This video examines the Electrolux Charlton, a rare semiautomatic rifle developed from the bolt-action Charlton automatic rifle. The Charlton itself was a conversion of Lee rifles into a light machine gun. The Electrolux variant, built by the appliance company, featured a more refined design, a shorter gas system, and was intended as a shoulder-fired rifle rather than an LMG. It used standard No1 MkIII rifles as its base. The project was canceled in 1944, with only a few prototypes produced, including the example shown from the British Royal Armouries collection. The video details the differences from the original Charlton and the Electrolux version's mechanics.
This video delves into the history and development of Great Britain's first magazine rifle, the Lee Metford MkI. It details the transition from plans for a single-shot Martini rifle chambered in .402 caliber to the adoption of a magazine rifle due to the advent of smokeless powder. The video highlights the development of the .303 British cartridge and how it influenced rifle design, ultimately leading to the selection of a Lee rifle with a box magazine. It discusses the 1888 field trials, the formal adoption in 1889, and the rifle's retroactive renaming. The presenter showcases a rare example with an intact manual safety and Lewes pattern sights, noting these features were often removed or replaced in later service models.
This video showcases a Boer Lee-Speed Rifle, a rare surviving firearm from the Jameson Raid of December 1895. The description details the historical context of the raid, its failure, and the significant arms captured by the Boers, including artillery, Maxim machine guns, and approximately 500 Lee rifles. The featured rifle, belonging to a Boer burgher who carved his name into the stock, is highlighted as one of only two known surviving examples from this event. It's presented as a valuable historical artifact and a time capsule of the Lee-Metford MkI pattern, noting the difficulty of finding these early Lee rifles in their original configuration.
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