The additional small quantity purchases by the Navy as well as all sporting models fall into the 1000015000 serial range, purchased between the two major contracts.The changes are still being propagated, so you may run into some issues.Please report as necessary and we will work through these issues.The Navys official designation for the Lee Straight-Pull rifle was the Lee Rifle, Model of 1895, caliber 6-mm.
It fired a 6mm (0.236-in. The 6mm U.S.N. or Lee Navy Cartridge was also used in the navy version of the Colt-Browning Model 1895 machinegun. Naval authorities decided that the new cartridge should be adaptable to both rifles and machine guns. As the military forces began adopting smaller and smaller caliber rifles with higher velocity cartridges, U.S. On August 1, 1894 a naval test board was convened at the Naval Torpedo Station in Newport, Rhode Island to test submitted magazine rifles in the new 6mm Navy government chambering. Per the terms of the Notice to Inventors, the new government-designed 6mm U.S.N aka Ball Cartridge, 6mm was the only cartridge permitted for rifles tested before the Naval Small Arms Board. Both the ammunition and rifle barrels were supplied by the government; the barrels, made of 4.5 per cent nickel steel, used Lee-Metford-pattern rifling with a rifling twist of one turn in 6.5 inches, and were supplied unchambered with the receiver thread uncut. The rifle action was required to withstand the firing of five overpressure (proof) cartridges with a chamber pressure of 60,000 psi. In a second set of trials the Model 189394 Luger 6-mm Rifle and the Durst rifle were also considered, along with a Lee turning-bolt design. The Durst prototype fractured the receiver in firing and was withdrawn from the test, while the Luger Rifle performed excellently. Lugers submission had only one major disadvantage: it failed to meet government specifications, having been chambered in a non-standard rimless 6mm cartridge. The Lee turning bolt design was considered to be a good one, but marred by its magazine system, which the Small Arms Board found to be problematic. The Board thought so highly of the Luger Rifle that it recommended purchase of either a prototype or an option to purchase the rights to manufacture. Apparently this never came to pass, as Luger not only declined to submit its design in the Navys government 6mm chambering, but withdrew from the third round of the service trials. ![]() Navy in 1895 as the Lee Rifle, Model of 1895, caliber 6-mm, aka the M1895 Lee Navy. However, deliveries of the initial shipment of 10,000 rifles were not completed until 1897, owing to delays caused by manufacturing issues, as well as contract changes imposed by the navy. The latter included a significant change in ammunition specification, which required extensive test firings followed by recalibration of the sights. Colonel-Commandant Charles Heywood of the Marine Corps reportedly refused small initial allotments of the 6mm Lee rifle to the Corps until he was given assurances that the Corps would be immediately issued at least 3,000 Lee rifles, improved target ranges, and most importantly, enough ammunition for Marine units to continue their existing marksmanship program. Despite this threat, the September 1897 report of the Marine Corps Quartermaster to the Secretary of the Navy urgently requested a minimum additional 10,000 in funding to purchase sufficient 6mm ammunition to allow Marines to conduct live fire and target practice with the Lee rifle. The report warned that, except for drill practice, enlisted Marines were entirely unfamiliar with the use of this arm, since all target practice still had to be conducted using the old single-shot Springfield and.45-70 black-powder ammunition. Navy Arms Lookup Serial Number Below 13390Rifles with a serial number below 13390 (approx.) were made prior to December 31, 1898. Additional smaller purchases were subsequently made to replace lost weapons, mostly in response to a fire at the New York Navy Yard which damaged or destroyed about 2,500 rifles; around 230 rifles were condemned as not restorable.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |