Jungle carbine
Are the mod 5 Jungle carbines marked as such or how are they marked? I have one which is supposed to be genuine but can find no marks on it other than date,(1945) SSN, M/47.C and broad arrow. All just below the safety.
It does not appear to be an Indian rework either. Tom
PS: the SSN, BB7716, also is on the stock and clip. T
It does not appear to be an Indian rework either. Tom
PS: the SSN, BB7716, also is on the stock and clip. T
0
-
..First, I hope the mods let me try again. I had to resort to a camera the just won't do decent close-ups. If you'll note the bulge and split receiver bridge, maybe you can point me toward a proper rear sight. It's a mock-up carbine from Santa Fe /Golden State Arms. Thanks guys.
(Note the markings in the earlier post)
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]
[img][/img]0 -
This might help. http://www.surplusrifle.com/no5/index.asp 0 -
Got this off the net, compare the data to your rifle.
No. 5 "Jungle Carbine" Overall length 39-1/2 inches; 20-1/2 inch barrel with flash hider. Rubber buttplate; short fore-end. An honest No. 5 rifle (or "Jungle Carbine") has lightening flutes cut in the barrel knox form and extensive milling done to the receiver to lighten it. (Take the handguard off and look for the barrel flutes.) Also, an honest No. 5 will be electro-engraved "No5MKI" on the left side of the receiver and will not have "No. 4" stamped or engraved anywhere on it. In addition, an honest No. 5 will bear the proper manufacturer's code: "(ROF)F" for Fazakerley or "M47C" for BSA-Shirley. Finally, the barrel band will be only 8 inches in front of the receiver ring--rather than 10-3/4 inches as on a No. 4 rifle. In the 1950s and 1960s, Golden State Arms Co. of Pasadena, California modified quite a few No. 4 rifles by shortening the barrels, adding flash hiders, and shortening the fore-ends. Some were equipped with Fajen or Bishop sporter stocks, as well. These were called various names, such as "No. 4 Jungle Carbine," or "Santa Fe Mountain Carbine," or "Mountain Rifle," but all have "Golden State Arms" and "Santa Fe" roll-stamped on the barrel. Nice aftermarket conversions, but strictly that. Currently, Navy Arms is doing the same thing with No. 4 rifles and selling them as "No. 5 Jungle Carbines." At arm's length they look genuine, but they have standard No. 4 rifle markings and DO NOT have the lightening flutes on the barrel or the lightening cuts on the receiver. These are strictly fakes--or thinly disguised "replicas."0 -
i think they were first issued in sept 44, so any thing from sept 44 to sept 45 are the only ones that are ww-2 vets. the later ones may have been used to help england keep her colanies. eastbank. 0 -
I would like to see a photograph.
I have two original No. 5, Mk I rifles - one Shirley made in 1945 and one Fazakerley made in 1944. The No. 5's have no identifying marks as such. They were loosely No. 4 Enfields that were lightened with heavily milled receiver, bolt, and barrel to reduce weight. "Jungle Rifle" is just a nickname, they were never officially called Jungle Rifles. There have been many counterfeits over the years.
If your rifle has what looks like a bevel on the rear left side of the receiver and also at the chamber end of the receiver(you have to remove some furniture to see the cuts there),a cut almost the length of the bolt body, a cut in front of the bolt handle on the receiver, and a hole drilled in the end of the bolt handle. These are the lightening cuts milled on the No. 4 receiver to lighten the rifle. The rifle should be .303 caliber which won't be marked on the rifle. The lightening cuts and caliber are what discern genuine No. 5's. No other rifle had the lightening cuts in the places mentioned above and are very distinctive. The below photo shows two of the lightening cuts.
There should also be a hard rubber butt plate which is supposed to be the recoil pad, and doesn't offer much recoil reduction. The No. 4 magazine is interchangeable with the No. 5.
The No. 5 went into production in September 1944 and was declared obsolete in July 1947. There were 169,807 rifles made by Fazakerley and 81,329 Shirleys. This is the rifle famous for the "Wandering Zero". Many of the No. 5's saw extensive service in Asia and India.
Many the No. 5's do not have "No5MkI" on the left side of the receiver for whatever reason. Neither of my rifles do. Perhaps the later ones did because they were not under war-time pressure to manufacture and the stamping took time.
The usual markings on the stock socket are "M" for BSA Shirley rifles or "F" for Fazakerley rifle followed by a four digit date indicating the year of manufacture. See below.
Also be sure to look at the bore of your rifle. These rifles were used hard and most of them have decades of crude in the bore. It took me days to scrub mine out, but when finished there was still plenty of good rifling.
These rifles are great fun to shoot.
Heavyiron0 -
I've had them off and on for years.
My current one will not ever leave me.
I think that they just look "right", like a Model 36, or a Browning humpback.
Doug0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
6 comments