were then fired, and four of the five shots had to be contained in a rectangle 1 inch broad by 1½ in high. Rifle which failed this test were rejected. At 600 yds 10 shots were fired, nine of which had to fall within a 2 foot circle.

No 4 RIFLE TESTING
For the No 4 Rifle, the accuracy test was the same at 100ft ten per cent of all rifles were then fired at 200 yds when six of seven shots had to fall in a rectangle 6in x 6in , the point of mean impact having to be within 3 inches of the point of aim in any direction. Ten per cent of rifles fired at 200 yds were again fired at 600 yds when 6 out of seven shots had to be in a rectangle 18 inches x 18 inches the permissible deviation of point of mean impact being 9 inches up or down, or left or right. Two per cent of rifles were fired from the shoulder, ten rounds being fed into the magazine by charger and fired rapid to test “feeding up” and ejection. After these tests the barrel was inspected to ensure that there was no expansion in the bore or chamber and that it shaded correctly from end to end. (Was not bent)

No 5 TESTING
The firing test to which the No 5 rifle was subjected was the same as that for the No 4 at 100ft. It was not tested at 200 yds but 10 per cent were tested at 600 yards when the acceptance was ten out of ten shots contained in a rectangle 36 inches x 36 inches. Two per cent of the No 5 rifles were also submitted to the same functioning test as the No4 rifle.


Throughout World War 2 much of the accuracy testing was done by women shooters who quickly became proficient at the job. To speed up the procedure, the telescope layer was dispensed with, and aim was taken in the normal way through the back sight. The .1 inch aperture in the back sight was too large for easily laying a correct aim at 100ft, and a small spring steel adaptor was used.