Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Obsolescence in firearms?

From Steve at The Firearm Blog, comes this link;

Afghans Rediscover The Lee-Enfield.

The Lee Enfield is a WW2 rifle used by the British. It is a bolt action rifle with a 10 round box magazine.

It fires a .303 caliber bullet at roughly 2500 fps.

By all accounts; it's old.

Today, armies use semi-automatic or fully automatic weapons, made of space-age plastics and polymers, usually chambered in intermediate cartridges fed from large-capacity detachable box magazines.

Yet, the Lee Enfield is still a viable weapon for the modern-day battlefield.

Why?

Because the Lee Enfield is a rifle that is very capable of carrying out its primary function reliably.

Very simply; the function of a rifle is to deliver a high speed projectile reliably and accurately. All it needs is sights, a barrel, a trigger, and a stock.
Everything else just makes it friendlier to the operator.

This old rifle may lack modern optics, shoot an antique cartridge, and be a rough amalgamation of wood and steel, but it can execute its task with almost 100% efficiency. The operator is what usually causes a miss.

We may continue to make rifles easier to shoot, with lighter triggers, better sights, and generally make them more accommodating to the people shooting them, but the machine itself has practically been perfected.

The rest is up to you.

2 comments:

Bradley said...

I have an old MK4 Jungle Carbine(IIRC) that was rechambered in to 308win, and its a great little rifle, for the longest time its was my hunting gun. I never worried about dropping it, nor scratching it. And it would group great for what i needed.

Anonymous said...

Sure, but you try clearing a house with one. :)

Honestly, I do love old guns, but it irks me to see someone plead poverty and then spend lots of money, time (which costs money) and ammo (which also costs money) trying to make something esoteric work when they should've just bought something boring and reliable and common in the first place.

Like people who spend $600 customizing a $150 Mauser when they could've just picked up a $400 off the shelf Savage to do the same thing.