The Rieder automatic rifle was a fully automatic
Lee–Enfield
The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's sta ...
SMLE rifle conversion of South African origin. The Rieder device could be installed quickly with the use of simple tools. A similar weapon of New Zealand origin was the
Charlton automatic rifle.
While the rifle had no select fire capability, single shots could be achieved by releasing the trigger quickly. Alternatively the bolt could be operated manually if the gas vein was closed. Prototype rifles fitted with the "Rieder attachment" or device were tested on bipod and tripod mounts and proved reliable with little maintenance, although recommendations were made to change the sight system to take account of vibration during automatic fire.
[http://www.rieder.741.com/ transcript: THE RIEDER AUTOMATIC RIFLE ATTACHMENT FOR THE S.M.L.E., Lt. Cdr. W. M. Bisset (Military Museum. Cape Town), 4-4-2011]
See also
*
Ekins automatic rifle Ekins may refer to:
;People
*Bud Ekins (1930-2007), American stuntman
*Charles Ekins (1768-1855), Royal Navy officer
* Dave Ekins (b. 1932), American off-road racer
* George Ekins (1871-?), English footballer
*Jeffery Ekins (d. 1791), English clerg ...
*
Howard Francis semi-automatic carbine
*
Howell automatic rifle
*
Huot automatic rifle
References
External links
Rieder Automatic Rifle
{{BritishEmpireWeapons
.303 British rifles
Light machine guns
Automatic rifles
Rifles of South Africa