A redesign of the Lee -- Metford (adopted by the British Army in 1888), the Lee -- Enfield superseded the earlier Martini -- Henry, Martini -- Enfield, and Lee -- Metford rifles. It featured a ten - round box magazine which was loaded with the. 303 British cartridge manually from the top, either one round at a time or by means of five - round chargers. The Lee -- Enfield was the standard issue weapon to rifle companies of the British Army and other Commonwealth nations in both the First and Second World Wars (these Commonwealth nations included Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India and South Africa, among others). Although officially replaced in the UK with the L1A1 SLR in 1957, it remained in widespread British service until the early / mid-1960s and the 7.62 mm L42 sniper variant remained in service until the 1990s. As a standard - issue infantry rifle, it is still found in service in the armed forces of some Commonwealth nations, notably with the Bangladesh Police, which makes it the second longest - serving military bolt - action rifle still in official service, after the Mosin -- Nagant. The Canadian Rangers unit still use Enfield rifles, with plans to replace the weapons sometime in 2017 -- 2018 with the new Sako - designed Colt C - 19. Total production of all Lee -- Enfields is estimated at over 17 million rifles.
how many rounds does a lee enfield hold
ten - round