Rifle 266 - 1916 Remington Pattern of 1914 Mk I*

An Altogether Brief History of the .303 Pattern of 1914 Rifle
Engineers, being engineers, are never satisfied. The brand new, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield (SMLE) was only a few years old and in full production and the engineers at the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) Enfield were not satisfied. They wanted a rifle that was easier and cheaper to build. They also wanted a cartridge with a higher velocity and flatter trajectory. Less than five years after the SMLE was adopted the engineers were producing a new prototype with a new .276 cartridge to replace the SMLE and the .303 round. After brief trials in 1912 the new rifle was christened the Pattern of 1913.

The guns of August 1914 announced that World War I had erupted in Europe. Within a few months it became clear that any idea of changing production from the SMLE to a new rifle and new cartridge was going to have to wait until the war was over. Vickers agreed to produce 100,000 of the new rifles in the standard caliber .303 British. The combination of new rifle and old round were dubbed the Pattern of 1914. Vickers quickly discovered that they could ramp up to produce machine guns or the new rifle, but not both. The British turned to the US.

Remington Arms agreed to produce the rifle, as did Winchester. Remington set up a new subsidiary, Eddystone, to manufacture the Pattern of 1914 rifle as well. The first P14 rifles arrived in Britain in May 1916. The new rifles were a disaster.

The entire British system of inspections and view marks was designed with one thing in mind - the absolute interchangeability of parts and components. British inspectors were aghast to discover that not only were some Remington parts not interchangeable with Eddystone parts, but some Winchester rifle parts were incompatible with other Winchester rifles. A system was quickly devised to stamp the right buttstock with a code - IR (Remington), IE (Eddystone) and IW (Winchester) to tell the rifles apart. Any hopes that these new rifles would make it to the battlefield were soon gone.

As more problems surfaced it became clear that changes to the bolt lugs were needed. The rifles with the updated locking lugs were stamped Mk I*. Most of the rifles spent the Great War either with Home Guard units or sitting in storage. In 1924 Britain had 768,463 P14 rifles in inventory and had given/sold/loaned about 475,000 rifles to allies like the new Baltic republics, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. With a new war on the horizon in 1938 the rifles still in British hands were sent to Weedon to be refurbished and readied. Once again, when war came, with few exceptions, the Pattern of 1914 rifles in British hands served on the home front.

The Greek Civil War 1946 - 1949
The war started in 1944 when the two principal Greek guerrilla forces that had resisted Nazi Germany's occupation—the communist-controlled National Liberation Front–National Popular Liberation Army (EAM-ELAS) and the Greek Democratic National Army (EDES)—came into conflict after EAM-ELAS set up a provisional government that rejected the Greek king and his government-in-exile. When Germany withdrew from Greece in 1944, the communists and royalist guerrillas were brought together by the British in an uneasy coalition. Because the communist guerrillas refused to disband their forces, a bitter civil war broke out in late 1944 that was put down by British forces. After elections that the communists did not participate in, the Greek king was restored to his throne. In 1946 a full-scale guerrilla war was reopened by the communists. Both Britain and the U.S. began supplying the Greek democratic forces. Large quantities of SMLE's, No. 4's, and P-14's were supplied by the British and were issued to anti-communist paramilitary militia. After a bitter and brutal war in Greece's northern mountains, in 1949 the communists announced the end of open hostilities. An estimated 50,000 Greeks died in the conflict, which left a legacy of bitterness still felt to this day. Many British rifles that were issued to a Royalist Militia units are so marked on the receiver.
Rifle 266 is a Remington made Pattern of 1914 rifle chambered in .303 British. The serial number, 73854, as well as the date on the barrel, indicate 1916 production and that this rifle was originally a Mk I. The originally buttstock marking disc and volley sight parts were removed, probably at Weedon in 1939. Some of the original buttstock cartouches are faintly visible. The rifle was fitted with a Mk I* Eddystone bolt and sight ladder, again, probably at Weedon. The rifle bears the Greek delta symbol commonly seen on rifles issued to Royalist forces during the Greek Civil War. The muzzle is counter-bored, a common feature on Greek issued rifles that have seen extensive active service. The wood is in decent shape. The original finish on most metal parts is well-worn. The rifle would benefit from a through cleaning. I have not had an opportunity to clean or inspect the bore; it need a serious scrubbing. As with most Remington rifles, some of the small parts are Eddystone marked. The underside of the barrel is stamped in tiny (1/16" 2mm) letters, largely illegible, indicating that this rifle arrived back in the US sometime after 1968.
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