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Background – NCRR Project – Bolt-action New Canadian Ranger Rifle |
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Update 17 Oct 2011 The Ottawa Citizen reports that DND cancelled its P&As for NCRR and GSP when potential
suppliers objected to the requirement to supplying proprietary details to Colt Canada. No suppliers regarded this small
order as worth surrending industrial secrets.
Update: the publishing of a Price & Availability request for New Canadian
Ranger Rifles has lifted some of the fuzziness on details of the NCRR Project. This page
has been modified to accommodate new details such as Canadian licence-production, single-colour
stocks, etc.
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Canadian Rangers Rifle – Replacing the Rangers' .303" Lee Enfield No4 MkI*
Despite now being 65-70 years old, the Lee-Enfield rifle is extremely popular with Canadian Rangers. The Enfields [1]
were issued to the Rangers because this rifle was numerous in the post-War years, its bolt-action was simple to
teach, and the actual weapons all but indestructable. But nothing lasts forever. When surveyed about potential
replacement, Rangers said they'd be happy with new-production Enfields. But Toronto's Long Branch Arsenal
which produced the Enfield for the Canadian Army, is long gone. So too are most Canadian civilian
rifle-makers. [2] But there is a derivative of the Enfield in production today: the AIA M10 series.
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Lee-Enfield No4 MkI* Specifications
| Maker: |
Long Branch Arsenal [3] |
| Calibre: |
7.7 ×56mmR (.303 British) |
| Range: |
500 meters (effective) |
| Action: |
Manual Lee turn bolt |
| Mag.: |
10-round detachable box |
| Weight.: |
4.11 kg ( 9 lbs ) approx. |
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Specifically, the new Canadian Ranger Rifle is to have a composite stock in a camouflage colour [4] with a 'Monte
Carlo' profile and raised cheekpiece. That stock must absorb recoil and adjust for Rangers of different
statures. Of course, any rifle can be fitted with such a stock. But the .308" AIA was rejected before DND even
issued a requirement. [5] Here, the CRR process seems to go awry. DND wants an off-the-shelf buy from a
military supplier yet the only bolt-action rifles bought by modern armies are highly-expensive sniper weapons.
Regardless of which design is selected, 10,000+ NCRR will be licenced-built by DND munitions supplier, Colt Canada.
This arrangement follows the pattern of the new General Service
Pistol, a Military-off-the-Shelf purchase.
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The odds of a Canadian-built NCRR had seemed remote and any 'Can-Con' is a relief.
Licence-production raises questions though. Why insist on a Commercial-off-the- Shelf buy with minimal mods?
Colt Canada will produce the magazines, stocks, etc. of choice anyway. Part problem solved. So why pay a third
party for the rights to a hunting rifle design? The Canadian Rangers have stated their preference for a modernized
and improved Lee Enfield. Why not have Colt Canada give it to them?
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[1] Lee-Enfield rifles first entered Canadian service in 1916. That No1 MkIII SMLE (Short Magazine Lee Enfield)
was eclipsed by the Long Branch-built No4 MkI* which served the regular Canadian Army from 1943-1955. Later, DCRA
7.62mm conversions served as target rifles. A reserve force formally established in 1947, the Canadian Rangers
have been issued with the Lee-Enfield No4 MkI* rifle ever since then.
[2] Long Branch Arsenal (also known as Canadian Small Arms Factory Ltd) was itself privatized as Canadian Arsenals
Ltd. before closing down for good. Another example is civilian rifle-maker Cooey. Best known for small-bore
rifles, Cooey was bought by US Olin to become Winchester Canada. The Cooey .308" Model 71 was
a copy of Winchester's Model 70 – which has an outside chance in this CRR contest.
[3] Canadian Small Arms Ltd (SAL) aka Long Branch Arsenal was located in the village of Long Branch, ON
(now a part of Mississauga).
[4] The New Canadian Ranger Rifle P&A
makes clear that 'camouflage' does not refer to a disruptive pattern but rather a single (and as yet unspecified)
colour for the synthentic stock. The option of engraved and/or coloured Ranger emblems on the stock is also being
weighed.
[5] The DRDC report, Canadian Ranger Rifle: Human Factors Requirements Validation,
excerpts an unnamed document on DND's Small Arms Replacement Project II (SARP 2): "The CF technical authority for small arms, DSSPM
5, ... concluded that [M10s] would not meet ... requirement without significant modification and
re-engineering because it is cheaply made ... [the AIA rifle not being ] a military product.
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Problem solved, right? Militarize the M10 and issue it to the Rangers. Is procurement ever
that simple? Chambered for .308" Winchester (a common hunting round compatible with
7.62mm NATO) the AIA rifle
also has a heavy teak stock. The No4 MkI* is also fully-stocked in wood but Rangers now want the
capabilities of the Enfield in a lighter .308" rifle with a sight rail. They also want more stable
composite
stocks.