the 1903 Springfield and the 1907 SMLE MkIII but the development of these started earlier. Most of the other rifles date to the late 19th. On the WWII use, you should note that Britain also purchased a large number of M1917s prior to the the existence of the lend-lease program (so they were not all lend-lease by any means).Īs noted above the M1917 is interesting in lots of ways - and arguably it was one of the very few (I might argue ONLY) twentieth century designed rifle used in the war.
They were indeed used for the whole period in which the AEF was in action. The M1917 was produced in far larger numbers than the M1903 Springfield (during the Great War) and armed a larger number of the AEF by most accounts.
