4 adopted a similar setup, correcting that last deficiency).
Later iterations of the Lee Enfield (the experimental No. The only area where the P14 was definitely superior to the Lee Enfield as a combat rifle was its rear sight. But as a combat rifle, I’ll take the Lee Enfield any day - twice the magazine capacity, a shorter action that can be cycled faster by the shooter, equal if not superior reliability in the mud and dirt of the trenches, and all the accuracy and power an ordinary soldier needed. Like any Mauser, it’s a better action for a sporting rifle - with the stronger front locking lugs (and arguably also the controlled feed), and the greater accuracy potential, that makes it better for hunting or target shooting, and amenable to chambering far more powerful cartridges than the rear-locking Lee Enfield. I’d disagree strongly that the P14 was a better combat rifle. I used to own the US version, the M1917 Enfield. According to General Julian Hatcher (who ought to know), it was the best rifle of the First World War.
30-06 cartridge and used in large numbers by the American armed forces as the M1917 Enfield rifle. 303 cartridge, to be manufactured in large numbers by American firms under contract. However, as final testing was being done in the first half of 1914, the Great War broke out.Īt this point, plans for using a new cartridge were abandoned. Loaded with Cordite propellent, this led to excessive barrel wear and unpleasant recoil, along with some parts breakage. The cartridge threw a 165 grain bullet at just under 2800fps, pretty close to the ballistics of today’s 7mm Remington Magnum. 276 Enfield cartridge was really more potent than it needed to be, and caused problems. The Pattern 13 rifle itself was excellent – it balanced and handled well, it had very good sights, and a smooth and fast bolt throw. 303 rimmed cartridge, in favor of a new rimless. This rifle would also leave behind the obsolescent. In response, British ordnance began experimenting with a Mauser-pattern rifle, ultimately finalized as the Pattern 1913.
These were all eventually surplussed to the US, and the rifle in this video is one of those late-production guns.One of the lessons learned by the British military in the aftermath of the Boer War was that modern Mauser rifles were superior to their Lee-action rifles and carbines.
Pattern 14 enfield accuracy free#
Three thousand of these P14 snipers’ rifles were assembled and kept in service after the end of the war, but in the mid 1930s a small additional batch of 79 were made for the Irish Free State by BSA. These rifles were deemed to be mechanically capable of 1.5 MOA shooting, with the practical expected group size being 3 MOA. The P14 rifles were more accurate than the SMLE, and the centrally mounted optic made for much simpler shooting. This new rifle was a Winchester-made Pattern 1914 Enfield with a center-mounted optic, and was designated the P14 MkI W(T). Through 1918, though, the British developed one of the best sniping rifles of the war, although it would be introduced too late to see virtually any front line service. Clips were arguably not really necessary on these rifles, and the offset scopes led to substantial headaches in use, as they required calculating windage as well as elevation adjustments depending on range. The mounts for these scopes were offset to the left side of the rifles to allow for continued use of stripper clips. There was no single military optic, instead a wide variety of commercial scopes were rounded up and put into use. However, the mid-war British sniping rifles really left a lot to be desired, even if they were being used effectively in the field. They responded by developing tactics and equipment for sniping, and by mid 1916 they had really outclassed the Germans.
When World War One began, the British did not have a formal sniping program, and by 1915 the British found themselves thoroughly outclassed by the Germans in this area.
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