Quote:
Originally Posted by cmort666
Actually, that's SMLE.
It's a #1MkIII. If you find that designation somewhere on it, it may have one or more "*"s to indicate changes.
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Actually, I think it's both. I've seen it abb. both ways.
Means Short Magazine Lee Enfield. Doesn't mean that it has a short magazine, just that it's the short version of the original Magazine Lee-Enfield.
It was called that to indicate that it was a magazine-fed rifle, not a single-shot like the previous Martini-Henry.
The first SMLE was No. 1 MK 1, dating from Dec., 1902. It was a compromise between the long Lee-Enfield and the carbine. It was to be used by both cavalry and infantry, after experiences in the Second Boer War, 1899-1902.