MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- For five years, Camp Pendleton’s museum encased a unique 115 year-old entity, and no one knew of its true story until a young Marine recently unmasked its origin.
In 2005, a weapon initially classified as an M14 rifle was donated to the base’s History and Museums office. However, in 2010, Lance Cpl. Alexander Hitchings, museum clerk, recognized a few distinctive characteristics on this rifle that disqualified it as such.
Hitchings, an avid rifle enthusiast, compared the characteristics of an M14 and the mis-titled rifle.
“The trigger guard and magazine well were the distinctive elements of design,” Hitchings explained. “I instantly knew it wasn’t either of the previous guesses of an M1 or M14 model.”
Hitchings investigation proceeded, ultimately resulting in him discovering that the rifle was the Winchester 1895 Lee model.
The M1895 Lee and Lee-Enfield rifles were both designed by the same man, James Paris Lee. One design was sold to the American company, Winchester, and the other to the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield, England.
“Once I plugged in ‘Winchester’ and the patent date, the results were clear,” Hitchings, said. “I recognized Lee’s work.”
The M1895 rifle was once used by the Marine Corps during the Spanish American War and later in the Moro Rebellion. It also saw limited action in China during the Boxer Rebellion.
“The Navy only purchased about 15,000 of these rifles,” Hitchings said. “Back then, they were provided to both the Navy landing forces and shipboard Marines.”
But the use of this weapon was not long-lived—the service of the M1895 was replaced as early as 1899, but it was still used as a secondary weapon aboard some Navy vessels until the 1920s.
Although the rifle was phased out rather quickly, elements of the design carried over into the M16 used today.
The M1895 was magazine fed, which allows for faster reloading, and used a small caliber, high velocity bullet, much like what the current U.S. military uses. The design of the bullet allows for the user to shoot farther and carry more bullets into combat.
“This rifle was a great catch for us,” said Hitchings. “It was a very rare rifle that saw service during some of the often forgotten, but still important parts of the Marine Corps’ history, and it has been hiding right under our noses for the last five years.”