The Short comes from the fact that the SMLE's 25-inch barrel is five inches shorter than the one fitted to the original Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle. In the late 1800s this was still a noteworthy innovation, which is why the British government felt it necessary to specify that the Lee-Enfield is a Magazine rifle. Lee was a Canadian arms designer who invented the detachable box magazine, the system by which virtually all semi- and fully automatic small arms are supplied with ammunition nowadays. Starting at the end, Enfield indicates that the design originated at the Royal Small Arms Factory in the London borough of Enfield (in official parlance, RSAF Enfield Lock, after the nearby lock on the River Lee canal), while Lee has nothing to do with the river, but is in fact the name of the action's designer, James Paris Lee (1831-1904). If we take apart the long-winded British ordnance designation, some of the details of this rifle's design and evolution come into focus. (As we have previously discussed, the asterisk is a revision indicator, denoting that this is an improved version of the Mk III, but not so improved that it was deemed different enough to be designated Mk IV.) 303-Calibre Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield Mark III*, later retroactively redesignated Rifle No. Specifically, the example we'll be discussing here today is a. This week on Gun of the Week, it's one of the longest-serving and most widely employed military service rifles of the 20th century, the British Lee-Enfield. Eyrie Productions, Unlimited - Gun of the Week: SMLE Mark III*Įyrie Productions, Unlimited Subject: "Gun of the Week: SMLE Mark III*"