No.5 rifle serials have four numbers with one or two letter prefixes, e.g. Shirley so their No.5 rifle production is usually marked ‘M47C’, which was their WW2 manufacturer’s code. The No.5 action body is typically engraved ‘No.5 Mk I’ on the left side along with the factory ‘ROF(F)’, month and year. This first batch has ‘FE’ prefix serial numbers, the production months and years are engraved on the left side of the action body, those noted to date have been between January and March, dated 1/44 and 3/44. One thousand new rifles designated the ‘No.5 Mark I’ were manufactured at Fazakerley in late 1943-early 1944. 303 ‘jungle carbines’ were fabricated there first. Fazakerley was the prime government factory so early models of the new. British factories making the Rifle No.4 were ROF (Royal Ordnance Factory) Fazakerley, ROF Maltby and BSA Shirley. There is an exception however, the sling bar locates the sling on the opposite side, so the bolt handle or right hand side bears against the body.īy this time it was mid-1944 and there was an urgent requirement in the Far East for a shorter and lighter rifle. Like other WW2 short rifles and carbine in European and American service, the butt positions flat against the serviceman’s body in the carry position. The No.5 was carried on its sling in a different fashion to other British service rifles of the time, the butt-plate has a sling bar incorporated in its sheet construction. So a flash hider was incorporated along with a lug fitting for the new knife bayonet which has a Bowie blade. The lighter weight and short barrel not only increased recoil, but muzzle flash too. The British service No.4 rifle action was lightened and the barrel, fore-end and hand-guard shortened, the bolt and some other fittings lightened and then the butt was lightened and fitted with a rubber kick-pad. Prototype and test models in mid-1943 were called ‘Lightened No.4 rifles’, which it was essentially. Nevertheless, it certainly can be classified as a ‘carbine’ and it was designed as a shorter, lighter firearm for jungle fighting at the end of World War 2. gun magazine advertisements from the 1950s certainly corroborate this. dealers when they were selling their surplus military stock. In service, the No.5 rifle was not called a ‘jungle carbine’, this was likely marketing by Santa Fe Arms Corporation and other U.S.
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