C-19 T3X.

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Canadian Rangers the far north have their new weapons. As of 2018.

Ancient and venerable but still highly effective for arctic conditions the British SMLE rifle gone. Replaced by the C-19 rifle. SMLE = Short Magazine Lee Enfield.

"Rangers C-19 - Show and Tell"

Go see the You Tube video and all thanks to You Tube:

"Members of 5th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group (5 CPRG) were issued their C-19 rifles last week, in Clarenville, Newfoundland and Labrador. This video shows the classroom training on the rifle, to ensure that proper use, handling and safety are maintained." See the wiki entry the Rangers.

"ranger: noun - A wanderer; a rover. A member of an armed troop employed in patrolling a specific region."

Regarding the Canadian Rangers:

* Their mission: "They regularly conduct surveillance, sovereignty patrols (SOVPATS), and inspections of the North Warning System. They also act as guides, scouts, and subject-matter experts in such disciplines as wilderness survival"

* Canadian active-duty military units operating the arctic far north in danger from attack by the great white bear of the north, the polar bear. Canadian rangers acting in the role of predator control saviors to rescue, thwarting off attack by the beast.

* C-19 rifle not chambered for the .303 SMLE round. C-19 also the non-detachable magazine holding ten rounds. Same as the SMLE.

* Weapon does include some useful and well thought out modifications and features that make it ideal for arctic conditions.

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Rangers SMLE.

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Canadian Rangers that quasi-military unit their mission sovereignty patrols in the far north. SOVPATS.

See these You Tube videos regarding the Canadian Rangers:

1. "Canadian Rangers Participating in Operation Nunalivut 08. Part 1 of 3."

2. "Canadian Rangers Participating in Operation Nunalivut 08. Part 2 of 3."

3. "Canadian Rangers Participating in Operation Nunalivut 08. Part 3 of 3."

4. "What Canadian Rangers need in a new rifle"

That symbol of the Canadian Rangers to include as the devoted reader to the blog will instantly realize the British Small Magazine Lee-Enfield [SMLE] rifle, caliber .303. From that period BEFORE the Great War but the ideal weapon for the far north.

SMLE to be replace with a newer weapon, bolt-action, carbine barrel, NATO 7.62 round ten round magazine, Picatinny rail for optical or open sights, wooden and not plastic stock.

coolbert.

.303 SMLE.

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From a prior blog entry:

"The SMLE first issued over one hundred years ago
now but still going strong. As currently used by
the Canadian Rangers of the far arctic north,
the Maoist rebels in Nepal and perhaps at this
very moment the forest guerrillas of India?"

NOT perhaps! IS!

More on the Indian Maoists, the forest guerrillas, a most troublesome and very active insurgency now infesting various regions of India. Maoists well organized, their fighting units apparently having a standard uniform, battle kit, and armed to a large extent with the British old-fashioned but very potent SMLE rifle. Presumably captured or stolen weapons, ammo also captured or stolen, found in abundance throughout the Indian sub-continent?

See for yourself. Thanks in all cases to the web site devoted to the Maoist guerrillas, WORLDNEWS Indian Maoists. Everything you wanted to know about the insurgents, from soup to nuts as the saying goes.










Notice in the one photo the number of women. Same as with the Maoists of Nepal. The incorporation of women in numbers into the combat units being accepted as normal! It can be suggested that these are staged photos, posed for the camera as a propaganda tool. I fear that is not the case. These Maoists have been around for over forty years now and are well organized, the 2nd stage of the three-part Maoist-style insurrection having been attained. Roving guerrilla bands striking at will, wreaking havoc, creating disorder on a large scale, slowly but surely exercising quasi- governmental dominion over a wider area!

A Maoist-style rebellion, greatly aided and abetted in large measure to a weapon the basic design of which is from over one hundred years ago! Who would have thought it? That SMLE, whether in the hands of a man or a woman, when you are hit by that .303 caliber round, it does not matter!

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Venerable.

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"we want to pause to share a fresh look at some of the Taliban’s weapons,

based on the battalion’s recent captures from slain Taliban fighters

or caches, as a means to understanding more fully how the Taliban fights."

Well, you can understand that this catches my attention right away. The Taliban, fighting against U.S./NATO forces in Afghan, using a melange of weaponry, to include the British SMLE rifle. Knock-off copies of the original - - but still very potent.

Captured weaponry, the assorted types as you would find among an insurgent force, on display for reporters, including those of the New York Times.

"Taliban Gun Lockers: The Rifles of Rural Ghazni Province"

"Within the assortment, two of these rifles were particularly eye-catching: a pair of apparent Short Magazine Lee Enfields, known among those who follow firearms evolution as S.M.L.E.’s, that were captured"

"We’ve seen aged Lee-Enfields in Afghan service in the past . . . and their use by a better breed of Taliban marksmen in Helmand Province . . . the officially obsolete arms of old empires still find their way to war, and can be put to effective local use by insurgent cells."

The bolt-action, ten-round rifle [SMLE] that served the British Empire so well for so long, a marked contrast to the modern assault rifle.

Almost exclusively, the Taliban and those Afghan guerrillas before them during the communist occupation, primarily used captured Soviet type weaponry, the AK, The PKM, the RPK and the RPD! Taliban under certain circumstances preferring the OLD BUT STILL VERY EFFECTIVE SMLE!

The SMLE first issued over one hundred years ago now but still going strong. As currently used by the Canadian Rangers of the far arctic north, the Maoist rebels in Nepal and perhaps at this very moment the forest guerrillas of India?

Some times the old ways are the best ways - - most assuredly so if the old weapons are used too!

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SMLE. - - Imjin.

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"'God and the soldier we adore, In time of danger, not before.'"

"the most testing of all hazards on the battlefield - - attack by overwhelming numbers of the enemy."

From the graphic novel - - 303 - - by Garth Ennis:

"It was a short magazine Lee-Enfield [SMLE], three-oh-three calibre, and its worn brass butt plate and the scars and scratches on its woodwork spoke volumes of the century gone by."

From the introductory page of "303", the SMLE rifle, in the hands of the English infantryman in both World Wars and beyond! A bolt-action rifle of great effectiveness, seeing action in battles such as:

* Mons.
* Somme.
* Alam Halfa.
* Dunkirk.
* Normandy.

Here too, is another little-known episode from history where the SMLE, in the hands of TRAINED, SKILLED and DISCIPLINED riflemen, never fails to impress:

Imjin River. Korea, 1951. British combat brigade, fighting with other United Nations forces. Most specifically, the 1st Battalion of the Gloucestershire regiment. About six hundred Englishmen versus a Chinese army [63rd Army] of 30,000 troops.

English troops, wielding the SMLE with great effectiveness, engaging in a three-day combat action of the most desperate type, faced with an adversary that is able to employ prodigious and overwhelming numbers. “Prodigious and overwhelming numbers” committed to battle by the Chinese commander [Peng] in a profligate manner!!

English troops, still retaining a high degree of marksmanship that would have made Musketry Instructor Sergeant Snoxall proud.

"the standard of musketry had not been lowered since [the First World War]. To drop ten targets at 400 yards in less than a minute was regarded as good but by no means exceptional."

ONLY thirty-nine Britishers emerging unscathed after three days of combat, but in the process rendering the Chinese 63rd Army ineffective as a fighting force.

"no accurate figures exist for its losses, but most estimates suggest that it sustained about 11,000 casualties, approximately 40 percent of its combat strength."

coolbert.

.303

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Here from the online edition of the British tabloid "DailyMail"!

Almost one hundred years after the fact, the secret, the real story behind the sinking of the Lusitania has been revealed?

The Lusitania was carrying war munitions and was a legitimate target of war. Sank with justification by a German U-boat. NOT an atrocity as alleged, but a legal and lawful act of war.

Allegations that the Lusitania was carrying munitions have been made ever since the sinking of the ship in 1916. This find, however, seems to answer the question once and for all?

"Secret of the Lusitania: Arms find challenges Allied claims it was solely a passenger ship"

"But now divers have revealed a dark secret about the cargo carried by the Lusitania on its final journey in May 1915."

"Munitions they found in the hold suggest that the Germans had been right all along in claiming the ship was carrying war materials and was a legitimate military target."

"The diving team estimates that around four million rounds of U.S.-manufactured Remington .303 bullets lie in the Lusitania's hold at a depth of 300ft."

Ammunition specifically for the British SMLE rifle.

"bullets that were expressly manufactured to kill Germans in World War I - bullets that British officials in Whitehall, and American officials in Washington, have long denied were aboard the Lusitania."

"The discovery may help explain why the 787ft Lusitania sank within 18 minutes of a single German torpedo slamming into its hull."

"Some of the 764 survivors reported a second explosion which might have been munitions going off."

Some specific comments here:

* Supposedly, in the White House, is a safe, the instructions to the combination saying: "to be opened ONLY by the President of the United States"! This sounds so very dramatic, doesn't it! That safe purportedly contains documents that reveal the TRUE AND REAL past. Events as they actually unfolded and NOT the varnished history book type of stuff. Among those items to be found within the White house safe is THE ORIGINAL AND TRUE SHIPPING MANIFEST OF THE LUSITANIA!! ONLY the President knows for sure.

* I would also ask the question - - DID THE GERMAN COMMANDER OF THAT U-BOAT FIRING THE TORPEDO KNOW WITH CERTAINTY THAT THE LUSITANIA WAS CARRYING THE WAR MUNITIONS AND WAS A LEGITIMATE TARGET OF WAR? AND IF HE DID KNOW, HOW DID HE KNOW?

* I am skeptical that the .303 SMLE ammunition would have caused secondary explosions that hastened the demise of the Lusitania. Perhaps I am wrong about this, but normally rifle cartridges, even in a mass, would NOT explode with the same force as a conventional high power explosive [TNT, gun cotton, black power, RDX, etc.]!

* If some of that ammo is recovered, it might be possible to trace the munitions to the origin, a factory somewhere in the U.S., I presume? Meticulous records are kept of such "stuff"! This might be worth a go for researchers.

coolbert.

SMLE - - Assam

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You know this headline catches my attention right away:

"Assam combating terror with World War I firearms"

"While 10 terrorists held Mumbai to ransom for more than 60 hours last week, another band of militants in Assam wreaked havoc on Oct 30, triggering serial explosions killing 95 people and wounding 300."

Simultaneously, while the terrorist attacks in Mumbai were occurring, terrorists in another part of India were carrying out further atrocity, on a scale at least as great as what happened in Mumbai. Totally disconnected from the Mumbai attacks [??], but still horrific nonetheless.

Incidents of this nature are endemic to India? Have been for the last sixty years. India nonetheless prospers and modernizes!

THE POLIICE IN ASSAM, HOWEVER, ARE HARD-PRESSED TO COMBAT THE REBELS? ARE USING THE SMLE RIFLE. Small-Magazine-Lee-Enfield [SMLE]. A favorite topic of mine. A rifle, first developed by the English around 1900, and still in use around the world.

"This is a pathetic situation where terrorists use the most advanced weapons, while our police force continues to fight with .303 rifles similar to the Lee Enfield weapons used by the British troops during World War I"



NO, not similar to. The same as?

SMLE still in use by the Indian police, Maoist guerrillas in Nepal, Canadian Rangers of the far north.

A weapon no longer up to the task? Deadly, but when up against a modern assault rifle, no longer adequate.

coolbert.

303

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Thanks here in all cases to Avatar Press and Garth Ennis.

Came across this serendipitously. Great stuff. Graphic art of the most superlative type. A total military dimension to it. Garth Ennis knows his military history, and includes with totality in all his graphic art works.

This particular graphic art is entitled, "303". "303" as in the caliber of the British SMLE rifle. The eternal British bolt-action still in use!!

In this particular instance, carried by a Soviet Spetsnaz officer in Afghanistan.



"An introduction to 303 by Garth Ennis"

"This is the strangest damn thing I've written in a long, long time."

"It's the story of a rifle, first and foremost, a .303 calibre Lee Enfield bolt-action rifle, almost a hundred years old but none the worst for it. This was the weapon that took the British army through two world wars and survived in its service until long after the second; it still shows up today from time to time, carried by tribesmen and guerrilla fighters in some of the world's most brutal conflicts. The Lee Enfield is one of the great success stories of killing technology"

[AND STILL IN USE TODAY BY THE UNITS OF THE CANADIAN RANGERS, PATROLLING THE FAR NORTH!!]

And from the text of the graphic novel:

"It was a short magazine Lee-Enfiled, three-oh-three calibre, and its worn brass butt plate and the scars and scratches on its woodwork spoke volumes of the century gone by."

"They spoke of Mons, nineteen-fourteen"

"They spoke of Tommies on the beach at Dunkirk."

"Finally, they spoke of Afghanistan, the land that swallow armies, of ancient rifles in the hands of men as hard as mountains."

"Anachronisms next of things of tin and plastic."

See further previous entries of mine regarding the SMLE.

http://militarythoughts.blogspot.com/2007/10/this-is-coolbert-museum-iii.html

http://militarythoughts.blogspot.com/2007/10/this-is-coolbert-dont-let-boogeyman-get_6506.html

http://militarythoughts.blogspot.com/2007/10/this-is-coolbert-sergeant-instructor.html

http://militarythoughts.blogspot.com/2007/10/this-is-coolbert-corner-shot-ii.html

The SMLE is a favorite of mine. As has been stated, an anachronism that has been around for a long time. And in the hands of a TRAINED SHOOTIST, VERY DEADLY, AND ALWAYS WILL BE!!

And thanks again to Garth for some great stuff. The man is good. Combines artistic talent with story telling with a manner that I envy!!

coolbert.