Nearly all infantryman in the First World War
used bolt action rifles. This type of rifle had been invented by a
Scottish immigrant to the United States, James Paris Lee. The bolt is
the device that closes the breech of the barrel. The bolt-action rifle
had a metal box, into which cartridges were placed on top of a spring.
As the bolt was opened, the spring forced the cartridges up against a
stop; the bolt pushed the top cartridge into the chamber as it closed.
After firing, the opening of the bolt extracted the empty cartridge
case, and the return stroke loaded a fresh round.
Cartridges
were injected into the magazine by means of a clip. They consisted of
open-ended slides or cases within which a number of cartridges, 3, 5 or
6 were gripped by the spring metal of the case or a spring incorporated
in the base.
The Lee-Enfield
was the main rifle used by the British
Army during the First World War.
Other popular bolt action rifles included the Mauser
Gewehr (Germany), Lebel
(France), Mannlicher-Carcano
(Italy), Springfield
(United States), Moisin-Nagant (Russia), Mannlicher M95 (Austria) and
Arisaka (Japan).
| Bolt action
rifle mechanism |
Available from Amazon Books
(order below)
