The Lee-Enfield Bolt action .303 in a a well trained Commonwealth infrantry was an exceptional weapon.
Besides The “Mad Minute” which enabled the Lee-Enfield to be almost on par with a semi-auto in rate of fire. A bolt action is actually a better rifle in many aspects in warfare.
Anyone who has used a full auto knows that in reality your only accurate round is the first one down the barrel after that the recoil pretty much ensures that the rounds after that are like a anti-aircraft battery…rounds all over the place…a semi-auto isn’t that much better in the heat of battle and adrenaline you are hitting the trigger as fast as you can… inaccurate fire. You will also need to carry much more ammunition and have the logistics to get all that ammunition to your troops.
Care and maintenance of a semi-auto is much more complicated than a bolt action, semi-autos are much more prone to jamming as well.
Close quarter or urban combat a Semi-auto is would be preferred .However in a 100–200 yard firefight a Lee-Enfield in the hands of a well trained Commonwealth Infantry soldier is a deadly and fantastic weapon.
in the 1980′s we had a few old guys in our hunting party who were Canadian WW2 Vets… those guys used old beat up Lee-Enfields with iron sights… those old guys were deadly with those things…drop a running White-Tail at 300 yards with one shot… no scope… iron sights… those guys were probably 70 years old in 1988… what they could have done in their 20′s in prime shape and fully trained… scares me.