In this part of Gus’ Gear, I will cover British, Canadian, French, American, Portuguese, Japanese, Belgian, Swedish and Danish weapons. Next week I will cover a few of the Automatic weapons of The First World War.
The top rifle is an early British Short Magazine Lee Enfield S.M.L.E No. 1 MK III. Introduced in 1907, this example was manufactured in 1913 and has the magazine cut off to enable the shooter to fire it as a single shot while keeping the magazine full. The rifle is chambered for a .303 caliber cartridge and has a 10 round box magazine that can be loaded with 5 round stripper clips. The bayonet is a standard pattern 1907.
The second rifle is an S.M.L.E No. 1 MK III* manufactured in 1918, it differs from the previous rifle with the omission of the magazine cut off.
The third rifle is a British Pattern 1914 rifle, chambered for the .303 cartridge. It has a 6 round box magazine that can be loaded with a stripper clip. When the British government realized they were facing shortages of battle rifles, they approached firms in the United States to produce a rifle based on the Pattern 1913 rifle which was chambered for the experimental .276 Enfield cartridge. It was decided that the rifles should be chambered for the standard ammunition in use and so it was designated the Pattern 1914. This example was manufactured by Remington Arms and the bayonet is a Pattern 1913, also manufactured by Remington.
The fourth rifle is a Canadian MK III Ross rifle. At the turn of the century Canada asked to be allowed to produce the S.M.L.E. for their military and Britain refused. So they approached the Ross Rifle Company and the result was the Ross MK III or Ross 1910 rifle. It is a straight pull rifle that is chambered for the standard .303 cartridge and has a 5 round magazine that can be loaded with a 5 round stripper clip. It is a well made rifle that has an undeserved bad reputation. It is possible, with some extra effort, to assemble the bolt of the rifle incorrectly so that it will not lock correctly when the bolt is closed. It is easy to tell if the bolt is incorrectly assembled, but it is argued that in the heat of battle a soldier might not notice. The counter argument is, in the heat of battle, a soldier would not likely be disassembling the bolt. It was only used in the trenches for a short time. Due to the high quality manufacturing standards of the Ross, it did not tolerate the dirt and grime of trench warfare. It is shown with a Ross MK III bayonet and a canvas breach cover used to keep the action free of dirt.
The top rifle is a French Gras Mle 1874 M80 chambered in 11x59mmR. This is a single shot rifle that was used behind the lines due to shortages of arms. Some of these rifles had the bore sleeved to fire 8x50mmR cartridges, it is shown with a Mle 1874 bayonet. The Gras was replaced as the primary rifle in 1886 by the Lebel.
The second rifle is a French Mle 1886 M93 Lebel rifle. Chambered in 8×50mmR, it has an 8 round tubular magazine and was the first military rifle adopted that utilized smokeless powder cartridges. A period 8 round package of cartridges is show with the rifle as well as the Mle 1886 bayonet with hooked quillion that facilitated stacking the rifles in the field.
The Third rifle is a French Mle 1907/15 Berthier rifle chambered in 8x50mmR. It utilized 3 round Mannlicher en-bloc clips (shown below the rifle) as well as a Mle 1886 bayonet without hooked quillion. It was found that the hook would catch on wire entanglements and was removed. The rifles were issued along side the Mle 1886 Lebel and was also issued to American troops that were under French command to facilitate ammunition supply.
The fourth rifle is a French Mle 1916 Berthier chambered for the same cartridge, but utilizing a 5 round en-bloc Mannlicher clip, show below the rifle, with a Mle 1886 bayonet.
The last rifle is a French Mle 1892 Berthier carbine also chambered for the 8x50mmR cartridge. It utilized the same 3 round Mannlicher en-bloc clip as the Mle 1907/15 rifle and was the design that the Mle 1907/17 was based on. It is shown with a Mle 1892 bayonet.
The first rifle is a U.S. Krag 1898 rifle, chambered in 30-40 U.S. and has a 5 round magazine that is loaded with a side gate. It was obsolete by the time the United States entered the First World War, but was still used stateside for training and for guarding installations to free up arms to supply the Army in France. It is shown with 5 rounds of period ammunition and an 1892 bayonet.
The second rifle is a U.S. Springfield 1903, chambered in 30’06 which is a modern smokeless powder cartridge. It has a 5 round box magazine that is loaded with 5 round stripper clips. There were some problems with early production with poor quality hardening of the receivers, but with time the quality improved and it was a good reliable rifle. It is shown with a loaded stripper clip and a 1905 bayonet.
As was the case with every country involved in the Great War, the United States found that government arsenals could not manufacture enough rifles to supply the fast growing army so Winchester and Remington were approached to produce rifles based on the British Pattern 1914 rifle. Great Britain was no longer buying rifles from the American firms and it was easy to re-chamber the P14 to fire the U.S. 30’06 cartridge.
The third rifle is a U.S. Model 1917 and is outwardly the same as the British P14 rifle. It has a 6 round box magazine that is loaded with the same 5 round stripper clips as the Springfield 1903. About two thirds of U.S. Soldiers who served in France were issued the Model 1917. This example was manufactured by Eddystone Arsenal under contract with Remington Arms. The bayonet shown with it is a Model 1917, identical to the British Pattern 1913 bayonet and the two can only be distinguished by the markings.
The fourth weapon is a U.S. Winchester 1897 trench gun, chambered for 12 gauge shotgun shells. These shotguns were hated by the Germans as they were very effective in trench warfare. A 5 round tubular magazine loaded with 00 buck shot equaled a 27 round burst from a .30 caliber sub-machine gun with each shot. The bayonet is the same one used with the Model 1917 rifle.
The fifth rifle is a Canadian made Ross MK II rifle chambered in .303 British. It has a 5 round box magazine that is loaded by depressing a lever on the right of the rifle just in front of the receiver. Due to shortages of rifles the United States purchased about 20 thousand Ross rifles for training purposes. This rifle and its 1905 bayonet are both marked as U.S. Property.
The first rifle is a Portuguese 1886 Kropatschek rifle, chambered for 8x60mmR cartridges. It has an 8 round tubular magazine that was designed by Alfred von Kropatschek, and was also used in the German Mauser 1871/84 and the French Lebel Mle 1886 rifles. This rifle was designed for black powder but was well enough built that it was converted to use smaller caliber smokeless cartridges. This rifle was not used by Portuguese forces in France, they were issued British S.M.L.E.s but the Kropatschek rifle was used in the Portuguese colonies during the Great War. The bayonet shown with it is the 1886 Kropatschek bayonet, both the rifle and bayonet were manufactured by the Austrian Steyr Arsenal.
The Second rifle is a Japanese M1897 Type 30 rifle, chambered in 6.5x51mmSR, it had a 5 round box magazine and is shown with a Type 30 bayonet. This rifle served with Japanese forces during the Siege of Tsing Tao in 1914 and was carried by Japanese troops who accompanied the United States in the invasion of Russia in 1918. Great Britian and Russian also bought Type 30 rifles to fill needs when shortages were a problem. This is the rifle that caused the problems that Nurse Florence Farmborough noticed during battles on the Eastern Front. At some point, someone has bent the bolt handle to sporterize this rifle.
The third rifle is a Belgian 1889 Mauser carbine manufactured in Burmingham after the Belgian Armories were overrun by German forces in the early weeks of the Great War. It is chambered for the 7.65x53mm Mauser cartridge and has a 5 round magazine, it is shown with the standard 1889 bayonet.
The fourth rifle is from neutral Sweden and is a 1894 Mauser carbine, chambered for 6.5x55mm Mauser cartridge. It has a 5 round box magazine that can be loaded with the 5 round stripper clip shown.
The fifth rifle is from another neutral country, it is a Danish Model 1867 rolling block rifle. It is a single shot rifle chambered for a 11.7x42R cartridge and was obsolete by the beginning of the Great War but was still used to guard the neutral boarder between Denmark and Germany. The bayonet is a 1867 Yatagan.