The Lee-Enfield No. I 'Jungle Carbine' By Photo by David Tong. The British Army had adopted the Rifle, No.

The British.303 Jungle Carbine fit the. Gun Collecting: The British.303 Jungle. There are some overlap and discrepancies in factory serial number. Apr 13, 2010 I have and Enfield.303 No.5 MK1 'Jungle Carbine' serial T5xx that I have been unable to find any production dates for.

It was a simplified version of the Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield rifle that served the Empire so well in the first unpleasantness. It was a further simplification and cut down on both material costs and machine time in its construction, much as the No. III* had been to the original SMLE of 1907. With its heavier, free-floated, 25.3” barrel and fine sights, it provided sterling service in open country conflicts such as North Africa and parts of Western Europe. In many ways, parallels can be drawn between the U.S. Military’s current wholesale adoption of the M4 Carbine and the British developing a shorter and lighter individual weapon for urban or dense tropical combat conditions in WWII.

Rather than developing an intermediate powered arm (the U.S. M1 Carbine that proved unimpressive in stopping power during WWII and Korea), the British took a more direct route and simply downsized the standard service rifle. Two factories were tasked with the production of the No. 5, the Royal Ordnance Factory Fazakerley, Liverpool and Birmingham Small Arms (BSA-Shirley). Fazakerley built approximately 170,000 of them, while BSA built about 87,000 in the three years of production from March 1944 through December 1947.

While the No. 5 was originally meant to be a standard-issue replacement for the No. 4, there were some issues related to its construction techniques, as well as the increased recoil levels. Rumor has it that it was designed primarily for airborne use, rather than the SE Asian jungles, and indeed the No. 5 saw much use in Holland during the abortive Battle of Arnhem, as well as on the Pacific islands. It did, however, serve quite well during the “Malayan Emergency” of 1948-1960, a post-war conflict with Chinese Communist insurgents over oil and rubber industry revenue important to Britain’s postwar economic recovery efforts, as Malaysia was part of the Commonwealth at the time. Originally, the prototype modifications were carried out on the No.

These included additional machine cuts to the receiver. These can be seen in the deletion of some of the metal below the rear sight, the bolt guide lug’s camming surface and along the right side below the stock line. The barrel was reduced by 6.5” to a length of 18.7” and its contour was reduced. Still free-floating, it also had material removed from the exterior, known as the “Knox form,” above the chamber area under the hand guard. These took the shape of one flat and several other concave milled cuts circumferentially.

The fore stock was shortened and narrowed, while the upper hand guard and band were removed. A combination flash hider, bayonet lug and front sight mount with protective ears was secured to the barrel by press fitting and two cross pins, similar to what we did with the M16. The butt stock was shortened and more rounded in the wrist area. The wrist is much more rounded on top than my No. Maryland License Renewal Grace Period.

4 and it is comfortable to wrap one’s thumb around in a firing grip. However, this grip is not conducive to rapid bolt manipulation. One’s thumb might normally be placed straight behind the bolt handle to be able to cycle the bolt with a firm cheek weld. Probably, this made the carbine a bunch more comfortable to be carried at the ready during patrols. Wood furniture was birch (most common), or the occasional walnut, although the latter had been phased out during early No. 4 production.