The US Navy’s search for a small caliber replacement for the cal .45 rifle started in December of 1891 with the purchase of the experimental .30cal rifle and ammunition from the Army. During 1893 a Caliber Reduction Board was convened to further develop this idea, and their recommendation was a 6mm (.236”) cartridge with 135 grain bullet. The first development was a rimmed case to be developed by Winchester, with the first mention of a rimless case during February 1894, with the first development of the rimless version during December 1894 which was called the Cal .236 headless shell. Cartridges were loaded initially with a 135gr. bullet, but in May 1895 a 112gr. bullet was tested, manufactured by UMC and was proved to have superior ballistics over the heavier bullet. After the Board trials of 1895, it was adopted by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps as a first line rifle. The Navy’s designation for the Lee Straight-Pull rifle was as the “LEE RIFLE, MODEL of 1895, CALIBER 6-mm”. Designed by James Paris Lee, the innovative Winchester-Lee rifles featured a straight pull-bolt action, charger-loaded five-shot magazine and pistol grip stock. The Navy purchased approximately 6,800 Model 1895 rifles in 1898 and 1899. These rifles saw extensive service with the Navy and Marine Corps landing parties during the Spanish-American War, Boxer Rebellion and Philippine Insurrection. The 6mm Lee stayed in service until 1899, when the US Navy decided to replace it with .30 caliber Krag, which was already in use by the Army. Commercial 6mm Winchester rifles, based on the same Lee straight pull action, were produced until about 1902.
Rare version of the 6mm Lee with DWM numbered case.
The Bureau of Ordnance realised the use of a gallery practice round in 1895 that could also be used as an anti-riot loading although it was not tested until 1897 and adopted only for the US Marine use. It featured an 80gr. lead bullet and was also tried as a possible anti-riot loading in the Colt machine gun but could not operate the mechanism and was labeled later as a short range load.
The Army achieved success in their .30 Krag rifle with blank loadings and the Navy decided in late 1896 to develop a similar blank for the Lee rifle. The project was contracted to Winchester who developed the bullets from rolled paper cylinder and waterproofed with a wax coating. It was loaded with a 10 grain loading in the case and a 5 grain loading in the paper bullet. Testing against paper screens at 20 yards showed complete disintegration of the bullet before hitting the paper screens. The project was short-lived as the last manufacture of blank loadings were in 1898.
