British Rifles of WW1 I THE GREAT WAR Special feat. C&Rsenal

Check out Othais' episode about the Ross Rifle: • History of WWI Primer ...
Othais introduces us to the famous British standard rifles of WW1 including the Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE), the Long Enfield and the controversial Ross Rifle.
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» WHAT ARE YOUR SOURCES?
Videos: British Pathé
Pictures: Mostly Picture Alliance
Background Map: d-maps.com/carte.php?num_car=6...
Literature (excerpt):
Gilbert, Martin. The First World War. A Complete History, Holt Paperbacks, 2004.
Hart, Peter. The Great War. A Combat History of the First World War, Oxford University Press, 2013.
Hart, Peter. The Great War. 1914-1918, Profile Books, 2013.
Stone, Norman. World War One. A Short History, Penguin, 2008.
Keegan, John. The First World War, Vintage, 2000.
Hastings, Max. Catastrophe 1914. Europe Goes To War, Knopf, 2013.
Hirschfeld, Gerhard. Enzyklopädie Erster Weltkrieg, Schöningh Paderborn, 2004
Michalka, Wolfgang. Der Erste Weltkrieg. Wirkung, Wahrnehmung, Analyse, Seehamer Verlag GmbH, 2000
Leonhard, Jörn. Die Büchse der Pandora: Geschichte des Ersten Weltkrieges, C.H. Beck, 2014
If you want to buy some of the books we use or recommend during our show, check out our Amazon Store: bit.ly/AmazonTGW
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» WHAT IS “THE GREAT WAR” PROJECT?
THE GREAT WAR covers the events exactly 100 years ago: The story of World War I in realtime. Featuring: The unique archive material of British Pathé. Indy Neidell takes you on a journey into the past to show you what really happened and how it all could spiral into more than four years of dire war. Subscribe to our channel and don’t miss our new episodes every Thursday.
» WHO IS REPLYING TO MY COMMENTS? AND WHO IS BEHIND THIS PROJECT?
Most of the comments are written by our social media manager Florian. He is posting links, facts and backstage material on our social media channels. But from time to time, Indy reads and answers comments with his personal account, too.
The Team responsible for THE GREAT WAR is even bigger:
- CREDITS -
Presented by : Indiana Neidell
Written by: Indiana Neidell
Director: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
Director of Photography: Toni Steller
Sound: Toni Steller
Mixing, Mastering & Sound Design: www.above-zero.com
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A Mediakraft Networks Original Channel
Based on a concept by Spartacus Olsson
Author: Indiana Neidell
Visual Concept: Astrid Deinhard-Olsson & David van Stephold
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Producer: Toni Steller & Florian Wittig
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Contains licenced Material by British Pathé
All rights reserved - © Mediakraft Networks GmbH, 2017

[@THENEW6]

The pure happiness and joy of the woman firing amazes me everytime

[@jackniessen]

Ikr

[@logandio2763]

S-I-M-P

[@captainrex1065]

@@logandio2763 How are they a simp?

[@TommygunNG]

Her name's Mae. And we know what you mean.

[@armorer94]

Mae likes the SMLE. Mae likes shooting probably as much or more than Othais.

[@imafgc]

lol love the random cut to Indy sipping tea, I'd love to see more stupid stuff like that, perhaps a cut to Darth Vader looking at this guy talk on a monitor or just of Indy reading a book

[@harbl99]

Random? That was an essential element, which usefully expanded upon the matter under discussion. British rifle + tea = highly disciplined, fast-firing infantry (also Union Flags on every continent).

[@lonewanderer5515]

ImaPlayThis indie reading a book ww1 guide for idiots lol

[@DylanJo123]

ImaPlayThis that shot was clearly the most important part of the video

[@ceounicom]

The Ross rifle is the Dodge Viper of guns. As soon as they fixed everything wrong with it, they stopped making them

[@iamasquidinspace]

Three things I learned while being in Canada: 1. the Canadians were probably one of our most feared enemies in the entire war. 2. Canadians are really proud of their achievements in WW1. 3. Everybody makes fun of the Ross gun - even the museums.

[@coast2coast00]

Our country was born in WWI, it was the first chance to show to the world and ourselves that we are an Independent country. Almost one in ten served in uniform in the war, in the far away lands of Ypres, Vimy and Passchendaele, a new country came onto the world stage. Red blood of war, white of peace.

[@anomalocaristheabnormalshr3248]

Lol I’m Canadian

[@chrisb7528]

Canada fought in a war?lol

[@EnigmaEnginseer]

@@chrisb7528 Indeed, several. They may not have the track record of nations like the US or the UK but they’ve seen their fair share of conflict. They have a fearsome reputation for their performance in the world wars

[@pfcsantiago8852]

Did very well at Normandy too.

[@jjc5475]

Left handed in ww1. That must have sucked..

[@garge7676]

I'd be screwed

[@wuugaa6776]

john pardon You would have been forced to use your right hand througout your school life, so at the time when you were in the trenches you would have learned to use it

[@NotAllBooksSmellNice]

john pardon Even today the British Army only teaches/uses right handed shooting. I guess if a jock demanded to shoot lefty he could, but he'd have brass teeth by the end of it.

[@thevengefulpenguin]

john pardon Beathan hit the nail on the head, the way the weapons are configured make it natural to pick up with your right hand. As a left handed person, I find it incredibly uncomfortable to hold a weapon in my left hand because I was taught how to comfortably handle a weapon right handed.

[@811brian]

It isn't purely based on dominate hand, but also based on dominate eye.

[@DoeJam13]

I remember learning about the Ross rifle in high school history. No specifics about mechanical reasons, but the book did mention soldiers stamping on the gun cause it would jam. This was over a decade ago, the Ross rifle has definitely stuck around in collective historical memory here in Canada.

[@curtibirdie3595]

DoeJam13 the gun would also seize up because of all the mud and dirt that got in it,it was not durible

[@Tunkkis]

​@@curtibirdie3595 Not just that, but also slightly different ammunition and chamber tolerances between Britain and the colonies led to issues with case obturation.

[@thexalon]

4:13 That grin on Mae's face is priceless.

[@tommcdonald1873]

Mae has these occasional issues with loading magazines see Lewis Gun video....

[@blakevafishing3574]

I've got a question for the show, what was the most terrifying myth, believed by the soldiers in the trenches of World War 1?

[@RobbyGAMEZ]

That the Canadians believed that a Canadian Lieutenant was crucified to a barn door by the Germans. While this was almost certainly a fabrication of the Allied propaganda, many Canadian soldiers (often disproportionately placed at the spearhead of offensives and overrepresented in the forward trenches) would go on to avenge this atrocity. Canadians became known for killing surrendering Germans, for killing prisoners, for continuing to perform trench raids long after most other powers and units lost the morale to sneak into enemy trenches and murder men in hand to hand combat. There are reports of Canadian commanders telling their troops before trench assaults that they would not accept prisoners. Many replacement soldiers were told the myth that the more prisoners that survived to be taken behind your lines, the lighter your rations would be. However, the stories of Canadian ruthlessness from both sides is more likely a result of how Canadian units were used in the war. As British units took losses early in the war or had their morale worn away by constant pressure both at home and at the front, the British Army started pushing fresh, healthy, well provisioned and well trained colonial units to fill critical sections on the front lines. This led to Canadians and ANZACs taking prolonged contact with the enemy and performing a disproportionate amount of offensive actions during the war. The Canadians were the first through the tunnels at Vimy Ridge, storming the German positions with bayonets. They were the first to receive the brunt of German gas attacks (for which many Canadians never forgave the Germans). The Canadians were some of the first to go over the top at the Somme. And all throughout this they were performing some of the most successful raiding actions of the war.

[@josephthomas8318]

Probably that the war would be over by Christmas

[@Dapstart]

The germans believed that if they were captured with their sawback bayonets they's be killed. There were soldiers who refused to fight/rebelled and were executed for it, all because of a rumor.

[@George_E1907]

@@Dapstart that was true British and French forces would execute German soldiers that had saw back bayonets

[@Hibernicus1968]

I still contend the Lee-Enfield was the best COMBAT rifle of the war, thanks to the speed with which it could be operated. Bloke on the Range did a nice video where he tried and tried to get a rim lock to jam the gun and couldn't make it happen. The design of the magazine is such that the cartridges naturally seat in the magazine with such a tilt as to place the rim of a cartridge well behind that of the cartridge above it, making it extremely hard to lock them up. The malfunctions you see Mae having, with cartridges popping up out of position and having to be thumbed back down come, I am certain, not from the use of a rimmed cartridge, but from worn and/or bent feed lips on these century old rifles, with their century old magazines. I had a decades-younger WWII Australian No. 1 Mk.III* that had feed lips noticeably worn on the left side of the magazine that was always letting cartridges pop out. That's a worn-out magazine issue, not a rimmed cartridge issue or inherent design flaw. Also having a non-trivial effect on your and Mae's evaluation of the rifle, I believe, is your stated policy of dropping the weapon down off the shoulder to work the action for every shot. I've seen your explanation for it in another video, and it makes sense -- these are century old guns and some owned by others, so you're being careful to work smoothly rather than quickly, and drop the rifle down so you can watch the action and observe the cartridge go into the chamber. (Though I note that Mae did leave the Ross shouldered for some reason, but not the SMLE.) That makes sense given the age and condition of these old guns, but it's important not to lose sight of the fact that this is NOT how all these guns were handled in combat. Taking the gun off the shoulder, to observe the action may be safe, but it is also depriving you of ANY ability to experience and appreciate what was THE big advantage of the Lee-Enfield design: the ability to cycle the action faster than any other rifle of the war, and do so without breaking your cheek weld and losing your sight picture. That's a very, very big advantage in a combat rifle.

[@peoplehavetherights]

Darren O'Connor Well said. The Lee-Enfield's magazine was the source of many problems. I had a similar issue with the rounds feeding from the left side due the forward bent "feed lip" not being as low, ow symmetrical, with the one on the right. It was a simple matter to take a small pair or non-serrated pliers to put it into correct position, but then I noticed the lug on the front magazine spine was too shallow to engage the small machined indentation in the receiver. This did not cause the magazine to drop out of the well, but it does lower it's position relative to the chamber. Yes, it is serial ed to the receiver, but it's a No. 4 Mk 1/2, not a WWI rifle.

[@rjohnson1690]

I have had nothing but problems with my Mk III and No 4 due to the rimmed .303 cartridges. Ten rounds are nice, but dealing with an extremely difficult to clear feed issue negates the positive aspect. The sights are mediocre, the bolt is weak, and the barrel heats up rapidly. The M1917 in .30-06 is a far better combat rifle than the overrated SMLE. If I were to go into combat during the Great War I would have preferred the M1917 M1903 or the G98 over the SMLE.

[@slump6828]

The problem is the magazine lips I had fired on my grandfather had given me and it hadn’t been fired In 40 years it was making the cartridges wired so I looked at it and sure enough mag lips were bent

[@usecodelazerbeam5903]

Too bloody long

[@williameaton9058]

Its so funny watching Brits get schooled not having even shot their own rifles for 1st hand experience.

[@stephen9869]

If I was loaded, I would pay to have / persuade guys like Othias, Indy and Ian from Forgotten Weapons come across the Atlantic to give my friends and I private lectures and a shooting weekend followed by a BBQ, and In return I could show them our medieval castles and ye olde pubs.....But alas... I'm poor and don't think my pellet gun would really impress them.

[@ErwinPommel]

Well, Indy isn't across the Atlantic. He lives in Sweden. Not that that changes anything about your unimpressive pellets...

[@Spartan412]

I took a sip of coffee was at the exact same time as Indy did... ( 4:26 )

[@joystickminiations4615]

🤣

[@Cloggieclover]

It should be tea you nonce ;)

[@KnjazNazrath]

"Smelly"? I always called it a "Smile", because that's what it makes me do when I think of it.

[@ross.venner]

Got my crossed rifles using one when I was with the school cadets, c1961. Happy days of long ago.

[@timboinozify]

It Should NOT be necessary to use the entire hand/palm to operate the bolt mechanism on Lee-Enfield actions. Not IME, and I was a small-arms instructor in the Australian Army into the late 1970s. In 1976 when I did the marksmanship and coaching course, the Infantry Centre was still using SMLEIII* T's made at Lithgow (pronounced go) with heavy barrels to select / train snipers. The number of rounds I've put through SMLE actions would number over a thousand. The LE action is the easiest and smoothest military bolt action ever made. when standing it is a teeny bit harder, but soldiers generally don't stand up to shoot, and if one does you use a tree to steady yourself.

[@neilkorchinski1006]

My second rifle was an SMLE. What a smooth action.

[@robertmilchling6425]

10:16 I was disappointed to not get a "war were declared" montage but then realized this was posted on The Great War's channel.

[@wingracer1614]

For all of you that follow this channel but not C&Rsenal, go watch the Ross rifle episode. One of the most entertaining and informative hours of video on all of the youtubes.

[@sidekickerbrohoof9584]

When Othais started talking about the Lee Enfield i paused the video, and got my Enfield out. Had to watch the video with my Lee Enfield.

[@KingdomEnfilade]

This is weirdly adorable

[@tomalexander4327]

It was really wonderful to see Indy and the Team hard at work at Stow Maries Aerodrome this weekend. It was a fun weekend despite the biblical rain on occasions. Thanks again to the Team for all the hard work they do to deliver us such excellent content.

[@henrywelsby1826]

The smle was designed with that headspace so that the rifles would still work perfectly well even if gunked up with mud

[@anthonyd2616]

Dear the Great War team, I play a lot of Verdun and sometimes when I'm playing I just can't tell the difference between my team and the enemy, so my question is how often would a solder accidentally shoot there own men. Thanks so much for all the great content and I can't tell you how much I love the show. From Anthony Australia

[@dhruv88mm]

Have been waiting for this episode for the longest time.

[@thinklikeafreeman1533]

These c&rsenal vids are awesome. Amazing levels of detail. Great work guys!

[@johnrossetti5208]

I was waiting for the Ross too. Great presentation, thank you.

[@WildBillCox13]

Yayyyy! More of the high quality collaboration that makes the Internet so much better than mindless TV! Thanks, both channels, for your decisions to combine your individual expertise into gestalt! Sea Cowboys rule! (I'm ex-Navy) Also . . . Hi Flo!

[@TheGreatWar]

+William Cox hi! Greetings from Belgium

[@SentimentalBadger]

The Great War Belgium eh?

[@Rhinee]

Great to meet you and the crew at stow maries over the weekend Indy, hope to see you again next year!

[@TheGreatWar]

+Livid Rhine it was great meeting you

[@99IronDuke]

The SMLE was, easily, the best service rifle of WWI.

[@samrussell4065]

The feed problems on the stripper clips were solved by robust training. (Overlap, overlap, overlap, underlap, underlap) It's even mentioned in the quintessential (and bloodthursty) book " All-In Fighting" by W.E.Fairbairn.

[@KarlEller]

Also, British .303 service ammo has a chamfer on the back of the rim, which greatly reduces the chance of rimjam, combined with magazines that are designed to feed the rimmed .303 easily. Modern .303 usually lacks that chamfer (because it's extra manufacturing steps that cost money), which is where a lot of the Lee-Enfield jamming reputation comes from. Bloke On The Range has done a number of videos on British .303 and rim jams, and he's shown that it's actually pretty damn hard to get them to jam with proper .303.

[@Pyeknu]

Nice episode with nice explanations for everything.

[@PaulaJBean]

Excellent informational video, thanks!

[@TwentythreePER]

I love your collaborations with C&Rsenal. A friend of mine has a SMLE Mk. 3* that has a 1917 date so it was probably in the war. I'm really considering buying it from him.

[@theIGNentertainment2]

I didn't expect to watch the whole thing but it was really well explained. Thanks for the video

[@Cdodders27]

I'd watch Bloke On The Range, he has a video about the SMLE amd 'rimlock' that shows it wasnt really much of an issue

[@williamprince1114]

Years ago I read a quote that I always thought accurate. The Germans took the best hunting rifle to WW1, the Americans the best match rifle, and the Brit's the best battle rifle. James Paris Lee was a sharp guy.

[@tommcdonald1873]

Well getting 10 rounds in the magazine is a huge plus!

[@mugwump58]

Addressing the US. The best match rifle was the Springfield, arguably the best combat rifle was the Model of 1917. IIRC the number of 1917s far outweighed the '03. Politics and "match" shooting meant that the '03 would continue in service long after the 1917 was dropped.

[@hvymtal8566]

The Canadians had the best match rifle hands down as Canadian snipers from WWI and WWII will attest, it just wasn't properly refined for military use. The US had the best match rifle that was properly ruggedized Also, France started the war with rifles from the past (1886 M93 Lebel, 1907 M15 Berthier) and ended with a rifle from the future (RSC series). As for best combat rifle, it really is a toss up between the SMLE and the P14/M1917, it depends on whether you value light, handy, and a big magazine or a brick of accuracy and reliability. And then of course the Russians had A Rifle. Just a rifle. I yearn for the day when the Mosin goes up a price category and is judged fairly against its competitors. Also, they had a cowboy gun in the Winchester 1895 Russian, which is awesome

[@remcodenouden5019]

You forgot the French. They took... Well it was better than a sharp stick

[@vegasspaceprogram6623]

And the Russians just bought the best rifle

[@telsah1]

That was so interesting. Did not know I would find details like that as interesting.

[@williambennett5299]

as a south african i cant thank you enough for pronouncing boer correct, thank you

[@gizhou3034]

In 1915, 160,000 thousand ‘training rifles’, mainly Japanese, were imported into Britain to make up for the shortage in rifles. Of these 130,000 were Japanese and were the Type 30 Ariska, Type 38 and Type 38 carbine, all in 6.5 x 50.8 mm. In 1916, 60,000 of these Japanese rifles were sent to Russia. :D

[@petemarsh8782]

Interesting episode. It's worth mention that WW1 's most prolific sniper Canadian army, First Nation soldier Francis Pegamagabow used the Ross rifle all through the war.

[@dimitarkondev5522]

Happy Birthday Flo!

[@Kid_Kootenay]

Two of my favourite channels awesome

[@maxsmodels]

I can remember getting a surplus .303 Enflield for about $40 in the 80s.

[@tommcdonald1873]

If you want an objective look at WWI go see Othais and Mae at C&Rsenal... The videos on the Ross Rifle and the Lewis Gun are must as well as on the Mauser Gewehr 98.

[@beemio]

Love the cutaways to Indy, haha!

[@thefutureairmen8046]

I visited the Kansas City WWI museum today and the rifle at 12:30 was on the U.S side and not in the British section

[@frostroxie2740]

At a 1000 yds ammo consistency is equally important..... if not more... In fact with out armorers going over the rifle to make it a 1000 yard rifle.... very few would come off the line that accurate.....

[@the51project]

4:27 Gratuitous action shot.

[@Slowsilv]

you should do a video with Ian from forgotten weapons showcasing the firearms that didn't quite make it to the front

[@markrowland1366]

I read about this Ross fourty years back and couldn't follow. You are great at this.

[@fmbgamer1355]

12:03 Where to look...

[@stevenhaskell9025]

Fmb Gamer obviously you look at the ti.... the gun deerrrr

[@jizzo385]

Fmb Gamer Honestly it’s kinda hard to look at the gun if u know what I mean 😂

[@iangiles3421]

My grandfather was a sniper with the 20th London Regiment and was in France between April and October 1915 when he was wounded and sent home. He fought at Neuve-Chapelle and Loose. He told me he was issued with a long Lee-Enfield which I had supposed was a specialist snipers rifle. From what you say this was in fact an older model although perhaps more suited to sniping.

[@miguepreza5870]

One of the Best channels in you tube

[@asterixdogmatix1073]

Great suggested video thanks KZbin! You obviously knew I had just finished restoring my No1 Mk3* SMLE.

[@silvioevan11]

Othais is a walking encyclopedia. Now that "the Yanks are coming", will we have an episode about great gunmakers John and Val Browning? (Val even fought in WW1!) Thanks.

[@TheGreatWar]

+silvioevan11 maybe. Definitively want to cover the industry and inventors a bit more

[@scottscott8123]

Are they coming over there?

[@benoorehek8475]

Val is the son?

[@zagrosgh8641]

@@TheGreatWar Please enable Persian subtitles for all your work.

[@tamasglanz4447]

Hello Indy and Team! My family enjoys your show from New York! It would be awesome if you could feature this on out of the trenches. What made the Germans switch to their iconic metal helmets without the pickelhaube? Love the show!

[@jokes859]

Tamas Glanz the reason is quite simple. The pickelhaube did feature very little protection against shrapnell (actually none)

[@tamasglanz4447]

Jokes thank you for the answer!

[@danielbutka8854]

Tamas Glanz Germany was also running low on leather to make pickelhaubes because of the blockade.

[@tamasglanz4447]

Daniel Butka thank you also!

[@dustinaffinito955]

Tamas Glanz also it was an easy target

[@andrewl2787]

0:57 I might just be slow but “accurizing” is a word I’ve never heard before and it definitely tickles me to hear someone say this.

[@nickengineroom]

The Canadian’s were fierce soldiers! Blessings from Australia 🇦🇺✊

[@dansmith4077]

Great video

[@ray.shoesmith]

There are two reasons I enjoy this video

[@greenriverviews6819]

i slept very well to this, cheers.

[@marktercsak9728]

The Mark III, had volley sights on the left side of the rifle is what they were called.

[@bunk95]

Send me one. 8 of the 10 druggies dont know they are one. Only, possibly, found a descendant of a French marked [Royal] bloodline. Dont worry he appeared to stopped communicating when I ask if theyre making him perform [marketable] transactions in addition to the transactions themselves in my [prison] system.

[@frandsenphilip1]

Excellent episode! Not only was everything shown and explained expertly, but gun safety was followed! Notice that no barrels ever point at the presenter (as an example). I live in Montana, and we know our guns lol Wonderful - thanks!

[@SitInTheShayd]

As a Canadian and the Ross rifle gives my past life nightmares

[@bluesrocker91]

I've read that they experienced some overheating issues with the Pattern 1914 rifles (or perhaps it was actually the 1913), and that this was part of the reason for relegating it to second line duties and sniping.

[@snowstalker36]

So this is the first one of these I've finally watched. When Othias says "we've done an episode on this rifle" does he mean this WW1 channel or his usual one?

[@josemoreno3334]

I have a No. I Mk.III. Made in 1917 in Australia. Nice.

[@CAP198462]

Ive been calling the SMLE the smile rifle for at least a decade, I can't be the only one who saw SMLE and thought "smile," right. Also, you guys talked about the SMLE and didn't mention or show a "mad minute," 😱😭

[@rafaelokamura]

4:27 cut and close to Indy drink with Ernie.

[@51WCDodge]

Why a front locking action is faster to put rounds down range is that due to the short throw the rifle can be actioned with the gun on your shoulder. However, as Otis mentioned the sight radius on all the early marks is not the best for quick aquisition, though Mauser was the same. The Mk1 No III, in the 1920 renamed the No1 Mk111, was also used a lot in WW2, especially outside Europe, and the design keeps coming back.

[@troy9477]

The Ross is definitely interesting. I have one, i believe it is a Mk3. But someone started to sporterize it, so i need to research it some more and measure the bore to make sure it is in fact a 303. Looking forward to working with it. Also have a Rem made US M1917 30-06 with a low serial number. Great rifle, if a bit heavy

[@thomasmoje5926]

I have a Lee-Enfield #1 Mark III rifle. Picked it up from local Cabela's store it was in their used gun rack. Mine has an after-market 'sporter' style stock (not full length military style) thus it is not what one would call an authentic 'period piece'. The action and barrel date from approximately 1933 the best I can ascertain from serial numbers and markings so I'm sure it could have some stories to tell. Bought it for deer hunting because I like older 'all metal and wood' firearms and it just has that 'panache' of an older firearm. It is great shooter and plenty accurate enough for my purposes. I did run into some mis-feeding issues I load mine manually one cartridge at a time from the top (no stripper clips). That issue is solved by loading each cartridge with the rim of each cartridge ahead of the proceeding cartridge..I only load 5 rounds at a time even though the magazine will hold 10 rounds. The gun is a lot of fun to shoot I feel like I'm shooting a piece of history.

[@marktercsak9728]

During the Boar war the Brits had the Lee Enfield and Lee Metford long rifles with ten round magazine. The Calvary on the other hand had a Lee Enfield I believe it was a twenty inch barrel but it had a five Round magazine are the constablery model all of which had a magazine cut off.

[@frederickstorz2969]

4:27 best part

[@frederickstorz2969]

Nice mug!

[@alantorres7916]

My favorite gun ever made is the lee Enfield but not the mk3 mk4 looks cooler to me

[@TheBlacky004]

The Mk1 SMLE did have a Charger Bridge however it was a split Bridge. The left side static the right side floating.

[@tonyblocke6170]

We used to kick open our Canadian made FN FAL rifles with no ill effects. Also, when you rapid fire a Ross rifle, the bolt gets much more difficult to cycle, compared to the Lee-Enfield.

[@Chilled_Wombat]

That sip out of cup scene is so funny!

[@jovanweismiller7114]

An excellent episode, but it glossed over the deep corruption in Canada whilst Sir Samuel Hughes was Minister of Militia. It was not just the Ross rifle, it was inedible rations and much more. Hughes may have been a greater enemy to the Canadian soldier than the Germans.

[@harry9392]

As a history buff glad to see great vidieo on the great war. Ref the SMLE why do no one ever mention the detachable magazine I have fired the Number 4 rifle doing demo's of fire power when I was was in the British Army also fired the 22 conversion great weapon.

[@vukman2665]

I noticed the lady shooting the rifles drop all but the Ross rifle from her shoulder to work the bolt. keep them on the shoulder and it's faster and you don't break your aim. Also with all and even with the Ross she jerks the bolt instead of moving her hand smoothly.

[@Ramiiam]

There is something about an SMLE. One of the classics of all time.

[@HeeroYuy911]

Did not know anything about the development of the Ross Rifle so was quite interesting, Got to love how a Brit had to come over and say wtf have you done.

[@colinblick8946]

My father before he joined the merchant navy…… was in the home guard….. a they had Ross rifles…. He quite liked them😎👌🏽

[@whowantsabighug]

His presenting has gotten way better since the earlier episodes.

[@pweter351]

The bolt for the no3 is wrong... also they were all stripper clip fed from the start

[@Bikerbob59]

Thanks.

[@perezmig577]

Indy and Othais sound like characters in a adventure film. Or a Quentin Tarantino one. ;-)

[@dmh0667ify]

I "hate" that the young lady getting to fire these weapons is enjoying herself thoroughly! 😁

[@ant13665]

should have included this in previous. in the live -fire demos the shooter does not appear to be particularly big, yet the recoil from firing does not seem to be excessive. the smle was not unpleasant to fire, due to the cartridge and the weight of the rifle, much nicer to shoot than the 30-06's and the Mausers.

[@MrGhost77757]

Do you know emperor tiger star ?

[@ulriksteenandersen4215]

Mr X he is great!

[@MrGhost77757]

Ulrik Andersen He used me as a tool to get him into political power he other threw the government and placed me in a political camp for 2 years.

[@ulriksteenandersen4215]

Mr X I'm suprised to hear that.

[@arterickson9809]

Loved to hear of the Ross Rifle! As a Canadian and a grandson of a WWI Artilleryman with the CEF. This was something never taught in school yet a part in our history. In the sixties, we were taught more American history than our own. I was wondering if you could give some attention to the enormity of the artillery contribution in more detail? Supply columns, maintenance, %of overall personnel numbers and as in "one gun=? Crew= #wagons/drivers/horses/feed/ammo/parts"? Great job folks!

[@TheGreatWar]

+Art Erickson if we find the sources, sure

[@JimmyeDallas]

That's nonsense. You had a terrible history teacher because the "Ross Rifle Scandal" was one of the important things I remember being taught about in high-school history class. Not talking about this in the context of discussing Canada's involvement in WWI would be akin to talking about the Red River Rebellion without mentioning Louis Riel.

[@arterickson9809]

Jimmy Dallas I was in high school in the sixties and in a very small school. Quite likely I did have a less than competent teacher.

[@JimmyeDallas]

Art Erickson I guess that's some indication that public education in this country improved somewhat over the last 40 years lol

[@arterickson9809]

Jimmy Dallas some things may have gotten better but from what I've seen, some things are worse.

[@MrAndyS]

If I shut my eyes Kermit is explaining it

[@josh656]

Like the Ross, I pull straight out.

[@robjsmiles]

11:42 damn, he got us

[@Hemimike426]

Do you guys plan on covering larger bore rifles as well or are they really rare? I mean the ones used during Britain's shortage of sniping arms

[@tomnook4048]

My notification was 3 minutes late! Damn KZbin!

[@ollikoskinen1]

th e It's Lawrence, not Laurence.

[@impalabeeper]

Olli Koskinen It's French.

[@seiban8455]

22:10 I remember watching my dad play CoD World at War when I was younger. He liked to use the Arisaka. I had no idea how to pronounce the name at the time, so I called it the Aris-kara rather than the Ari-sa-ka. *Facepalm*

[@marymoriarty1296]

Thanks for the bf1 tutorial

[@daltonii6]

Hi Indy! Greetings from Oklahoma! Could you please feature this in one of the out of the trenches episode? Why wasn't there a front in Southeast Asia against Japan and and other Asian allies? Love your show !

[@binrahmat.khairulnizam7743]

Some small skirmishes, SS Emden... Japan Allied With British in World War 1... 🤗

[@2394Joseph]

The rate of fire expected of the British infantry in WW1 was 16, aimed rounds, per minute according to one old book that I read. Can anyone verify that?

[@jackwardley3626]

it was 15 aimed shots at 300 yards in a minute

[@telesniper2]

I think the most interesting thing about the Ross rifle is that they had 90% of what they needed there to make a semi-automatic rifle! It just needs a gas system going back to work that Bolt