The New American Enfield Rifle 



A modification of the English Enfield 

 with which our troops will be supplied 



IN order to obtain a sufficient number of rifles with which 

 to arm the new United States army in as short a time as 

 possible, the War Department has decided to supplement 

 its supply of Springfields with a modification of the English 

 Enfield rifle which is being manufactured in this country in 

 large quantities for the British government. 



When plans for the army to be formed under the pro- 

 visions of the draft law were being worked out, it was 

 realized that the facilities which the Government had at 

 hand for making the 30-caliber Springfield rifles were not 

 adequate to turn out the number of rifles needed- and 

 that to build factories capable of supplying this number 

 would mean a delay of many months. 



Three big arms concerns were then making about 

 2,200 Enfield rifles a day for the British Government and 

 they were in a position to increase even this output. 

 Hence the decision to manufacture a modification of 

 the English Enfield adapted to the standard 30-caliber 

 ammunition of the United States rifle. Within a few 

 months these concerns will be making more than 

 5,000 of the new rifles a day for the United States 

 Government according to present estimates. 



The operating mechanism of the new rifle, while 

 differing in general design, has the same functioning 

 features as the Springfield; that is to say, opera- 

 tion of magazine, loading and extracting, rotating 

 motion of bolt and side ejection. The barrel is 

 made of the same specifications as the Springfield 

 with the exception that it is two inches longer 

 than that of the Springfield, which measures 

 23.79 inches. 



The weight of the Springfield with bayonet 



attached is 9.69 pounds; the new Enfield model 



weighs about three-quarters of a pound more. 



The bayonet of the new arm is 1.125 inches 



longer than that of the Springfield, which is 



16 inches long; the assembled rifle with 



bayonet attached is 4.125 inches longer 



than the Springfield, which measures 59.212 



inches from the butt plate to the point 



of the bayonet. 



The design of the bayonet of the new 

 rifle is practically the same as that of the 

 Springfield bayonet, the only difference being 

 that in the hew rifle the back or top edge of 

 the blade is straight along its entire length 

 and the front or lower edge tapers to a point. 

 The magazine is practically a duplicate 

 of the Springfield, permitting the use of 

 the same cartridge clip carrying five 

 cartridges. In the Springfield the rear 

 sight is on the top of the breach end of 

 the barrel whereas in the new Enfield it 

 is on the toprear end of the receiver. 



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