I've seen a few posters talking about the .303 Lee Enfields that Indian army squads had.

[Swede]

The country is poor,there are one billion citizens. Anyhoo,some have said those poor guys etc. If I was in a platoon of 15-20 soldiers and we had Lee Enfields,it is not that horrible a situation. Even in an urban enviroment you should be able to take out these guys with AKs running around.

[physioex]

1. True Enough...

Actually the Indian Police had the same model as the British. They would patrol unarmed in the "good old days". I am not sure how the world has changed in England and India.

Edit: I think handguns would be more practical. It's simply too much to carry a huge rifle and patrol the streets on a shift.

[Swede]

4. These guys were sent into the mess with what they had.

But having a bolt action rifle does not mean these guys where cannon fodder.

[physioex]

6. I think....

Those were the lowest level street police you saw, the special forces probably have better weapons.

[Swede]

7. I realise that. A lot of them had the regular army .308 FN Nato semi.

But a lot of them had the .303. I've saw some of them had HK 9mm submachine gun. There where some that had the AK etc.

The guys with the .303s may have been like the national guard or reserves,perhaps.

[NOW tense]

2. Agreed

I had one growing up it was impressively accurate. I was able to hit a fence post at around 100 yards.

[Swede]

3. Plus your with a platoon of guys,10 shot clips, can be changed in seconds.

You can set up some pretty good fire power with just a platoon.

[Botany]

5. It only takes one bullet ... the .303 is on of the best guns ever

if you forget about what it is supposed to do i.e. kill people

[Swede]

8. I've knocked down a few deer with a .303,back in the day.

It was the standard for the Commonwealth for decades.

[Aventurier]

9. Indian SMLE

Actually a friend of mine has an Enfield imported from India, it is chambered for .308/7.62Nato but otherwise identical to the standard .303 SMLE Mark 4. An importer bought a big wooden case of them, they were all new, packed in Cosmoline, and it came out to about $20 per rifle. It was very accurate. I own both the standard .303 British rifle and the American-Enfield, the 1917 Eddystone in .30-06. Any of them are hellaciously dangerous and I would not feel poorly armed carrying one. .303 loads could shoot through hard cover a lot better than the less powerful assault-class rifles. The recoil is pretty brutal. The rifle needs no maintenance, costs less than $100 in like-new condition (I got mine at Fleet Farm), and it's easy to get ammo for it anywhere it the world. I fail to see any problem with issuing the SMLE to police, beyond the fact that they are heavy to carry around. They certainly outclass everything that the American police routinely carry - but the massive danger of overpenetration means any weapon as powerful as the SMLE would never be carried in the US except by SWAT specialists, and SWAT specialists can afford similar but more modern rifles with integrated optics.

[scrinmaster]

10. Indiah Ishapore Enfields are in .308, not .303.

[appal_jack]

11. Here is one thread where such discussion took place:

Here is one thread where such discussion of the various types of SMLE's employed by Indian security forces took place:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4541996

As I note there, the newer 7.62 Nato Ishapore Enfield 2A is probably being fielded (in some other thread, I saw an aluminum buttstock, which indicates these new models), but at least some of the photos depict the older .303 Enfields, which can be discerned by the steeper angle in the magazine.

Tandalayo Scheisskopf and others note there that the ammo for the .303 Enfields may be unreliable due to age. But your points about them being accurate rifles that shoot a powerful round and can be fired quickly are all accurate.

-app

[old mark]

12. The .303 British military cartridge is one of the best ever designed. It is still used by Canadian

special units, and by millions of hunters around the world.
The bolt action Enfield rifles that shoot the NATO cartridge are very accurate and fine longer range weapons, with aboute 50% more power than the old 30 caliber AK round.
I have one of the Indian Enfield 2A's right here, made in 1965, and it is a pleasure to shoot.
India used the bolt action rifles as main battle rifles till the late 1960's war with China, when they switched to the FAL/L1A1 semi auto rifle that also uses the .308/7.62 NATO round, and seems to still be in use today from what I have seen on TV recently.

I have one of these, too, and it is not quite as accurate as the Enfield, but holds 20 rounds fired one at a time with each trigger pull.
They also are first rate longer range weapons.

mark