WesWorld

I agree with your assessment of the British data, though I believe that the 1938 numbers pertain to the beginning of production of the No.4 Enfield rifle.

I wish I could find the relevant French production numbers. The closest I could come to was an item from Wiki indicating that the French had 250,000 MAS-36 rifles in the spring of 1940 - with production starting in 1937 that would indicate an average of about 6,800 rifles a month.

I did find the numbers for the Schmidt Rubins, and they are somewhat useful, but not entirely so. The Swiss had the 1931 carbine in production for 20 years, giving an extended production curve. I am still playing with it though.

I have found some additional information that has bearing on how many rifles Laurania ought to procure and how quickly it should move towards replacing its ordnance inventory.

In testimony before Congress in 1917 (before the United States entered the First World War) it was held that European armies considered it necessary to have considerable stocks of arms – one nation calculating its needs at five rifles per man, another at four rifles per man; the justification being the need for wastage, those undergoing repair, and for those in transit to or from repair stations.

In the same testimony, it was averred that American manufacturers were capable of producing up to 3,000 rifles per day – after considerable expenditure of efforts. Another manufacturer contended that starting from a base level of 1,000 rifles per day he could not increase his output to 8,000 in less than eighteen months.

These data points have been useful in guiding my calculations. At least I don’t have to worry that I’ve projected too many rifles.