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British Enfield 303 Serial Numbers4/15/2021
Published British Armorers such as Peter Laidler have confessed that most No5s were as good as gold and I can vouch for the fact that I have no such accuracy issues with my own No5 Mk1. 10 - What is the significance of the capped fore-end Ans - We see the capped fore-end beginning in early 1946, so post war period.Gday all, As the moderator of the Lee Enfield forums at Collecting and Shooting the Military Surplus Rifle (2006) - Surplusrifle.com I thought I might add some Enfield content to this section; hopefully it will meet with interest.
Both my Grandfather and Great Uncles fought in the Burma Campaign during WW2; my Grandfather was with the Royal Sussex Regiment ( The Shiny 9th ) and my Great Uncle who is in his 90s fought with the Chindits under Maj Gen Ord Wingate. The No5 Mk1 was specifically developed for fighting in the far east and Burma campaign was where this rifle found its major point of issuance. I am presenting my own rifle here which as by the text attached to the images you will recognise as a Fazakerley built No5 from the 12 month, year of 1945. I have created a FAQ sticky at the Enfields forum and will re-post it here for the benefit of those curious. There is a great deal of history on the development of the No5 rifle which I could expand upon if members are interested but for now Ill let the FAQ sticky suffice. Magazine capacity 10 rounds - capable of 11 with one up the spout. Loading via 5 round charger clips, NOT from the magazine. Caliber. 303 in British. Production costs at time of production Pounds 88Od. In less common cases you may find the serials EPd on other parts such as the inside of the trigger guards. British Enfield 303 S Serial Number Codes AndWhat is the story with overlapping serial number codes and dates Ans - Fazakerley was running three assembly lines at once for No4 rifle production in WW2 but these lines each had their own letter code sequences, so the multi-line system is easy to see. Perhaps the explanation for the wild letter prefix overlaps is this three line system operating without the special letter codes, which would look like chaos with lots of anomalies 7 - How many digits do No5s have in their serial numbers Ans - Usually you will see a 4 digit serial code system on 99 of Jungle Carbines but there are instances of 3 letter codes and there will likely be 2 letter codes also. The main point here is that 4 is the biggest number you will see. ![]() What are the major clues to identifying that my No5 rifle is real and not a fake Ans - In no particular order you should check that. Your bolt head is hollowed out. Remove the handguard and check that your barrel knox form has the lightening cuts that are unique to this rifle. Check that the rear sight is the correct type Singer style Mk1 or Mk2 sight with a max setting of 800 yards and not 1300 yards as found on No4 back sights. A fast check for the novice is to look at the receiver from the left side and see if it has a distinct step beneath the back sight. If it does not then this is a No4 receiver or even maybe a No1 receiver. You will not find the rectangular lump on the front right side of the receiver wall unlike a No4 receiver. The action cover loop of the No5 trigger guard is a rounded loop and waisted unlike the even U of the No4 cover. Your rifle should have a conical flash eliminator at the muzzle end with bayonet lug beneath. The butt stock should not look the same as a No4 or No1 butt stock. You will see a distinct groove on the rear right side of the stock with a unique D shaped steel sling keep protruding. What is all this about a wandering zero Ans - Back when the No5 was still being manufactured there was a period of time when the No5 was seen as being the logical successor to the No4 rifle as the standard battle rifle. After performing various trials it was ( apparently ) reported that the No5 would not hold its zero and under certain circumstances would lose it altogether. More trials were conducted and there were various reports of the lightening of the receiver being a cause of the issue as well as stocking up in some instances. In the context of the period the rest of the world was moving toward SLR or Self Loading Rifles and it is now largely believed that the Wandering Zero story was an expedient means of the MOD justifying re-tooling and scrapping the No5 to the Government bean counters so they could move to the SLR. After all the trials and RD that had already been done for production of the No5 they needed an excuse for this change as Britain was now also facing a struggling post war economy unlike the U.S. It is now widely held that the Wandering Zero was the excuse they required. Few if any No5 owners today find any accuracy issues with their rifles and fewer still can replicate the wandering zero - it is believed to be a created myth ( That all No5s suffered with innacuracy ) and this seems to be well supported by the many owners who can not find any evidence of it. It is widely believed that the effects of the so-called wandering zero were environmental - the sheer volume of damp, rain and humidity found in Burma is now understood to be the culprit as when the furniture of the rifle was repeatedly swelling and drying out it would cause shifts in the bedding of the rifle relative to the receiver; this in turn would cause erratic shifts in accuracy. Under heavy or sustained fire the stocks would heat up considerably after being soaked for long periods and not having chance to dry out properly. In later years during and after the Malayan Emergency the Malays decided to finish their No5 Mk1s with lacquer to stop moisture and damp from entering the furniture - lessons well learned from the Burma experience; the correct finish for all Lee Enfield rifles however is and has always been Linseed Oil. Linseed Oil works in just about every other environment as it is still permeable and not entirely waterproof. In the case of Burma where torrential downpour and heat are a daily occurance, this method simply was not enough. Published British Armorers such as Peter Laidler have confessed that most No5s were as good as gold and I can vouch for the fact that I have no such accuracy issues with my own No5 Mk1. What is the significance of the capped fore-end Ans - We see the capped fore-end beginning in early 1946, so post war period.
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