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Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk I, II and III (SMLE Mk III, aka Rifle, No. 1 Mk III)
Type	Bolt-action rifle
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Service history
In service	1895-present
Used by	Australia Canada India New Zealand Pakistan South Africa Thailand United Kingdom & Crown Colonies
Wars	First Boer War Second Boer War World War I Irish War of Independence World War II Korean War Suez Crisis Falklands War Northern Ireland Mau Mau Uprising Sino-Indian War Indo-Pakistan Wars Soviet war in Afghanistan and numerous other conflicts.
Production history
Designer	James Paris Lee, RSAF Enfield
Produced	1907-
Number built	over 17,000,000[1]
Variants	SMLE Mk III*, (HT) Telescopic Sighted Sniper Rifle, Mk III* Grenade-Launching Rifle
Specifications
Weight	~4 kg (8.8 lb) depending on wood density
Length	1,130 mm (44.5 in)
Barrel length	635 mm (25 in)
Cartridge	.303 Mk VII SAA Ball
Action	Bolt-action
Muzzle velocity	744 m/s (2,441 ft/s)
Effective range	550 yd (503 m)[2]
Maximum range	2,000 yd (1,829 m)
Feed system	10-round magazine, loaded with 5-round charger clips
Sights	Sliding ramp rear sights, Fixed-post front sights, "Dial" long-range volley sights

The Lee-Enfield bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle was the main firearm used by the military forces of the British Empire/Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century. It was the British Army's standard rifle from its official adoption in 1895 until 1957.^[3][4] The Lee-Enfield used the .303 British cartridge and in Australia, the rifle was so well-known, that it became synonymous with the term "303". It was also used by the military forces of Canada, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa, among others.

A redesign of the Lee-Metford, which had been adopted by the British Army in 1888, the Lee-Enfield remained in widespread British service until well into the early 1960s and the 7.62 mm L42 sniper variant remained in service until the 1990s. As a standard-issue infantry rifle, it is still found in service in the armed forces of some Commonwealth nations.^[5]

The Lee-Enfield featured a ten-round box magazine which was loaded manually from the top, either one round at a time, or by means of five-round chargers. The Lee-Enfield superseded the earlier Martini-Henry, Martini-Enfield, and Lee-Metford rifles, and although officially replaced in the UK with the L1A1 SLR in 1957, it continues to see official service in a number of British Commonwealth nations to the present daynotably with the Indian Policeand is the longest-serving military bolt-action rifle still in official service.^[6]

Total production of all Lee-Enfields is estimated at over 17 million rifles,^[1] making it one of the most numerous military bolt-action rifles ever producedsecond only to the Russian Mosin-Nagant M91/30, which was itself a contemporary design.