The volley sights were calibrated for ranges from about 1500 yards all the way out to about 2500. They were present on the Lee Metford, Lee Enfield #1 Mark I, and on the pre war - early war production #1 Mark III. In 1915 when the #1 Mark III* began production, the * indicated that the rifle was missing one or more of the following parts. 1) Drift adjustable rear sight, 2) Magazine cutoff, 3) Piling swivel, and 4) Volley sights.
The idea of volley sights was that a large group of infantry could place indirect fire on targets such as massed troops, exposed artillery positions, etc. a long distance. The tactic of using indirect small arms fire in this way was used throughout WW1, but very early on it was discovered that a few machine gun crews operating from fixed emplacements could do the same thing, only better. And in any case, the normal battle sight on an SMLE went out to 2000 yards, so it is not surprising that the volley sights were discontinued.
Love that aperture sight by the way! Was that on that rifle when you got it? Or did you add it?
