An intorduction to the Short Magazine Lee Enfield

The drills taught for firing the Snider in the late 1860s

Rob and Mike talk about and shoot some Cloase Quarter Battle Practices from the late war period

The United Kingdom has announced the selection of the Knight's Armament Company KS-1 as the new Alternative Individual Weapon for the new Ranger battalions and the Royal Marines Commandos. The requirement for the new rifle was released back in August 2021. It will enter service as the L403A1.

Be...

In a recent article/video we looked at the UK’s newly selected Alternative Individual Weapon system, the L403A1. One question which frequently appeared in the comments was “can it fit a bayonet?” In this video we answer that question!

Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video ...

Once the regular army had upgraded to the charger loaded SMLE Mk.1 and Mk.3, how did the part-time Yeomanry (the Territorials, forerunner of the modern Territorial Army) get a cost-effective upgrade? The simple answer is that earlier patterns of Long Lee Metfords and Lee Enfields were given an up...

This video will guide you through the most important information you will need to start long range shooting (300-1000 yards) with muzzle loading rifles, while I guide you through the one week World Championship held from 27 Aug - 2 Sept 2023 in Hungary. Take your time, watch the full film as ther...

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole with this video. After spotting an L85A1 with an ad hoc front grip in some footage from the Gulf War I did some digging. There's a rich history of British soldiers fashioning home made foregrips so we take a look at a few of those too.

This is the way I make my paper patch bullets for my .45 calibre long range muzzle loading rifle. I used these bullets during the 2023 MLAIC Muzzle Loading Long Range World Championships, and they won me a bronze medal at 600 yards and a silver medal at 1000 yards in original class. So they defin...

In this video Matt takes a look at an early breech loader made by gunsmith Durs Egg, based on Giuseppe Crespi's action. We examine how the action worked, the weapon's unusual bayonet and some of the history behind the weapon. Check out our website https://armourersbench.com for an in-depth articl...

In this video Vic takes a look at a fascinating footnote in British machine gun design. The X11 was developed by the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield in the mid-1950s. The X11 went up against a number of other GPMG and eventually lost out to the FN MAG which was adopted as the L7. Check out ou...

In this episode Matt takes a look at an interesting hybrid Sten gun that takes parts from both the MkII and MkIII. It's origins are uncertain but it seems to have been an interesting project gun. This gun may be related to the T42 Sten prototype, part of the Sten MkIV development program. Check o...

In this episode we bring you our first live fire and slow motion footage! Matt had the opportunity to fire a British L2A3 Sterling submachine gun and Vic captured some great video. The Sterling was adopted by the British military in 1954 and standardised as the L2A3 in 1956. The gun featured in t...

In this episode Matt takes a look at a very special rifle, an 18th century breech-loader - the Ferguson Rifle. Developed by Major Patrick Ferguson, a young Scottish light infantry officer, the rifle was heavily influenced by Isaac de la Chaumette's breech loading system. The rifle used a threaded...

In 1855 Frederic Prince patented an interesting breechloading action which used a forward sliding barrel that allowed it to be loaded from the breech. In this episode Matt takes a look at a beautiful example of Prince's rifle. The British Army tested the rifle in 1855 and performed well and was r...

The British Army tested the Sterling SMG all over the world, one of the most hostile environments it was tested in was the Malayan jungle. Troops there fitted several trials guns with a shotgun-style rib sight. It was hoped this would improve fast snap shooting during jungle patrols when contact ...

In this TAB Short Matt discusses how historically accurate COD:WWII's Sterling model is and whether early Sterling SMG prototypes saw action during World War Two. This is something a little different to our normal content, Matt decided to discuss it as he's just written a book about the Sterling ...

This short video is a bonus, filmed while we were opening one of the cases at the Cody Firearms Museum to examine another firearm (that video is coming soon) I noticed a sectioned British Pattern 14 rifle, made by Winchester for the British government during the First World War. It was too good a...

In this very special episode Matt examines what is probably the first repeating bullpup rifle - the Curtis. Designed by a British inventor, William Joseph Curtis, in 1866 it predates all other known bullpups. The design never left prototype stage but gain notoriety in 1895 when it was used by the...

Introduced just before the beginning of WW2 the 2pdr AT Gun was more than capable of dealing with Axis tanks at the beginning of the war but as tank armour got thicker it became outgunned. Despite this the 2pdr remained in service and equipped a plethora of tanks and armoured cars including the V...

The British Army entered the First World War with no light mortars. As the stalemate of trench warfare set in and the effectiveness of German Minenwerfers became clear it was decided that trench mortars of various sizes would be needed. Nicknamed ‘plum pudding’ or ‘toffee apple’ mortars after the...

Adopted by the British Army around the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War in 1899, the Webley MkIV saw action through to the Great War. The last of the 4-inch barrel Webley's the MkIV proved to be a decent sidearm for both officers and enlisted specialists like gunners, NCOs and trumpeters. Ch...

The British QF 6-pounder AT Gun was introduced in 1942, joining the lighter 2pdr, the new gun was more capable of dealing with the increasing thickness of Axis armour. The 6pdr first saw action in North Africa and was used throughout the war in Europe and Asia. It also armed a series of British a...

We've covered a few factory and instructional cutways in the past and I personally love nothing more than a good cutaway so I always try and film any I get the chance to look at. This episode we're taking a look at a cutaway Lee-Enfield Rifle No.4. Check out the accompanying blog for this video h...