A suggestion for the Lee Enfield.

Wandering off topic but just in case someone wants to try recreating the .303 black powder round. The cored solid black powder pellet (and filling the case with fine black powder) produced pressures well above the cordite levels.
 
I don't think it's the different cartridge that took the time. Rather it was converting all the drawings to imperial rather than metric. You end up having to effectively redesign the whole gun, as the chances of any metric measurement matching up exactly with it's imperial countpart are pretty low. Of course that could all have been avoided if they used metric micrometers and gauges.

Like using imperial or metric really makes a difference when using gaging or any other precision measuring equipment. Simply convert the metric to four decimal place measurements versus three decimal place metric. .0001" = .002mm or close enough. Metric isn't more precise. Its simply a more logical system. ISO and SAE ( I can't remember what British tolerance is called) tolerance systems serve the same purposes.
 
Mh are you sure ? I remember reading that Paul Mauser or better the Mauser company wanted this royalties but the US government insists on a single large sum and that what was payed . IIRC 250 000 $.
Yes, it's covered in Decisions of the Comptroller of the Treasury, volume 11 and elsewhere.
The initial payment ($11,367.53) was received by Mauser in November 1905, based on the US Treasury decision of 05APR1905 (which was for 75c per rifle and 50s per thousand clips, with a cap of $200,000 based on expected US production; rather less than Mauser's original claim [summer 1904] for $1 per rifle and $1 per thousand clips). The payments continued over the following four years with the final payment, $8,117.25, being made in July of 1909.
 
Like using imperial or metric really makes a difference when using gaging or any other precision measuring equipment. Simply convert the metric to four decimal place measurements versus three decimal place metric. .0001" = .002mm or close enough. Metric isn't more precise. Its simply a more logical system. ISO and SAE ( I can't remember what British tolerance is called) tolerance systems serve the same purposes.
And how is a machinist who has only ever used imperial measurements going to interpret plans in metric measurements and produce a working product if he has no metric guages. Converting the plans for the Bren, HS 404 aircraft gun to imperiql was no trivial matter and took a considerable amount of time. In contrast the 7.92 and 15mm Besa machine guns were put into production quickly because B.S.A used the original plans and provided their workers with metric measuring equiment.
 
What about the Simplified Rifle 1941?
Several different prototypes were submitted, but by then Lee-Enfield production was up to speed.
All the SR1941 prototypes shared a common theme. They were all based on Lee-Enfield actions and barrels. Tolerances were still tight on bolts and barrels, but the farther you got from the "working parts" the simpler the components and the looser the tolerances.
 
And how is a machinist who has only ever used imperial measurements going to interpret plans in metric measurements and produce a working product if he has no metric guages. Converting the plans for the Bren, HS 404 aircraft gun to imperiql was no trivial matter and took a considerable amount of time. In contrast the 7.92 and 15mm Besa machine guns were put into production quickly because B.S.A used the original plans and provided their workers with metric measuring equiment.

Any experienced machinst, I'm talking a real machinist, not an operator, should be able to handle the math required to do the conversions to work from metric drawings measuring in metric drawings. If we are talking re-chambering SMLE's the primary tooling required is actually the chamber reamers. This is a simple bolt action rifle, not something like an aviation engine.
 
The math (for converting dimensions from metric to imperial) is a nuisance. Far simpler to supply machinists with metric rulers, metric feeler guages, metric calipers, etc.
 
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