Design of a [weapons] system tells you a huge amount about the culture of the society that produces them
In case of the German Mauser rifle. This was a superbly engineered, but a kid reflecting German engineering prowess
And a meter and a half long with the bayonet [only] [and] a reminder these rifles were also to be used in close combat
We've descended from hunting rifle. It was extremely accurate at very long ranges
It's got a longer barrel than some of the other rifles at the time which is what gave it that accuracy in that range
It's made of walnut which is good solid hardwood weighs just over four kilos
Right now I try and fire a few rounds off from their famous gewehr act and magic
oh
[certainly] got a like it normal expecting and it feels like an extremely chunky solid reliable weapon
the British round with this
Short Magazine Lee-enfield the number one Mark 3 was issued to British infantryman in 1907 variants of this rifle
Continued to be used
Way up into the late 20th century in fact there are still police forces around the world that use this to the present day
It's about the same weight as the german rifle, but it's differently distributed
It's a shorter weapon already it feels far, More Wieldy
But really the key difference is in this compartment here first of all
You can fit 10 rounds in this magazine
Not 5 like the German gun so you can shoot double the number of bullets before you have to reload and secondly this
Bolt-Action here is very different
It's much smoother much easier to operate right let's give [it] a go
It's so noticeable
It's this the bolt action is so much smoother [and] the effort you've got to put into it is so much less
It's just a far shorter
Range that you've got to move the bolt through compared to the German mauser and when you are here ready to fight your fingers
Right here on the Trigger
It's a small difference, but I think it's a really important one also feels like a far lighter weapon almost it's shorter
It's easier to use it's much quicker to fire in fact the British army in
1914 went to war knowing that all of the infantryman could fire
15 aimed shot every minute in fact one rifle instructor was able to fire off
38 aimed rounds in one minute
that's a phenomenal rate of fire the german army when they met the British army in the second half of
1914 in the Fields of France and belgium we're often convinced they were attacking troops armed with machine guns
But in fact what they were doing was marching into the concentrated rifle fire of British infantry armed with the Lee-enfield
It's got here have a look at the target see I did well
Not brilliant on expert Marksman but not bad for inexperienced
[Riflemen] few shots on the Target, they're not great spacing but 7,500 meters. [just] goes to show how good those rifles
Are you give to someone pretty inexperienced like me these rifles are capable of delivering the bullets [onto] the Target as required?
But ultimately the big difference between the two guns in world war one wasn't
Accuracy it was rapidity which rifle could fire the most rounds and if you want to put it to the test
You don't want me you need a professional Marksman like Andy
Firing as many bullets as possible under the same
Conditions the lee-enfield nearly always comes out on top with its smoother loading system and ten round magazine
This was the world's most effective rifle
Main point is that both those rifles were?
Brutally efficient the job they were designed to do the technological revolution of firepower revolution had taken place before the [first] [world] [war] meant that
Individuals could shoot far more accurately far further away
And that's why the area between the two armies is no-man's land became a total killing Zone
This was like nothing else in the history of Warfare
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