
Howard Francis 7.63mm SMLE
The Howard Francis carbine was a design submitted to the British Ordnance Board for consideration in 1943 – one of many weapons proposed to help meet wartime requirements. Specifically, the Howard Francis carbine was a conversion of a bolt action SMLE into a semiautomatic pistol caliber carbine.
Chambered for the 7.63mm Mauser cartridge (the same as used in the C96 Broomhandle Mauser pistol), the conversion was done by plugging the chamber of a .303 Enfield barrel and then re-reaming it to fit the pistol cartridge.
