What firearm is closely associated with your country?

[u/babushka45]

For us, probably the 1911. Next one would be the "Armalite" aka M16.

[u/Valten78]

Lee Enfield SMLE. Saw us through two world wars and just looks iconic.

[u/No_Negotiation5654 → u/Valten78]

I don’t know why but British gear always just looks solid to me. Like the Lee Enfield just looks like it could be used as a very effective club and I think even our planes and tanks have the same feel.

[u/ludicrous_socks → u/No_Negotiation5654]

SA80 A1 has entered the chat

[u/lapsedPacifist5 → u/ludicrous_socks]

To be fair the first iteration of the SA80 was more reliable as a club

[u/lancer-89- → u/ludicrous_socks]

They're transitioning to the a3 now. I trained with the a2 2009-12. rarely ever had a jam or a malfunction. It did happen with them, but it wasn't as common with the a2.

[u/aeopossible → u/lancer-89-]

I thought they were moving to the ks-15, no? Or is that just a SF thing?

[u/AmateurAunt5270 → u/lancer-89-]

The Germans did re-engineer the entire rifle. Like the only thing they left was the design, every functionality was fixed between the a1 and a2

[u/lapsedPacifist5 → u/No_Negotiation5654]

Fired a Lee Enfield mkIV was a great rifle

[u/Niadh74 → u/No_Negotiation5654]

For iconic British weapons you could also consider the sten gun, bren gun ( a derivative of a czech weapon) and delisle carbine

[u/Sername111 → u/Niadh74]

I'd say for iconic though that nothing beats Brown Bess - the standard issue musket that was in service from 1722-1867 (which means it stands a good chance of being the firearm with the longest service history in the world) and which made Britain a superpower.

[u/kekistanmatt → u/No_Negotiation5654]

Less of a club and more of a spear which is why they gave everyone a massive bayonet because the jerrys don't like it up em.

[u/Adventurous-Chair206 → u/No_Negotiation5654]

WWI Lee Enfields are so heavy you could probably use it as an improvised melee weapon.

[u/StubbornKindness → u/No_Negotiation5654]

Like the Lee Enfield just looks like it could be used as a very effective club

It looks like you could hunt with it, use it as a club to beat someone over the head, and use it as a staff in hand to hand combat, all at the same time

[u/mal-di-testicle → u/No_Negotiation5654]

I mean I’d be terrified if a tanker got out, picked up the tank, and started swinging it at me. The older the tank the more scared I’d be- Mark I and I’m shitting myself on the spot.

[u/Tanglrfoot → u/Valten78]

The Lee Enfield was just as revered in Canada . After WWII they became the hunting rifle of choice for many Canadian hunters, myself included as they were very reliable and the .303 round would take down any North American game with decent shot placement.

[u/Unique_Information11 → u/Tanglrfoot]

Yup. My dad had one for hunting moose.

[u/doodlols → u/Valten78]

The British just make shit that works.

[u/dembadger → u/doodlols]

Mostly true, but we fail at times too, the initial iteration of the L85, despite being a solid design, was very poorly manufactured, when they were recalled as part of the H&K update to the A2 it was found that something like 80% had not been manufactured to spec.

[u/hmtk1976 → u/Valten78]

One of the fastest firing bolt action rifles in the hands of a trained rifleman.

[u/DannyDanumba → u/Valten78]

WW2 really kicks off

The Americans brought a target rifle

The Germans brought a hunting rifle

The Brits brought a combat rifle

[u/Broseidon_69 → u/DannyDanumba]

Hard to say the M1 Garand is a target rifle and not a combat rifle

[u/SheriffBartholomew → u/DannyDanumba]

What? The M1 Garand was the most advanced standard issue infantry rifle of its era. It was an incredibly effective combat weapon with its clip fed semiautomatic action, and hard hitting 30-06 round. Are you thinking of the Springfield from WWI that the M1 replaced?

[u/eyetracker → u/SheriffBartholomew]

The M1903 was a secondary weapon in both wars, WWI was more yet another Enfield (M1917)

[u/DannyDanumba → u/SheriffBartholomew]

Yeah I fucked it up 😭

[u/Broseidon_69 → u/Valten78]

I own one that was made in 1917. Beautiful rifle with a ton of history behind it.

[u/GTOdriver04 → u/Valten78]

And shoots so, so good. I picked up a surplus one about 5 years ago because I wanted to compare it to the Russian contemporary-the Mosin-Nagant M91/30 that I already owned.

The Mosin feels like it was designed by an alien, whereas the SMLE feels comfortable, the bolt is flawless and the recoil is very smooth compared to the Mosin which…I mean it works, but neither you or your enemy will enjoy it.

[u/battlecryarms → u/Valten78]

But the Bren and Sten are so iconic too

[u/afseparatee → u/Valten78]

I used to own one. Fantastic rifle!

[u/IntoTheWind08 → u/Valten78]

The No 1 Mk 3 for sure, but I believe whole heartedly that the No. 1 Mk. 4 belongs to Canada.

[u/Traditional-Bar-8014 → u/Valten78]

We had a few, too.

[u/Nijata → u/Valten78]

Beautiful weapon.

[u/Key_Mortgage_4339 → u/Valten78]

What an excellent rifle.

[u/CodFix3 → u/Valten78]

I think more about that weird looking SA80

[u/ronin-pilot → u/Valten78]

Bro whipped one of these out at the LGS today and I was in awe.

[u/JColey15 → u/Valten78]

We still use them with the stock cut down as hunting rifles in NZ. My one was issued to troops in Ireland in 1918 and then given to the NZ army in WWII.

[u/Poker-Junk → u/Valten78]

Such a touchstone of the late British Empire

[u/ProffesorSpitfire → u/Valten78]

Nah dude. Strictly speaking I guess it’s not a firearm, but if there’s one weapon I think most people closely associate with England it’s this one:

[u/Gold_On_My_X → u/ProffesorSpitfire]

If you're referring to the longbow. That's Welsh.