[ Enfield L8(T) Sniper ]
Hi guys, thanks for tuning in to another video on ForgottenWeapons.com.
I'm Ian McCollum, and today we're taking a look
at a British trials sniper rifle.
This is an L8(T). It is essentially a Number 4 Enfield converted to .308,
and fitted with a Number 32 telescopic sight.
This is in effect a Number 4 Mark I(T) sniper converted to 7.62 NATO.
Now this was an outgrowth of the L8 rifle program.
I already did a video on the standard L8 rifle,
so if you're not familiar with that, definitely check that other video out.
The idea was basically to convert existing .303 Number 4 Enfields to 7.62 NATO
so they could be issued to, say, the Territorial troops or kept in reserves.
Ultimately the plan didn't really work out
because by the time things really got going there wasn't much need for it any more.
It took almost 10 years for the program to ... get to this stage at least.
So they did do a really good job converting the box magazines to run 7.62 NATO,
and that would be helpful for what this eventually turned into.
With this particular rifle what we have is one of a batch of six rifles
that were in .303 calibre in 1964,
and they were ... Number 4(T) sniper rifles test fired for accuracy with their iron sights,
then converted to 7.62 NATO, fitted with Number 32 scopes, and re-tested again
to get an idea of what the accuracy would be like on one of these L8(T)s.
So let me show you the details up close,
and then we'll talk about how that accuracy testing actually went.
If you saw my previous video on the L8 conversion, then there's not a whole lot really to show you here.
If you didn't, ... the short version is they had to replace the magazine,
and this required a substantial number of modifications.
So because the 7.62 NATO cartridge is rimless and it's shorter than the .303,
there was a new follower that had to be made.
They actually moved the ejector to the rear lip of the magazine
rather than try and fit a new ejector in the rifle.
It's got a more square profile than the .303 just because, since it's rimless,
the rounds stack straighter rather than coming in staggered like the rimmed .303 rounds.
So quite a lot of development here.
They then of course modified the bolt head, they put in a new barrel, obviously a 7.62 calibre barrel.
This was not formally designated an L8(T),
although that was the basic program that this test was involved in,
this was still a Number 4 Mark I(T) ...
with its original markings on the receiver socket here.
M47C code designation, it's a 1945 rifle, and the serial number is V37975.
And that serial number is actually recorded.
There's a book about British sniper rifles,
a little short pamphlet, written by Peter Laidler and Ian Skennerton,
and it calls out the specific rifles that were in this accuracy trial, and this is one of them.
The scope that was fitted is a Number 32 Mark III scope.
These were originally designed for the Bren gun in fact.
They were never actually used on the Bren gun.
And there was never actually any trial
with the original Number 4(T) with any scope other than this one.
It was kind of accepted and just taken for granted that that's the scope they would use.
So if you're interested in more detail about the original .303 calibre snipers,
I have a video on those, so you should check that one out.
The idea here seems really quite sound, like what could go wrong?
Well, what could go wrong was accuracy.
The problem was with 7.62 NATO you had a lighter, faster bullet
with different harmonics that interacted differently with the stock and the barrel bands,
and this ain't free floated.
And while they had been able to get pretty good accuracy out of the .303 version,
they could not ... improve on it with 7.62.
They had a hard time actually matching the accuracy of the .303 rifles.
And the whole time the goal was to get something substantially better,
and this rifle was just unable to do it.
As it turned out these rifles in this configuration (with the scopes, in 7.62, with a full stock),
were able to get about 2.5 minute of angle as a general rule.
Some were a little better, some were actually a lot worse, potentially.
But these rifles, with scopes, in the testing
just barely shot better than their .303 counterparts with iron sights.
Now the sighting systems don't fundamentally make the rifle more or less accurate,
but you would certainly think it would be easier to get a good group
at longer range with the optic than with iron sights, and they did, but just barely.
Ultimately, these would have been suitable as a World War Two era designated marksman's rifle.
They were absolutely not suitable for a Cold War era
true sniper rifle, and that's what the British wanted.
Now ultimately they would get that with the L42A1.
... While the British government is having dismal results testing these,
there are civilian shooters over on the British NRA Bisley ranges
competing with what seems to be the same thing, they're using 7.62 converted Number 4 rifles.
But they're doing it with heavy barrels, and they're free floating the barrels
by getting rid of all this extra furniture at the front.
And the British government, five years after this, so this testing was done in '64 and '65,
it wouldn't be until about 1970 that they would come back with the L42 (originally XL42) program,
and say, "What if we cut off the furniture and free float it? ... Would that work?" And that did work.
So I also have a video on the L42A1,
so if you'd like to see ... what this led to, definitely check that video out.
In the meantime, hopefully you enjoyed this one.
This is one of six rifles that were used in that original British accuracy test.
So very cool to get a chance to look at one of them, still here and intact.
Thanks for watching.