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Title:	RIFLE, MILITARY -  BRITISH RIFLE NO. 3 MkI* (P14) .303 SN# 488976
Maker/Manufacturer:	MAUSER, PAUL
Date of Manufacture:	C 1916
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 5810
Measurements:	OL:117.4CM 46 1/4" BL: 66CM 26" 9.12 lbs. empty

Object Description:

BRITISH RIFLE NO. 3 MkI* (P14) .303 SN# 488976
Manufactured by Eddystone Arsenal, Eddysone, Pa. - Standard P14 bolt-action rifle based on a modified Mauser action chambered for the .303. 5-round internal magazine. Five-groove rifling, left-hand twist. Muzzle velocity 2500 fps. Well in buttplate. Weapon weighs approximately 9.12 lbs empty. Weapon complete and in very good condition.

Markings:
Receiver: ERA/488976. Broad arrow. Crown/G.R. Upper band: E.
Stock: SJ.

Weapon transferred to the Museum on 17 June 1938. At that time weapon was appraised at $15.00.

Notes: "In 1910 the Small Arms Committee of the British War Office began a search for a new rifle to replace the Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) and its obsolete .303 rimmed cartridge. It was to be common to both infantry and cavalry, it was to have a one-piece stock, an aperture 'backsight' placed about four inches from the eye, and a fixed aperture battle sight for all ranges up to 700 yards. Creation of a new was undertaken, with Mauser-type breech, bolt action and adjustable aperture sight at the rear of the receiver. By 1911, the experimental rifle in .276 rimless caliber was developed for testing. By early 1913 some 1,251 clip-loaded rifles were ready for field trials. It was known as 'Rifle, Magazine, Enfield .276 Inch.' It was also known as the 'Pattern 13.' Some 965 rifles were actually issued for the trials. Results were good but modifications would be required. Six 'Improved Pattern 13' rifles were made in 1914. Before the new rifle got much further World War One began and it was decided to produce the new rifle in the old .303 caliber. This would be the 'Pattern 14' (or simply 'P-14') rifle. Meanwhile the Royal Small Arms Factory made SMLEs as fast as possible. The Birmingham Small Arms Company and Vickers Ltd. were approached about making the Pattern 14 in .303 caliber. Birmingham declined, but Vickers made an almost satisfactory model and was given a contract.
The results of Vickers' work in 1914-1915 were unsatisfactory, and no rifles were produced. In 1915 the firm of J.P. Morgan and Company, America's leading business financial institution, negotiated with the British to place orders for the Pattern 14 rifle with U.S. companies. (The firm had become an official wartime purchasing agent for Great Britain in the United States in 1914.) Tooling and gauges were shipped to the United States, where 1,235,298 rifles were made in 1916-1917 by Remington, Eddystone, and Winchester. Britain had some $20,000,000 of manufacturing equipment in the American rifle factories that was later sold to the U.S. for $9,000,000." - Ferris

"The adoption of the SMLE was greeted with howls of protest by the gun trade and many self-appointed 'experts.' The new rifle was derided as an 'abomination' on the grounds that it would win no prizes on the target range; the value of combat-worthiness was then of no importance. Trials showed that the accuracy of the SMLE was scarcely inferior to the long Lee-Enfield, but the bench-mark had become the best sporting guns!
Goaded by its critics, but perhaps with a doubter or two within its own ranks, the War Office began trials with Mauser-type rifles. These included a hybrid 'Mauser-Springfield,' and an odd, inclined bolt design submitted by George Norman of BSA. Most were chambered for more powerful cartridges than even the MkVIII .303 (for example, the .276 Eley sporting round), and it was acknowledged that these were too robust for the Lee action.
Experimentation with .276 cartridges and adpated Mauser-type rifles continued until the P/1913 rifles was issued for field trials. The trials showed that the rifle would be acceptable once a few small changes had been made, but also that the cartridge would need appreciable development before adoption. Night-firing trials had shown that the flash was far too great and that the nitrocellulose propellant was unreliable.
The First World War began before the problems could be resolved. Unwilling to disrupt production of the established service cartridge, that was chambered bThese guns were not truly interchangeable with those of other makes, and appropriate 'E', 'R' and 'W' suffixes were added to their nomenclature. Variants distinguished with an 'F' suffix had fine adjustments sights, and those with 'T' suffixes were issued for sniping with a 2.5 x Aldis telescope sight. An improved Mk I* rifle appeared in 1917, with changes in the action.
Accelerating production of the SMLE persuaded the British to terminate the P/1914 contracts in 1916, and the US authorities subsequently used the facilities to make the outwardly identical M1917 Enfield until the end of the First World War. The M1917 lacked the long-range sights fitted to the P1914, but this could only be seen from the left side.
The P/1914 could be identified by its distinctive shape, with a prominent swell in the underside of the stock to accommodate the magazine; the back sight was mounted within protective wings on top of the receiver; and the bolt handle was cranked rearward. A single longitudinal flute in the fore-end distinguished it from the experimental .276 P/1913, which had four small diagonal finger grips.
The Mauser-like action, which cocked as the bolt closed, was simple and much stronger than the Lee. But no one who had regularly fired both guns, excepting for snipers, would readily exchange the wonderfully smooth bolt stroke of the Lee-Enfield for the theoretical strength of the P/1914.
Thousands of guns had survived in store (renamed 'Rifles, No. 3' in 1926) were refurbished for service in the Second World War, though customarily restricted to home-defense units such as the LDV and their successor, the Home Guard. The served alongside .30 M1917 Enfields supplied under the Lend-Lease scheme, which caused several serious ammunition related accidents, until the American rifles gained broad red stripes around their butts and red markings on the chamber to differentiate them from the P/1914." - Walter

"It was a secondary issue arm during WWI and was simpler to mass produce than the SMLE." - Schwing

References:
Ferris, C.S. UNITED STATES RIFLE MODEL 0F 1917. Scott Duff Publications. Export, Pa. 2004.
Schwing, Ned. STANDARD CATALOG OF MILITARY FIREARMS. Krause Publications. Iola, Wi. 2001.
Walter, John. MILITARY RIFLES OF TWO WORLD WARS. Stackpole Books. Mechanicsburg, Pa. 2003.