A Rare Navy Stopgap: the CLLE MkI Naval Enfield
Forgotten Weapons
•
5m 23s
The British Royal Navy tended to accumulate some of the obsolescent patterns of Enfield rifles around the turn of the 19th century, as the Army had higher priority for the new types of rifle. This resulted in a rather odd and poorly-documented pattern, the Charger-Loading Lee Enfield (CLLE) MkI Naval.
Produced around 1910-1912, these guns began as original production Long Lee (or Metford) rifles. In 1910, the new MkVII high velocity Spitzer ammunition was adopted, and it was largely issued on charger clips for use in the new SMLE rifles. The Royal Navy decided that it wanted to be able to use this ammunition, and so it converted some (exact numbers are unclear) of the old Long Lees with a mishmash of updates:
The rear sights were recalibrated for MkVII ammunition, but not changed in style. So, no windage adjustment was possible on either the front or rear.
A charger bridge was added, including a channel cut to allow a sigh picture on the old-style sights. This also involved removing the early pattern dust covers on the bolts.
The resulting guns were marked "HV" for "high velocity" in front of their rear sights. The right side of the receiver socket retained the original production markings, and "CLLE MkI" was added to the left side of the sockets.
Up Next in Forgotten Weapons
-
Colonies Lead the Way: Charger-Loadin...
While the Indian Army was looked down upon by much of the British military, it saw much more combat service than its European counterpart. The Indian Army was actually faster than the British to recognize and adopt a number of small arms improvements, and the CLLE MkI India Pattern is a good exam...
-
Clair Brothers Semiauto Shotgun from ...
The Clair brothers were three men from Saint Etienne, France – Benoit, Jean Baptiste, and Victor Clair. They submitted their first patent in 1889, which described in general a gas-operating system for firearms. This was followed by a British patent (#15,833) in 1893 for their system, which they c...
-
Cheek Pistol Concept: Unorthodox But ...
My friend Rhett Neumayer has been experimenting with an unorthodox but very interesting way to use handguns that don't have reciprocating slides. He fits a red dot optic on a relatively tall mount, then presses the back of the pistol into his cheek while gripping it over the top of the frame with...
