Stories about weapons. Rifles of the First World War. Enfield R14 rifle

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Interesting rifle with a rather funny fate. The name Pattern 1914 Enfield, abbreviated simply P14, the full name of The Rifle .303 Pattern 1914 is a British five-shot rifle with a longitudinal slide gate.



Developed in Britain, but produced in the United States by American companies Remington, Eddistoun and Winchester. Served as a sniper weapon, weapons of second-line fighters and reserve troops, until it was decommissioned in 1947.

During the Boer War 1899-1902 The British faced precise long-range fire from Mauser 1893 and 1895 rifles, designed for 7,92 × 57 mm caliber bullets with which the Germans armed the Boers.

The losses from these rifles and the very successful cartridge prompted the Ministry of War to think about creating a cartridge similar to that. And it was created in 1910 year, called .276 Enfield.

The new rifle, which was actually a copy of the Mauser 1898 (nothing like that, very few people copied the Mauser then) was called the Pattern 1913 Enfield or P13, but mass production was only partially established at the very beginning of the First World War. On the front, the rifle, as the main small arms, showed itself weakly.

When the First World War began, there was no talk of any production of two rifles in Britain. Therefore, Lee Enfield remained the main rifle, and while the Americans did not enter the war, the British government turned to the American companies Winchester, Remington and Eddystone (the Remington subsection, which later produced P14) with a request to start production of P14 for the needs Great Britain.

Of course, the Americans agreed. However, each plant produced its own different parts for a rifle, which led to the appearance of the problem of interchangeability of parts: Winchester had particularly serious problems in this regard. The official name of the rifle depended on the manufacturer by the last letter in the name: W meant the rifle produced by Winchester, E - Eddistoun, R - Remington. This is how the Pattern 1914 Mk IW / E / R appeared.



Andrey Bondar, an expert on historical weapons from the Infanteria club, will tell about the rifle and its device:



The main use in the First World War rifle P14 found as a sniper, because it had a higher accuracy compared to the rifle Lee Enfield. It was produced in several versions: with the usual sight, with a removable aperture sight - options Pattern 1914 Mk IW (F) and Pattern 1914 Mk I * W (F).

A side sight could also be installed for salvo shooting at group targets, consisting of a folding diopter rear sight (to the left of the main sight) and an adjustable fly range. The side fly had divisions for firing from 1500 to 2600 yards (from 1372 to 2377 m).





Since April, the 1918 of the year was the version of the Pattern 1914 Mk I * W (T) with the Aldis 1918 optical sight of the year, which was used mainly on rifles manufactured by Winchester, thanks to their high quality workmanship.

Stories about weapons. Rifles of the First World War. Enfield R14 rifle


Rompola rifle did not have. For cleaning and lubrication of the bore was used rope rubbing, worn in the butt.

A bayonet with a hewing blade and a handle in a wooden frame was worn separately from the rifle, in special leather sheath.





In total, 600 thousands of rifles were produced by Eddistoun, 400 thousands by Remington and 235293 by Winchester (total 1235293 copies).



It is the predecessor of the American rifle M1917 Enfield, which was produced by the same companies, but under the American cartridge .30-06 with some changes in the design.

Compared to the Lee-Enfield, the P14 rifle was more accurate and reliable, but heavier (the unloaded Li-Enfield Mk III weighed 3,91 kg against the 4,25 kg) and less rapid with a magazine capacity of two times less than that of Lee-Enfield.

The British Army followed the pre-war standard known as “Minute of Madness” (15 rounds per minute at a target diameter 30 cm from 270 m), and the experience of the Boer War, which led to the appearance of the P13 / P14 rifle, was almost useless in World War I, where the decisive role played by the rate of fire. That is why the British made the final choice in terms of a standard rifle in favor of Lee-Enfield.



R14 rifle took part in both world wars. A certain amount was in the USSR. Partly as a legacy from the British warehouses in the north, partly as having been in the Baltic States in service with the armies of the republics. Rifles were supplied in the framework of the Lend-Lease (М1917).


A fighter of the Leningrad militia on a city street. Steel helmet on his head - a copy of the British, but was produced in Leningrad at one of the factories for the needs of air defense and civil defense.
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25 comments
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  1. +2
    20 December 2017 15: 56
    A good review cycle, I always read and watch the attached video with pleasure. Regarding this rifle - it often appears in films in the hands of American snipers of the Second World War.
    1. 0
      20 December 2017 18: 02
      You are probably confusing it with Springfield M1903A1

      her marines preferred
      1. 0
        20 December 2017 18: 15
        I can’t remember, but several times I came across my eyes. Although the rifles are very similar in the muzzle region.

        Here, however, Canadians.
        1. 0
          20 December 2017 19: 19
          No, I don’t argue that the P14 was used as a sniper, but so often for American WWII snipers ...
        2. 0
          20 December 2017 19: 24
          Sniper "Sprigfield" did not have one small detail ...
          1. 0
            20 December 2017 19: 43
            This is an A4 Army
            1. 0
              20 December 2017 20: 19
              IS IT Springfield? Or will you say that it is ARISAKA?
              1. 0
                20 December 2017 20: 27
                This is Springfield M1903A4, to be honest I did not understand the irony
          2. 0
            20 December 2017 19: 47
            Not on all models, this same detail was missing. In the early
            here on the spot. And the sector sight, too.
            1. 0
              20 December 2017 20: 14
              Exactly, this is A1, the marines have their own pride, and they supplied them with a residual principle that was clearly worthy ... for the Civil War in 1861
              1. +1
                20 December 2017 20: 25
                M1903A1 of the 1929 model - adopted in December 1929, a modification with a neck of a pistol-shaped box and with a front sight, either protected by a cylindrical head or without it.

                Where did you see the "neck of a pistol-shaped box" image ???
            2. +1
              20 December 2017 20: 22
              M1903A4 sample of 1942 - the first US sniper rifle. For the alteration in sniper were selected the best, distinguished by the most accurate battle of the M1903 rifle. Standard sights - a front sight and an open sight, as well as a bayonet mount, were removed, instead of them mounted optical sights - 2,2x M84; Weaver Co 2,5x M73B1 or Unertlscope 10x. Some US Marine Corps rifles were fitted with 5x Lymann and 8x Unertl sights. This rifle was in service with the U.S. Army until 1961, in the U.S. Marine Corps - until 1969.

              In your photo, the standard M 1903 with an attached optical sight!
              1. +1
                20 December 2017 20: 40
                and ... well, they dug, I admit hi
                By the way, I took a photo with VO
                1. 0
                  20 December 2017 23: 47
                  Do not worry, you very worthily defended your point of view. And in the age of the Internet and copy-paste, the devil will break his leg in the flow of information. It happens that when you reread even the most respected publications, you notice mistakes and lose credibility.
                2. 0
                  21 December 2017 08: 04
                  Yes, you do not seem to be a root crop to "dig" you! hi
                  drinks
              2. 0
                20 December 2017 23: 49
                Thanks for the detailed explanation.
        3. +1
          20 December 2017 19: 30
          You can confuse of course, from afar. A characteristic difference between the R-14 and Springfield is the shutter handle R-14, which is curved like no other rifle.

  2. +1
    20 December 2017 15: 58
    Mauser was a talent "few people did not copy Mauser then," but what about patents and other evidence?
    The diopter sight at the end of the 19th century was a revolutionary discovery. They showed me a hunting rifle with a diopter sight, in my opinion Italian production, for that period: 1981 - it was something: an imported rifle, with an inlay and a similar sight. In 2011, on occasion, I went to a hunting store "not fluff, not feather" (in my opinion, a strange name for a hunting store: you can’t get a car and you don’t change it) and there were provided guns: Turkey, China, America, Poland, even Tunisia (rather total 'subsidiary' enterprise) and only 1 production Russia
    1. +1
      20 December 2017 18: 53
      Yes, copying to whom not laziness, Americans, British, Japanese. But no one put a Mauser dash in the name of their rifles, but with an enviable obstinacy to the name Mosin, they must put a Nagan dash.
      1. 0
        20 December 2017 19: 22
        And the Russians have their own pride and their own way
    2. +2
      20 December 2017 20: 11
      Quote: Monarchist
      The diopter sight at the end of the 19th century was a revolutionary discovery.

      At Anfield, not a diopter sight is installed, but a ring one. Both sights are aperture types and differ in the diameters of the “eye”: for a ring one, it is 2-4 mm, for a diopter from tenths to 1 mm, plus the “plate” of the diopter because of its size, cuts off peripheral vision arrow.

      The main and side sights of Anfield R-14
      1. +1
        21 December 2017 14: 08
        The M-16 has a hole of about 2 mm.
        But it is considered a diopter sight.
  3. +2
    20 December 2017 19: 55
    A few additions and clarifications.
    According to the requirements of the military committee, by 1911, the Royal Small Arms Factory in the city of Enfield had developed two new cartridges with a sleeve without a rim - .276 caliber and .256 caliber.
    Further tests showed the advantage of the .276 cartridge, the development of which was completed in 1912. In 1913, a magazine rifle was created for this ammunition, which received the designation “Rifle, Magazine, .276, Pattern 1913” (rifle, magazine, .276 caliber, sample 1913), abbreviated “Pattern 1913” or simplified “P13” (sample thirteen). By January 13, 1913 P1281 rifles were produced.
    Enfield P13 turned out to be a fairly successful and accurate rifle, but there were problems with the ammunition under it. The new .7 caliber 276 mm cartridge proved to be very powerful and led to too strong recoil and muzzle flash, deformation of part of the parts, a change in pressure in the chamber, as well as rapid wear of the gun barrel.
    In this regard, it was decided to use the standard cartridge .303 British (7.7x56 R), which had less power.
    The developed .303 caliber rifle was adopted by the British Army under the designation “Rifle, Magazine, .303, Pattern 1914” (rifle, magazine, caliber. 303, model 1914), abbreviated “Pattern 1914” or simplified “P14”.
  4. +15
    21 December 2017 08: 17
    An interesting cycle!
  5. +1
    21 December 2017 14: 38
    Quite a muddy explanation of the reason for creating a new rifle R 14. Accurate shooting from the M 98? So were the Anfield inaccurate? But they are more rapid-fire. Most likely, the high laboriousness in production was the reason for the requirement to create a cheaper rifle. After all, the development task appeared only in 1910. 9 years passed after the AB war. Are you really so scared? And copied or bought a license - this is a question. The Japanese and Americans bought a license and modified for themselves.

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