Lee-Enfield No. 4

The Lee-Enfield No. 4 was the standard rifle of the British and Commonwealth armies in the Second World War, a bolt-action weapon chambered for the .303 British cartridge, with a ten-round magazine and a bolt action so fast that a trained rifleman could fire fifteen aimed shots in a minute. Developed from the earlier Short Magazine Lee-Enfield, the No. 4 was simpler and cheaper to make, easier to maintain in the field, and accurate enough to serve as a sniper rifle in its No. 4 Mk I (T) form. It armed British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Indian, and South African troops from the deserts of North Africa to the jungles of Burma and the streets of Normandy, and it remained in British service into the 1950s.

1. Key Facts

Field	Value
Type	Bolt-action service rifle
Country	United Kingdom
Designer	Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield
Cartridge	.303 British (7.7 × 56 mm R)
Action	Bolt action, cock on closing
Magazine	10-round detachable box magazine
Weight	About 4.19 kg (9.24 lb) unloaded
Length	1,128 mm (44.4 in)
Barrel length	640 mm (25.2 in)
Muzzle velocity	About 744 m/s (2,441 ft/s)
Effective range	About 500 m; maximum about 1,800 m
Rate of fire	15–20 aimed rounds per minute (trained rifleman)
Production	About 4 million No. 4 rifles (all makers, estimates vary)
Main manufacturers	RSAF Enfield; BSA Shirley; Long Branch, Canada; Savage, USA
Service	1941–1950s (British Army); longer in Commonwealth and other armies
Main theatres	North Africa, Italy, North-West Europe, Burma, Pacific

2. Origins and Development

From the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield

The Lee-Enfield No. 4 was developed from the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield, the SMLE Mk III, which had been the standard British rifle of the First World War. The SMLE was a good rifle, but it was expensive and slow to manufacture, because it required a great deal of hand fitting and machining, and the British Army wanted a simpler weapon that could be mass-produced in wartime. In the 1920s, the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield began work on a new rifle, the No. 1 Mk VI, which became the No. 4 Mk I, with a heavier barrel, a simpler stock, a receiver-mounted aperture rear sight, and a spike bayonet instead of the long sword bayonet of the SMLE. The new rifle was easier to make, easier to repair, and more accurate at long range, and it was adopted as the standard rifle in 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War.

The Rush to Production

When war broke out, the No. 4 was not yet in full production, and British troops went to France in 1939–1940 armed mainly with the SMLE. The loss of most of the British Expeditionary Force’s equipment at Dunkirk made the need for a mass-produced rifle urgent, and production of the No. 4 was accelerated at Enfield and at the Birmingham Small Arms factory at Shirley. The rifle was also made in Canada by Long Branch Arsenal in Toronto, and in the United States by the Savage Arms Company under Lend-Lease, and these three sources together produced about four million rifles during the war. The No. 4 was issued to British and Commonwealth troops from 1941 onwards, and by the time of the Normandy landings in June 1944, it was the standard rifle of the British Army, with the SMLE retained mainly for second-line and training units.

Design Changes During the War

The No. 4 was simplified during the war to speed up production, and the resulting No. 4 Mk I* was made in Canada and the United States with a simplified bolt release and a two-groove barrel, which was quicker to manufacture and easier to clean. The British-made No. 4 Mk I kept the original bolt release, but it also received simplifications, including a simplified rear sight and a simplified trigger guard. The spike bayonet, a simple steel rod, was issued with the No. 4, because it was cheap to make and effective in close combat, though many soldiers preferred the longer sword bayonet of the SMLE. The rifle was also adapted for other roles, including the No. 4 Mk I (T) sniper rifle, which was fitted with a telescopic sight, and the No. 5 Mk I Jungle Carbine, a shortened version for use in the Far East. These variants showed the flexibility of the basic design.

The Sniper Variant

The No. 4 Mk I (T) was one of the best sniper rifles of the Second World War, selected from production rifles that shot particularly well and fitted with a No. 32 telescopic sight, a cheek rest, and a special sling. About 26,000 were made, and they were issued to British and Commonwealth snipers, who used them with great effect in Normandy, Italy, and Burma. The (T) rifle was accurate to 600 metres and beyond, and it was used by some of the most successful snipers of the war. The success of the (T) showed that the No. 4 was not just a mass-produced infantry rifle, but a precision weapon when it was carefully made and properly fitted. After the war, the (T) remained in service into the 1960s, and it was used by British snipers in Korea and in Malaya.

3. Technical Design

The Bolt and the Magazine

The heart of the Lee-Enfield No. 4 was its bolt action, which was the fastest of any bolt-action service rifle of the Second World War, because it cocked on closing, rather than on opening, and because its bolt handle was close to the trigger. A trained rifleman could work the bolt with his thumb and forefinger without taking his eye from the sights, and he could fire fifteen aimed shots in a minute, a rate of fire that approached that of the early semi-automatic rifles. The ten-round detachable box magazine, loaded with two five-round charger clips, gave the No. 4 twice the capacity of the German Karabiner 98k and the American M1903 Springfield, and it meant that a British rifleman could fire ten shots before he had to reload. The magazine was normally loaded in the rifle, and it was rarely removed in the field, because it was faster to load it with charger clips.

The Barrel, Sights, and Stock

The No. 4 had a 640-millimetre barrel, heavier than that of the SMLE, which improved accuracy and reduced the effect of heat on the point of aim. The rear sight was an aperture sight mounted on the receiver, which was easier to use than the open sight of the SMLE, because the eye naturally centres the front sight in the aperture, and it was more accurate at long range. The stock was made of walnut or beech, with a pistol grip and a butt that was designed to fit the average soldier, and it was simpler than the stock of the SMLE, with fewer parts and less hand fitting. The rifle was robust and reliable, and it could be stripped and cleaned in the field with a minimum of tools, which was important in the deserts of North Africa and the jungles of Burma, where sand and mud could quickly stop a more delicate weapon.

The .303 British Cartridge

The .303 British cartridge, introduced in 1888, was a rimmed cartridge with a 174-grain bullet, a muzzle velocity of about 744 metres per second, and a muzzle energy of about 3,100 joules. It was powerful enough to kill at 500 metres and beyond, and it was used in the No. 4 rifle, the Bren light machine gun, and the Vickers machine gun, which simplified supply, because all three weapons used the same ammunition. The cartridge was rimmed, which made it less suitable for automatic weapons than the rimless cartridges used by the Germans and the Americans, but it was well proven, and it remained in British service until the 1950s. The .303 was accurate and hard-hitting, and it was respected by British and Commonwealth soldiers, who trusted it in combat from the First World War to Korea.

4. Combat Service in North Africa and Italy

The Desert War

The Lee-Enfield No. 4 first saw large-scale combat in North Africa, where British and Commonwealth troops fought the German Afrika Korps and the Italian Army in the Western Desert from 1941 to 1943. The rifle performed well in the desert, because it was reliable in sand and dust, and because its long range and its ten-round magazine were well suited to the open desert, where engagements often took place at several hundred metres. British riflemen used the No. 4 in the battles of Crusader, Gazala, El Alamein, and Tunis, and they found it accurate and dependable, though they complained about the spike bayonet, which was too short for close combat, and about the weight of the rifle when carried on long marches. The No. 4 was also used by the Long Range Desert Group and the Special Air Service, who valued its reliability and its firepower on their raids behind enemy lines.

Italy and the Mediterranean

In Italy, from 1943 to 1945, the No. 4 was used in the mountains and the valleys of the Italian peninsula, where the fighting was close and the terrain was difficult. British and Commonwealth troops used the rifle in the battles of Salerno, Monte Cassino, and Anzio, and in the long advance up the peninsula to the Po Valley. The No. 4 was well suited to the Italian campaign, because its aperture sight was easy to use in the poor light of the mountains, and its bolt action was fast enough for close-quarters fighting. The rifle was also used by Italian partisans, who received No. 4 rifles from British supply drops, and by the Polish, French, and other Allied troops who fought in Italy. The Italian campaign showed that the No. 4 was a versatile weapon, effective in mountains, in towns, and in open country.

5. Combat Service in North-West Europe

Normandy and the Advance to Germany

The Lee-Enfield No. 4 was the rifle of the British and Canadian troops who landed in Normandy on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and who fought their way across France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany to the end of the war. British infantry sections were built around the Bren gun, but the No. 4 was the weapon of the rifleman, and it was used in every action, from the hedgerows of Normandy to the streets of Arnhem and the crossing of the Rhine. The rifle was accurate and reliable, and its fast bolt action allowed British riflemen to put down a high volume of fire, which was important when facing German troops armed with the Karabiner 98k and the MP 40 submachine gun. The No. 4 was also used by snipers, who used the (T) variant to kill German officers and machine gunners at long range, and by the Royal Marines and the Commandos, who used it on raids along the French coast.

Arnhem and the Rhine

At Arnhem in September 1944, British airborne troops armed with the No. 4 fought a desperate battle against German armour and infantry, and the rifle proved its worth in close combat, where its fast bolt and its ten-round magazine gave the paratroopers a high rate of fire. The rifle was also used in the crossing of the Rhine in March 1945, and in the final advance into Germany, where British troops fought house-to-house in towns such as Bremen and Hamburg. The No. 4 was a rifle that had been designed for the open battlefields of the First World War, but it proved itself in the close, confused fighting of the Second World War, and it was trusted by the soldiers who carried it. By the end of the war, the No. 4 had become a symbol of the British infantry, as recognisable as the steel helmet and the battledress.

6. Combat Service in Burma and the Pacific

The Jungle War

In Burma, the Lee-Enfield No. 4 was used by British, Indian, and African troops who fought the Japanese in the jungle, in conditions of heat, rain, and mud that tested every weapon to the limit. The No. 4 performed well in the jungle, because it was robust and easy to clean, and because its .303 cartridge was powerful enough to stop a charging enemy at close range. The rifle was used in the battles of Imphal and Kohima in 1944, where British and Indian troops held off a Japanese offensive, and in the advance down the Irrawaddy to Rangoon in 1945. The No. 5 Jungle Carbine, a shortened version of the No. 4, was issued to troops in Burma, but it was less accurate and had a fierce recoil, and many soldiers preferred the standard No. 4. The jungle war showed that a bolt-action rifle, properly handled, was still effective in the age of the submachine gun and the assault rifle.

The Pacific and the Far East

The No. 4 was also used by Australian and New Zealand troops in the Pacific, who fought the Japanese in New Guinea, Borneo, and the Solomon Islands. Australian troops, who had used the SMLE in the First World War, adopted the No. 4 during the Second World War, and they used it in the battles of Buna, Lae, and Tarakan. The rifle was also used by the British and Indian troops who recaptured Malaya and Singapore in 1945, and by the forces that occupied Japan after the surrender. The No. 4 was a rifle that served in every theatre of the war, from the Arctic to the tropics, and it earned a reputation for reliability and accuracy that few other rifles of the period could match.

7. Strengths

Rate of Fire and Magazine Capacity

The greatest strength of the Lee-Enfield No. 4 was its rate of fire, because a trained rifleman could fire fifteen aimed shots in a minute, a rate that was twice that of the German Karabiner 98k and the American M1903 Springfield. This was due to the cock-on-closing bolt, the short bolt throw, and the ten-round magazine, which gave the British rifleman a volume of fire that surprised German troops, who sometimes thought they were facing machine guns. The ten-round magazine was also a strength, because it meant that a British rifleman could fire ten shots before reloading, while a German rifleman had to reload after five. The combination of speed and capacity made the No. 4 the best bolt-action rifle of the Second World War in terms of firepower, and it was a weapon that British infantry trusted in every action.

Reliability and Accuracy

The No. 4 was reliable in sand, mud, snow, and rain, because it was a simple, robust weapon with few parts that could fail, and because it could be stripped and cleaned in the field with a minimum of tools. It was also accurate, with an aperture rear sight that was easy to use and a heavy barrel that held its point of aim, and it was accurate enough to serve as a sniper rifle in its (T) form. The rifle was well balanced, comfortable to carry, and easy to shoot, and it was liked by the soldiers who used it. Its reliability and its accuracy were the reasons why it remained in service for so long, and why it was still used by British snipers and by Commonwealth troops into the 1960s and beyond.

8. Weaknesses

Bolt Action in an Age of Semi-Automatics

The main weakness of the Lee-Enfield No. 4 was that it was a bolt-action rifle in an age when the Americans and the Germans were adopting semi-automatic rifles, notably the American M1 Garand and the German Gewehr 43. The No. 4 could fire quickly for a bolt-action rifle, but it could not match the rate of fire of a semi-automatic, and British infantry were at a disadvantage in close combat against German troops armed with the MP 40 submachine gun and the StG 44 assault rifle. The British Army recognised this, and it began to develop a semi-automatic rifle after the war, but the No. 4 remained in service into the 1950s, because it was reliable, accurate, and available in large numbers. The bolt action was a weakness, but it was a weakness that British training and tactics, built around the Bren gun, were able to overcome.

Weight and the Spike Bayonet

The No. 4 was heavy, at 4.19 kilograms unloaded, and it was long, at 1,128 millimetres, which made it awkward to carry in a vehicle or in a jungle, and tiring to carry on a long march. The spike bayonet, a simple steel rod, was cheap to make but too short for close combat, and many soldiers disliked it, preferring the longer sword bayonet of the SMLE. The rifle was also slow to manufacture, despite the simplifications of the No. 4 Mk I*, and it required skilled labour and good steel, which were in short supply during the war. These were minor weaknesses compared with its strengths, but they were real, and they were among the reasons why the No. 4 was eventually replaced by the semi-automatic FN FAL in the 1950s.

9. Legacy

Service After the War

After the Second World War, the Lee-Enfield No. 4 remained the standard rifle of the British Army until the adoption of the FN FAL in 1957, and it was used in Korea, Malaya, Kenya, Cyprus, and Suez. The No. 4 Mk I (T) sniper rifle remained in service into the 1960s, and it was used by British snipers in Northern Ireland and in the Falklands War, though by then it was a specialist weapon rather than a standard rifle. The No. 4 was also used by Commonwealth armies, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Pakistan, and it was made under licence in India, where it remained in service into the 1980s. The rifle was also used by police forces and by civilian shooters, and it remains popular today as a hunting and target rifle.

A Symbol of the British Infantry

The Lee-Enfield No. 4 is remembered as the rifle of the British and Commonwealth infantry of the Second World War, a weapon that was fast, accurate, and reliable, and that served in every theatre of the war. It is a symbol of the British soldier, and it is displayed in museums around the world, from the Imperial War Museum in London to the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. The No. 4 is still shot by collectors and by target shooters, and it is still respected for its smooth bolt action and its accuracy. Its legacy is the Lee-Enfield family itself, a line of rifles that served the British Empire and the Commonwealth for more than sixty years, from the 1890s to the 1950s, and that remains one of the most successful rifle designs in history.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Lee-Enfield No. 4?
The Lee-Enfield No. 4 is a British bolt-action rifle chambered for the .303 British cartridge, with a ten-round magazine and a fast bolt action. It was the standard rifle of the British and Commonwealth armies in the Second World War.

How fast could the No. 4 be fired?
A trained rifleman could fire 15 to 20 aimed shots per minute, a rate of fire that was about twice that of the German Karabiner 98k and the American M1903 Springfield.

How many No. 4 rifles were made?
About four million No. 4 rifles were made during the war, by RSAF Enfield and BSA in Britain, Long Branch in Canada, and Savage in the United States.

What was the No. 4 Mk I (T)?
The No. 4 Mk I (T) was a sniper variant of the No. 4, fitted with a No. 32 telescopic sight, a cheek rest, and a special sling. About 26,000 were made, and it was one of the best sniper rifles of the war.

Where did the No. 4 serve?
It served in North Africa, Italy, North-West Europe, Burma, and the Pacific, and it was used by British, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Indian, and South African troops.

When was the No. 4 replaced?
The No. 4 remained the standard British rifle until 1957, when it was replaced by the FN FAL. The sniper variant remained in service into the 1960s.

Sources

• The Imperial War Museum, Lee-Enfield rifle collection
• Ian Skennerton, The Lee-Enfield: A Century of Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield Rifles and Carbines
• The Royal Armouries, Leeds, small arms collection
• Martin Pegler, The Lee-Enfield Rifle
• The Canadian War Museum, Long Branch production records
• The National Army Museum, London, infantry weapons exhibits