SMLE Magazines No.1, No.2, No.3 & No.4 |
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In this article we'll take a quick look at the magazines and the ammunition they were designed for. For collectors we have a "cheat sheet" of which SMLE magazine goes with which rifle and when. |
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| Background The first time you lay down on your belly and start shooting at a target 500, 600 or 1000 yards away is a humbling experience. You will quickly discover how little you know about you, your rifle and all the things that can happen to the bullet on it's way from here to there. Even after you've fooled around with your sight adjustments for a while you'll still likely to plow up dirt until, finally, finally you start getting some rounds somewhere on the paper. |
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| For just a minute, pretend that it is 1908 and you, an inexperienced recruit, are engaged in combat for the very first time. Your platoon is engaging targets at 700 yards. At that distance it's hardly personal, it's simply harassing fire. Suddenly hostiles pop out of a fold of ground about 400 yards away. Half the platoon fixes bayonets while the others engage the oncoming forces. By the time your bayonet is on they're at 300 yards and still closing. You pick out a target, aim carefully, squeeze . . . and the guy doesn't go down. He keeps coming, and straight at you. You fire again. And again. And that SOB just keeps coming. Reload. He's almost on top of you. You fire again. This time, finally, he goes down. In the game version, this doesn't happen. You point your weapon and whether you're at 70 feet or 700 yards, the target gets hit. The flight path - the trajectory - of the bullet follows a straight line, your line of sight. In the real world, gravity won't let that happen. The bullet travels in a arc, and the longer the distance, the higher the arc. A competent rifleman, whether in 1908 or 2008, is someone who can not only accurately estimate the distance to the target, but also knows the flight path - the trajectory - of the ammunition he's using. In the 1960's many British snipers zeroed (set their rifle sights) at 300 or 400 yards. The result was that a shot aimed at the center of the body virtually guarenteed a hit, albeit a little high or a little low, at any range between 100 and 600 yards. [1] |
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| The 1908 recruit in our example above didn't know (or forgot) about the trajectory of his ammunition. If your target is at 700 yards, someone standing up in front of you at 300 yards will have your rounds passing over his head. Adding a bayonet to the rifle affected the flight path even further. In the field, you may not always have time to fiddle with sight adjustments, slides, knobs and wheels. A trained rifleman had to know what his ammunition was capable of and at what ranges. |
1912 Bullet Trajectory Table  Click for full size |
| It was standard operational practice to fix bayonets any time hostile forces were within 300 yards. With a SMLE loaded with the Mk VI round, the effect on accuracy was negligible. However with a SMLE Mk III, even one properly sighted in for the Mk VII round, affixing the bayonet meant a bullet climbed an additional 18" at 200 yards. [2] Indian troops who arrived in France in the early weeks of World War I (1914-1919) had to hurriedly exchange their SMLE rifles (sighted in for the Mk VI round) for new SMLE rifles sighted in for the Mk VII round. Some Indian Army troops didn't get to discover that their new rifles actually shot 18" higher than their old rifles until they were in the trenches. [3] | |
| Rifle & Magazine Table | |||||
Year Rifle Made |
Marked HV? |
Correct Magazine |
Mk6 AMMO |
Mk7 AMMO |
Notes |
1903 - 1905 |
NO |
T1 |
YES |
NO |
As-issued |
1903 - 1905 |
YES |
T3/T4 |
NO |
YES |
Sights converted to Mk7 ammo profile |
1906 - 1908 |
NO |
T2 |
YES |
NO |
As-issued |
1906 - 1908 |
YES |
T3/T4 |
NO |
YES |
Sights converted to Mk7 ammo profile |
1909 - 1910 |
NO |
T2/T3 |
YES |
NO |
As-issued |
1909 - 1910 |
YES |
T3/T4 |
NO |
YES |
Sights converted to Mk7 ammo profile |
1911 - 19xx |
NO |
T3/T4 |
unknown |
YES |
Presumed sighted for Mk7 round |
1911- 19xx |
YES |
T4 |
NO |
YES |
Definitely sighed for Mk7 round |
| For clarity we've relabeled the "Magazine No.1" as a Type One (T1), the "Magazine No.2" as a Type Two (T2), and so on. Similarly, the Mk VI ammunition is simply "Mk6" and Mk VII ammunition "Mk7", again for clarity. |
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| SMLE Magazines No.1 through No.4 - Quick and Easy | ||
| SMLE magazines are very similar. We won't bore you with all the details, but give you enough information that if you're lucky enough to spot one of the early magazines, you'll snap it up. And perhaps match it with the right rifle. | ||
| Magazine No.1 |
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| Magazine No.2 |
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| Magazine No.3 |
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| Magazine No.4 |
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| All magazine drawings are taken from an original copy of Musketry Regulations, Part I, 1909 (Reprinted, with Amendments, 1912) |
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Notes |
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© 2008 David J. Gadbois |