The Lee Enfield rifle was designed at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield, Essex, by J.P. Lee and the weapon became the British Army’s standard rifle from 1895 to 1956.
The Lee Enfield Mk.1 was a replacement for the Lee-Metford rifle, which had been the standard issue firearm since 1889. The Lee-Metford’s major disadvantage was that it fired cartridges using black powder which emitted smoke when fired, and so gave away the rifleman’s position. In 1891, Britain started production of cordite, a propellant that burned cleanly without emitting smoke. However, cordite generated more heat than the original black powder and soon the Lee-Metford rifling system became damaged. The Royal Small Arms Factory developed a new rifling system that could withstand the heat generated by the cordite and this resulted in the new Lee Enfield Mk.1.
Over the sixty years of service the Lee Enfield was continually improved, keeping up with technological improvements as they became available. Total production of Lee Enfield rifles in all their many versions has been estimated at more than 14 million with production taking place not only in Britain, but under licence in Australia, India, Canada, Pakistan and the United States of America, making it one of the most successful bolt-action rifles ever produced.
