Hello bajtársak and fellow forumdwellers,
In the aftermath of World War I, during the Latvian war of independence Latvia received substantial support from the British empire thus adopting the 303.British ammunition and Enfield rifles.
The Latvian cavalry however found the long Enfield rifles unsatisfactory and requested a shorter carbine. This order for about roughly 2200-2350 rifles was fulfilled by BSA between 1920 and 1923 by using leftover Lee Metford and Lee Enfield parts which is why the rifles do not have matching markings.
British mk.I Lee-Enfields were only made as full length or “long rifles” however the Latvian Lee-Enfield is an exception as it was cut down to carbine size, resulting in a weapon which was not produced in Latvia but was fully unique to Latvia.
During its service life the rifles received two upgrades
The first one which is the most striking gameplay difference for us gamers is the P14 front sight, historically these rifles were supplied with standard Lee-Enfield front sights however since Latvia’s standard rifle was the Enfield P14, it made sense to standardise the front sights thus all front sights were changed to the P14 sight.
The second upgrade was in 1936 by the Finish Tikka company that rebarreled these rifles which were worn out by 20 years of continued service.
The Lee-Enfield carbine continued to serve the Latvian army until the Soviet occupation in 1940 when the Latvian army with all of its equipment was absorbed by the Soviet red army.
I believe that this rifle would fit nicely into the Soviet tech tree as a BR2 bolt-action rifle, giving the Soviet faction an interesting alternative over the Winchester 1895 rifle and endless variants of mostly the same Mosin-Nagants.
Though it was not available to the red army in large quantities, unique rifles to add for Soviets are in low supply and there is no other nation it would make sense to add it to.
- Yes
- No
Source:
Latvia’s Unique Charger-Loading Lee Enfield (CLLE) Cavalry Carbine - Forgotten Weapons
A Rare Latvian Contract CLLE | Gunboards Forums