L42A1 Sniper Overview: The Last Lee Enfield

[Peter Laidler]

Roger is right....... I have tried to keep this last-of-the-line going with healthy discussion. I'm only surprised that many others who are regular frequenters, authors or lurkers to the Lee Enfield part of the forum haven't come on board.

But just thinking about it, there was a little known variant of the Lee Enfield that numerically surpassed the L59A1. It was going to be the L60A1 but for technical and left-hand v right-hand reasons another rifle (the L1A1 variant) was allocated the L60 designation. That rifle eventually became the prototype/trial DP No1 rifle. The L59A2 which was abandoned.

Come on chaps.............

[CODFan]

In terms of still in active use ....

The No4 MkI* and the CNo7 are technically still in active use in Canada which in my book means they are the "last" of the line.

However the replacement C-19 will soon be issued so the end is near.

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[Bindi2]

Peter this thread is a little outside my line though I do have a L42 serial 0C 0109 and more than a few No4s, No5s. and a single No1 Mk6. But if you want to talk about Lithgows I am sure I could help but in the mean time I am listening and learning about some models not available in Aussie.

[Peter Laidler]

Not sure the last Lee Enfield in service will ever come about but the No4 replacement in the wilds of Canada has been ongoing for......... well, it seems like forever!

[Gil Boyd]

I vaguely remember an L60A1 at Brecon and a pamphlet to go with it, or have I finally fell off my trolley. If so surely that was the last of the breed?

[Sentryduty]

Not sure the last Lee Enfield in service will ever come about but the No4 replacement in the wilds of Canada has been ongoing for......... well, it seems like forever!

Last I seen (2007 Kugluktuk) most of those rifles were in a pretty sorry state, some with Pakistani replacement stocks and pieces. They still worked, but most of the Rangers had already supplemented their LE with a privately owned commercial rifle while the No.4 would generally be left to bang around in the packed load of the komatik. (locally made flat artic sled) When I patrolled the Inuvik region in 2004 they did still use them to cull their Reindeer herd. We were out on Sitidgi Lake and one Ranger simply dropped to the prone position, fired into the massive several thousand head herd, dropped 2 or 3. The herd spooked from the gunshots simply wheeled away en-masse and left the harvested animals on the ice.

The butchering was done on the spot and the meat had frozen solid as it was processed. Our tent group was given an entire rib section which I dressed into smaller pieces with our axe and machete from the sled kit, a bit macabre but they were the best tools available. It was then simmered with melted snow over a Coleman stove and seasoned with all of the soup mixes from our daily ration packs. The hot meal of "real" food was well received by the lads, and the Section Commander actually placed remarks in my report about my field cookery.

Sadly, many of these rifles will be very tired when they are replaced with the SAKO T3, and unless there are some very extreme changes in policy it is likely these rifles will be destroyed upon retirement.

[Peter Laidler]

You may well have seen an L60 at Brecon Gil. They were converted from downgraded L1's (and a few old solid butt type Argentinian FN's) in the mid 80's for 'arduous training' The criteria was that their value if lost, damaged or destroyed would be NIL. Additionally they were converted to a degree - and I forget the wording but I was involved in the spec with Tony...., er......, I forget his name now..... that they would pose no security risk, implications or problems or embarressing questions. They were totally inert. Like a mickey mouse watch. Looked good but useless when it came to telling the time.

It was an Enfield but not a LEE Enfield. The SA80 was the last(?) rifle MADE at Enfield. The number of the last SA80 produced was in the UN9?A 333xxx range.

Talking of SAKO rifles and SA80's, someone I knew had a single shot SA80 on his licence and it came back from renewal as a SAKO instead of SA8O. He phoned up to querie it and the girl on the other end explained that she couldn't find SA8O on her list of weapon names and so it kept being kicked off by the computer. However, SAKO was there.............. So that's what he got!

[Brian Dick]

That's a common problem in our wonderful computer age Peter. I just went through the same thing last December with an examiner at BATFE Imports Branch. My client and I used too much detail on the import permit application and it confused the computer let alone the examiner who obviously doesn't know the muzzle from the buttplate of a firearm and really doesn't care either. I had to go over her head to get the job done. Fun, fun. Ho hum.

[blurrededge]

Ok, DP No4s aside, how about the Enforcer for the last shooting Enfield designed, I wonder if any are still in service with Police forces around the world.

[Seaspriter]

Sadly, many of these rifles will be very tired when they are replaced with the SAKO T3, and unless there are some very extreme changes in policy it is likely these rifles will be destroyed upon retirement.

First -- Great story about the culling. Keep up the colourful stories.
Second -- Maybe some of the Canadian members of Milsurps should start lobbying the Canadian Rangers to allow the tired No. 4 Enfields to be retired in dignity by having them restored and a Commemoration plaque placed on them and sold at a premium as a piece of Canadian history to museums and bona fide collectors. This approach could take a worn out weapon and turn it into a return on investment as well as preserving history. If someone of deep insight were to get involved, the provenance and a few documented stories would be attached to each rifle. (Of course, a full FTR restoration and return to duty could also be suggested.)