In target rifle form, the No.4 action was mated with a heavy-profile, commercially manufactured barrel mounted in a shortened fore-end as the heavier barrel did not require support. The disappointing results achieved with the L8T were at odds with the excellent shooting being done by rifle club members at Bisley and other target ranges around the world at that time with converted No.4 7.62 mm rifles. 303 No.4(T) except for the magazine, were tested extensively in 1965 but did not succeed and were never issued.
These L8T prototypes, externally identical to the. For various reasons, including poor accuracy and reduced personnel numbers, the conversion process of the No.4 rifle to L8 specification was not fully pursued, but some work was done on an L8T sniper rifle version. The British had originally planned to convert a large part of their existing stocks of No.4 rifles to 7.62 mm for issue to rear-echelon troops, and both Sterling and Enfield manufactured kits for this purpose. 303 No.4(T) rifle soldiered on in this role until the early 1970s despite that fact that its ammunition had been officially “obsolete” for over 10 years. While the SLR was to prove an excellent battle implement, its level of accuracy fell a long way short of that necessary for a sniper rifle. When the 7.62x51 mm round became the NATO standard, Britain adopted a version of the Belgian FN Fusil Automatique Legere (FAL), known as the Self Loading Rifle (SLR), as its standard issue individual rifle. 32 telescopic sight that had originally been designed to go on the Bren light machine gun. The No.4(T) was Britain’s main sniper rifle of World War II and consisted of a carefully selected No.4 service rifle mated with a No. The L42A1 is a 7.62x51 mm NATO sniper rifle developed from the World War II-vintage.
In between came the famous No.1 Mk III Short, Magazine Lee-Enfield and its mass production-oriented successor, the No.4 rifle that served during and after World War II. The first British service Lee was the Lee-Metford adopted in December 1888, while the last was the L42A1 sniper rifle, which was only declared obsolete in April 1992. It is a tribute to the design and utility of the Lee-Enfield bolt-action that it was still in service with the British Army more than 100 years after it was first adopted. Pattern Room and Roger Matthews of the British High Commission in Canberra, Australia, for their assistance in the preparation of this article. The author, editor of Guns Australia magazine, wishes to thank Robert Courtney and Mike Etzel of the Australian War Memorial, the late H.
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