The Rifle, Number 8 (commonly referred to as the "Number 8 Rifle" or the "Number 8 Cadet Rifle") is a

bolt-action Bolt action is a type of manual Action (firearms), firearm action that is operated by ''directly'' manipulating the bolt (firearms), turn-bolt via a cocking handle, bolt handle, most commonly placed on the right-hand side of the firearm (a ...

.22 calibre version of the

Lee–Enfield The Lee–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 standard service rifle of th ...

rifle designed for British Army target

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

. They are simple single-shot, hand-fed

cadet rifle file:Springfield1922.jpg, Springfield Model 1922 cadet rifle file:Cz452 tangent sight.jpg, A tangent sight on a CZ 452 rifle, with calibrated markings for ranges out to 300 meters file:Australian Air Force Cadets using the Trainer variant of the CZ ...

s and were originally designed to be used by military marksmen firing in civilian competitions. The Number 8 is no longer used by the British cadet services as a basic target rifle, replaced by the L144 and

air rifle An air gun or airgun is a gun that uses energy from compressed air or other gases that are mechanically pressurized and then released to propel and accelerate projectiles, similar to the principle of the primitive blowgun. This is in contr ...

s. Some examples are in civilian ownership worldwide, especially following the disposal by the

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

cadet forces of their Number 8 and Number 9 rifles at auction.

Sight types

Typically fired at a range of , the rearsight can be adjusted to allow fire at . A harmonisation setting is also provided for firing at specially designed targets. The No 8 can also be fitted with two types of

sight Visual perception is the ability to detect light and use it to form an image of the surrounding Biophysical environment, environment. Photodetection without image formation is classified as ''light sensing''. In most vertebrates, visual percept ...

. The more common leaf sight, allowing adjustment for elevation only, is simpler to use and more robust, but the standard of accuracy that can be achieved with this sight is lower than can be achieved with the

Parker Hale Parker-Hale Ltd. was a British firearms, air rifle and firearms accessory manufacturer, located in the Gun Quarter of the city of Birmingham, England. It was founded by Alfred Gray Parker and Arthur Hale. History Alfred Gray Parker founded a rif ...

PH5D sight, which allows for windage adjustment as well as elevation, in 1/4

minute of angle A minute of arc, arcminute (abbreviated as arcmin), arc minute, or minute arc, denoted by the symbol , is a unit of angular measurement equal to of a degree. Since one degree is of a turn, or complete rotation, one arcminute is of a tu ...

clicks. It is also more delicate than the leaf-sight and not generally found in cadet service. The

Parker-Hale Parker-Hale Ltd. was a British firearms, air rifle and firearms accessory manufacturer, located in the Gun Quarter of the city of Birmingham, England. It was founded by Alfred Gray Parker and Arthur Hale. History Alfred Gray Parker founded a rif ...

8/53 sight adaptor unit can also be fitted to the leaf rearsight, providing windage adjustment without the removal of the issued sighting system. It screws on through the sight aperture and therefore introduces a large elevation difference, rendering the range markings on the sight useless.

Replacement

In 2014 the replacement contract for the rifle was put out to tender. In 2016 it was announced that a modified version of the

Savage Arms Savage Arms is an American gunmaker based in Westfield, Massachusetts, with operations in Canada and China. Savage makes a variety of Rimfire ammunition, rimfire and centerfire rifles, as well as Stevens single-shot rifles and shotguns. The comp ...

FVT had been chosen for this role, entering service as the "L144 A1 Cadet Small Bore Target Rifle (CSBTR)".

Users

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Army Cadet Force The Army Cadet Force (ACF), generally shortened to Army Cadets, is a national Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, youth organisation sponsored by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence and the Bri ...

Sea Cadet Corps Sea cadets are members of a cadets youth program sponsored by a national naval service, aimed for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or ...

Combined Cadet Force The Combined Cadet Force (CCF) is a youth organisation in the United Kingdom, sponsored by the Ministry of Defence (MOD), which operates in schools, sub divided into Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force sections. Its aim is to ...

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Lee-Enfield Rifle No.8
Single-shot bolt-action rifles Bolt-action rifles of the United Kingdom .22 LR rifles