Charlton automatic rifle
| Charlton Automatic Rifle | |
|---|---|
 Charlton Automatic Rifle at Waiouru Army Museum | |
| Type | Self-loading rifle/Light machine gun |
| Place of origin |  New Zealand |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1942-1945 |
| Used by | New Zealand |
| Production history | |
| Designer | Philip Charlton |
| Designed | 1941 |
| Produced | 1942-1945 |
| Variants | Electrolux SMLE Model |
| Specifications | |
| Mass | 16 lb (7.3 kg), unloaded |
| Length | 44.5 in (1150 mm) |
| Cartridge | .303 British |
| Calibre | 0.303 inch (7.7 mm) |
| Action | Gas-operated semi-automatic |
| Rate of fire | 600 rounds/minute |
| Muzzle velocity | 2,440 ft/s (744 m/s) |
| Effective firing range | 1,000 yards (910 m) |
| Maximum firing range | 2,000 yards (1830 m) |
| Feed system | 10-round magazine or 30-round Bren gun magazine |
| Sights | Sliding ramp rear sights, fixed post front sights |
The Charlton Automatic Rifle was a fully automatic conversion of the Lee-Enfield rifle, designed by New Zealander Philip Charlton in 1941 to act as a substitute for the Bren and Lewis gun light machine guns which were in chronically short supply at the time.
The original Charlton Automatic Rifles were converted from obsolete Lee-Metford and Magazine Lee-Enfield rifles dating from as early as the Boer War,[1] and were intended for use as a self-loading rifle with the full-automatic capability retained for emergency use.[2] It used the 10-round Lee-Enfield magazines.
There were two versions of the Charlton: the New Zealand version, as designed and manufactured by Charlton Motor Workshops in Hastings, and a version produced in Australia by Electrolux, using the SMLE Mk III* for conversion.[3] The two designs differed markedly in external appearance (amongst other things, the New Zealand Charlton had a forward pistol grip and bipod[4], whilst the Australian lacked this making it lighter and cleaner in appearence[5], but shared the same operating mechanism.
Approximately 1,500 Charlton Automatic Rifles were manufactured in New Zealand,[6] and nearly all of them were destroyed in an accidental fire at the Palmerston North service storage facility shortly after World War II.[7]
An example of the New Zealand-manufactured Charlton Automatic Rifle is known to survive in the Imperial War Museum in London, along with a handful elsewhere– one is on display in the Waiouru Army Museum in New Zealand, and another at the Army Museum (Bandiana) in Australia.
See also
Media related to Charlton Automatic Rifle at Wikimedia Commons
Canada - Huot automatic rifle
United Kingdom - Howell Automatic Rifle / Howard Francis machine carbine- United Kingdom - Elkins Automatic Rifle
South Africa - Reider Automatic Rifle- Similar Dutch Rifle Conversion
Footnotes
- ^ Skennerton, Ian: The Lee-Enfield Story, page 183. Arms & Militaria Press, Australia, 1993
- ^ Skennerton, Ian: The Lee-Enfield Story, page 184. Arms & Militaria Press, Australia, 1993
- ^ Skennerton, Ian: The Lee-Enfield Story, page 185. Arms & Militaria Press, Australia, 1993,
- ^ http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/6537/smallarmsw44.jpg
- ^ http://img299.imageshack.us/img299/7979/smallarmsw42.jpg
- ^ Skennerton, Ian Small Arms Identification Seriess No. 13: Special Service Lee-Enfields; Commando & Auto Models, page 33. Arms & Militaria Press, Australia, 2001
- ^ Skennerton, Ian: The Lee-Enfield Story, page 185. Arms & Militaria Press, Australia, 1993
References
- Skennerton, Ian The Lee-Enfield Story (1993). Arms & Militaria Press, Australia. ISBN 1-85367-138-X
- Skennerton, Ian Small Arms Identification Series No. 13: Special Service Lee-Enfields; Commando & Auto Models (2001). Arms & Militaria Press, Australia. ISBN 0 949749 37 0
