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  • Baker arms collection

    1 in 1500: The New Zealand Carbine.

    Researched and written by Cory Baker

    Have you ever had one of those moments when you suddenly realise you’re in possession of something truly rare and special? It’s an incredible feeling — one that doesn’t happen every day, but when it does, it’s unforgettable. One such moment happened for my family back in 2011, when my Uncle Ron came across an article on the internet. The title caught his attention immediately: “The Rarest of All Lee-Enfields: The New Zealand Carbine.”

    The photos in the article looked strikingly similar to a Lee-Enfield rifle my father, Kevin Baker, owned. After a bit of investigation, we were thrilled to discover that our rifle was indeed one of the very rare New Zealand Lee-Enfield carbines mentioned in the article. What an exciting moment — to realise we had such a remarkable piece of New Zealand military history in our hands!

    Just how rare are we talking? It’s believed that only 1,500 of these carbines were ever produced. They were originally manufactured for use in the Boer War 1899 – 1902, intended to replace the Martini-Enfields carried by the New Zealand Mounted Riflemen. This upgrade came in response to the Boer forces’ superior, magazine-fed Mauser rifles.

    So how did this rare treasure end up in my family’s possession? The story goes that it was first owned by my dad’s uncle Doug, a collector based in Katikati, New Zealand during the 1950s. Doug had close ties with both the New Zealand Army and Police, and it’s said he acquired the carbine from the police for his collection. Apparently, my grandfather owned a Lee-Enfield rifle that Doug admired, so the two arranged a trade —Doug swapping the NZ Carbine for my grandfather’s rifle, obviously not knowing just how valuable the carbine truly was.

    Years later, when my grandfather decided to pass his firearms down to my father and uncle, they decided to divide the collection between them with a coin toss. Dad won the coin toss, getting the first pick, he chose the NZ Carbine! It stayed in New Zealand for many years under my uncle’s care until, around 2019, Dad decided to bring it back home to Perth, where we live and where I grew up.

    Recently, I’ve been diving into research on the NZ Carbine, and I’d love to share what I’ve discovered.

    Around 1901, New Zealand was in the middle of rearming its forces with the new Magazine Lee-Enfield rifles. At the same time, the country needed to replace roughly 1,200 Martini-Enfield Artillery Carbines that had been sent off to South Africa with the early New Zealand soldiers fighting in the Anglo-Boer War. It makes perfect sense that these older Martini carbines would be swapped out for a newer magazine-fed version. Originally listed as “Carbine, New Zealand, Magazine, Lee Enfield; fitted to take the pattern 1888 sword bayonet”. (LEC 88).

    Whether New Zealand specifically requested the LEC 88 or was simply offered it by the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) isn’t entirely clear. What is clear, however, is that New Zealand became the only customer for this unique variant of the Lee-Enfield Carbine, ordering a total of 1,500 rifles along with spare parts and replacements. By 1902, the British Army had decided to move forward with the new Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE) across all branches, leaving no further demand for the LEC 88. As a result, New Zealand’s small order stands out as the only one of its kind — making these carbines incredibly rare today.

    The story of the New Zealand Carbine actually begins nearly a decade before its official approval in 1900. While all military Lee carbines were made at the Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) in Enfield, other companies were also experimenting. In 1892, the Birmingham Small Arms & Metal Company (BSA&M) released a “trade pattern” magazine carbine, soon followed by the London Small Arms Company.

    These early carbines had Metford barrels, a clearing rod, and a bayonet mount similar to the one later used on the Lee-Metford Mk II rifle. New Zealand put in an order for 1,000 of a remarkably similar carbine in 1900, along with a second order for a further 500 in 1902 Each batch was distinctive but differed slightly from the other. These are known as the “complete-carbine batches,” separate from later orders for spare parts.

    There’s been a lot of debate about why the New Zealand government bought this carbine in the first place but as I mentioned before most believe it was to directly replace the martini action lee enfield that NZ riflemen were using. But whether it was ever actually used in the South African War is unknown. Unfortunately, most of the evidence is based on stories rather than records, since many official files have been lost. Apparently there was a fire at the Wellington government building, which explains why a lot of this information has been lost. 

    The first batch of carbines seems to have been intended for New Zealand-based units like the field artillery, engineers, and naval artillery—not for the troops fighting in South Africa. The fifth group of soldiers left in March 1900, two months before the carbine was even approved, and the sixth departed in January 1901, likely before the rifles even reached New Zealand.

    An Auckland Star report from August 1901 stated that the new Lee-Enfield magazine carbines were being issued to local volunteer units, not overseas forces. This suggests the carbines arrived mid-1901 and stayed in New Zealand. Even with 1,500 made, there wouldn’t have been enough for all 6,500 soldiers who served in South Africa. It is quite likely that these rifles were never used in the war.

    What we do know for sure is that most, if not all, of the New Zealand carbines were in the country by mid-1902. A well-known photo, the “Feu de Joie,” shows Christchurch Naval Volunteers using them during a parade for King Edward VII’s coronation celebrations in June 1902. Since the war in South Africa ended only a month earlier, it’s clear the carbines had already been in New Zealand for some time.

    After the war, the newly formed Volunteer units received both Long Magazine Lee-Enfields (“Long Toms”) and some NZ carbines. The Volunteer Corps, made up of local militias, existed from 1865 until 1909, when it became the Territorial Army. Below is a  1907 photo shows hundreds of Christchurch Volunteers with NZ carbines celebrating New Zealand’s new dominion status.

    Around this time, as the military shifted to a single standard rifle—the SMLE—the New Zealand carbines were gradually passed down to cadet units. In June 1903, the Auckland Star reported that the Christchurch Queen’s Cadet Corps was trading in its old Martinis for “new magazine Lee-Enfield carbines.” By 1913, records show 1,485 carbines issued to cadets, only slightly fewer than the total originally ordered.

    Some of these carbines later went to the New Zealand Police and were still in use during World War I. Historian James Cowan describes their use during the 1916 arrest of Māori leader Rua Kēnana, when police forces armed with rifles and revolvers were sent to detain him. Rua was acquitted of treason but served two years for resisting arrest. You can tell they are New Zealand carbines by how close strap is to the end of the back.

    Evidence suggests that the “rifles” mentioned by Cowan were actually New Zealand carbines. In a photo of the police column heading to Rua Kēnana’s settlement, several officers at the front are clearly carrying short carbines—not Long Toms, which would have been much longer. The visible pistol grip rules out the Martini-Enfield, and the shoulder slings confirm they weren’t cavalry models. Another photo from the same event shows police with the same short, sling-fitted carbines—almost certainly New Zealand Carbines.

    This finding is especially exciting for me because it perfectly matches my uncle’s story about how our family came to own our NZ Carbine. My Dads uncle obtaining it from NZ police!

    This exciting piece of New Zealand military history is one of the 5 known examples currently in Australia according to a survey of known carbines, conducted in 2014. Our rifle has the serial number of 878 which nicely places it within the first batch.

    I’ve even been lucky enough to shoot this rifle in the past while it was still in NZ. I think that was before we realised how rare it is. But it’s in good condition considering it’s over 100 years old. My uncle had always taken really good care of it for us over the years. Unfortunately, dad’s NZ carbine, is now my NZ Carbine. Sadly my wonderful dad, Kevin passed late 2024. So it’s currently in storage and it is waiting to be added to my collection as I sort out my licensing. It’s an honor to share this piece with you all and I think my dad would be proud that I’m going to hold on to his old and surprisingly rare rifle for him.

    References

    AS 1901: Auckland Star, 14 August 1901. AS 1902: Auckland Star, 7 June 1902. AS 1903: Auckland Star, 18 June 1903.

    Image ref. CCL Photo CD 4, IMG0102

    (Photo: Auckland Weekly News.)

  • Baker arms collection

    1911A1 Remington Rand

    Our 1911A1 Remington Rand .45ACP pistol has a unique history. During an auction in Auckland, my uncle intended to bid on a BAR, but my grandmother was drawn to the pristine 1911A1 on display. She successfully bid for it, adding it to our collection since Australian gun laws were stricter than New Zealand’s. The pistol stayed with my uncle in New Zealand until we managed the paperwork to import it to Australia, possibly firing its first rounds during a visit before joining our collection.

    The United States adopted the M1911 pistol just in time for the First World War. Between Colt and Springfield Armory, roughly 643,000 pistols were produced by the end of 1918. As the war went on, and through the pistol’s service in France, a number of practical improvements were identified. These changes were eventually rolled into a batch of 10,000 pistols ordered from Colt in 1924, though they wouldn’t receive an official designation until years later. A second order of 10,000 followed in 1938. These pistols became the first officially designated M1911A1s. The updates focused on improving handling, including reshaped mainspring housing, larger sights, a longer grip tang, and a shorter trigger reach.

    In 1939, the U.S. government issued contracts for what were known as M1911A1 “educational” pistols. These contracts called for just 500 pistols each and were intended to fund the creation of complete production tooling, which would then be stored for potential future use. Similar contracts were issued for rifles and machine guns. Two companies received these contracts: Harrington & Richardson, and the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Singers successfully completed its pistols but soon shifted to higher-priority wartime production such as artillery sights. H&R, on the other hand, was unable to complete its contract, which was ultimately cancelled in the spring of 1942.

    Once the United States entered the war, demand for pistols increased dramatically. Three additional manufacturers were brought on to produce the M1911A1: Remington-Rand, Ithaca, and Union Switch & Signal. Alongside existing production at Colt and Springfield, these companies produced roughly 1.9 million pistols during the Second World War—enough to equip all branches of the U.S. military until the platform was finally replaced by the Beretta 92 in 1985.

    The example being discussed here is a Remington-Rand pistol manufactured in April 1945. Remington-Rand received its first contract in May 1942 and delivered its final pistols in July 1945. Over that period, the company produced a total of 877,751 pistols, falling within the following serial number blocks:

    916405 – 1041404

    1279699 – 1441430

    1471431 – 1609528

    1743847 – 1816641

    1890504 – 2075103

    2164404 – 2244803

    2380014 – 2619013 (with the final pistol numbered 2465139)

    Our 1911 has the serial Number of 1474846 which means it was manufactured in 1943 and is part of the 3rd batch Remington Rand produced.

    It is a common misconception that these pistols were made by the well-known firearms company Remington. You can see why but in fact Remington rand was a typewriter company based in Syracuse, New York, USA. Who was just one of the companies that were given a educational contracts for the 1911A1.

    I hope you enjoyed a close look at our 1911A1 Remington Rand!

  • Baker arms collection

    A soldiers dairy

    Written by Kevin Baker, edited by Cory Baker.

    I often wondered where my passion for collecting and history came from, but I guess it all started when I was a boy, I used to stay on my grandparents farm over school holiday’s and fossick through their hot water cupboard where my grandfather kept all his treasures that he had collected when he went off to WW1, one that sticks in my mind is a very thick and wide army belt that was and still is studded with pins and badge, Grandfather used to collect these badges to fill his belt while he was reviving in England, I have the belt in my collection and it is my most precious possessions, this all leads me to the story of how my grandfather John Leslie Hume went to WW1 on a ship with his best freind Jim Earl, as the story goes grandfather got sick from the Spanish flu, the two of them got separated on the ship so Jim went looking for him and found him laying around the deck , Jim nursed grandfather through the worst of the flu and into reasonable health saving his life, fast forward till the internet came about and I start researching Troopships and my Grandfathers name and found his army papers and the name of the ship they traveled on, the Tahiti.

    The troops aboard the Tahiti including my grandfather and Jim were some of the last replacements sent to the Western Front from new Zealand, they were also some of the first New Zealanders known to suffer from the infection of the Spanish flu. Further research had me reading a diary written by another soldier who had been on the same voyage.as I read this diary some of the story’s of grandfather laying around the deck rang true, the ship was so over crowded with very little ventilation, men were out on the deck trying to get fresh air and space, by the sound of it the Spanish flue was picked up at Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, Upon arrival the officers aboard received reports of illness in Freetown, which had just become infected by the deadly second wave of the 1918 influenza, and those onboard were prevented from disembarking, but This did not prevent local workers from resupplying the ship as it waited in harbour, The Tahiti left Freetown on the 26 of august, On the day of sailing influenza case patients began to be admitted to the onboard hospital, soon after that the burials at sea started, finally reached Plymouth on 10 September, 1918. 68 men had died, and another nine would pass away ashore.

    The Tahiti troopship.

    The situation onboard was so severe that special trains were sent to Plymouth to transport the sick to influenza hospitals. Six weeks after arrival in Britain, only 260 of more than 1200 troops from the ship were fit for service. Seven percent of those who started the voyage from New Zealand died from the influenza, making the outbreak on the Tahiti several times more severe than that which eventually struck New Zealand.

    None of the 40th Reinforcements soldiers experienced combat as part of WWI; the war ended on November 11, 1918. 

    A few interesting facts I learnt about the ship herself, She was launched in 1904 in Scotland as RMS Port Kingston for a subsidiary of Elder Dempster Lines. In 1911 the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand bought her and renamed her the Tahiti , after her service as a troop ship she was returned to her owner, In 1927 Tahiti collided with a ferry in Sydney Harbour, killing 40 ferry passengers.

    In 1930 Tahiti sank without loss of life in the South Pacific Ocean due to flooding caused by a broken propeller shaft.

    Thats my grandfather in the photo sitting front middle

    Cheers

    Kevin James Baker

    John Leslie Hume No 76930 40th Reinforcement. NZEF.

    Born 19th Nov 1898 at Devonport Auck

    Died 28th Oct. 1977

  • Baker arms collection

    My first post on this new website

    I’m laying on my bed, after texting back and forth with my uncle Ron from New Zealand. We both were talking about how good it would be one owning an original World War 2 Lee Enfield No4 (T) sniper rifle one day.

    Uncle Ron has always wanted one for his collection. My dad’s uncle was a sniper in the Second World War and used one of these rifles. He actually told my uncle the serial number one but my uncle never wrote it down. Can you imagine what an awesome feeling it would be to actually tack down that rifle. I suspect virtually impossible but what isn’t is trying to find an original sniper rifle of the same model. Not impossible but definitely very difficult says my Uncle.

    As people get standard Lee Enfield No.4 models, Slap a check rest on them and put a old original scopes on them to try and pass them as original sniper rifles. I’m not picky, perhaps it would be cool to get a Lee No4 for myself and make up a sniper rifle recreation for my own collection. never passing it off as original of cause. maybe a cool project in the future. In fact that’s basically how they were originally made in the first place. they would find particularly accurate No4’s and slap a scope on them and put a cheek rest on… and done. you have yourself a model T.

    Never the less if I do that in the future I will be sure to post it here for you all to see.