WEAPONS
Please note that all weapons shown here, and those owned by members of this
group are legally deactivated,
held on approved fire arms licences, or are modern inert replicas.
Rifle No. 4 Mk I & Mk I* (With Spike
Bayonet)
The Lee–Enfield takes its name from the
designer of the rifle's bolt
system (James Paris Lee) and the
factory in which it was designed (the Royal
Small Arms Factory in Enfield).
No.4 MkI’s were made by several factories
during the 2nd World War. The bulk by the Royal Ordinance
factory Maltby, ROF Fazakerley, BSA Shirley, with
smaller quantities at Longbranch
in Toronto Canada and by the Stevens-Savage
company of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, USA.
By 1941 the Rifle, No.4 Mk I was becoming the standard issue rifle
of the British Army. The No.4 was easier to manufacture in bulk
than
it's predecessor, (the blunt
nose of the SMLE) and while heavier than the MkIII* it was stronger. Like it’s predecessor,
the No.4 was also simplified for manufacturing
purposes, this model was designated
the No.4 MkI*
The fast-operating Lee bolt-action and
10-round magazine
capacity (which was loaded with the .303 British
cartridge manually from the top, either one round
at a time or by means of five-round chargers)
enabled a well-trained rifleman to fire 20 to 30 aimed rounds in
60 seconds. Making the Lee–Enfield the
fastest military bolt-action rifle of the
day. The accuracy the No4 was expected to
achieve was hitting a 6×4 inch plate at 100
yards.
Several First World War accounts tell of
British troops repelling German attackers
who subsequently reported that they had
encountered machine guns, when in fact it
was simply a group of well-trained
riflemen armed with SMLE Mk III
rifles (the predecessor to the
No.4)
Sten Sub-Machine Gun MkII &
MkIII
The Sten (or Sten gun) was a family of British 9 mm
submachine guns
used extensively by British and Commonwealth forces throughout World War II. Sten is an acronym, from the names of the weapon's chief
designers, Major Reginald V. Shepherd and Harold Turpin, and EN
for Enfield.
The Sten used simple stamped metal components
and minor welding, which required a minimum of
machining and manufacturing. Much of the
production could be performed by small
workshops, with the firearms assembled at the
Enfield site. Over the period of manufacture
the Sten design was further simplified: the
most basic model, the Mark III, could be
produced from five man-hours work. Some of the
cheapest versions were made from only 47
different parts. It was distinctive for its
bare appearance (just a pipe with a metal loop
for a stock), and its horizontal
magazine.
The magazine held approximately 30
rounds of 9mm pistol ammunition, with a rate
of fire of roughly 500 rounds per minute
dependant on make of Sten. However the
open-bolt firing and use of pistol
ammunition severely restricted accuracy,
with an effective range of around 100m, and
the weapon was very prone to misfires
and jams.
Bren Light Machine Gun Mk I & II
The Bren was a modified version of
Czechoslovak-designed light machine guns, the
ZB vz. 26
and its descendants, which British Army
officials had tested during a firearms service
competition in the 1930s. The later Bren
featured a distinctive top-mounted curved box
magazine, conical flash hider and quick change
barrel. The name Bren
was derived from Brno, Moravia, the Czechoslovak city where the Zb vz. 26 was
originally designed (in the Zbrojovka Brno Factory), and Enfield, site of the British Royal Small Arms Factory.
The Bren was a gas-operated weapon, which
used the same .303 ammunition as the standard
British rifle, the Lee–Enfield, firing at a rate of between 480 and 540
rounds per minute (rpm). The Bren had an effective range of around 600
yards (550 m) when fired from a prone position
with a bipod. Initial versions of the weapon
were sometimes considered too accurate because
the cone or pattern of fire was extremely
concentrated. Soldiers often expressed a
preference for worn-out barrels in order to
spread the cone of fire and increase suppressive
effects.
The machine gun was operated by a
two-man crew, sometimes commanded by a Lance
Corporal as an infantry section's "gun group",
the remainder of the section forming the
"rifle group". The gunner or "Number 1"
carried and fired the Bren, and a loader or
"Number 2" carried extra magazines, a spare
barrel and a tool kit. Number 2 helped reload
the gun and replace the barrel when it
overheated, and spotted targets for Number 1.
As well as the ammunition carried by the Gun
Group, every rifleman in the section carried 2
magazines for the Bren, allowing it to keep up
supporting fire for the section.
