Lee Model 1879

About the Lee Model 1879

The Lee Model 1879 is a bolt-action repeating rifle chambered in .45-70 Government, designed by James Paris Lee and among the first bolt-action rifles with a detachable box magazine adopted by U.S. forces. Manufacturing of the Lee Arms Co. contract was first handed to the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company, and after Sharps went bankrupt in 1881, Remington completed the rifles for the U.S. Navy. The action used a two-lug bolt locking via the handle root and a lug on the left receiver wall, fed from a five-round detachable box magazine, and was issued to the U.S. Navy in the early 1880s.

James Paris Lee, a Scottish-born immigrant who came to the United States via Canada, patented the detachable box magazine that defined this rifle. Though the Model 1879 saw only modest U.S. Navy adoption, Lee's box-magazine concept proved revolutionary and became the foundation of the legendary Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield service rifles.

Lee Model 1879 specifications

Patented by James Paris Lee on November 4, 1879. The U.S. Navy initially ordered 300 rifles, followed by a larger contract; roughly 7,500 Model 1879 rifles were completed by Remington between 1881 and 1884. The detachable box magazine pioneered on this rifle influenced later Lee designs including the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield.