historicalfirearms:British ArisakasIn 1915 the British army was gripped by a rifle shortage that was

historicalfirearms:British ArisakasIn 1915 the British army was gripped by a rifle shortage that was the result of a number of factors.  The SMLE which had been adopted in 1904 required a high degree of time consuming skilled labour to produce.   Between the beginning of the war in late August and the end of 1914 the British small arms manufacturers at the Enfield and BSA factories managed to produce 120,093 rifles to the original MkIII pattern. While this was an impressive jump from slower prewar production it was no where near the production needed to equip the half a million men of the rapidly expanding army. As a result the Army on the Continent was armed with a mixture of the Lee-Enfield MkI and the SMLE which replaced it.  By the end of December 1914 the Army had requisitioned most of the Royal Navy’s Lee-Enfields in order to fill the gaps in supply.    The problem was such that by early 1915 new recruits were initially issued with a wooden SMLE No.1 Dummy Practice Rifle, for use practicing drill and bayonet exercises. Once recruits reached the marksmanship training stage they were then issued with a mixture of old and foreign rifles.  One of the most common of these was the Japanese Arisaka, either the Meiji 30 or 38 (or 30 or 38th Year Type).Introduced in 1897 the Meiji 30 was chambered in a small 6.5x50R cartridge which was significantly smaller than the SMLE’s .303 round, it was about 5 inches longer the British rifle.   The Japanese rifle also had capacity of only 5 rounds, half that of the SMLE, and has a Mauser-style rather than Lee action with a straight bolt handle.  However, the Arisaka did have one important similarity, like the Lee-Enfield the Arisaka used a leaf sight situated just in front of the receiver, this allowed the troops to be trained using a similar set of sights.  It is estimated that some 150,000 Arisakas were shipped to Britain from Japanese stores.  When they entered British service the Type 38, which  was the most imported of the two Arisakas, was designated the Pattern 1907 and the Type 30 was designated the Pattern 1900.A young soldier presenting his ArisakaBy late 1915 four regiments had been issued Type 30s and a further eight were issued with Type 38s.  Approximately 50,000 Arisakas were issued to the Royal Navy to replace the Lee-Enfields requisitioned by the Army in late 1914.While not terrible rifles the Arisakas suffered from a small, underpowered round which the Japanese themselves would later abandon for 7.7x58mm. As such they were never used by British troops in the front line, instead they were reserved for home service and training.  Once troops completed training they handed in their rifles before transport.  Once they arrived in France they were immediately issued with SMLEs from army stores.  They were often given a chance to acquaint themselves with their new rifle at a 30-yard miniature depot range. By 1917 the rifle shortage had eased as streamlining of production and the introduction of the simplified MkIII* improved the situation and between 1917 and the end of the war 2,267,620 SMLEs were built.   Once the shortage had been addressed and they were no longer needed and many of the Arisakas were forwarded on to Russia, who was also suffering from a rifle shortage.   The remaining rifles were declared obsolete sold on during the 1920s.  There is evidence to suggest a substantial number of Arisakas were present during the Finnish Civil War (1918), possibly of British, as well as direct Japanese origin through Russian sources.Images:A Young Lance Corporal of the 1st Surrey Rifles poses with his Type 38 Arisaka (Pattern 1907), c.1915 (Source)A Squad of the Civil Service Rifles making a rather lacklustre low point with their Arisakas during a bayonet drill in Hyde Park c.1915 (Source)Arisaka Type 30 (Pattern 1900) (Source)Arisaka Type 38 (Pattern 1907) (Source)Sources:Military Rifles of Japan, F.L. Honeycutt & F. Anthoyn, (1996)Tommy, R. Holmes, (2004)The Lee-Enfield Rifle, M. Pegler, (2012)Military Small Arms of the 20th Century, I.V Hogg & J. Weeks (1985)Jane’s Guns, I.V. Hogg, (1996)Military Small Arms, G. Smith (1994) -- source link
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