I’ve tried to keep my nose out of this one but this thread is starting to make my head hurt.
I am a firm believer in free speech but you people do realize you arguing (this is no longer a discussion or even a debate) about a now obsolete rifle?
As you can tell by my online name I collect Enfields. Not much of a secret. I don’t collect them because they were the best bolt action rifle ever or the strongest but because they are a huge part of 20th century world history. The Lee Enfield was used on every continent and has killed more creatures, human and game, both good and bad, than almost any other rifle because the British empire spanned such a large area at one time.
Are there rifle designs contemporary to the Lee Enfield that can handle higher pressures? Of course. However with the millions of Enfields produced if the problem of week design were as bad as is being portrayed here we would see weekly reports of failures even now. And this comment extends to the L39-L42 series of 7.62mm NATO rifles as well. Simply put the design was adequately strong for the intended purpose.
Now to my qualifications to make these comments. None more than the rest of you. No one has produced credentials showing degrees in Metallurgy and the engineering of firearms which I would consider as the minimum required to make a post in this thread and speak with authority. The bulk of the opinions posted here are very well researched and for the most part well written and compelling but in many cases have wandered well off topic. It should be noted that when a personal attack is included within a post that post it’s self loses credibility and by extension the poster as well.
Now to the administrative portion of this post and the reason I have decided to become involver in this thread:
Ireload2 your personal attack on Villiers ends now. He is under on obligation to provide detailed photos of his personal property to you. Additionally Villiers has not lied, to the best of my knowledge, in the past so his word that his rifle has been proofed both in Englandicon and Germanyicon is good enough for me. If he wishes or is even privy to just exactly what pressure his rifle is proofed perhaps he could be compelled to share the information via a polite request.