James Paris Lee (9 August 1831 – 24 February 1904) was a British Canadian inventor and arms designer.

[1] Born in Hawick, Scotland, Lee emigrated with his family to Galt, Upper Canada in 1836 at age 5.

He built his first gun at the age of 12, using an old horse-pistol barrel, a newly-carved walnut stock, and a priming pan made from a halfpenny.

The gun failed to function effectively when first fired, but started Lee's interest in gunsmithing and invention.

In total 250 were delivered but due to a bore diameter error, these were rejected by the army and the weapon did not see use in the Civil War.

Lee's sample (in the newly-authorized .45-70 cartridge) had a hammer-operated falling-block design, similar to the Peabody and the Martini.

His rifle did not win the trials (that honor went to the latest Allin design, the Model 1873) but with further consideration his gun was found worthy.

Known to collectors as the "Model 1875 Springfield-Lee Vertical Breech", it is one of the rarest and most desirable Springfield arms of the post-CW period.

Perhaps Lee's greatest individual impact on modern small arms development came with his invention for a spring-loaded column-feed magazine system for centerfire cartridge rifles.

Although video games and movies frequently depict soldiers armed with Lee–Enfield rifles loading by inserting a new magazine in reality the Lee-Enfield rifle was always loaded by stripping two 5-round charger clips into the magazine, in both World War I and World War II.

In 1891, Lee sued von Mannlicher, claiming that the latter's design infringed upon his en bloc magazine patent but lost the case.

[11] James Paris Lee died in Galt, Ontario, Canada on 24 February 1904, having lived to see his rifles in service throughout several Colonial conflicts, including the Second Boer War.