Lee Enfield Butt Lengths.

[Slinger]

I was examining a Lee Enfield rifle my brother in law got from his dad. The buttstock seemed very short to me, as the matter of fact if I shouldered the rifle and cycled the bolt it would hit me in the face. A little reserch revelec that there were 4 different stock lengths made for the Enfields.

What I'm wondering is was each soldier issued a rifle with a butt to fit him or were the rifles with the shorter butts sent to areas of the British Empire that had soldiers that were of shorter stature, ie. India.

Any British rifle experts out there who might weigh in on the subject?

 

[DougW]

The stocks were Bantam, Short, Standard, and Long. Basically, most were standard or short, with the bantam being used in the far east with the Gurka's (sp big time), and the long was for us big boys (I have 4 I think). The armor's had the bantam's for English troops use if necessary. They tried to fit the rifle to the shooter, where the US had a "1 size fits all" policy.

This is how they are marked. All of these are "L" long stocks. On the left is a #5mk1 8/45 Fazakerley all matching, and 2 #4mk1's.



I have found out that I have a pristine long butt stock that is on my beater/shooter 46 BSA #5mk1.