The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Rifle ( S.M.L.E.)
For the uninitiated, it should be mentioned that the terminology commonly used for this rifle is rather ambiguous. It could easily be understood that the rifle has been designed with a 'short magazine' when, in fact, it is the rifle that is short rather than the magazine.
The terminology of the day notated by the military was " Rifle, short, magazine, Lee-Enfield "; the punctuation applied illustrating that the rifle, shown above, was a shortened version of the original magazine-fed Lee-Enfield which preceded it, an example of which is shown below with the bolt drawn back and rear-sight leaf raised.
This former rifle is now more commonly known, in its various marks, as the 'Long' Lee-Enfield, and the latter shortened successor, from 1903, as the 'Short Magazine Lee-Enfield' or "S.M.L.E.". The initials have, unsurprisingly, been modified both in use in military and civilian circles to the colloquial term "Smellie", by which this famous British service rifle is fondly (or otherwise) described, particularly by those who had been required to carry it in one or other of two World Wars.
Below: A Birmingham Small Arms Company drawing of their "GreatWar" ( 1914-18) No.I Mk.III S.M.L.E.
And a photograph taken at that time of the component parts
with, for the definitive component nomenclature, the associated numbered parts list below
An alternative parts diagram and notated list from the 1915 Hythe Musketry Course manual with, below that, the stripping and re-assembly instructions from the same manual.
By way of comparison, we illustrate the parts diagram and listing of the preceding "Long Lee-Enfield" -
- the C.L.M.L.E. or Rifle, Charger Loading, Magazine, Lee-Enfield.
The 'charger loading' refers to the "loading-bridge" later added to the rear of the action of the original Lee-Enfield Magazine Rifle shown at the head of this article, which weapon could not be clip-loaded. A vertically machined T-slot in the bridge of the modified rifle - as above - permitted the use of the now familiar 5-round loading clip. The clip, itself loaded with five .303 cartridges, was fed down into the slot in the bridge until it rested on the rear of the magazine. The rounds were then pressed down into the magazine by the thumb. A curved cut-out, in the LHS of the action body side, allowed the thumb to press the cartridges sufficiently low into the magazine to lock the last round in place. On closing the bolt and chambering the top round, the now empty clip was thrown clear of the rifle.
The design was highly problematic for the left-handed firer and, in common with such every-day tasks as writing and using scissors, recruits were obliged to use these weapons right-handed. The strictness of such teaching, in all walks of formative life, led to many apparently ambidexterous people. Truthfully, all those with master left hands were presented with little alternative but to conform, and their resultant capabilities with both hands led to their, for all practical purposes, effective ambidexterity. My own father could pen the most beautiful copper-plate writing with either hand, either both left to right, or even as a mirror image on one piece of paper at the same time. Such discipline can lead to almost unlimited attainment.
Click here to access a Chronology of Enfield genre Training Rifles, Adapters & Cartridges
Return to: SITE MAP or MENU PAGE or TOP of PAGE