A Project "De-Lisle Rifle" in 9x19MM

      One Friday in April – I won an on-line auction for a rifle described as:"303 Lee Enfield converted to 9mm and fully suppressed – Has problem with breech and needs work. Has no magazine."

As Advertised.

Hmm, well – the date was very close to April Fools Day and I was none too sure that I hadn't just made a fool of myself ! - Previously I had arranged with the helpful Christchurch Police Arms Office to organize the required 'Mail Order Form'. It was the following Thursday when the couriers van handed-over the parcel and I was able to open it - then screw the concentric 19 inch x 2" diameter barrel/silencer unit onto the action, and have a good look at it.

Yup – the head-space was way too much and the bolt was really stiff and notchy when I tried to extract a fired case– the chamber looked rough but usable.

The Lee-Enfield action was stamped with a 'Crown over VR' and '1896' that says it was almost a hundred and twenty years since it passed-out of the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield UK. - The old girl must have been given her second life much later, but it was grubby and a bit rusty – having what a collector would call ' patina' .

- I spent the next couple of hours with wooden toothpicks and fine wire-wool scraping off assorted muck and replacing it with a smear of oil – the Enfield looked much better for it but my jeans gained a few oil stains.

Next day I went round to my favorite local gunsmith (since retired) Rod Woods who initially said he thought the way to fix it would be to set the 9mm barrel back one full turn and reface the chamber to match the bolt-face.

 - While thinking about the problem we tried various single stack 9mm pistol magazines for fit – then Rod grinned and said "I've got it" and whipped-out the shortened L-E bolt, took it apart, clamped it in a vice, preheated it with the oxyacetylene torch and built-up the rear camming face with weld, - quenched and precisely hand-ground the cam surface to suite – then "Where's that live ammo?" - out to the back room bullet trap - and clang goes the 9mm bullet into the trap.- One De Lisle copy - working first time!

 - Note: Rod has previously made a batch of accurate true replica De-Lisle Carbines in .45"ACP. **News Flash** - Note 2: Rod says he's still making accurate replica 'De-Lisles' e-mail: gundoc@xtra.co.nz

Brilliant – what Rod had done – in less than an hour - was determine what 9mm magazine I needed, ream the chamber, weld the bolt and adjust head space, de-rust the firing-pin and make another stronger spring, reduce and smooth the trigger pull – refit and test fire. - And he also sold me an old double-barrel 12-gauge shotgun (to convert to a coach-gun).

The needed missing magazine proved to be a Walther P 38 seven/eight round pistol mag and had to be modified by adding a rib to the rear face to engage it with the original magazine release catch on the rifles trigger guard. - Luckily one came-up on-line for sale a few weeks later and I got it for $100 and rushed it into Rod where he attached the required rear rib and cold-blued it.

 9MM NATO Caliber Fully Silenced Bolt-Action Rifle Now (with telescopic sight).

The 9mm  Lee Enfield / De Lisle rifle shoots very quietly & well ( better than I do) and with a telescopic sight added is accurate out as far as I've tested it. - Used with standard supersonic 9 mm loads it is much quieter than a handgun – but when loaded with heavier sub-sonic 147 grain 9x19mm rounds it becomes really refined & quiet enough to use without hearing protection. - It actually is a great fun gun to shoot.

                    

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THE DE LISLE COMMANDO CARBINE

W G De Lisle developed the idea of a silent rifle for covert combat use during WW2. - His first prototype was a .22" rim-fire caliber built with a full barrel moderator on a Browning semi-auto action, - and he proved it shooting rabbits and other small game in the countryside around his home in Berkshire UK.

He offered this first prototype to Sir Malcolm Campbell of Combined Operations in 1943. The .22" was rejected but he was asked to develop a 9x19mm version. This second prototype using supersonic 9mm ammo was also rejected as unsatisfactory.

- So De Lisle was then asked to build a further rifle in .45 ACP – this third attempt was successfully tested and found to be much quieter than silenced handguns such as the Welrod single shot used by occupied Europe resistance fighters.

                              An Original De-Lisle Carbine? - No, Sorry it's a copy !

De Lisle was granted a patent (number 579,168) and put in charge of making a batch of the .45ACP carbines at the British FORD factory, Dagenham – where an initial batch of 17 was built and issued for field testing by the Combined Operations Commandos in "SS" Operations against the German occupying forces.

 - These being successful, - a further batch of approx 130 units was made with alloy silencer bodies by Sterling Armaments - including a small number built with folding stocks adapted from the STEN Gun and a pistol grip - for airborne forces use.

Folding Stock 'Paratroopers' Version De Lisle.

The De Lisle Carbines were built on the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE Mk3) and used

.45 ACP caliber barrels from the Thompson sub-machine gun. These barrels were turned-down and ported by cross-drilling, and bell-mouthed,-  and were fed by seven round M1911 Pistol magazines.
 - Their full over-barrel silencers were 15 inches (38cm) long and 2 inches diameter.

- They were so effective with the sub-sonic 45 ACP ammunition that it was said that the sound of the bolt action being worked to load was louder than the shot being fired – so much so that the underside of the bolt was drilled and fitted with a rubber pad to quieten its metal-to-metal contact with the action!

Link to video shooting a replica De Lisle Carbine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUALdGog4U

Every time I shoot a well silenced gun - I end-up with a face-ache from too much smiling at the refined 'Click - CLANG' from each shot on the steel plates.

The De Lisle Carbines were used extensively on covert operations by British and Allied Forces during WW2, and later again in the BURMA CAMPAIGN, the MALAYAN EMERGENCY and even in the KOREAN WAR. Furthermore it is strongly rumoured that the British SAS used them against IRA Fighters during "THE TROUBLES" and in the FALKLAND ISLANDS war (Islas Malvinas). - The fact that none have ever been released as army-surplus suggests that they may continue to be valued for undercover use.

                                    Sectioned Model De Lisle Commando Carbine

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Just as a 'Post Script' (PS) - My Dad, Cpl James Kavanagh 2718019 Irish Guards (1934-1946) - volunteered and served with the British Commandos during WW2 in Norway, Italy, and Northern Europe ( plus service in Egypt with the Guards). - I heard him explain to a friend (from the Guards) after the war - that there was nothing 'heroic' about his volunteering for special service - but that it was the only way to get out of the Guards Regiment and away from their "poofy 'English Public School' officers" !

Marty K.
After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?

https://www.patreon.com/user?u=16618870