The Martini Enfield,For decades the old Martini-Henry single shot breech loading rifle had served as
The Martini Enfield,For decades the old Martini-Henry single shot breech loading rifle had served as the backbone of the British Army. It was a rifle of empire, helping the British to conquer a realm that spanned over Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. However by the 1890’s new bolt action repeating rifles such as the Lee Metford and Lee Enfield made the Martin-Henry obsolete.While obsolete it was certainly not useless, and was still issued to indigenous colonial troops and police forces through World War I and even up to World War II. Sometimes they were still issued to frontline British units as there were not always enough enfields to go around. With the adoption of the Lee Metford and Lee Enfield the famous .303 British cartridge was also adopted as the official caliber of the British Army. As a result many older Martini-Henry’s were modified to chamber .303. This involved rebarreling the rifle and adding a new extractor which could extract the smaller .303 rimmed cartridge. Around 250,000 to 500,000 Martini Enfields were produced between 1895 and 1918, most of them conversions of older Martini-Henrys, although some were produced new. The Martini Enfield was also commonly copied by the Khyber Pass gunmakers. The Martini Enfield would see action in Britain’s colonial wars, the Boer Wars, and limited use during World War I. After World War I it was officially removed from service, although it remained a reserve arm in Africa, India, and New Zealand until World War II. -- source link
Tumblr Blog : peashooter85.tumblr.com
#guns#firearms#rifles#british#antiques#history#weapons