I’m always in a good mood until some anti-Enfield Commie Pinko Pervert puts me in a bad mood.
Some Americans watch too many John Wayne war movies and forget that we had three other beaches besides Omaha and Utah and that people other than Americans were fighting on Sword, Juno and Gold beach heads.
Or else they watch John Wayne in Flying Leathernecks and forget that Canada had the fourth largest Air Force in WWII.
Some people forget that the Americans serving in the Canadian military were forced to return home by our isolationist American Government or loose their American citizenship, and some of these Americans were labeled as subversive by our own FBI for their pro-war/anti-German sentiment.
And then these American knuckle heads want to come into an Enfield forum and talk about “inherent weak design”.
I have a great idea, lets talk about the American Sherman tank verses the German Panther and Tiger tanks and “inherent weak design”.
Or lets talk about how the British improved the Sherman tank (Firefly) by mounting the Quick Firing 17 pounder on the Sherman tank. The 17 pounder was the most powerful British tank gun of the war, and one of the most powerful of any nationality, being able to penetrate more armour than the Tigers 88 mm, the Panther tank's 75 mm , and the M26 Pershing's 90 mm gun.
Bores were worn out by the erosive properties of the cordite propellent. Something that would have happened to any barrel, note the erosion in british sporting rifles, inculding those made with german steel!
This had little to do with the metalurgy of the barrels and was solved with new propellents.
I don't think the propellant problem was ever really solved. I've looked into the proposed improved forms of Cordite and found that they were abandoned due to loss of stability in storage or inability to adapt existing extrusion machinery to the texture of the propellant.
Cordite MD and MDT seem to be as far as they got in a usable propellant. Nitro-Cellulose single base powders were used to some extent, but Cordite remained in common use.
The levels of erosion were moderated by the Card Wad, without which bore eroded far too quickly for combat use.
Since Nickel Steels had been developed by British Inventors, and the M1917 is known to have been constructed of a high nickel steel , I would expect that the British would have used it for Enfield Rifles. I haven't seen anything that would confirm this though, and British rifles that show wear to the finish don't look like worn M1917 rifles.
The first modern stainless steels were the result of a failed experiment towards producing a rifle barrel that could stand up to Cordite Erosion, and some experimental Stainless Steel barrels were made for Lithgow rifles.
I haven't seen any credible claims of Enfield Barrels maintaining any high degree of accuracy if fired with Cordite.
I would expect that Enfield barrels fired only with MkVIIz NC loaded cartridges would have a very long barrel life.
Tests of FN FAL barrels made by Enfield using Enfield pattern rifling suggested that the rifling pattern could at least triple the useful barrel life of rifles chambered for 7.62 NATO. So long as only single base powders ( British Neonite similar to IMR) were used at least.
I have refurbed a No1Mk3* that had non-existent to almost-non-existent rifling for the first two or three inches after the chamber, and by the time it got to mid-barrel, the rifling is almost decent. I'd say Cordite is probably to blame... Amazingly the rifle still hit paper at 100 yards. Ok the grouping was far from perfect. Still, I hit somewhere in the vicinity of where I was aiming.
If I use the wrong brand of American charcoal briquettes in my Smith and Wesson 500 Bar-B-Q I get excessive bore and throat erosion, the Sodium nitrate in some brands of charcoal briquettes raises the peak flame temperature to excessive levels.
I prefer the cooler burning British charcoal for that perfectly grilled werewolf steak done to perfection.
Americans serving in the Canadian Armed Forces never took an Oath of alegance to Canada, and they retained their American Citizenship.
Any American Citizen serving with the British or Canadian Forces could transfer to the US Armed Forces voluntarily at any time. This deal between the US and Canada had been struck during the First World War and remained in effect through WW2.
Many chose to return to the US when Japan Attacked Pearl Harbor but thousands remained in the RCAF and RAF and other allied forces.
Some US Citizens who were Communists, like some UK citizens, joined the allied armies solely because Germany had attacked Russia and they felt they could best serve the Soviet Cause by fighting in the US or UK Armed Forces, Howard Zinn, a noted detractor of all things American, was one of these, its likely some here are familar with Zinn's diatribes.
Military service in foreign countries usually does not cause loss of citizenship since an intention to relinquish citizenship normally is lacking. In adjudicating loss of nationality cases, the Department has established an administrative presumption that a person serving in the armed forces of a foreign state not engaged in hostilities against the United States does not have the intention to relinquish citizenship. Voluntary service in the armed forces of a state engaged in hostilities against the United States could be viewed as indicative of an intention to relinquish U.S. citizenship.
The Court stated that "expatriation depends on the will of the citizen rather than on the will of Congress and its assessment of his conduct." The Court also indicated that a person's intention to relinquish U.S. citizenship may be shown by statements or actions.
"saved the Free World", I guess there was no need for all those bombers and warships then.
The Enfield did its job well but I don't think any one could seriously claim that it , or any infantry rifle, was the deciding factor in 20th century warfare.
.
OK maybe a slight exageration but :
The young Marine was weary
And he sought a little rest
With his helmet for a pillow
And his rifle on his chest.
He has seen the gunships fire.
He had heard the cannons roar.
He had seen the Navy’s power
As he made his way ashore.
Then he thought about his rifle
And he found it rather small,
With the gunships and the cannons
It was nothing much at all.
The efforts of a rifleman
Meant little, it would seem.
Then, as he slipped to slumber,
He dreamed himself a dream.
The man who stood beside him
Held a musket in his hand
And close around his neck he wore
A heavy leather band.
“When I was on Old Ironsides”
The apparition said
“There were cannonballs and cutlasses
Wherever danger led.
There were pistols too, and daggers
At every fighter’s side
When the ships would come together
On the rolling, heaving, tide
But when it came to boarding,
With the battle fury hot
It was rifles, always rifles
That made the telling shot.”
The apparition faded
And standing in its place
Beneath a shallow helmet
He saw another face.
“When we were in the trenches
In the Wood they call Marine
There were mortars, tanks, and cannons,
More than I had ever seen.
But when the final charge was made
To push the Germans back
It was rifles, always rifles
At the point of the attack.”
The face changed only slightly
And the helmet stayed the same
But the island that he spoke of
Had a more familiar name.
“They hit us very early
On the day the war begun.
On the wings of all their bombers
We could see the Rising Sun.
Our pilots and our gunners
Who fought and fell at Wake
Wrote a story full of glory
That time can never shake.
But when the enemy drew near
To make his final reach
It was rifles, always rifles
That met him on the beach.”
There next appeared a shadow
In a swirl of stinging snow
And it breathed a fierce defiance
And its eyes were all aglow.
“In ‘Fifty at the Chosin
When the big guns couldn’t talk
And the First Marine Division
Took a fighting, freezing walk,
When all the world, except the Corps
Had counted us as gone
It was rifles, always rifles
That let us carry on.”
The scene was changed to summer
And the face was hard and lean
And the tired eyes were fired
With the light that says “Marine”
“At Khe Sahn when they shelled us
We were wrapped in rolling smoke
And the thought of our survival
Was a grim and ghastly joke.
But when the waves came swarming in
To finish the assault
It was rifles, always rifles
That called the final halt.”
There next appeared a general
As solid as a tank
With three stars on his collar
To signify his rank.
His stature and demeanor
Were the military type
And in his hand he carried
A stubby little pipe.
His jaw was squarely chiseled
His eyes were clear and keen
And his bearing left no question.
He was all Marine’s Marine.
“The message they’re conveying”
The burly General said
“Is that through our troubled history
The rifles always led.
We’ve had cannons, tanks, and mortars
We’ve had weapons by the score,
We’ve had battleships and fighter planes
To complement the Corps.
We’ve a most impressive arsenal.
That’s obviously true,
But the final thrust for victory
Has always been with you.
It was rifles, always rifles
When the Corps was sorely pressed
And the rifle that you carry
Must meet the final test.
So sling that rifle proudly,
For everything we do
With mortars, tanks, and cannons
Is just an aid to you.”
The young Marine awakened
And put the dream aside,
Though now he clutched his rifle
With a certain touch of pride.
And then he chanced to notice
That lying near his hand
Was a stubby little pipe
And a heavy leather band.
I have refurbed a No1Mk3* that had non-existent to almost-non-existent rifling for the first two or three inches after the chamber, and by the time it got to mid-barrel, the rifling is almost decent. I'd say Cordite is probably to blame... Amazingly the rifle still hit paper at 100 yards. Ok the grouping was far from perfect. Still, I hit somewhere in the vicinity of where I was aiming.
Anyways good thing nitro-cellulose came around.
Lou
My 1915 No.1 MkIII has an excellent bore with the bevel of the short cone sharply defined and no sign of erosion. Theres no marking to indicate an FTR but I suspect it may have been rebarreled at some point. The Barrel bears the same number as the receiver , bolt, and Magazine. The Rear sight is a replacement I recently installed, the original numbered sight was broken. I still have the old sight and hope to repair it one day.
The rear sight does not look to have been deliberately disabled and the serial number range is about a year before the first MkIII* specifcation came out, so I'm thinking the rifle may have been returned for repairs shortly after leaving the factory and not been fired much if any.
I picked up a PH5a at a very reasonable price, aside from a poorly done countersink that I dressed up a bit so it doesn't show the sight looks almost new, and probably never was used. Theres no visible wear, and the seller threw in a six position sun shade/eye piece free of charge.
If a bore is badly eroded one may as well feed it Cordite, if any MkVII of decent quality is still to be found, but if the bore has not yet become eroded using NC propellants only will greatly increase its remaining accuracy life.
Till I found out just how damaging Cordite is to the bore I had intended to try to obtain some of the most recently manufactured MkVII. Looks like no one has manufactured Cordite in quantity since the 60's.
If Indian Manufacture MkVIIz was available commercially I'd try to stock up on it. They still manufacture MkVIIz, though apparently they don't sell it to civilians or even issue it to LEO over there.
The new IMR 4007 SSC powder looks promising, Loads that duplicate the balistics of the MkVII generate less that 40,000 CUP using that powder.
I picked up some H4895 and some 174 Grain Match King projectiles, the 4007 isn't available locally yet. H4895 seems to work well in cartridges of this class, with reasonable pressures.
I like IMR 4320 for the 150 grain Hornady,picked up a fresh can of it when I got the other stuff. The flat base .312 bullet seems better suited to close range shooting, less yaw to be overcome I suppose. Sub MOA out to three hundred yards is the norm with this load from my Savage No.4.
I don't know why, but there is little or no discussion that I've seen, regarding the strength of rear locking semi auto rifles such as the SVT 40, SKS, FAL etc.
All of those designs lock at the bottom rear of the bolt below the axis of the bore and thus would seem to be at more of a disadvantage to the 'parallel to the bore axis', rear locking Lee.
PM
Originally Posted by louthepou
