This Lee-Enfield No 5 Mk 1 Jungle Carbine was made in 1945 at BSA Shirley (M47C). Like so many jungle carbines the electro-stencil is extremely faint but is present on the receiver. This carbine comes with sling, bayonet, and scabbard.

This jungle carbine chambered in .303 British is in very good to excellent condition.  The stock and hand guard have no cracks or splits. The finish is good with minor wear. Of note is the upper hand guard and butt stock share the same color but the lower hand guard is a much lighter brown.

The finish on the barrel and receiver is very good and may have been a factory refinish at some point. The rubber on the butt plate is excellent with almost no wear and no cracking.

The bolt is very good with no rust present. Finish loss is nearly complete. The charging handle appears to have a prior serial number that has been over-stamped with the current serial further indicating this rifle may have been a factory refurbish/refinish.

The bore is very good with crisp rifling and minimal wear. There is very little fouling present. This is a surprisingly clean bore. The receiver is also very clean showing minimal finish loss.

Mechanically all parts function as they should.  This rifle has not been test fired by us.

This rifle includes a khaki sling that appears period correct but markings are difficult to read.

This rifle also includes a No. 5 Mk 1 Bayonet with scabbard. The bayonet is the later two screw version. The bayonet is not marked. It is possible the original markings were lost in a refinish. It is also possible it is a very good reproduction. The bayonet is in very good condition with good edge and point. The bayonet has some finish wear to the paint. The scabbard shows almost no finish loss.

This is an overall very good to excellent example of a BSA Shirley No 5 Mk 1 Jungle Carbine. It does have the lightening cuts on the receiver and barrel under hand guard. Numbers are matching only to bolt and stock socket. There is no serial number on the receiver. Given the over-stamp of serial number on the charging handle it may have been refurbished or factory refinished at some point after 1945. The bolt carries the Crown over BNP (Birmingham Nitro Proof) mark indicating it was sold out of service. It is not marked “England” as many export rifles were but does have import marks from Century.

The Rifle No. 5 Mk I, nicknamed the “jungle carbine,” is a bolt-action carbine derived from the British Lee–Enfield No. 4 Mk I, developed to give troops a shorter, lighter rifle for jungle warfare and produced from March 1944 to December 1947. It was about 100 mm shorter and nearly 1 kg lighter than the No. 4 thanks to lightening cuts, reduced woodwork, a drilled bolt knob, and the addition of a conical flash suppressor and rubber buttpad. Those changes made it popular in Far East and other jungle campaigns—seeing widespread postwar use in conflicts such as the Indonesian National Revolution, Malayan Emergency, and Vietnam War—although the lighter weight and small buttpad increased felt recoil. The sights replicated the No. 4’s arrangement with a rear aperture battle sight calibrated for 300 yd plus a flip-up ladder sight for 200–800 yd. Only the No. 5 blade bayonet would fit because of the large flash suppressor, and proposed Mk II and takedown variants (including grenade-firing strengthening and receiver-mounted triggers) were trialed but never produced.

No.5.Mk.1. – left side receiver (very faint)

M,47C – left side stock socket (Birmingham Small Arms – BSA Shirley code)

1945 – left side stock socket

BG8352 – left side stock socket

M,47C – top rear barrel under hand guard

BG8352 – left side butt stock painted

AB9841 – front bottom hand guard

M47A – right side barrel band (BSA Small Heath code)

M/47C – left side front sight

M/56 – top magazine follower

BB12425 – bottom magazine

Crown over BNP – front bolt (Birmingham Nitro Proof)

M/47 Unclear mark – front bolt

BG8352 over-stamp of E6278 – back of charging handle

FY MK 11 (probable 1 double stamp) – right side cocking piece

NO.5 MK.1 .303 U-KING – Import Mark, right side front barrel

C.A.I ST. ALB. VT – Import Mark, right side front barrel