Mystery Enfield Magazine

Vimy Ridge

Vimy Ridge

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Several years ago I saw a 20 round Enfield mag! It belonged to a Ranger who we were on exercise with. We were shooting their rifles on a frozen lake and before going onto the firing line I compared it to the other Enfield mags in the box at the ammo point, it looked exactly like a standard No4 mag except it was about twice the length. There was no weld line or anything to indicate it was a custom job. I've never seen one since. The Ranger's themselves weren't there while we were firing so I couldn't inquire further. I would have offered to buy it off him or trade him for a standard No4 mag by mail or something, but I never saw them again after that. I'm guessing that it wasn't issued with his rifle but rather a personal item that he was just using with it, but who knows? It most certainly was not a Bren Mag! So does anyone have any idea what it was exactly? I wonder if it was for a trials rifle of some kind?
 
They did make them during WW I, so go with that. The chances of one getting into the Canadian north are slim, but never say never with a Lee Enfield.
Most were destroyed during WW I and they are a nice item. I have seen other mags fitted into the Lee Enfield but the 20 round mag was for the SMLE ONLY and not the No.4 which is what the Northern Ranger would probably have had.
 
They made a semi or selective fire conversion for Lee enfields at one time that took 20 rd mags.I imagine they would fit a bolt action as well.........Harold
 
During the Great War, b oth the British and the Germans experimented with extra-capacity magazines. In each case, the extended magazines wennt out of use because they were clumsy.

The Germans made a 10-round extension and a 20-round extension for their Gew. 98 rifles, giving the rifle a 15- or 25- round capacity with the extansion attached. These were issued originally late in 1915 and recalled in 1917. My old friend Jack Snow (Nfld Reg't) saw several of them when he was being escorted back to Heilsburg to the camp, following a walk through the Russian Civil War that went on for 5 months. This was September, 1918. Jack told me that the extended magazines had gone out of use on the Western front BEFORE Monchy-le-Preux (April, 1917) and that he was surprised to see them (again) on the German troops pulling back after the Brest-Litovsk Treaty.

The German mags seem to be by two mmanufacturers, a manufacturer simply coded J and the B/N manufacturer, which was Bing in Nuremberg, a toy maker.

As to extended mags for the Lee rifle, very few were issued. All I can say is that I don't have one, and, in my finest 3-year-old minutes, I will stamp my feet and scream, "I WANNNA, I WANNA, I WANNNA!"

SOME folk are right LUCKY even to see one.
 
This is what they look like
ReeseWilliams
 
i have never owened a enfield extended mag, but i have owned the 10 round extention for the german rifle. i actually put it on and gave it a try. very very clumsy
 
Most of the 20 round mags (10,000) were scrapped after the war.
While the german mag is being reproduced, noboby seems to have got round to copying the British one.
The closest I have ever come was seeing the leather pouch on offer for the Enfield mag. (out of my price range.)

Oh by the way, in case anyone is interested, Atlanta Cutlery's new catalog has just listed a copy of the M1879 sword bayonet for the Martini-Henry carbine, with scabbard. www.atlantacutlery.com item 402720

The funny thing is they are also listing a "Non firing" copy of the No1Mk3." I don't know if it's a de-act or made from scratch.
 
That looks like a modified BREN mag.
"...offered to buy it off him or trade him..." Not his rifle. Issued by the CF.
"...made a semi or selective fire conversion for Lee-Enfields..." Very much experimental. Nearly every country tried to make their bolt action into a semi. Cost saving.
 
Cottage Hill Bill said:
This is what they look like
ReeseWilliams
Click to expand...

The one I saw had no curve to it and the bottom wasn't flat. They may have had different variations. It was exactly like a normal Enfield mag, straight and rounded at the end, except it was longer.

sunray said:
That looks like a modified BREN mag.
"...offered to buy it off him or trade him..." Not his rifle. Issued by the CF.
Click to expand...

Like I said before, the magazine itself probably wasn't issued! The rifle yes, the mag no!!! I wasn't going to offer to buy the rifle. :slap:
 
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