Canada's Rangers May Lose Their Issue Enfields

[erudne]

Lee-Enfield rifle being phased out, being replaced by Colt Canada
Posted 6 hours ago in Rifles by Steve Johnson with 47 Comments
Tags: canada, enfield

Canadian Rangers
We first blogged about Canada replacing the Lee-Enfield rifle, used by the Rangers, a reserve unit that patrols the far north, back in 2011. It seems the Canadian Army is still talking about replacing the aging rifles but not doing a whole lot of actual replacing. Back in 2011 the Army said they would be replaced with a rifle chambered in 7.62x51mm NATO. Now they are talking to Colt Canada, which makes me think they are going to issue them with AR-15 rifles chambered in 5.56mm.
Metro News reports …
"The Rangers were not issued this weapon to fight an enemy, they were given the rifle because they are operating in one of the harshest environments in the world," says Capt. Mark Rittwage, officer commander of the 3rd Canadian Patrol Group, Northern Ontario.
"And . . . the predators that are there, polar bears, wolves, even bull moose during rutting season, can cause a danger to our Rangers," Rittwage says.
The Lee-Enfield is still being used by many military and police forces around the globe.
But its Ranger tenure may be coming to an end with National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces having issued a request for proposal to gun maker Colt Canada for a replacement.
Lee-Enfields are issued to Rangers primarily for self-defence, he stresses. The Rangers are trained to kill only if clearly threatened.
Each Ranger is issued with a Lee Enfield No. 4 rifle and has a yearly allowance of 200 .303 rounds of ammunition.
- See more at: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/...ium=rss&utm_campaign=rss#sthash.ebv7z4Re.dpuf

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[Mark W.]

Good luck stopping a bear or pissed off horney moose with an AR-15.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I have one, a Long Branch, great rifle. Look on the bright side, maybe the hosers will surplus out the guns and ammo

 

[U201491]

Up there I would be pushing for the 338 Lapua
Or 338 Win Mag,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Hell with the Nato stuff

 

[Blitzkrieg]

.303 British is pre NATO and hell on wheels IMO

 

[Stomper]

Good luck stopping a bear or pissed off horney moose with an AR-15.

I believe that Eskimos hunt (and kill) polar bears with AR15's all the time. 30 rounds of 5.55/.223 would be unpleasantly (and most likely lethaly) felt by any sized animal.

 

[mrblond]

I believe that Eskimos hunt (and kill) polar bears with AR15's all the time. 30 rounds of 5.55/.223 would be unpleasantly (and most likely leathaly) felt by any sized animal.

Plus those guys can flat out shoot.

 

[kukusya]

it will be Colt bolt action rifle or Ruger GSR.
Source from different forum

 

[Flopsweat]

Plus those guys can flat out shoot.

You miss you go hungry. I'll bet that makes a good shot out of you pretty quick.

 

[U201491]

You miss you go hungry. I'll bet that makes a good shot out of you pretty quick.

With the polar bear you miss & the bear doesn't go hungry :/

 

[U201491]

That 303 is slightly not pleasant to shoot, but hell on the front end.

 

[Flopsweat]

With the polar bear you miss & the bear doesn't go hungry :/

Buddy system. Bring someone you can outrun.

 

[U201491]

Buddy system. Bring someone you can outrun.

Yep you just have to out run one other person LOL
The thing with polar bears is they will track you for miles. A unique trait among bears. They see you as food, and the rest see you as an intruder.

 

[Mongo1]

I watch "Life Below Zero" during season. I see Agnes Hailstone ( from Noorvik) shoot Caribou with a Mosin Nagant. I'm not familiar enough with those rifles to identify the exactly model. There was another series on that focused on people hunting the Alaskan Brown Bear on Kodiak Island. Very interesting to watch. They have a saying " On Kodiak Island sometimes the bear wins"

 

[erudne]

The Rangers are a hold over from WW2

I say let the Rangers decide, give them their 303 rifles, to keep as heirlooms and war trophys and a yearly allowance towards ammo, let them supply their own rifle, in any caliber, if they like

 

[Will_Power]

it will be Colt bolt action rifle or Ruger GSR.
Source from different forum

Sure, you can say to empty a mag of 5.56 into an angry polar bear or moose, but this makes a lot more sense.

If I was the Canadians, I'd replace their aging Enfields with some off the shelf, commercial bolt action and make sure it has a detachable box magazine system. The rifles would be chambered for 7.62 NATO or - if I was feeling patriotic and didn't mind the hassle of finding, modifying, or creating a DBM system to work with the longer brass - .303 British.

The Ruger GSR comes with the 7.62 NATO sized mag setup and iron sights ready to go.

 

[U201491]

Sure, you can say to empty a mag of 5.56 into an angry polar bear or moose, but this makes a lot more sense.

If I was the Canadians, I'd replace their aging Enfields with some off the shelf, commercial bolt action and make sure it has a detachable box magazine system. The rifles would be chambered for 7.62 NATO or - if I was feeling patriotic and didn't mind the hassle of finding, modifying, or creating a DBM system to work with the longer brass - .303 British.

The Ruger GSR comes with the 7.62 NATO sized mag setup and iron sights ready to go.

When dealing with an carnivore that size, I want Mass and Velocity. The 458, 338, 460 wby come to mind. Almost every animal on earth has been brought down by the puny 22 variations, but there is no way I want anything less than what I stated above given a choice. Even the 303 is marginal with an animal that can stand 12 to 14 feet tall.
Anything less and I will prefer that buddy system LOL

 

[OLDNEWBIE]

I have an Enfield given to me and still in FL that I've never had a chance to shoot. The odd caliber is one of the reasons I've procrastinated getting it here.
It's not been sporterized and has the look of a weapon that has seen battle. It has a date of 1944 on it if I recall.
Even if I never fire it, it's a cool historical piece to have around.

 

[OLDNEWBIE]

More than a few youtubes of Hangfires from cheap/old ammo that is used on Enfields.

 

[erudne]

I imagine that when they use the Enfields it is not with WW2 surplus ammo (if any still exists) it's probably CIL or Ishapore commercial, Privi Partisian
If Canada wanted they could give them NATO Enfields made by Ishapore
The Gibbs Quest Enfield is a 308 and has a 12 rnd mag plus it's nickel plated


http://www.gibbsrifle.com/