Revolver Enfield No. 2 Mark 1

Revolver Enfield No. 2 Mark 1
general information
Civil name:	Enfield No 2 Mk I.
Country of operation:	Great Britain
Developer / Manufacturer:	Royal Small Arms Factory
Development year:	1928
Manufacturer country:	Great Britain
Production time:	1932 to 1957
Model variants:	MK I / MKI * / MKI **
Weapon Category:	revolver
Furnishing
Overall length:	268 mm
Total height:	142 mm
Weight: (unloaded)	0.78 kg
Sight length :	143 mm
Barrel length :	127 mm
Technical specifications
Caliber :	.380 British
Possible magazine fillings :	6 cartridges
Ammunition supply :	drum
Cadence :	20 - 30 rounds / min
Number of trains :	7th
Twist :	right
Lists on the subject

The Enfield No. 2 Mark 1 was the standard handgun used by the British armed forces during World War II .

history

As early as the First World War, the leadership of the British armed forces relied on revolvers as handguns for the troops, which were structurally equipped with the Webley revolver . Its handling with its powerful ammunition in .455 Webley caliber was problematic for the average soldier. Therefore, in the 1920s, it was decided to develop a smaller caliber handgun. The British military, however, again insisted on a revolver, although by that time modern semi-automatic pistols had already established themselves in many armies. The .380 British cartridge was developed for the new model , which was strongly based on the Smith & Wesson .38 S&W cartridge .

technology

The company Webley & Scott, which had already manufactured the Webley revolver , also took part in the tender for the new service weapon. However, it did not win: the contract went to the state-owned Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield , which presented a very similar design. Webley then filed a patent infringement lawsuit and won. The parallels in the structure were obvious. The Enfield revolver used the same break-open technique in which the frame could be opened. The empty shells were so easy to remove; the drum could be refilled quickly. The locking mechanism for the Webley's folding mechanism was also found in the Enfield. A shot can only be fired when the frame is completely closed.

Cons and versions

The Enfield revolver had a heavy trigger pull even when the hammer was cocked by hand. Together with the rather weak ammunition, the shooting results were not very good. Instead, accidents often resulted in the gun getting caught and unintentional shots fired. As a consequence, the model No. 2 Mark 1 *, which no longer had a cockspur and only offered a double-action trigger. This made the trigger even harder. Version No. 2 Mark 1 ** there was also no need to secure the hammer. A total of around 300,000 copies of all versions were produced. The last models were not taken out of service until around 1963, when the equipment with FN Browning HP pistols (licensed in Great Britain as the L9A1 model ) was completed.

Web links

Commons : Enfield No.2  - album with pictures, videos and audio files