Greatest bolt action battle rifle in history...

[Daan Kemp]

Just a thought. LE were in continuous use in international conflict for about 100 years. Mauser and Mosin similar but shorter. Difference is that Mauser sold from the factory. Yes, the British government manufactured the LE and any sales were between governments.
Mosin remained Russian/USSR; very little elsewhere. Unchanged calibre. A few main models. Use mainly Russia in WW I. Main use stopped by 1945.
Mauser sold directly to many governments, some with licensed production included. Many different models and calibres related to the client. Use in many small conflicts but large-scale use mainly WW I and WW II. Main use between about 1900 and 1945.
LE a few and definitive models, with huge numbers especially during world war years. Virtually unchanged calibre throughout all models' life. Used often by many countries in many any-size conflicts including WW I, WW II, Korea; Europe, Africa, Far East. Used in battle from about 1890 up to 1953. P14 little use anywhere.
03/P17 Single user for a short period in WW I, already replaced by 1940. Use in other conflicts?

[JimF4M1s (Deceased)]

I'll go with the "03"

Rugged. Accurate (made a good sniper rifle). Played well in the mud. Not too heavy 8.7lbs. Fired a good cartridge.

The US troops loved them. The problem was they couldn't make enough as fast as were needed. Even using Rock Island as a second maker. Had Rememington, Winchester and Eddystone to make the "17" which were not as popular with the troops and weighed 9.2lbs.

Each of us has our favorite, hard to pick only one.

[enfield303t]

DeLisle carbine! for the intended use by the Commando's heavy pill going sub-sonic guaranteed to spoil a sentries night and confuse others as to your location.

Its clear that the thread is definitely on the side of the Lee lineage whilst there are many other contenders with fine attributes some that have seen battle the Lee offers the average foot soldier reliability in harsh conditions, good robust design that could take a fair amount of abuse, accurate enough for the average soldier to eliminate the enemy at a reasonable distance, good magazine capacity.
History has proven the design one of the greatest in modern history in the fact that it is or was until recently still in active front line use by the Canadian Forrest Rangers (No.4's) and is still in use around the world in battles though on the wrong side of the line

The Canadian Rangers are no longer using the No4 and it has been replaced with a what is a C19 rifle. Now for some reason we Canadians have to name everything with a C, just like the CF18 so maybe some desk jockey in DND headquarters thinks this is just a little better than a CF18 jet.

Actually it is a Sako T3 CTR and the receiver, barrel and bolt will be produced by Colt Canada (Demaco) under licence from Sako. Stoeger Canada will be the supplier.

For some reason Canada has a contract that Colt must be the "supplier" of military arms for the Canadian military which in reality makes no sense at all. Why would any company in this day and age allow a competitor to have access to their firearms development, especially Colt?

A guy I compete with has the new rifle in what they refer to as a civilian model. It is stainless which makes total sense seeing where it will spend most of its life up north and a great laminate stock. The civi model is very accurate but overpriced ($2,700.00) IMO which probably comes from too many companies having their hand in production/distribution. Reality is the military model and civi model are virtually identical in most aspects.

One very sad thing is the old Lee Enfields will be destroyed, what a shame as no matter how worn/beat they are such a icon of Canadian history that will be lost forever. But I must recognize you can't fix stupid.

[Gil Boyd]

Mr e mouse,
Funny you mention Canadian prairies and how vast an isolated they are, and not wishing to divert the thread, but IWM recovered a downed Blenheim during WW2 in near perfect condition from the prairies there I understand. Inside was like brand new. Other than pebble dashing of the paintwork, the exterior was good too. It went on to rebuild the crashed Blenheim at the Dedham airshow a few years ago.

[CINDERS]

A yes the pen pusher has deemed they are a weapon of war and must be destroyed we had a case here just recently where an eagle eyed person spotted a very early from the late 1860's Colt pistol destined for the axe and had Claremont firearms take it in as it is a very important part of Australia's heritage, we need to keep these finds intact not send it to the drop saw or hydraulic bending machine. Wonder if lobbying would help to save those No4's as there may be some rare finds in the mix.

[Eaglelord17]

For those of you that argue service life should be a determining factor it really isn't much of one. The reality is pretty much any decent bolt action design had a really long service life and are still found to this day in warzones (for example in Libya recently you can find photos of people using M91 Carcanos, which is a older less modified design than a Lee Enfield, if service life was the determining factor it would technically be a 'better rifle'). The fact the Lee Enfield stayed in service in the Commonwealth into the 50s-60s as a main rifle has more to do with the refusal to adopt modern technology and being cheap than the quality of the rifle.

[enfield303t]

A yes the pen pusher has deemed they are a weapon of war and must be destroyed we had a case here just recently where an eagle eyed person spotted a very early from the late 1860's Colt pistol destined for the axe and had Claremont firearms take it in as it is a very important part of Australia's heritage, we need to keep these finds intact not send it to the drop saw or hydraulic bending machine. Wonder if lobbying would help to save those No4's as there may be some rare finds in the mix.

Not a snowball in hell chance of saving the rifles with the present gov't we endure.

[CINDERS]

[Paul S.]

I'm guessing that a sentiment about Canadian politics and governance expressed quite some time ago remains true. This being that the liberal Left of the eastern provinces of Quebec and Ontario rule the roost against the will of the western provinces.

While not trying to start a political discussion, curiosity compels me to ask if it could it be Trump's opinion of Trudeau is common amongst many Canadians as well?

[Brian Dick]

It is Paul. At least among the thinking people up there, many who are good friends and some relatives of mine. Canada and Japan were the first two nations to sign the UN Charter and they will destroy weapons rather than surplus them most likely because it's a UN directive. Very sad.